Christmas Eve photos

Sorry about showing off my trophies, the hippo's in the middle by the way, but I might not get any more so I've decided to put them on the site to remind Glen in particular that there was a time when I had more than him.

We love Christmas Eve candles and will be having a few drinks over the evening in the candlelight.

Maria on Christmas Eve

All the shopping is out the way and it's time to get ready for Christmas Day. Maria is supporting herself pretty well now and is looking very well with big smiles for her little teddy.

Happy Christmas, especially to Bridie in Plymouth.

Cricket awards

I'm not sure why but I ended up with 3 awards from the cricket season. The comedy one was the Hippo award which normally goes to a shoddy piece of fielding. For example, Chris Joliffe's trousers coming down when he dived for a ball. However, I can honestly say I don't recall anything like that during the season. I wonder if it is because of the last shot of the season which meant we got relegated?!

I missed the evening due to illness but a team mate popped two large trophies and a cuddly hippo round this morning.

The two proper ones were for 'All rounder of the year' (not round by the way) and the one I'm most pleased with, Players' Player. Nice to be appreciated by the rest of the team despite the terrible shot I got out to in the final game.

Happy birthday Bridie

Having broken up on Wednesday, I drove down to Plymouth for Bridie's 21st on Thursday. She had lots of presents and a specially baked cake to go with the Christmas presents as she's staying in Plymouth over the holiday due to work commitments.

We managed to get out of her bank owing £15.00 to close her account on the advice of the cashier who had already closed the account before informing us of the outstanding charges. She said we ought to pay but as the account had been closed we could simply walk out. Having debated the best course of action, we were out of the door before she'd finished her sentence.

We had a nice meal at Bella Italia before seeing Chrissie and Murdina and some of the many children as well as making time for a visit to Asda which we have to do every time we are in Plymouth. Paul is now scouting for Plymouth Argyle which means he gets free tickets for home matches and that means they'll be going to Home Park for Boxing Day. I did get myself an Argyle scarf from the Argyle shop.

Unfortunately I felt worse and worse during the day and spent the next two days in bed, missing the football and cricket drinking sessions.

Happy birthday Bridie.

We win at last!!!

Iscape cruised to a thrilling 7 - 3 vistory last night in the third game of the new campaign. After two defeats and turning up on a bitterly cold evening, the last thing we wanted to know was that we were short of players and had to wait for two lads to finish their game before they joined up with us but what a two they proved to be.

Dom and Matt I were absent as was Hen who continues to be plagued by his finger, meaning Dan and Tom came into the defence and attack respectively with Dougie pulling the short straw to return to goal. Naturally he was given constant reminders about being in goal after the last game we'd played against this team when he had 'forgotten' and simply let most everything into an unguarded net. That 6 - 0 loss was the low point of recent games but what a difference this time.

We took the lead from a tidy finish shortly after the start, Tom hitting home from inside the 'D' but the signs were already there that this was going to be a game in which we could play football, even Kev who passed to his own team for the first time after 10 minutes (not from lack of trying, more inability!) The second came from the same source but this time the shot smashed high into the top right corner from distance, a shot that took the keeper by surprise, and we were comfortably ahead. Then came a defensive slip which left the striker one on one and Dougie did his best to live up to the mantra 'get down early'. No one does it like Big Si and he hit the deck as the ball sailed over his prostrate form with a despairing hand grasping the air like a mountaineer in mid fall.

However, Kev then pulled out the latest in the line of Christmas crackers with a spectacular left footed volley which sped into the left corner from the edge of the 'D'. All of his goals have been stunners so far this season and it was easy to call as the trajectory took it beyond the keeper into the goal. The ball was played in from a free kick and he turned in one slick movement like a well greased spindle, swivelled on the proverbial sixpence, lifted his left foot from the floor and sweetly struck a volley which could have graced Centre Court Wimbledon.

The game saw us play quality football throughout with 3 goals in a few minutes in the second half putting us well clear. However, the league website shows the result didn't count because of the 2 'borrowed' players. Nevertheless, it's probably the most most enjoyable game we've had for a while.

Almost there

Here I am in inclusion again on a cold Thrusday morning. I've just been teaching a Year 11 class who are doing some creative writing and, at last, they seem to have got the idea of showing, not telling. Interestingly, to me at least, I have met two ex-students in the last week who have decided to go into teaching. There is already one of my ex-students working here on a graduate teacher training programme and it is her best friend who has come in today looking to do the same. So it's a day when you feel reminded of the difference you can make in the lives of other people. They are all looking to teach English.

We have a meeting later this afternoon with the new school providers to look at their suggested leadership structure followed by a management meeting with the other school we are merging with. It will be a late night but it will perhaps clarify things a little more clearly. In the meantime I am going to be applying a new job over Christmas. There is headship at the school in Sidmouth. It has a 6th Form which immediately rules me out really but I might get an interview which would be useful in itself.

A consistent start for Iscape

I neglected to put up a report for the first game of the new league at Wimborne last week. Suffice to say most people would say it was likely to have been because we lost: they'd be right. We had a bit of disappointing game despite the return of big Murph and the skills of stand-in Nick in goal. The sole highlight was a stunning goal from Kev following a swift move starting from a throw out by Nick to my left foot and a first time cross field ball which found the blond(?) striker in space. He lobbed the keeper with a first time shot and brought a little respectability to the scoreline. Having said that, we almost got back to a goal behind when a penalty was denied for a blatant handball which the defence conceded was a dead cert pen. Instead we conceded again ourselves and that was that.

We played better last night in sub-zero temperatures which caused Spanish Dave to cry off claiming he was in Devon. It is likely that he couldn't find his gloves. Within seconds of the start we were a goal behind in comedy fashion. As Nick put it, a Youtube moment from Kev left the striker free cutting in from the left and sliding to the floor as he smashed a shot curling inside the far post. Kev was still looking for the ball at that stage. He had stepped over it several times without seeing it in an early pantomime performance as we resisted the urge to shout' "It's behind you!" at him. Impressively, Kev was able to claim later that someone should have been covering for him.

To be fair he followed that up with a quality goal thanks to his finish but also the Coombes- Salmon combination that provided a gilt edged opportunity. A ball in from the left was headed on by Matt and crossed right footed to Kev who unleashed a fierce volley into the net at the keeper's left. A cracking goal. Better was to follow in respect of the score with a second goal flwoing from the same providers. Matt played a ball through to me and I flicked over the defence to give Kev a chance on the volley which he wrong footed the keeper with as the ball rolled into the net.

We were playing well at that point with a new 2 man defence, Dom and Doug, supported by Matt I, Matt C and Kev in the middle. Sadly the lead was lost when a kick out was interecepted and smacked in and then we fell behind when an underhit backpass was interecepted and slotted home. Resisting the temptation to allow the guilty party to remain anonymous, Dougie held his hands up later and accepted it was Nick's fault as he had not anticipated well enough. Clearly the keeper ought to have been moving forward to the edge of the D to clear the backpass but not having played with Dougie for long perhaps he didn't realise the specialism in underhit backpasses. Now he knows!

A fourth was conceded from a cross from the left which was headed back across goal, saved well, but followed up with a shot that confirmed our defeat.

The only other point to report was comedy Kev's clearance to prevent a corner in which he hooked the ball over his shoulder but simply kicked it forward and high over the 60ft fence surrounding the pitch. Some people though tit was a shot but that would be cruel. Pepper would not have been impressed.

Swan Green Hampshire

The photo is from our final cricket match of the season at Emery Down in the New Forest. It was the game where we needed 4 runs to avoid relegation but I got out! It's featured in the Wisden calendar and shows Dan bowling, Charlie behind the stumps, Mark and Gerry at slip, Chris at short extra cover and Nigel at mid off.

The ground is in a beautiful location and was selected for the calendar because it fits in so perfectly with the traditional image of village cricket in this country. It would have been better if I'd got a few more runs.

Maria getting into the Chrstmas spirit