Football

A good couple of days for the boys of Rossgarth and the 'boys' of Thirty Plus. Glen's team were playing at Lytchett and expected a tough game with the home fixture bringing about a fortunate 3 - 2 win a few weeks ago. Strangely the close fixture suggested by that earlier game did not materialise in the first half with Rossgarth playing well and deserving their 2 - 0 lead in which they were barely troubled. The opposition defence were very poor and looked likely to concede more in the second half.

It was a surprise therefore when Lytchett came out with renewed vigour and left the result in doubt until the final minute which was a long time coming after numerous interruptions. This was due to a number of injuries, one of them looking quite serious to one of their players from an accidental clash and another less serious but the result of nothing less than an assault similar to the one by German keeper Schumacher in the 86 World Cup finals. It marred an otherwise enjoyable clash which left Rossgart as 2 - 1 winners.

Looking at the website later that evening showed that the leaders, Chickerell, had lost heavily to Wareham leaving Rossgarth top of the table and guaranteed second place at least.

Thirty Plus enjoyed a far more comfortable victory although there were a number of flashpoints once again. Against a team which had lost just once in the league, Thirty Plus, with just the one win, played with calm organisation to run out 6 - 0 winners. It was a feisty affair with two penalties awarded to us following a very poor challenge against Matt from a throw in and the other after several attempts to bring me down in the area. There loud complaints about the injustice of the decisions but they were based on nothing more than a desire to moan at the ref having absolutely no basis in fact whatsoever. Dougie almost got involved at one stage and Matt became similarly annoyed but it didn't detract from our best performance for a while.

We tried a new formation, 2 - 3 - 1, with Dom and Dougie in defence, Matt C, Matt I and Dave in midfield and me upfront. Kevin returned to goal after his brief but successful sojourn in attack (he did score even if we lost a couple).

The opener came from Dom with a low struck shot from the edge of the area and was quickly followed by a stooping header from Simon who ghosted in at the back post following a corner. He is difficult to pick out as many readers will know. The first penalty was converted by me and a second headed goal from a corner saw Simon thwarted as he rose for the same ball as me. The hat trick came from a twisty run which brought back memories of decades past (albeit at an even slower pace than back then) and Dave finished things off from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game. A good game for all with better linking between midfield and attack allied to stubborn defence at the required times. Kev had just the one testing save to make and he pulled it off with aplomb.