Sunday 23 June 2013

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 46 v London Broncos 14 - Rugby League, Super League

Sunday 23rd June 2013
at Belle Vue/the Rapid Solicitors Stadium
Rugby League, Super League, Round 19
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (30) 46
Tries: Fox 4, Mathers 13, Kirmond 21, 38, 66, Sykes 24, Mariano 73, Wood 76.
Goals: Smith 7 from 8
London Broncos (4) 14
Tries: Colbon 40, Dixon 52, 58.
Goal: Grady 1 from 3
Admission, £10 on the day, or £5 if booked in advance
Programme £2.50, Attendance 8,203
Super League table following today's matches
Left click on any of the pictures for enlarged versions
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats:
Mathers, Fox, Collis, L. Smith, Cockayne, Sykes, T. Smith, Poore, Wildie, Amor, Mariano, Kirmond, Washbrook.
Replacements - Lauitiiti, Wood, Wilkes, Raleigh.
London Broncos:
Robertson, Colbon, Channing, Little, Dixon, Sarginson, Dorn, Krasniqi, Fisher, Wheeldon, Melling, Grady, Fairbank.
Replacements - Bryant, Bishay, Dollapi, Wicks.
Match report from the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats website
140 balloons were released as Wakey entered the field of play,
to mark Wakefield Trinity's 140th birthday
Match report from London Broncos website
Match report from BBC Sport website
ME TO WELCO
E VUE BELL
THE66POW neutral overview
A straightforward home win for 'Wakey'.
There was no way back for London after the break, once the home side had amassed a 30-0 lead, before Liam Colbon took a Harry Little pass in the dying seconds of the first half, to touch down for an unconverted try.
While Wakefield were on cruise control, the injury depleted Broncos struggled to find any cohesion or make ant headway from the outset, though they did improve after half time.
HT 30-4
Kieramn Dixon's brace of second half tries for London, were both exceptional efforts, but the visitors had too big a hill to climb following a one sided first half and they never looked likely to aspire to anything more than mastering the art of damage limitation.
But after the flurry of activity from the Broncos, Wakefield took over again and finished the game strongly.
Danny Kirkmond was unplayable at times, as he claimed his hat trick and Lee Smith's kicking was virtually flawless as he successfully converted seven out of his eight kicks.
To put things into perspective, the visitors had to make a whole lot of changes to their pack today.
Three of the visitors team, were making their debuts, including the youngsters Harry Little and Joel Wicks. And that lack of familiarity showed in the first half, as Wakefield showed no mercy to the Londoners plight and put in a solid, professional and focused performance.
The Broncos looked lively and more aggressive after the restart, but there resistance ran out of steam and the home side finished the game comfortably on top.
FT 46-14
It's a goal! And ten points to the Broncos
The Broncos supporters who'd made the journey to West Yorkshire were good for a laugh. I'd guess having a decent grip on humility, combined with an highly amusing display of gallows humour, helps to get them through the vast majority of games they watch.
Friday night's Castleford Tigers 30 v Hull FC 28 epic encounter, might have made for a more intriguing end to end epic, which kept the suspense going right until the very last moment, but this afternoon's 140th Anniversary afternoon for Wakefield Trinity, was still wholly enjoyable.
Belle Vue/the Rapid Solicitors Stadium - A panoramic view 

Saturday 8 June 2013

Auchinleck Talbot 3 v Hurlford United 0, Evening Times SJFA League Champions Cup Final.

Saturday 8th June, 2013
at Newlandsfield Park, Newlands, Glasgow, home of Pollok FC
Scottish Junior Football Association,
Evening Times League Champions Cup Final.
Auchinleck Talbot (2) 3
Ray Montgomery 22, 27
Scott McGlip OG 79
Hurlford United (0) 0
Hurlford United's John Craig sent off 55 minutes
Admission £6, Programme £2, Attendance 783
Left click images for enlarged versions.
An all Ayrshire final, played between the SJFA West Region Premier Division champions Auchinleck Talbot and West Region First Division champions Hurlford United.
'The Bot', as today's winning team are quaintly known, completed an impressive treble, with a comfortable win, on a gloriously sunny afternoon in Glasgow; having also won the Scottish Junior Cup last week, when they beat Linlithgow Rose 1-0 in the final, at Almondvale, the home of Livingston FC.
In Scotland, the term 'Junior' football does not relate to the age of players. It's the equivalent of what we in Englandshire, would refer to as 'Non League', i.e. not senior level, a la Premier League and Football League.
Football for youngsters, north of the border, is generally known as 'Youth' (up to Under-19) or 'Juvenile' (from Under 19 to Under-21 level) football.
Urgh! What have I stood in?
Pretty much as expected, Auchinleck dominated the game for the most part and were too strong for a Hurlford side who had very sportingly, given double winners Talbot a guard of honour as they came out on to the pitch.
United's manager, Derek McCollough summed it up after the game thus: "Today we were up against the best Junior side in Scotland and it's a tough task. Talbot are a real machine".
The Premier Division champions, inevitably took the lead on 22 minutes, when Mick McCann created an opportunity for Ray Montgomery to open the scoring via the upright.
And five minutes later, the same 'McCann, Montgomery and via the upright' combination struck again, the put Auchinleck firmly in control.
Hurlford tried their utmost to get back into the game, but they barely troubled Andy Leishman in the Talbot goal. Possibly the occasion got to a couple of the United players, because once or twice they resorted to rushing attempts on goal rather than taking a few seconds to weigh up their options, when it was apparent that clear cut chances against their dominant opponents would be few and far between.
HT - Auchinleck Talbot 2 v Hurlford United 0
I'm not sure exactly how many supporters Hurlford had in the ground, though there were a few dozen quite outspoken and vociferous ones stood close to us on the covered terrace side of the ground during the second half ... but I'd estimate that at least three quarters of the crowd was made up of Auchinleck supporters ... and all but a couple of people in the Pollok FC Social Club prior to the game seemed to be 'Bot' fans too.
Ten minutes into the second half, any short lived hopes 'The Ford' held of getting back into the game, all but vanished without a trace, when their number 11, John Craig, was shown a straight red card for a foul on Stephen White. 
Some of the Hurlford fans, vented their frustrations at the referee and his assistant on the near touchline; saying that the sending off had killed the game as a spectacle. 
It probably had, but it wasn't the match officials who were to blame. 
I wouldn't be so as generous to say that they got everything right all afternoon, but it wasn't the referee who caught Stephen White with his studs up, was it!?
At several recent games, I've seen some prime examples of teams upping their game when they've been reduced to ten men, but today alas, Auchinleck were far too strong to be undone by the remaining Hurlford players applying more effort to compensate for their numerical disadvantage.
With just over ten minutes remaining, Kyle Faulds whipped a low cross over from the right hand side of the penalty area and Hurlford defender Scott McGlip diverted the ball into his own net.
Effectively that killed the game off and Auchinek Talbot cantered home until the final whistle. 
Game over.
FT - Auchinleck Talbot 3 v Hurlford United 0
Though both of my travelling companions today, are definitely what you'd term as hard core ground hoppers, I'm still standing by my claim, that I am actually not one... I'm a football fan, who just happens to watch a broad spectrum of teams, plying their trade at various levels of the beautiful game, while visiting a multitude of different grounds in the process.
But by now, I know that is starting to sound a bit like like an "I'm not gay but my boyfriend is", living in denial type argument.
For the record, I might be, but he's definitely not!
A great day all told, in good company ... and by way of a bonus, that nice Mr Picken from Scotter, took us to The Agricultural Hotel, an excellent pub in Penrith, on the way back. 
Top man!
And I was home in plenty of time for a big home cooked supper with my good lady too. 
By rule of thumb, when I collate my complete total of games per season list, I usually count May 31st as the cut off point.
Whereby anything up to and including that date, is where I stop for one season and anything after then counts towards the following season's total. 
It's the kind of moral dilemma that keeps hardcore hoppers... and, err people like me, awake for hours on end immersed in the depths of preponderance of a nighttime... it's little wonder I look so dishevelled each and every morning. 
However, seeing as this was the conclusion to Auchinleck Talbot and Hurlford United's 2012-13 campaign, I'm going to flout that rule this time around. 
Rules schmules! n' all that.
But, this game is actually, genuinely (and ...err, possibly), my last of the 2012-13 season... so roll on the pre-season friendlies in July, before the withdrawal symptoms from my football addiction become too unbearable.
POLLOK F C. SOCIAL LUB

Sunday 2 June 2013

Ex Footballers XI 10 v Famous People XI 3 - Charity Match At Glapwell FC

Sunday 2nd June 2013
at Hall Corner, Glapwell FC
8th Annual Jamie Walker Charity Game
Mansfield Town & Chesterfield XI (5) 10
Once Upon A Smile (2) 3
Admission £5, Programme £1,
Attendance quite a few
Click link for details of this charity game
Paul Cox and Paul Cook, the current managers of Mansfield Town and Chesterfield respectively, were due to play today, but in the event, both had to pull out through injury.
One team had some ex Stags and Spireites players in it, the other was made up of football playing celebrities, from soap operas, reality TV shows and pop groups that I've personally never heard of.
I'm told that a few TV stars from Waterloo Road, Hollyoaks and Being Victor were playing here today.
But I was far to polite to ask, what, where and who the bloody hell are Waterloo Road, Hollyoaks and Being Victor?
Tom Naylor and David Caldwell, two ex Stags
players from ever so slightly different eras
Nathan Arnold, ex of Mansfield Town but now of Alfreton Town, opened the scoring, with a brace of exhibition finishes and Shane Nicholson added a third, but I wasn't taking any notes and soon lost track of who scored when and in what order, though Northern Ireland international Jamie Ward, who currently plays for Derby County, did weigh in with four other goals, including one from the half way line.
I counted 10 goals for the Ex Footballers XI (including one I was told about that I missed when I nipped to the bar) and 3 for the Famous People XI, so that's the total I'm going along with.
I've subsequently asked the match organiser, a match official, two players and the most anally retentive statto type, speccy anorak in the known universe, what the final score was ... and I couldn't get a consistent answer, if I got any answer at all.
But today wasn't about keeping records and having to get the paperwork filled in correctly, it was about charity.
But, for posterity; I'm going to post that it was 10-3 on this here blog, which is recognised the world over, as the official arbitrator and final word on all things football ... so there ;-)
"Ooh look, it's that Jack Sugden's lad from Emmerdale and Shane Ritchie's son from real life" said an excited middle aged woman as I wandered by on my way to the ice cream van.
Hmm, I've heard of Emmerdale and even the Sugdens, but I have no idea which channel real life is on.
I'm not going to add this to my games total for the 2012-13 season, nor make it my first of the 2013-14, because to my way of thinking, it is a closed season charity game, sat in between the two.
But, it scratched a football itch and raised a decent sum of money for a couple of good causes, which is the main thing.