A VIEW FROM THE TERRACE
Harefield United v Aylesbury
Late in the day I started to think about the match tonight.
We had dropped a place in the league due to our inability to hit the back of the net in the last game and were in second on goal difference.
I hoped this was not an omen as we were playing Harefield who had lost the league last year on goal difference.
I left work and it was dropping down with rain. I only had a little coat with me and wondered how wet I was going to get.
I got to my local for a quick one before making my way to Harefield.
Arthur the old boy well into his nineties and as deaf as a post was sitting at the bar as usual, only this time with a full pint in front of him.
“Want a drink Arthur,” I said
“No son, I’ve got one and I can only have a half a shandy as it plays havoc with me Gout.”
“Oh ok” I said
“All right I’ll have a scotch,” he said
I got the drinks and ordered a scotch egg.
“I don’t eat that foreign muck it gives me the shits,” he said.
I was about to go into what a Scotch egg was and then thought better of it, I was going to be on a loser.
“Going to football tonight Arthur, were playing Harefield.”
“What’s wrong with you”
“Nothing”
“What you going to hospital for”
“I’m not, I’m going to watch Aylesbury play football.”
“You want to stop eating that foreign muck and then you wouldn’t have to go to hospital.”
“I’m not going to hospital”
I just gave up and smiled and nodded.
There was silence for a few minutes.
“Harefield had a lot of Australians and New Zealander’s, there in the war. The hospital used to provide medical help for the wounded ANZAC, Australia and New Zealand Army to you youngsters.
It also has the largest ANZAC cemetery outside Australia and New Zealand.”
How he had got onto the war again was beyond me.
“One soldier had a cockatoo brought from Gallipoli, which had the unfortunate habit of imitating the screech of Turkish shells.
Another brought a wallaby, which he gave to one of the workers there.
A local farmer who had no idea what it was shot it, he thought it was a giant jumping mouse.”
I looked at the exit door lovingly and finished my beer.
“Got bombed you know”
I wondered how long it would be before we got to bombs.
“Got bombed by mistake when they were going after RAF Uxbridge, that was RAF fighter command during the Battle of Britain.”
“Oh well I’m off Arthur see you soon.”
I escaped before I had the whole world at war recited to me.
Arthur was to busy studying the crumbs on my plate as though they were poison to bother to answer me.
The journey was a bit of a nightmare; the Tom Tom took me off the M25 and on to tiny side roads that went over rivers, brooks, and duck ponds and through a farm. If I came across a Wallaby I was not going to be surprised.
I arrived at Harefield and it had stopped raining and had turned into a nice evening. The bar was nice and modern and after the journey it was more than one pint I needed.
The ground was small and compact but very tidy.
I took up my place just inside the gate but the hip hop be bop coming out of the speakers drove me further down towards the Harefield goal end. Thank Christ I did, because when the guy started speaking on the mike it was like listening to a punch-drunk boxer.
The teams came out and Aylesbury were in their royal blue, sky blue, Italian world cup light blue shirts and Harefield in red and black.
I was definitely going to have a word with our captain we lost the toss again. I wondered what he didn’t understand about a two-headed coin.
The game started and straight from the start I knew this was a far better team we were playing than we had up to now.
The play was fairly even for the first ten minutes and then gradually Aylesbury took control and started dominating the play.
It was beginning to look like other games where we had all the play but could not finish.
As the game went on, Smith in our goal was only troubled a couple of times, but their keeper had kept them in it with some fine saves.
Both teams were playing some very good football but the referee was having a mare, he didn’t seem up to the standard of football being played.
The Chairman walked past me and I nodded but he didn’t respond. Oh well that’s him off my Christmas card list.
Seeing him reminded me that there had not been a golden goal tickets sold, so that meant big pockets what's his name and the other cronies would not be able to fix this game.
It was half time and Aylesbury had edged the half without success,
I shot into the clubhouse for a pint and to see all the scores on the TV, as there were a lot of matches being played tonight.
West Ham and Millwall were having a punch up, but nothing new there then.
The second half started in much the same vein as the first; with Aylesbury playing some of the best football I had seen them play. The passing was fast and a pleasure to watch and it cut Harefield to ribbons.
The first goal came on 49 minutes when after a fine build up the ball was crossed from the right into the area for Schmidt to rise high above the defender and place the ball into the net.
The goal was deserved and if I thought it was a good goal I was in for a treat 10 minutes later.
The ball was passed from the back four through the midfield, switched from one side of the park to the other and then back again. There were so many passes that I lost count. Some of the passing and running off the ball was brilliant.
Finally the ball was passed into the area from the right to find Henney who had found space. He still had to finish and he did with style and the ball was placed firmly in the net.
It was the best goal I had seen this year and all the team had a part to play in it.
Aylesbury was now showing some class and on the 65 minute the ball again found Henney in the area and he beat the defender marking him and slotted it home for number three.
The game started to get a bit scrappy with Harefield getting rattled over being beaten so convincingly. A few names went into the book for silly infringements that I thought the referee could have handled better.
The final whistle blew and the crowd gave the team their appreciation.
It had been a very good performance.
Oh well, off home to the wife and I wondered if I could find a way home without going on the Rally Cross.
Harefield United v Aylesbury
Late in the day I started to think about the match tonight.
We had dropped a place in the league due to our inability to hit the back of the net in the last game and were in second on goal difference.
I hoped this was not an omen as we were playing Harefield who had lost the league last year on goal difference.
I left work and it was dropping down with rain. I only had a little coat with me and wondered how wet I was going to get.
I got to my local for a quick one before making my way to Harefield.
Arthur the old boy well into his nineties and as deaf as a post was sitting at the bar as usual, only this time with a full pint in front of him.
“Want a drink Arthur,” I said
“No son, I’ve got one and I can only have a half a shandy as it plays havoc with me Gout.”
“Oh ok” I said
“All right I’ll have a scotch,” he said
I got the drinks and ordered a scotch egg.
“I don’t eat that foreign muck it gives me the shits,” he said.
I was about to go into what a Scotch egg was and then thought better of it, I was going to be on a loser.
“Going to football tonight Arthur, were playing Harefield.”
“What’s wrong with you”
“Nothing”
“What you going to hospital for”
“I’m not, I’m going to watch Aylesbury play football.”
“You want to stop eating that foreign muck and then you wouldn’t have to go to hospital.”
“I’m not going to hospital”
I just gave up and smiled and nodded.
There was silence for a few minutes.
“Harefield had a lot of Australians and New Zealander’s, there in the war. The hospital used to provide medical help for the wounded ANZAC, Australia and New Zealand Army to you youngsters.
It also has the largest ANZAC cemetery outside Australia and New Zealand.”
How he had got onto the war again was beyond me.
“One soldier had a cockatoo brought from Gallipoli, which had the unfortunate habit of imitating the screech of Turkish shells.
Another brought a wallaby, which he gave to one of the workers there.
A local farmer who had no idea what it was shot it, he thought it was a giant jumping mouse.”
I looked at the exit door lovingly and finished my beer.
“Got bombed you know”
I wondered how long it would be before we got to bombs.
“Got bombed by mistake when they were going after RAF Uxbridge, that was RAF fighter command during the Battle of Britain.”
“Oh well I’m off Arthur see you soon.”
I escaped before I had the whole world at war recited to me.
Arthur was to busy studying the crumbs on my plate as though they were poison to bother to answer me.
The journey was a bit of a nightmare; the Tom Tom took me off the M25 and on to tiny side roads that went over rivers, brooks, and duck ponds and through a farm. If I came across a Wallaby I was not going to be surprised.
I arrived at Harefield and it had stopped raining and had turned into a nice evening. The bar was nice and modern and after the journey it was more than one pint I needed.
The ground was small and compact but very tidy.
I took up my place just inside the gate but the hip hop be bop coming out of the speakers drove me further down towards the Harefield goal end. Thank Christ I did, because when the guy started speaking on the mike it was like listening to a punch-drunk boxer.
The teams came out and Aylesbury were in their royal blue, sky blue, Italian world cup light blue shirts and Harefield in red and black.
I was definitely going to have a word with our captain we lost the toss again. I wondered what he didn’t understand about a two-headed coin.
The game started and straight from the start I knew this was a far better team we were playing than we had up to now.
The play was fairly even for the first ten minutes and then gradually Aylesbury took control and started dominating the play.
It was beginning to look like other games where we had all the play but could not finish.
As the game went on, Smith in our goal was only troubled a couple of times, but their keeper had kept them in it with some fine saves.
Both teams were playing some very good football but the referee was having a mare, he didn’t seem up to the standard of football being played.
The Chairman walked past me and I nodded but he didn’t respond. Oh well that’s him off my Christmas card list.
Seeing him reminded me that there had not been a golden goal tickets sold, so that meant big pockets what's his name and the other cronies would not be able to fix this game.
It was half time and Aylesbury had edged the half without success,
I shot into the clubhouse for a pint and to see all the scores on the TV, as there were a lot of matches being played tonight.
West Ham and Millwall were having a punch up, but nothing new there then.
The second half started in much the same vein as the first; with Aylesbury playing some of the best football I had seen them play. The passing was fast and a pleasure to watch and it cut Harefield to ribbons.
The first goal came on 49 minutes when after a fine build up the ball was crossed from the right into the area for Schmidt to rise high above the defender and place the ball into the net.
The goal was deserved and if I thought it was a good goal I was in for a treat 10 minutes later.
The ball was passed from the back four through the midfield, switched from one side of the park to the other and then back again. There were so many passes that I lost count. Some of the passing and running off the ball was brilliant.
Finally the ball was passed into the area from the right to find Henney who had found space. He still had to finish and he did with style and the ball was placed firmly in the net.
It was the best goal I had seen this year and all the team had a part to play in it.
Aylesbury was now showing some class and on the 65 minute the ball again found Henney in the area and he beat the defender marking him and slotted it home for number three.
The game started to get a bit scrappy with Harefield getting rattled over being beaten so convincingly. A few names went into the book for silly infringements that I thought the referee could have handled better.
The final whistle blew and the crowd gave the team their appreciation.
It had been a very good performance.
Oh well, off home to the wife and I wondered if I could find a way home without going on the Rally Cross.
