THOUGHT OF THE DAY

My drinking team has a soccer problem”

David jp McIntosh

 The New Year started very slowly as our first match was against Moira in the league on the 24th of January even though not a cup game this match deserves a mention as the outstanding 9-2 victory showed how far we were moving technically the football was out standing but unfortunately we were give a glance into the refereeing standards we were about to see in the New Year,

 The positives to be taken from the game was the outstanding way you over came this problem we went in 2-1 down and to a man you all carried out our instructions on how to handle the situation and we went on to score 8 second half goals.

 Our next cup match was against Whittington in the Divisional Cup, we knew that Whittington would have issues facing us and we played exactly as they expected and came away with another 2-1 victory, which saw us through to the Semi-Final of the Cup

 Next was the Junior Challenge Cup where we faced Belvedere F.C. Belvedere were running away with their League and had just been beaten by Willington in the Midland Co-Op Cup 5-2.

 Belvedere were a very good side and it was to be one of those games where we did everything but score and they came away 3-2 victors.

 After the match it was discovered that they played a player who was not on the team card, only the league know what happened but they were now beginning to baffle me “ how difficult it is it to put the players name on the card-unless there was a problem with him”?

 We were now out of this Cup and shortly after Belvedere dropped out of the league a simple football solution was to let us go through but the league decided to give Shobnall Rovers a bye into the semi Final.

 Possibly our biggest game of the season had arrived when we were matched against Willington.

 Bryan and myself were working all week on the tactics to beat them, which were an outstanding success we planed to get them rattled, and give their back 4 little time on the ball it was working perfectly the side at the top of the Premiership could not cope with us.

 Unfortunately we never allowed for one factor “Shaun Landslow” I would have rather been beaten 10-0 because we played badly than suffer what he put our Team through.

 We should have take stock from the Moira game and ignored him, but when a Referee lets a player strike another and is left on the pitch we were fighting a loosing battle. I started playing football at the age of nine so I consider 50 years in Football gives me the right to comment on a disgraceful display of Refereeing and I will not apologise for calling the truth. Shaun was possibly being assessed so the good news is he should be doing Junior Football next season.

 On a positive we could not have been any prouder than we were on that day Greenfield Royal Oak had played the best in the league and had shown what we were capable of.

 SEMI FINAL

 The Following week was our Cup Semi-Final and it was important to lift you all for this match after the disappointment at Willington, this was now our last chance for Cup success and after previous years being beaten in semi-finals this game has extra importance if we slipped up again we would be the nearly team, which is very hard to get by as extra pressure is there again next season. Our game plan was different which again you responded to but more Important there was no hangover from the previous week and you all played with a professional attitude, which saw us, reach the final of the Divisional Cup.

 Tomorrow our Cup Final

 Dave