30th
July 2012
Avondale
I - Croydon I = 9 - 15
Surrey
1
3
very late pull outs , no keeper , one's son's first birthday forgotten , a ref
who thought a day at the Olympics was a better way to spend a Monday night , a
full Croydon squad.
What
else can be said ?Not a bad game for Avondale though considering the limited
number of subs and the continuous changes of goalkeepers.Star of the
evening the "new" scoreboard that took its place on the
"new" table ; not the electronic scoreboard that everyone voted for
but at least it is a start.
26th
July 2012
Ealing -
Avondale II = 17 - 13(or something like that)
London
League 1
Injuries,
dismissals, internal bickering, referee controversy… just like an England world
cup campaign. In the darkness of the dimly lit Ealing pool where parking costs
until 10pm (wtf?!) a summer squad of players assembled mopping the brow from
another scorching day. As the game lept to life Ealing quickly established a
press and the Avondale 2 team did the same, "Real" seeing out the
first quarter winners, only last minute conceding a goal to see a 5-1 lead push
to 5-2. But then the wheels fell off.
Groin
injury to goalie (sub out), internal bickering and shouting, illegal pool exit,
illegal re entry, wrap up, 3 major foul exclusion, another 3 major exclusion,
cracked chest bone injury (get well soon Maarten. A&E at 0100hrs is no
fun), meant that a squad of 11 left us with 7 players by the end. 7 very tired
players. Random consensus decision making from the referee (decision reversals
at the request of the bench) then when referee realises mistakes "levels
up" the decisiions the other way with some soft shouts made the game very
bitty with decisions likely to go either way with little relevance to the
actual match. Lovely chap though. Glimmers of class from Jonnie Beder
(available last minute – what a relief) and some notable play in the pit from
Focco. Seany snuffing out their pit attack nicely. Shame he didn’t last the
game. Again ;-)
Captain suggests a second team drinks soon. We need to show a little more
solidarity going forward. Remember who the enemy are…
12th
July 2012
Croydon 3
– Avondale II = 6 - 10
Surrey 2
Old men
chase small boys round pool. Not a Gary Glitter dreamworks presentation, but
more a reflection of the age gaps. The Croydon team were very young, and also
worryingly promising for the future! But the old boys prevailed with Focco
grabbing his useful santa sack of goals, Nick making another "debut"
and Greg Curtis showing wall like qualities in defence. Dave steadied into his
role as voice of reason and John busied himself in the pit, entertaining anyone
within reach. I’ve probably missed people out… Emile’s pace etc… but the stand
out was Wayne-o in goal. Constantly denying some young armed shots. Good effort
VC....oh and Brad should take penalties from now on
5th
July 2012
Kingston
- Avondale I = 5 - 7
Surrey
1
We
like to leave the best to the very end. Don’t know how we could only score one
goal in 3 quarters but it was definitely a game of bad passes , bad shots
and generally bad play.
The
last quarter was eventually played in a more Avondale style and , from 5 – 1
down with the last eight minutes to play, we found ourselves 6 – 5 up to
the disbelief of the opposing team.
Then
Louis thought Christmas should come earlier this year and gifted Kingston one
last chance to level the game ,a beautiful pass to their player just as he was
clear on goal.
Big
Greg had to come to the rescue with an exclusion and they couldn’t take their
chance ;we got away with it and scored another goal ,just in case.
Santa
was seen wondering around New Malden looking very confused!
2nd
July 2012
Avondale
II - Old Whits = 6 - 5
Surrey
Cup Final
After
a nervous wait as the referees settled themselves that the markings were
correct, the match began with a flurry of pressure from REAL (Avondale), which could easily have ended up with
more than 2 goals converted. But then running into the second quarter we rather
lost our way. We were frantic, wreckless, wasteful, disorganised, lazy… hey…
this is REAL AVONDALE! Who cares?
Throw a malaise of end to end plays and general confusion, having dropped 2
goals behind, the come back began. Brad got one (all the killer training paid
off), then Nige to draw us equal (all the lack of training paid off), only for
Migs to score a cracking top corner goal to rapturous applause from the bench.
Despite the best efforts of the captain to gift the game in the final seconds
to the opposition (ah-hem!) we held on to win the Tom Dwyer cup. REAL has silverware again. Well done to those who
played, but also well done to the guys who played in the matches that got us
there. You all contributed to this result.
