Oaklands at St Mary's

Having won through to the final of the Hampshire Cup, our Year 11 lads played at St Mary's on Friday with a game to remember. Most of the team had a PE exam in the morning but with that out of the way, they were treated to a pre match meal before arriving at the dressing rooms to be greeted by new kit with their names emblazoned on the back. The warm up was extensive and allowed them to enjoy the luxury of a pitch without having to clear the ground of piles of poo or having to avoid the mini mopeds roaring across the field. The downside is that they over did the amount of work, allied to the headless chicken approach early in the game, and there were many cases on both sides, of them going down with cramp in the last quarter of an hour.

The outcome was a 3 - 0 defeat sadly. They conceded a goal with the last kick of the first half in what had been an evenly matched game, and that meant they had to push for an equaliser. As is the case in proper football, that meant exposing themselves at the back. (Sounds familiar to Dougie!) Two breakaway goals gave a false impression of the divide between the teams but there is no doubt the other side played with more composure. Our lads lost if a bit and I was able to get on to the pitch to separate a few of them who were having a bit of a melee in front of a 12 year old referee. At least he looked 12.

I won't mention any of the trouble afterwards. It was all fairly low key!