Longleat

We had a great time at Longleat last week although the monkey enclosure was closed as it has been all summer. My car is probably more in one piece as a result though. I did manage to get some good shots of the big cats having surreptitiously wound the window down to avoid reflection. Maria loved the Postman Pat village and the train and we have our passes which give us a chance to go again during half term in October or on a weekend to finish the other activities we didn't have time for.

Montacute House

A couple of photos from Montacute House in Somerset near Yeovil. The fish seemed intrigued by Maria and she was almost able to touch them as they gathered round. It was a beautiful place to visit, a National Trust property.
The first picture is of Old Harry's Rock near Swanage which was another one of our days out.

Isle of Lewis

These are more photos from our trip to the Hebrides with the view from my parent's house down to the bay where we enjoyed some paddling in the very cold sea followed by a group photo and the harbour in Stornoway with the castle grounds on the right. The penultimate image is of the distant beaches on Harris and finally the playground near Ness which is the best I've ever been to but it is deserted! Maria had a great time while we played on the death slide.

Isle of Lewis

We started the summer break with a trip to the Hebrides and these are some of the photos from the visit. The first shows Southampton with St Marys in the bottom left hand corner which should allow anyone who wishes to work out what else is in the photo should they want. It is not a well known first division landmark of course but one which may see a home win at some stage this year.

My dad, Alison and Maria are pictured at Callanish where the standing stones pre date even Stonehenge and they are shown in the following photograph. I managed to get a picture when the visitors where obscured behind the stones so it looks like the site was deserted. I even managed to avoid the guys strimming the grass.

The last two images are from the reconstructed black house village and Bridie is with Maria sat on the extruding stone which allows access to the roof and finally Maria is very pleased with some straw she's taken from the thatched roof.

Lulworth Castle

Yesterday we spent the day at Lulworth Castle which isn't so much a castle as a hunting lodge set in the big open spaces of the Purbecks. The castle itself didn't get much of a look in as we had Maria but the others on the trip went round it very quickly which must indicate there wasn't a lot to see. Outside though it was lovely with a jousting tournament on when we arrived followed by a fire show which was entertaining for the crowds watching.

We went down to the farm which had lots to see including this rhea which was just about to peck at the camera lens. A very inquisitive bird.

Maria was very happy running around exploring the grounds with lots of places to hide away before the farm where she got to stroke lots of animals including a lovely donkey.

Sparkshop success mounts

Once again Monday night brought the sweet taste of victory with plenty of reasons to be cheerful as the team arrived fit and raring to go with new Matt and Pete arriving on their bikes fully warmed up.

Rich returned in goal and in Dom's Pearl Jam absence the rest of the team was Dougie and Phil at the back, Matt C, Kev and Pete in the middle with new Matt and myself playing a more forward role.

The game was close on paper as they went in with a similar record of 4 wins and 2 defeats, mirroring our efforts thus far but a tight contest was rendered less likely with them playing the game a man short, a loss not noticed by several of our team. In fact it was the opposition who put us under pressure to begin with but that changed with Pete running amok in their area and tempting a foul challenge which saw the big fella step up and smack confidently home from the spot after working out what one step was. A bottom corner shot, it was simply unstoppable.

A second goal in two weeks sees Dougie in equal third spot as top scorer. The second was not far behind with Phil unleashing punishment on a screamer into the net from a neat lay off, another special goal to add to his growing collection.

The remainder of the game was all about new Matt, spaceship, who landed a hat trick of mighty strikes, well apart from the first which bobbled over the keeper following a great flicked head on from Pete. A chip and a fantastic volley completed a memorable three for Matt with the third thundering down off the bar and over the line from a clever ball from Kev.

We now move into positive goal difference despite our 9 - 1 defeat earlier in the league and into fourth place overall with 3 games in hand over the third placed team. Not a bad effort from such a rag tag team.

Equally impressive is our qualification for the cup quarter finals. Fresh from the final last time out, we qualified thanks to the 5 - 1 win last week, Dom's goal clinching it apparently!

Swanage beach

Alison, Bridie, Maria and myself caught a ferry from Poole quay to Swanage last week in a journey lasting just over an hour as we rounded Old Harry's Rock and the Purbeck coast. We then had over four hours on the beach and in the town of Swanage with its traditional Punch and Judy show.

It was lovely and sunny for the afternoon and meant I got to have a swim for the first time this year.

The ferry back was accompanied by a commentary from the skipper as he pointed out landmarks etc. It's a very relaxing and enjoyable way of getting to Swanage.

Maria dancing

The Biggest Sensation of the 21st Century

It is no reflection on the game that this post has taken a week to arrive because there were sensational scenes at the football last week in a cup match against a team in our division. We were missing Pete La but had Dave C in goal fresh from his great showing the previous week, Dougie and Dom at the back, Kev and Matt C in the middle with big Phil, and new Matt and myself up front.

In all truthfulness it was a comfortable win but that is not the story complete by any means. It was Phil who got us off the mark with a stunning right foot shot smashed home with the outside of the foot to the keeper's right from near the edge of the area. It was then that the universe was turned upside down with a goal from Dom making a rare sorty forward and showing the positional sense of a Gerd Muller or Romario in sniffing out the place to be as the ball was passed back to him whilst he rushed at breakneck speed into the box. The ease with which he sorted out his feet and struck his shot was exemplary as the ball was slightly under his feet.

The word lashed springs to mind here as that is exactly what happened with the rasping right footer rocketing between the keeper's legs and and into the net like some kamikaze cod wishing to spend an evening coated in batter, doused in salt and vinegar and wrapped in yesterday's paper.

Less surprisingly but equally spectacular was the shot from Kev which dipped like a Blackpool pleasure beach ride and through the keeper quicker than a Tuesday night kebab. At this point you could see the big fella tempted to push forward and he was soon to be seen lurking near the back post as we awaited a corner. He leapt heroically to the ball powering it home inevitably, or at least so it looked, but he was shoved as he was about to plant it home, falling to the ground like a jockey at Beecher's Brook on the second circuit of the National. There was no question of him lying lamely though as a penalty beckoned and there was only ever going to be one taker. An excellent penalty was thumped in giving us two entirely unexpected goalscorers on the night.

The downside came almost immediately afterwards with a header back to Dave in goal slightly misjudged and landing on the bar before being nodded into an empty net by the attacker. That meant we turned round at 4 - 1 up with the prospect of further goals but there was to be only one more with a corner swung in direct by Kev to give him a second on the night.

It was a bit of a stroll in some ways but only thanks to the splendid goals of our defensive duo, Doug and Dom in da house.

Sparkshop update

It's been quite some time since the last report and a lot has happened with the new league meaning we are playing every week now. It is at the stage where we are playing cup matches though and that leaves us handily placed in the league after a nice little run. We're currently standing on 12 points with 4 wins from 6 games and that despite a poor goal difference.

That came from a 9 - 1 drubbing but we've won the three games since with goals coming from new Matt (Spaceship) 5 Iain 4 Pete 2.

Last night it was a chance to gain some respectability from the team that thrashed us 9 - 1 a few weeks ago and who have let in just the one goal in the league. It was therefore with some apprehension we learned of the sad absence of super centre back Dom and Rich the cat who was holidaying in the Lake District. It seemed to be a weakened team therefore but all fears were allayed in the magnificent warm up of football tennis next to a lamppost where we gelled as a cohesive unit ready to improve on that recent hammering by defending with as many as possible whilst relying on Dave C as our goalkeeping stand in to at least match Dougie's performance against the same opposition. That had been a memorable occasion and some of them are good memories. Please email if you can recall them!

We took to the field with 3 pint Pete having had 4 pints and chasers so he was clearly up for the game. The rest of us were nowhere near as prepared and soberly lined up with Dave in goal, a back 3 of Phil, Matt C and Dougie, a midfield duo of Kev and Pete La leaving myself to wander aimlessly upfront as new Matt (Spaceship) started as sub.

It was a wet evening but it turned in to a feisty one as in a cup shock the equal of anything seen this season, Sparkshop took the lead with a well worked goal. Marauding forward the big fella anticipated a through ball and expertly cut it out, taking instant control. He looked up with the eyes of seventies favourite 'eagle eyed action man' and arrowed a pass through to the area. A delicate knock to the side allowed Kev to burst goalward and invited a shot. Begging to be smashed home Kev duly obliged and unerringly found the far corner with a wicked right foot shot which nestled in the corner of the submissive net, the keeper nowhere.

The game became tetchy on their part with countless complaints directed at the ref about decisions which to be honest, were perfectly straightforward and correctly called. All too soon the match became a player light with the mouth of one getting him into hot water with the outstanding official who sent him to the sin bin for four minutes. By the time he was to return, another was gone with a similar comment about cheating seeing him rested.

Despite the advantage we were sitting deep but there were chances to pull further ahead. New Matt had a tousle with a defender as the first half drew to a close and saw a fierce shot beaten away whilst Pete found himself regularly steaming forward leaving a wake of lunging tackles behind him. It was to no avail though as an equaliser did come late on.

With the years of experience behind me in defending I found myself unable to worry too much about chasing back as a right wing overlap developed. I had hoped no one had noticed but captain Kev was not fooled although he barely mentioned it! The cross was thumped home from close range by an onrushing attacker leaving Phil cursing himself quite unnecessarily as the damage had been done earlier in the move.

On the plus side, a very good performance all round with Dave particularly notable in goal. Safe hands and good distribution, despite something of a letdown in the post match photos he was flashing.

New Matt will now be known as Spaceship following his altercation with one of the opposition. It isn't altogether clear what that means but it is likely to stick more than Teletubby did.

Good game lads.