We are the champions!!

Well, we would be if we hadn't lost so many games, but at least Iscape are now turning into a competitive team. To be perfectly honest though we didn't play as well last night as we have done recently and were fortunate to pull through following an own goal in the second half which gave us a single goal victory. The goal came from a long throw by Kev which was heading toward Dave in front of goal but was intercepted into the goal by a defender.

We started off brightly enough with some good chances being created but then there was something of an impasse as neither side created much which largely continued for the rest of the game. Their shots were mostly confined to long range efforts or from tight angles thanks to some stout defending and good handling by Hen who kept a well deserved clean sheet and celebrated by coming for a post match drink with us. He quickly found out the level of our conversation and the quality of the discussions so porbably won't bother coming out again.

In fact we talked mostly about the Christmas get together which looks like it could see Iscape turn global. Initial thoughts of Bath or Chippenham gave way to Dublin, unanimously agreed, until Dom mentioned a friend's flat in Prague. So it was off to Prague but then he remembered the flat was in Budapest not Prague and that meant further discussion. Dave wants Amsterdam and no one else quite knows what they want. Looks like it will come down to where the destinations are from Bournemouth or Southampton.

Watch this space.

Snowboarding

We'd been trying to get round to taking Glen snowboarding for some weeks, so it was with some relief on his part that we finally went during half term taking two friends along at the same time. The three boys had a great time although as it was a taster session, the slope wasn't that difficult. Just £54.00 for the 4 hours of beginner lessons before they're able to snowboard on their own!

As you can see, Glen got into the jumps pretty quickly but I think they were surprised at how physically demanding it is because of the awkward steps needed to climb up the slope with a board attached to your foot.

The Christchurch ski centre is not too far from us and I believe Glen is going to try and save up for more lessons. That must mean he intends to grow a little goatee soon along with a growing attachment to baggy clothing and a morose attitude.

Walking round Kingston near Corfe castle

We had a window of opportunity for a family walk on Tuesday as the rain relented for a while and off we went to the Purbecks for a 3 mile walk round the fields and woods of Kingston which gave fantastic views of Corfe Castle in the distance with Poole in the background.

The first picture shows the castle and Poole quite clearly and it's interesting to see how low the hill on which it stands is, compared to the ridges either side of it. When you're at the bottom looking up at the castle it seems huge and towers over you but you can look down on it from either side giving a very different perspective. The ridge on the right is the one we walked a couple of weeks ago in our walk to Swanage.

The second picture gives that contrast and is taken from a car park in Corfe village. You can see the sun had made its appearance by that time and it was shirt sleeve time despite being the end of October.

The third picture shows us finishing the walk pursued by a group of horses which were met with a mixture of fear and pleausre; Georgina and Bridie were quite relieved to get past them and why not when one of them appears to be laughing at you as you climb over a stile. We need a dentist!

The other picture, out of sequence shows everyone getting ready with Bridie looking like she's booting Grandma up the backside. If only!

Iscape 2 Wimborne Warriors 1

Soemthing of a first this week in the football with a mini break to take shelter from the lightning overhead but despite that, or maybe because, we managed a fourth win of the season to leave us exactly miday in the table.

Driving to Wimborne was quite an experience with flashes of lightning bursting into the dark sky accompanied by torrential rain which eased off as we started the pre-match kickabout. By the time we started though the rain was back and it absolutely threw it down. Soaked to the skin, we dominated the opening exchanges and barely let them out of their half. Poor Matt who was off the pitch as sub for the initial part of the game couldn't make himself heard as he called to change with someone but we were all quickly off as the lightning flashed again and the ref, a new guy, abandoned the pitch for a while claiming to have had two friends hit by lightning before and fearful of his metal whistle seeing him reduced to cinders on the astroturf.

It wasn't long before we restarted though and we were soon one up following a rampaging run down the right in which I managed to nutmeg the defender and cut into the area where i lifted the ball across to Kev to volley. Despite the shouts from Dave and Dougie to control the ball, Kev lashed it home right footed, volleying into the corner away from the keeper's despairing dive aided by a slight deflection. It was soon two nil with a great through ball from Dave to Kev running toward goal. The ball held up slightly in the water and Kev lifted the ball past the onrushing keeper. Again a good finish and further evidence of a resurgence in his game as he gets to grips with a leading role in attack, Kevin is equal top scorer with 3 in a team which has managed just 10 goals in 8 games.

However, we didn't really look threatened and the two goals was enough to give us a win against a higher placed team. They shot from a long way out and the ball was skidding about but Hen's improving play and stout defending meant we held on despite the loss of a goal to a feeble little trickler with a couple of minutes to go.

Hen Matt I Matt C Dom Dave (2) Dougie Iain (3) Kev 2(3)

The other goals have come from Dom (in Manchester) and an own goal.

Defeat to top of the league

We played really well in losing to the top side on Monday. Although they were top, I don't think we were that impressed with them in comparison with some of the sides we've played. They were organised and had no weak links, attributes we could do with, but never really opened us up which might sound strange with them scoring three goals but all came from errors by us.

The first was from a throw which bounced in the area and was turned in from a mishit shot which trickled into the far corner from a tight angle. The second was from a hasty clearance which went straight to the head of a player outside the area and fell for their striker to finish. We were killed off by the third which was also a scrappy affair.

Despite that we battled on and Kev finally opened his account for the season with a well taken headed goal. There were other chances too but their keeper played well and left us contemplating what might have been. Pleasingly there was lots of good football, with passing to feet taking a greater priority than it has of late.

HEN MATT I MATT C DOM DAVE IAIN KEV (1)

Honourable defeat for Iscape

This week we played a young fit team which is the same as most weeks and the result was actually a much improved performance despite the eventual outcome, a 3 - 2 loss.

Hen Dom Dom Dave Kev Matt C Iain

The conversation beforehand cenred around our formation but we stuck with the fairly tried and tested (unsuccessful?) 2 1 2 1 with Matt holding a position shielding the defence. However, they scored early on after a bit of hesitancy in defence saw us fail to clear our lines. The shot was still likely to have been saved by Hen but took a deflection off Matt to bobble in. That quickly became 2 - 0 as I rolled back the years to lose the ball near goal from a throwout. Just like old times at Verwood! At that point we hadn't really got going but soom afterwards I made some amends with through ball to Dave who finished clinically. Just a goal in it at half time but they scored again from a long punt downfield by the keeper. Time and space was afforded to the attacker who once again finished comfortably.

Once more we fought back and scored through Dave as he latched on to a flick on from Matt from a long throw by Kevin. A couple of other chances came and went as they began to panic, and if Dom is to be believed, began to tire! It was not to be though and our winning run in the league comes to an end.

Next week we play the league leaders who are protecting their 100% record. Something to look forward to I think you'll agree.

Sunshine Saturday

The weekend weather was fantastic but one of the photos is misleading with the one of the football having been taken a few weeks ago in the New Forest. However, the morning walk with Rosie and Maisie was lovely in the woods and they chased just about everything that moved.

The other photos are of the animals looking 'cute' apparently. Alison keeps taking pictures of them which she wants to send out. Sorry!

Walking from Corfe Castle to Swanage

We had a lovely walk on Sunday, Alison, Glen and myself, which took us from the historic ruins of Corfe Castle along the Purbeck ridge to Swanage. The various websites give differing distances but it seems to be anything between 5 and 8 miles. Compared to the coastal walk from Plymouth it was quite an easy walk once on top of the ridge which gave fantastic views of Poole harbour to the east and the Purbecks and Dorset to the west. It was a clear, sunny day enabling us to see the Isle of Wight easily and it had brought out lots of walkers.

Early on in the walk we saw a slow worm and later a dog fox sitting in the sunshine by a farm gate until some crows mobbed it and moved it on. There were plenty of ravens soaring in the wind as well as kestrels hovering.

Unfortunately the train we took back was not the steam one which we did see but a diesel. Glen preferred the train to walking but at least he did the walk successfully.

Cup defeat

Iscape played another cup game on Monday against a side from the top division and, despite having a 1 goal lead based on handicapping, eventually lost 3 - 1 or 3 - 2 if you want to include the goal start.

Nevertheless it was a good performance all things considered and a big improvement on the last match even though we'd won that. The scores were level afetr a goalless first half but they quickly scored three goals following a mistake at the back in which an unnamed defender (Dougie asked me not to identify him as the culprit) ducked out of a header calling to the keeper to come and collect the ball. Sadly he had little chance of doing so and we had to push forward a little more in search of a goal.

There were some good moves but too infrequent as we defended deep. The goal we scored contained the surprise of a pass from me near the goal after beating a couple of defenders in a mazy dribble which left Dave with a simple tap in.

It was good to note how happy Dave was with the return of Matt!