A Hand in the Bird
I am a maiden who is forty,
And a maiden I shall stay.
There are some who call me haughty,
But I care not what they say.
.
I was running the tombola
At our church bazaar today,
And doing it with great gusto
In my usual jolly way ….
.
When suddenly, I knew not why,
There came a funny feeling
Of something crawling up my thigh
I nearly hit the ceiling
.
A mouse! I thought. How foul! How mean!
How exquisitely tickly!
Quite soon I know I’m going to scream.
I’ve got to catch it quickly.
.
I made a grab. I caught the mouse,
Now right inside my knickers.
A mouse my foot! It was a HAND!
Great Scott! It was the vicar’s!
(by Roald Dahl 1916 – 90)
.
Ah well, it’s got nothing to do with football but it is the silly season! Only seven games in June, this year, and the new season starts in July. I did, however, manage a short trip across The Irish Sea with Chris Berezai. We flew to Dublin and drove a hire car from there to Cork. It was considerably cheaper to do that than to fly directly to Cork. Flew in on the Monday and returned the following day. Had a wonderful couple of days in Cork and Cobh (The Titanic’s last port of call) and then drove the 165 miles (or 264km) back to Dublin. Other than that it was The CONIFA (Confederation of Independent FAs) World Cup and, at the last, a single match in The Summer League at Osmaston Polo Club, preceded by a handsome repast in The Coach & Horses in Brailsford.
Saturday 2nd June 2018
CONIFA World Cup Group D
United Koreans of Japan 0
Kabylie 0
Referee:- Leon Dastych. Attendance:- 302
Admission:- OMGDS £6.00 (£11) Programme:- £5.00
Wow! What a difference since my last visit! The ground, then, was decrepit and careworn. Today, the whole place had been rebuilt in a very positive and effective fashion with a 3G pitch and new stand and tarmac footing all round. Very impressive! Sadly, the match did not live up to it’s surroundings, but the colourful and noisy fans – especially of Kabylie – more than made up for the lack of goals. Sad to say a serious injury to a Kabylie player meant a fifty minute wait for medical assistance!!!
Saturday 2nd June 2018
CONIFA World Cup Group D
Punjab 0
Western Armenia 1
Vahagn Militosyan
Referee:- Kristian Michel. Attendance:- 462
Admission:- OMGDS £5.00 (£11) Programme:- £5.00
First visit to an impressive council owned ground with a 3G pitch. Hard to believe that Panjab hit seven in their last match. They hardly had a chance in this one! The impressive Vahagn Militosyan scored the only goal, but his side won fairly comfortably. Very impressed with the officials who ensured that we had team sheets and official tickets (which weren’t issued at the gate!) and the official attendance and even provided funds for a half-time coffee!!!
Monday 4th June 2018
Airtricity League of Ireland Premier Division
Cork City 4
Karl Sheppard 7, 47,
Kievau Sadlier 74,
Graham Cummins 85,
Derry City 2
Ronan Curtis 68,
Ronan Hale 72,
Referee:- Robert Hennessey Attendance:- 3,865
Admission:- OMGDS €5 (€15) Programme:- €3
Probably the longest trip in the League of Ireland from Derry in the Province down to Cork on The Republic’s far south coast, this match in blazing sunshine on a bank holiday was a cracker! Derry certainly weren’t here for the ride! They went two down, but fought back to parity with fifteen minutes to go. A crumbling defensive wall saw them concede a third and the fourth was the icing on the cake for reigning champions, Cork City who returned to the top of the table with this victory!
Monday 4th June 2018
Airtricity League of Ireland Division 1
Cobh Ramblers 0
Galway United 0
Referee:- John Gregg Official Attendance:- 323
Admission:- OMGDS €5 (€10) Programme:- €3
The second match of this Irish Republic Bank Holiday double kicked off just down the coast from Cork at 7.15pm. The Rambler’s ground at St Colman’s Park has seating all down one side and behind one goal, with terracing along the opposite side and hard standing behind the opposite goal. Despite the scoreline, this was a pulsating encounter, especially in the second half as the hosts, struggling, this season, in the nether reaches of the table fought tenaciously against their high flying opponents. A draw, in the end, was a fitting result!!!
Thursday 7th June 2018
CONIFA World Cup Semi-final A
Northern Cyprus 3
Billy Osman 39, 84,
Halil Turon 79,
Padania 2
Ricardo Rasasi 28,
Nicolo Daman 45,
Referee:- Dimitrii Zhukov. Attendance:- 311
Admission:- £12.00. Programme:- £5.00
Both semi-finals were held at The War Memorial Ground, Colston Avenue, the home of Carshalton Athletic. The first semi-final saw the Northern Cypriots triumph over the Italians, but only after a titanic struggle, urged on by their vociferous fan base and a drummer of some intensity. Even so, it took two goals in the final ten minutes to pull back the deficit and finally send them through to the final!
Thursday 7th June 2018
CONIFA World Cup Semi-final B
Karpatalya 4
George Toma 22, 75,
Gergely Kunki 58,
Csaba Peres 90+2
Szekely Land 2
Norbert Benke- Biro 78,
Barna Bajko 79,
Referee:- Mark Clattenberg. Attendance:- 491
Admission:- £12.00. Programme:- £5.00
An even larger crowd attended the second contest for the right to meet Northern Cyprus in the final. Karpatalya had a single goal half-time lead, but only courtesy of a penalty saved by Barna Nagy from Alex Svedjuk in the 39th minute! In the second half, Karpatalya eased into a 3-0 lead. Back came Szekely with two goals in the final fifteen minutes AND a host of missed chances for an equaliser, only for a break away goal in added time to confirm a deserved victory for Karpatalya.
Thursday 21st June 2018
(Ashbourne) Summer League
Osmaston 2
Rich Bailey 32, 38,
Biggin 1
Tom Mellor 61,
Referee:- Syd Atwal. Attendance:- 26
Admission:- F.O.C. Programme:- NONE
The Osmaston Polo Ground was bathed in sunlight, but with a biting breeze for this re-arranged Summer League fixture. Three points separated these teams in third and fifth place and a well deserved home victory saw the hosts draw level with their rivals. Two first half goals proved decisive for the hosts who had to hold off a determined response from the visitors in the second half. With John Main
“Cura et Industria” – By Care and Hard Work
___________________________________________________________________________
Matches:-
This Month:- matches:- 7 new grounds:- 3
This Season:- matches:- 235 new grounds:- 111
Total:- matches:- 3,932 new grounds:- 1,451
