Verwood crushed

It looks like relegation for Verwood following yet another defeat this time at the hands of Hordle. The pitch was very wet but the game was able to go ahead after a brief shower before the start. The visitors batted first and smacked a healthy 190 from 42 overs losing only 4 wickets, 2 of which were run outs and one of which came from a slog off the penultimate ball of the innings. We just don't look threatening as a bowling attack when there is no swing and the pitch was as dead as one of the voles our cat keeps bringing in.
The field was quiet too as heads fell all of which suggests we're in a for a period of soul searching with people putting forward lots of theories about why we are not doing as well as we could, the batting order, field positions etc when the answer is fairly simple; we aren't good enough and not enough people care about winning or losing as long they enjoy the tea.
Our turn to bat was a brief affair with the team being ousted for just 87, an innings in which I second top scored with 13!! Although I hit a six for the second week in a row, the ball I got out to was the worst ever bowled in the history of cricket. My eyes lit up and I gave it an almighty thump straight to a fielder causing much merriment for both sides as the surprised bolwer celebrated. It should still be in orbit rather than the cause of downfall.
We could do with some new players.

Winchester

With Stuart, my nephew, down for a few days, we took a trip out to Winchester for the day yesterday, my first visit there. Glen and Stuart only know Winchester from Shaun of the Dead, the pub they hole up in during the zombie attack but I still think of Minder when I hear the name.
We went to the Great Hall and saw the round table which is reputedly a thousand years old and weighs over a tonne. Outside are Queen Eleanor's gardens with a fountain the boys were keen to be pictured at trying to create the impression they were urinating happily amidst the throngs of tourists. Then it was on to the Gurkha museum which was full of fearsome looking weapons and it seems they are called up whenever there is a problem anywhere in the world.
The next port of call was the cathedral with its memorial to Jane Austen and the bones of past kings of England. Sadly it started to rain as we walked to the water mill and we had to go to the pub instead before heading for home in a torrential downpour which almost brought traffic to a standstill on the M27.

Wednesday walk

I took the dogs out for a stroll on Wednesday after going to the gym and ended up walking for over three hours as we followed lots of new paths before getting rather lost near Horton. The photo below shows Horton tower in the distance and we managed to walk all the way there and back which was quite an achievement for Maisie in particular.
The harvest is underway in some parts as can be seen in the photo of the corn structures in the filed. There were also lots of deer about but they ran off very quickly whenever we saw them.
The last picture is of a pond somewhere near Horton. I was totally lost at this point and it was a foul place. There were flies everywhere, the mud was stinking and there appeared to be no way of getting out which meant just charging through some hedges and coming out at the vineyards at Horton and tramping through someone's garden. Not a good place at all, I felt I was in Deliverance for a few minutes.

Gallant defeat

Iscape found themselves in the unusual position of both winning and losing in the same evening as a result of the cancellation of the league game which was going to decide who ended up bottom of the league. The game being called off meant we were awarded the three points albeit with no actual score and gave us a comfortable second from bottom position with a grand total of 9 goals scored. With a grand total of 3 goals, I was top scorer and I think it's safe to say, there is quite a bit of work to do to ensure a better season next time round.

In place of the league fixture came a cup game which pitched us against opposition from the same division as us for a change and it turned out to be a traditional cup thriller with the weather like something from early January as the rain lashed down.

Hen Dom Matt I Kev Dougie Matt C Iain Nick

Early on Dom took a blow slap bang in the face but continued without flinching but there was an early goal conceded following a flowing move down our left wing. Despite some good passing and movement, we fell further behind to a nice piece of skill and turn in the area which looked to have left us dead and buried but we showed some character with a goal from a most unexpected source. Clearly calling Matt's name, the big fella chipped the ball down the centre of the pitch. Showing fantastic vision and excellent anticipation, he put a bit more on the ball than expected and floated it over the flapping keeper. A truly remarkable goal giving Simon his first strike to the onion bag since the advent of broadband.

Sadly there was a counter strike almost immediately which left us 3 - 1 down. However, there was yet another remarkable goal from Matt C as he and Kev bore down on goal with the keeper flapping again. This time there was a slightly fortunate deflection onto Matt who showed great composure in allowing the ball to strike him in exactly the right place to rebound into the net.

Moments later we'd equalised. A pass out from defence by Matt I was allowed to run between my legs before, showboat style, I flicked it right footed to the wing where a rampaging Kevin Trill stormed downhill toward goal. He outpaced the defence and strode toward the area where he unleashed a skimming drive which flew between the keeper's legs and nestled sweetly in the goal. At 3 apiece we were in the box seat, whatever that means, and could even afford a goal defeat such are the bizarre rules behind the cup competition but we conceded a couple of late goals with some comedy defending. Even Gary couldn't find a way to get us back into the game.

There's another cup game next week but no one is quite sure what the criteria are for qualifying for the knock out stages although it is something to do with goal difference. We'll find out a little more on Monday.

Hengistbury Head

In a brief break in the wet weather, we took a walk round Hengistbury Head on Sunday including Stanpit Marsh. There were dozens and dozens of families out for a stroll before Sunday dinner with plenty of dogs chasing round. I hadn't walked as far as the beach huts before and hadn't realised how Christchurch harbour looked when viewed from a distance. The same goes for Poole harbour which I find difficult to understand how it all fits together.
I ought to do some basic geography and get my bearings sorted but I am too busy reading Moby Dick which will take several weeks to get through.

Another defeat

There was a time as a Labour supporting Plymouth Argyle fan from Scotland that I thought I was destined to support all manner of losing causes. In recent years the trend has been bucked with promotion for Plymouth to the Championship and Tony Blair winning three elections. Even Scotland are playing quite well these days.
However, there is another disturbing trend taking shape today.
Iscape - defeat after defeat
Verwood - defeat after defeat
and now Oakland is to be no more following the cabinet decision this evening.

We had a staff wellbeing day at BAT Sports and had a great time, well I did anyway. Nice gentle game of cricket which was good because the others couldn't play. So at least I know how our opposition feel each Saturday but the best thing was playing tennis. I had a couple of games of doubles lasting almost three hours in total. Haven't played for years and years so it was good to get the feel of the game pretty quickly and hit some half decent shots amongst the usual dross.

Sadly it was then time to go along to the council for the scrutiny meeting preceding cabinet and what a waste of two hours that was All the same arguments and the same inevitability about the decision. The guy making the decision has had a charisma bypass, his own party despise him and he couldn't even answer the simple questions put to him by his colleagues let alone the more probing ones from the other parties. He was flanked by two Local Authority representatives who are equally devoid of character and speak with the verve of Steve Davis long before he became interesting. It was hopeless. And don't get me started on the Liberal Democrats!!!!!

I guess a qualification for election must be that you have no life, no interests and no intellect. All the Liberals and Tories have those qualifications in abundance. The only person with any knowledge was the Labour chair. Now I know I am biased but it is true, the rest were difficult to distinguish as human beings let alone intelligent ones.

So in the end the decision is to go for two academies, I'm looking for a new school and if you want to know who to back, let me tell you who I am backing and then go for the opposite.

What a way to start the holidays. And the rain's started. Could it get any worse?

Bring on football and a hopeless ref, Dougie, I'm in the mood for it.

School decision

It is clear that the council meeting tomorrow is not going to go the way we hoped as the Lib Dems fail to do anything about their opposition to the academies in Southampton. And why should they? It was them who decided the school should close despite an initial decision to keep it open, they who failed to understand the implications that it would go to competition and they who tried to have the best of all worlds by supporting everyone and no one.

I would almost prefer the Conservatives although they are a bunch of reactionary, scare-mongering halfwits because at least you know where you are with them. That means the scrutiny meeting on Thursday will see Labour trying to block the decision, failing in their attempt and the cabinet supporting the Oasis bid.

Please don't ever vote Lib Dem.

I can start job hunting in earnest now although there won't be anything about till the autumn. Thankfully the six weeks break is upon us and I can reflect on what next.

From our correspondent

I'm enjoying reading about the game more than playing!! I can see a new career blossoming for Matt without question as long as he tells it as he sees it because you can only give what you see it would appear. As Dougie has pointed out, we need our mate Gary back pronto.

It makes for an exciting last game though and with me back, who can tell what will might happen. Apart from the obvious where we lose by even more and don't create any scoring chances.

With lots at stake going into the match, this game was being billed as a must win game for I Scape against a team just above us in the league. A defeat tonight could leave us bottom if other results went against us, and the omens weren't looking good when we realised that it would be Anders Frisk's uglier brother refereeing us again tonight. Doug had already had a run in with this ref a few weeks ago, when the man in black had refused to put a bib on despite the opposition playing in black. He explained after the game that it is FA rules for him to wear his smart black uniform.

We started the game well and put some early pressure on the opposition, but we got caught on the break to concede after a well worked passing move ended with the ball being stroked into the corner from about 8 yards. Shortly after we were caught out again (about 4 minutes into the game) and the referee made the first of many crucial decisions, which all seemed to go against us. With Hen beaten by a shot from a few yards out, Dom, who was doing what all good defenders should do and cover on the line, stretched an arm out to deflect the ball from a certain goal and around the post. PENALTY. There were certainly no complaints about the awarding of the penalty, but when the ref sent Dom off with a straight red, rather than the blue card which would mean he would be sin binned for 5 minutes, it bought strong protests from both teams about whether he really needed to send him off. Once again our jobsworth ref quoted the letter of the law saying he had no choice. We were in all sorts of trouble with just a few minutes gone.

The penalty was taken and tipped onto the post by the diving Henry and the ball cleared to safety, could we salvage anything from this game? We gave a solid performance for the rest of the first half, despite our numerical disadvantage, and we created more chances in front of goal than they did. Once again, we failed to hit the back of the onion bag with our numerous attempts and to add insult to injury they scored a second before the break to make it 2-0 at half time.

We kicked off the second half with the uphill slope to contend with as well as being a man down. This didn't stop us from pushing forward and we continued to create more chances in front of goal. We finally got our reward of a goal when after a well worked passing move, Kev burst into the area, rounded the keeper and slotted home into the empty net. We rallied thinking we still might get a result, but conceded a third shortly after scoring ourselves due to lack of numbers at the back.

Our heads didn't drop and we piled forward and then, a shot from I Scape, the ball is destined for the top corner and...........a hand from an opposition player comes out and saves the ball in a similar style to Dom's in the first half. PENALTY, RED CARD we all shouted. Alas, no, our friend the ref failed to see anything and waved away the protests. Again, their players found themselves apologising for the ineptness of the ref and agreeing it was a penalty and red card. The ref said he didn't see anything and can only give what he sees. Despite our anger we pushed on and with less than 60 seconds to go we sliced through the opposition with accurate passing and the ball found it's way to Kev on the edge of the area who slammed home into the corner.

Straight from the kick off, they passed the ball out wide and it was miscontrolled and ran over the touch line by a yard. We all stopped for the throw, whilst they ran forward and popped the ball into the net without too much resistance. Once again, the ref had failed to see the incident and once again he told me he can only give what he sees! 4-2 and the final whistle was blown.

Luckily, the one team below us also lost, so we go into next weeks final game of the season second from bottom and knowing a loss could result in us finishing bottom of the league and having to apply for re-election. Dark times indeed at I Scape.

Team: Hen, Dom, Doug, Mat I, Mat C, Darren, Dave, Kev (2). Red cards- Dom (4 mins)

P.S. I left one paragraph off the end of last weeks match report - With just seconds remaining, the score finely balanced at 2-2, Kev burst through, unmarked with just the keeper to beat. All he needed to do was keep a calm head. I think most people can probably guess what happened and yes.......the shot ended up nearer the corner flag than the goal.

Doh!!!

I've just seen Iscape lost 4 - 2 last night!!! I'm sure a full match report will be forthcoming but we are now 2nd bottom with one win and one draw from our ten matches in which we have scored a meagre 9 goals. It's not even the bottom side we face in the final game either. Oh dear.

Verwood lose as usual

We had a fixture against Bournemouth down at Chapelgate and it was an eminently winnable game given that they were promoted with us last year and have struggled somewhat in the new division. However, it was the same story with a lack of penetration in the bowling and a lack of ability in the batting.

We conceded 192 runs for just 5 wickets with one of those being a run out. Another was played on to the stumps unluckily and I took 3 for 21. I'm not trying to big up my contribution but few players seem to be enjoying actually playing better players.

The batting was similarly shoddy and batting at number 10, I was 3rd top scorer with 13 not out including a towering six. It was my first for three years and was a genuine cricket shot for a change.

Next week is a must win I fear. Another defeat and it's difficult to see us staying up.

I'm going to miss the football again tomorrow and will rely on Matt to report on our second victory of the season. Who will be top scorer after the game? All will be revealed.

Phoebe's Christening

We had a great Sunday with a trip out to church (not that that part was great) for Matt and Lucy's latest addition being christened at Charminster URC. Phoebe is 4 months old and was a welcome reminder of what we have to look forward to in three months time.
The photos show Lucy with Phoebe followed by Matt, Lucy and Phoebe and then honorary Welshman Paul with Max. I'm pretty sure Paul hadn't drunk all of those bottles himself as he was the perfect dad looking after the children conscientiously. That's a word I always associate with school reports so I better stop there.
Good to see Paul though especially as it's been three years since our last meeting. In that time he appears to have been lost to the world of football due to a knee problem. No one ever scored own goals like he did and he will be sadly missed.
The final photo captures Dougie and Leanne with Pete in the background. Dougie really is the smiliest person I know.





We had a good feed and chat in the drizzle in Matt's garden although I think the drizzle was probably more widespread than that. It was followed by an afternoon out celebrating our 24th anniversary which falls tomorrow. What better way to celebrate than by watching an action packed movie and we went off to see Die Hard 4.0, a film with no pretence, simply action all the way. Very good for what it is. Yippee Ka Yi...

A new correspondent

This post comes to you courtesy of Matt 'The Daddy' Coombs who witnessed the action on Monday in a thrilling draw/win in the cup. Iscape are the team playing in white kicking anything that moves.

As you saw we drew 2-2 (although we get a goal head start so we won 3-2). I came off really disappointed, having not won due to their keeper playing very well, our ability to keep hitting the crossbar or post and general bad luck, however the rest of the team seemed quite happy not to have lost for a change. We bossed the game from the start to finish, despite their status of being a Premier League team (albeit with just 1 point all season, so there is a very good chance we will play them next season). They went 1-0 up thanks to another 'wonder strike' against us. Kev claims to have kicked the back of the blokes foot which then propelled the ball at some pace into our goal off the corner of post/crossbar. We did equalise shortly after following a good bit of possession which ended in me trying to roll the ball into Dave's feet, who was loitering in their area. The ball appeared to hit the back of Dave's foot, which is when Kev swooped with his 'fox in the box' instincts and left foot, BANG - 1-1. They then went back into the lead following a throw from around the halfway line which was launched over the heads of our backtracking defence, only for their player to nip in between Henry and the back 3 and slot home. After a sustained period of pressure from I-Scape, the equaliser finally came following a scramble in the opposition goal mouth. The ball was blocked, then rebounded back off the crossbar and then fell to me and I rifled the ball left footed into the net. Even then we pushed on looking for a 3rd goal, but only to be foiled.

Although there could be quibbles about the paragraphing, I can find little to question in this masterpiece. There is clearly more competition for journalism in the team than attributes more commonly found on the football field.

More prom photos

The teaching staff enjoyed the prom hugely this year as there was absolutely no trouble or histrionics at any stage, neither were we visited by ex-students or students who had been 'banned' from attending.

From the bottom upwards, Johnny who teaches drama, Steve Burt who is our inclusions officer and let me stay over on Friday night, Bernard who teaches RE and is not normally quite so aggressive in his gestures, Billy who looks after work related learning as well as teaching PE and fianlly, a group shot including Anne who is Head of Year 11 and teaches PE.

Verwood beat top of the league

In a huge upset given we were playing Mudeford who were top of the division and we are languishing at the bottom, Verwood managed to secure an ultimately comfortable win on Saturday. It was hard to tell where the pitch was when we arrived due to the lack of preparation possible following the rain of the past days, weeks, months, and both sides were keen to bowl first. We lost the toss though and struggled for 111 all out after 41 overs. It was hard to score on a slow outfield with the ball moving about all over the place with so much dampness still there.

Charlie top scored with 49 and I hung about for 10 overs for a painstaking 9 as wickets fell about me. I was last man out caught on the boundary as we tried to score a few off the last few balls. However, the bowling was tight throughout supported by good fielding for a change and they were always being pulled up by the loss of more wickets.

I ended up with one wicket for 5 runs after 4 overs, and we won by about 23 runs. It was a great win and is the second time we have won this year beating the top side on both occasions. We ought to play the top team every week.

Prom night Friday 6th July

Lots of pictures from the Year 11 party at Chilworth Manor Hotel to follow. I ended up staying the night having planned to drive home. This took in a few hours down at a casino in town after the prom and bed at 4.00am before driving back to Bournemouth for the cricket where I was able to recuperate a little in the sunshine.

Reaction to academy

EDUCATION bosses are today facing a revolt over their controversial shake-up of Southampton secondary schools.

Their decision to appoint a London-based Christian organisation to run two new secondary schools has provoked widespread condemnation across the city.

The move has angered teachers, councillors, business leaders and even the new Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, Southampton Itchen MP John Denham, pictured above.

Some head teachers are calling for a review of the decision by the council's conservative education boss Peter Baillie to closes four secondary schools and replace them with two new acadamies.

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We'll have to see where this takes us now. The school is a slightly happier place today as the news sinks in. Perhaps I ought to say, a slightly less devastated place rather than happier although judging by the reaction of teachers in others schools, they are happy to see Oasis come into the city. The difference is, and this is just my opinion, Oaklands is the one school which is actually a very good school already with plans to move further forward which will be lost when the closure comes.

Oaklands to close

Life doesn’t seem to get any easier. After such a hectic time lately, it was another late night yesterday as Southampton City Council met, or at least the cabinet, which is Conservative in make up, to decide the fate of education in the city. During the past weeks I’ve attended so many meetings at the Guildhall and with individual councillors with the express aim of ensuring our favoured bidder was successful.

I know it won’t be of interest to anyone really but the Trust led by the two universities, local businesses, FE colleges etc was far and away the most popular bidder in the process and had the almost universal backing of Governing Bodies and Headteachers across the city and beyond with the advantage of not being an academy with a national rather than local agenda. All evening it appeared the Trust would win but the announcement when it came allowed Oasis Learning to emerge as winners on both sides of the city. Incredibly public opinion counted for nothing as party politics came to the fore.

Having had a drink afterwards and a couple more at home I felt pretty wrecked for school this morning but that was nothing to the tears in the staff room and stunned disbelief which pervaded the school all day.

It seems there is some hope still as the opposition parties outnumber the Tories and if they work together, they can make changes but it is a long shot.

To top it all off, I see we lost at football again although we did score. Anyone want to claim it? The score was 3 – 1 according to the website.

I had the pleasure of going to Poole Hospital this evening for my appointment with the nose specialist but we agreed my nose looked ok and decided to forego having it broken back again. The soft cartilage will take a while to settle and I’m told no football for 3 – 4 weeks which suits me fine the way I’ve been playing lately. Cricket is ok but I guess a ball in the face would not be a good idea. That is always the case though so I might give that a go this weekend as we’re playing the top team and I could give them some balls to whack all over the place before losing my wicket for 0.

Wimbledon

We had a good time at the tennis despite the rain which fell almost all day. The travel arrangements fell into place easily with buses laid on from the station to the ground and then a fairly speedy entry compared to the poor souls queuing for hours. We met up with Jane who has umpired at Wimbledon for years and I'd always wondered how much influence she might have. Fortunately she is well known and was able to get us good seats once play was underway.

Joy would have been happy to sit watching highlights on the big screen on Henman Hill I think but we did get to see number 7 seed Berdych play a Korean guy called Lee before making our way down to court 2 scheduled to be Venus Williams against Morigami from Japan. Cue jokes about it being pay per view (paper view) and how she could easily have folded during the match.

We were ushered into the press/entourage seating area and got to sit with the players families which was good. Then it rained some more and that was it for the day. I did manage a few photos though including Brian Lara with Clive Lloyd which was much more exciting that seeing the tennis players! However, we did see Navratilova as well and she would probably have a good case for being even more famous than those two.

Busy times

Having spent Weds eve in A & E, I was hoping for a quiet few days to recover but it's been a hectic time. I went to school on Thursday and made it all the way through the management meeting which finished just before 10.00pm as we put together our response as a management team to the learning futures outcome which will see the future of the school decided one way or another on Monday (today).

Friday was busy too with a leaving party after school in recognition of one of the caretakers retiring after 25 years at the school. It was race night as he is very keen on the horses and I managed to come out with a profit of £1.00 after drinks etc due to a lucky win in the fifth race where I put a bet on the same horse twice (there was a 50p stake each time) and it came home in the colours of Plymouth Argyle which was my sole criteria for backing it.

Saturday was just as hectic if not more so with a trip to Wimbledon in the rain. I'll put anohter post for that but there are a few pictures of the rain to look at for now.

This evening brings another council meeting and this time it is the final decision on who will run the school. It will be interesting to say the least as we have firmly sided with the Southampton Education Trust but they are far from favourites with an academy the likely outcome. That will mean a mass exodus of staff I fear although what people say now and do over the next year can be very different.