tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89186911302074950472024-02-20T04:51:33.330+00:00THE MIGHTY SALE<center>I'm a 1st XI player, 'right-place-right-time' centre forward, and proud member of the 124 year-old institution that is Sale Hockey Club. Here you can find me waxing lyrical about Hockey to an intermediate level of knowledge, and when I say Hockey I mean Hockey down here at the mighty Sale HC!</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-67746018551053763502017-01-16T16:42:00.000+00:002017-01-16T16:42:19.667+00:004 Years later...If you're reading this message then thank you for checking in on us.<br />
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The last message on this account apologised profusely for a week long gap in posting, quite what level of contrition must be exhibited for an absence of near 4 years is beyond me. Whatever the length of absence, leaving readers on a cliffhanger with no winding up post is poor form indeed, so please accept my (deferred) apologies for that.<br />
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It did finally come to my attention (Thanks Phil!) that the silence lay heavy on this blog account so I thought I would go some may to rounding things up for now, with a view to gauging the popular demand for a full time return.<br />
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To summarise 4 years worth of mighty Sale hockey would be a task of epic proportions. The ups and downs have been many, performances of mythic glory and utter despair have been put in by old faces and new. Players have come and gone and come again, coaches and captains and divisions have changed all across the board, and we've even gone up and down in our number of teams. Throughout all of the action Sale has persisted in applying its familiar brand of imperfect but amicable Hockey, whatever the weather.<br />
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For my own part I still fit firmly into that mould of imperfection. My days of mediocre forward play have long gone as the yard of pace that I never quite had vanished forever to be replaced by an extra stone of weight. I migrated further down the pitch and now ply my trade mostly as a mediocre midfielder instead. The forward play now being left to younger and faster men... and older and faster men too. The old skills have not deserted me however and I still proudly hold the title of being Sale's worst controller of flicked passes. I remain confident of seeing off all challengers for that crown.<br />
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The pressures of modern life and the changes in the game are certainly a constant challenge for all of us down here over the last 4 years, but we remain true to our social Hockey values and positive outlook on all results (an outlook commonly used for sure). Despite challenges though I'm happy to report that it is a very exciting time to be a part of Sale for reasons that for brevity I will skip over for now.<br />
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Anyway, before I get too deep into the detail of what's current, what's coming, and what's done I'd just like to give a positive update for anyone who's checked in and wondered what desolation and despair befell this once regular blog. If you happen to be reading this for the first time and are thinking of joining the glorious world of the mighty Sale then I would implore you pilgrim, explore further our website, get in touch with our skippers, come down to our training, and get involved in playing (probably) the greatest sport in the world for (definitely) the greatest club in the world.<br />
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Until next time (whenever that may be) good luck and come on Sale!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-20168208238950345712013-02-26T21:41:00.003+00:002013-02-26T21:41:42.157+00:00With what RemainsApologies apologies, profuse apologies for the absence of a blog for a while. No, the season has not ground to a halt, rather a combination of busyness, illness, and exhaustion has combined into a lethal cocktail of anti-blogness. Luckily for us all I believe I have now passed through the worst of that, but it leaves me with many things to cover and perhaps not the wit or vocabulary to do it all justice, I'll give it a go though.<br />
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Well, we may as well be blunt, it looks to us as though title aspirations are over for this year, 12 points off the top with 4 games to go tells that story. This has happened as a result of us losing our crunch game against Timperley, very gutting result that. We played well and had them for a time, but let them back in and fell just short again. Since I've last been with you we've also tested our mettle against Colwyn, the leagues other high flyers. A slightly more creditable result of 2-2 there, still a bit disappointed but you can't win them all. The theme when we look back on the crucial moments this year will be that we just fell ever so slightly short, both of obtaining our desire of topping the table and in giving full credit to our abilities. The fact now is that we face a different question from how well we can place in the league (we should be pretty safe of getting 3rd place), but rather what to do with the time we have left this season?<br />
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I know, and most of the lads who were around when we went up know, that this is the time where we start preparing to take on the league next season. We do not feel that we've plateaued and we do not feel that we've given it all and everything (well, I don't personally) so now we can look at ourselves and at our league and say, we can be the best team in this league. That's how it was at the end of the season before we won our title and that is how it is now. We CAN be the best team in our league.<br />
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How to achieve that? That relies on individual reactions coming together to create a dominate team mentality, a winning mentality. I'm loathe to say we've lost that winning mentality but the edge is a bit blunted. Perhaps that's the best way to use our time, by honing and sharpening our edge, winning the important battle, the mental battle, in preparation for the physical battle yet to come. For me the physical side of things have begun to take its toll. I've been unable to train for the last few weeks for an amalgamation of dumb, boring, reasons but training is really the first and most crucial step to staying sharp and getting better. It isn't always fun but its value is high. At this stage of the season I find the mind willing but the body wishing for rest, by way of compensation for missing out tonight I decided to work on some sprinting. Where at the start of the season my body reluctantly but eventually acquiesced to heavy fitness work tonight my muscles cried and screamed out in defiance, like a slave in rebellion to his master, I limped aching and wounded home to sulk on my fatigue. Then again, maybe that is just me, never was a great athlete.<br />
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Collectively we want to be playing our best come the last game, so they'll be the new benchmark I'll report back on. We need some more work before then, and with some of us banged up and bruised it isn't going to be easy, but then that's half the fun; and with only 4 games left I can say one thing for certain: we'll miss it when we're done.<br />
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<b>Song of the week</b><br />
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Well I fancy a bit of a run of wins for the run in, ideally with a level of performance that increase incrementally each week, that'd be a nice way to round off. 12 points from 12 games. To some up this idealised run of wins I'm winding back the clock only a short 5 years when this cheeky little number came out. Yes, it came out 5 years ago. Yes, you are getting old. Sorry. This weeks song of the week is <u>Gnarls Barkley- Run</u><br />
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<b>Teas League</b><br />
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*Update Coming soon*Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-62902711933998733512013-02-09T10:56:00.001+00:002013-02-09T10:56:07.269+00:00Game day MorningIt's that time yet again. The rubber meets the road. Today we'll be facing down potentially our biggest game of the season. I can't wait and the excitement is tingling through me. Big games and important matches are the perhaps the best thing about playing a team sport. Pulling together and battling through to victory is the finest feeling in the game. Mentality is crucial in any game but that big game mentality is impossible to replicate, there are some days where it is just there. Today is one such day, a day to remember.<br />
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We're facing down the team above us, local rivals, and title chasers. They've beaten us twice already this season (something that we shouldn't forget), and now we get the chance to visit a bit of revenge on them. The aim is to perform as best as we can and play the best we can play, if we can do that we will win the game, no ifs and no buts about that, and we need it, must have it, and will take it.<br />
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I'm conscious in these important moments not to over do it. Writing about playing sport you want to make every moment climactic, every game more important than the last. I want to say things like, 'this is it' and 'it's all on the line', but while that might be a romantic way of putting it when you look at truly successful teams they simply to about their business in a focused and organised way. That's the way we want to approach it, but let me be clear, there is an ocean of difference between composure and complacency, whichever angle we wish to motivate ourselves from today, we will still need a big performance from every man in the team. Every man counts.<br />
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Last week we had a decent win where we fought back from being under pressure to see off our opponents in a composed fashion, so that's what we're carrying forward. I'm unsure if I've seen us react so positively before to pressure, and that shows confidence, and belief. I'll deal with the fallout from this game next time but right now it's time for myself and the rest of thew guys to get focused and prepared so apologies if this weeks entry has been kept short and sweet.<br />
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<u><b>Song of the Week</b></u><br />
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As I've said above we've lost to our next opponents twice this year already (one friendly, one league game). This is our last chance to show them our value and skill this season. I know it is an opportunity we do not want to waste. Is revenge on the mind? A little bit. so this week it's time for another classic track from the godfather of soul himself. This weeks song of the week is <u>James Brown- The Payback</u>.<br />
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Now while I may be in the heat of the moment for today's game last week was an away day, which means....<br />
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<u><b>The Teas league</b></u><br />
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It's back! What will 2013 bring for the Teas league. Last times effort saw a brand new table leader after they cooked us up a Christmas Dinner! Safe to say the bar has been set very high here and now hopefully the competition will hot up. So let's see what the wealthy folks down at Bowdon can rustle up for us!...<br />
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<i>Disclaimer: This is only a bit of fun. I am an appalling cook myself
and in no way a food expert. All criticism will be tongue-in-cheek and
if any people/clubs choose to take offence please know that all reviews
are intended to make no negative reflection on the friendly welcome and
hospitality that all teams always provide us, for which we are very
grateful and thankful for.</i><br />
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<u>2/2/13 Bowdon Away</u><br />
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Sandwiches and Chips<br />
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Aah the old fail safe returns once again, let's see how it scored.<br />
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<b>Substance</b> 5/10- Not really exciting but not really problematic. The other Sandwich and chips effort scored a 5 so no reason to deny that to this batch.<br />
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<b>Taste </b>5/10- Maybe our taste buds have developed to appreciate richer flavours over the season with the variety of things we've had l;aid before us. What I do know is that while the taste was problematic it was, at best, adequate.<br />
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<b>Presentation</b> 0/10- Oh Bowdon, we know we are but simple yeomen from the lesser neighbourhoods of south Manchester, but to deny us the simple privilege of a plate for our chips? They made us eat collectively from dish and bowl, like serfs or swine. The cut is deep, the cut is deep.<br />
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Big let down on presentation there, it means Bowdons entry can only be heading one way.... down! Let's Check the table...<br />
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1. Oxton (Roast Dinner, Trimming and Mince Pie)- S: 10 T: 7 P: 9 Tot: 26/30<br />
2.Colwyn Bay (Chilli & Chips)- S: 8 T: 9 P: 7 Tot: 24/30<br />
3.Chester (Chilli, Chips & Rice)- S: 7 T: 7 P: 6 Tot: 20/30<br />
4.Brooklands (Sandwiches & Chips)- S:5 T:6 P:8 Tot: 19/30<br />
5.Timperley (Spag Bol with Rosemary & Salt Focaccia)- S:5 T: 2 P:6 Tot: 13/30<br />
6. Bowdon (Sandwiches & Chips)- S:5 T:5 P:0<br />
7. Bebington (Jacket Potato & Maybe Turkey Chilli)- S:4 T:2 P:1 Tot: 7/30<br />
8.<br />
9.<br />
10.<br />
11.<br />
12.<br />
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Well blow me over, they've not hit the bottom, thanks to Marks 'Findus' Chilli he had at Bebington. Bowdon still get unwanted plaudits for having the ONLY zero score in the entire 5 month history of the Teas league though, shame on them there.<br />
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That's all folks thanks again and I look forward to updating you in the next few days about how we've done.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-42977150105982818182013-01-28T21:27:00.003+00:002013-01-28T21:27:52.433+00:00Thaw for WarHello hello hello, apologies for the elongated hiatus, and let me wish you all a very belated happy new year. So I don't now if anyone has noticed but it has been a bit cold recently. So cold that most hockey and training has been called off leaving us all out in the proverbial cold, instead of out in the actual cold. The knock on effect has been for me to ice the blog until there was enough happenings to report on. Lucky for you that point has now been reached.<br />
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Let's bring you all up to speed then with how the new year has panned out so far for us. Of the game the 1's have played, we won 3-0, a pretty average display by all standards but given that it was against the Brooklands you've got to be happy, the fact they had 9 men stopped it from being a classic but it was good exercise at least (even if two frozen training sessions have negated that since!). It was supposed to be the start of our run of games where we play all of the teams around us, a sequence of games for which the term 'must-win' has been bandied about rather a lot. There are two ways to interpret what our challenge is over the remaining 9 games of the season. There is the high intensity, win or death approach to every game that we have had; being off the pace we must take 27 more points (AKA maximum) to even have a hope of being in the mix at the end of the year, any failure and we're done and dusted, welcome to the Alamo etc.<br />
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The other route is one of composure and clarity of vision. Going out with all guns blazing and fire raging is all well and good but how different should that be from normal? Aren't all games must win? I've never known our team to go out on the pitch not looking to try and win the game, so really should anything change? Well, yes and no. We should always be turning up to win and show our quality, the only thing that changes is we now NEED rather than want to turn up with our guns loaded and ready for any kind of shootout. No half measures, no lethargy; because there are no more chances, no more favours to be done for us, we can make a real good go of trying to get up there but we have to go and get it. I hope we can think of it like that really annoying berroca advert from a while back and steal their catchphrase: 'Sale hockey... but on a really good day!' (I can hear the groans from here for that one).<br />
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So having missed out on playing top of the league and the team beneath us in the frozen games the 1's face another derby at the weekend and hopefully all the ice will be gone and battle can re-commence. Meanwhile, I personally managed to get a game in last Saturday having dropped down to the 2's last week, a serendipitous dropping then as I actually got to play. The bad part was having to go back to Colwyn Bay again, which you may remember from my photo blog effort from a few months back. Things are still looking grim out in the Bay, although a grey snowed in Manchester was the far grimmer of the two places this week. I also played the entire game in midfield and managed not to ruin the whole game, which was a surpirse! I even scored the winner, and indeed the ONLY goal for Sale HC last weekend, another fine addition to the George Sterlini gallery of rubbish things to brag about. For anyone wondering how good a goal it was... well if you've ever seen me score before... it was essentially like that. It was a tough match all in all and the rustiness was on show from all, hopefully mother nature can stop shafting us though and allow us to get some training in and start enjoy our weekends again.<br />
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<b>Song of the week</b><br />
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With the lack of action due to cold weather and the cold hearted attitude the 1's require in order to achieve what they have to in order to keep the hopes of promotion alive, this week I had to go for a song that will please our very own Ice Cold striker Lewis. This weeks song of the week is <u>MOP- Cold as Ice</u><br />
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Warning, contains naughty grown up words. <br />
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That's all for this time folks, sorry if it's a bit brief and you were hoping for more action after such a long break, I'll soon get back into the swing of things as we start playing again, so I'll see you next time, thanks for reading.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-57113191124743607262012-12-24T01:17:00.003+00:002012-12-24T01:17:39.839+00:002012 Mighty Sale Xmas specialDing dong merrily on high everybody and welcome to the 2012 Christmas special edition of The Mighty Sale. What a year it has been for Sale. Sealing promotion as league winners, going up two leagues, having some great fun and games along the way, we've seen new players come in, old players return, and gone through great highs and lows. A fantastic year coming just before Sale Hockey's 125th anniversary year. Last year's Christmas special went down as a resounding success so this year I decided to repeat the format and once again roll out the Champagne and Turkey moments for each and every player of the 1st team league this season. I of course committed to this before I realised that the squad has grown sizeably larger and that I have missed games for the first team and have thus missed out on crucial pieces of banter that may make this years effort less detailed than last. Fear not readers, for I still have plenty of Christmas cracking material to shovel down your throat like an unwanted batch of sprouts. The main problem is that by the time I've finished and you've read all on offer in this jumbo edition Christmas may well of come and gone and we'll be back playing again in the new year.<br />
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A bit of housekeeping first and foremost. Our last game before Christmas was a bore 0-0 effort against bottom of the league. I don't really want to talk about it. For an attack to fail to score in any hockey game is utterly unacceptable and I think we were all furious and ashamed with ourselves. No excuses, we'll address that in the new year after we've worked off some mince pies and ham. I would like to give big credit to our opposition though, they were every bit as good as we were bad it was a monumental effort from them, and they should be proud of stopping us.<br />
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Anyway let's crack on. For those unfamiliar with the format of champagne and turkey moments let me inform you. It is a run through of all of our squad members and what I believe to be their finest moment (or achievement) and also their most embarrassing moment (or achievement) of the season so far. Last year we had some corkers and frankly it is going to be a tough act to follow. I'll give it my best though and let's start, as always, at the back.<br />
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<u><b>Goalkeeper</b></u><br />
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<u>H aka Harrison (Captain)</u>: The big man himself, captain and leader of the pack. H is the undisputed king between the sticks for us and proudly so.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne Moment</span>: <b>Clean at last</b>- H has has much much more to do this campaign from last year due to the increase in competition. For this reason he's got to savour those clean sheets, so for the first clean sheet against Bebington. Pop a cork.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey Moment</span>: <b>Fish on the ship deck</b>- Having much more to do means there's plenty more opportunity for the team to indulge in one of our favourite activities; slating H for any mistake. With that in mind his turkey moment is for when he went down early like a sack of spuds off the back of a wagon in the cup game and let the striker go round him and slot home a third goal. H was left like a dead fish on the floor. Useless! Bit harsh? That's because he often refuses to accept criticism, the only logical response to which is to intensify the slander.<br />
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<u><b>Defence </b></u><br />
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<u>Nick (Vice-Captain)</u>: A rugged Mesolithic defender, Nick is the rock at the back with an interest in the stone age. I'd call him a balls-out defender but he wears a cup, which should tell you all you need to know about his tackling style.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>IN THE FACE!</b>- Saved a short corner with his face, not with one of those cop-out masks on either, full on in the face, bruises and everything. Also, got away with it, some scholars of the rules might suggest that should have been a penalty flick.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Let off</b>- As relates to the above lucky break Nick received a green card for a pretty blatant foot. Should have been a yellow card but wasn't. For that let off and the other one he can have some Turkey instead of some sin bin time.<br />
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<u>Martin</u>: Persistent and quick Martin has a habit of popping up in the smallest of spaces at exactly the right time to stop a shot or pass. Widely derided for being the smallest man on the team, most of which is egged on by 2nd smallest man of the team Marky.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Crouchy Crouches</b>- Readers from last week will of seen the picture themselves but Martin was 'lucky' to bump into Stoke City player and all-round tall man Peter Crouch on the team Christmas party. Cue a fantastic picture that was photo-shopped by Coach almost as soon as he got home. Inspiring that kind of commitment from Coach has got to be commended<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey Moment</span>: <b>Oh Gosh</b>- Martin and the cup don't mix too well. This year it came back to haunt him again as he put in an own goal in the first half (stupid new rules!). It was a cracking finish and bamboozled H, just a shame we couldn't recreate it at the other end. We ended up losing 4-3. One goal difference. Just Saying.<br />
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<b>Kiwi aka Adam</b>: Adam, as no one knows him, is our resident beast defender and scourge of all young players in the league (not like that you filthy people)<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne Moment</span>: <b>Missing game.... nope</b>- Kiwi has missed a few fixtures at points this season, being a dad of two and trying to justify hanging out with us reprobates every Saturday is tough. It was made even harder with the birth of his new son Sebastian. A true cause worth celebrating there though. The real Champagne moment though has got to be him playing a match the day after the birth, dedication.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Widowmaker</b>- Kiwi is a tough tackling defender but also likes to indulge us with a bit of flair by pulling the aerial pass out of the bag. The only problem is how bad it is, usually nearly taking someones head off and giving the ball away. In Kiwis defence I did see him pull out an aerial of a decent height this season. It went straight out of play and over the fence. Keep it on the deck.<br />
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<u>Ben</u>: A late addition to the defence Ben has spent most of the season further up the pitch, but switching around the pitch are just some of the perks of being official youth of the team and one of the best all-round players in the side<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Picked off</b>- In our new league we come across quite a lot of jolly defenders who love nothing better than to attempt to kill me by throwing long aerial passes over the top of the midfield. Most of the defence have struggled to get to grips with a controlled take-down of this pass, but not Ben. In defence he has picked off these passes well, and let me tell you there is nothing a team like less than seeing their best outlet made ineffective.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Finger lickin' Chicken</b>- A moment of world-class stupidity. Ben was chowing down on some Chicken coated with the colonels famous blend of herbs and spices. He pipes up to remark 'That Ken must be well rich'. Cue questioning from bemused team-mates... turns out he was referring to Ken Tucky, the white haired, chicken murdering old man off the KFC packaging. I can hear the colonel laughing all the way from the lowest circle of hell, where he is surely interred. Needless to say Ben deserves a big bucket of Ken Tucky's finest turkey for this one.<br />
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<u><b>Midfield</b></u><br />
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<u>Marky</u>: The sixpence in the Christmas Pudding that is the Sale midfield Marky is reigning player of the year and professional giver of backchat to opposition players.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Screaaammmerr</b>: I wasn't there to witness it myself but apparently Marky lashed a goal into the roof of the at some point. I wouldn't know much about that though because I have definitely not heard anything about it.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Tomahawk</b>: I was there to see this monstrosity. Marky 'lashed' in a furious reverse stick goal that was so good it bamboozled the keeper. He was so taken aback by how poor the shot was he let it go in; and so did the top sliced trickled ball unfairly become an addition to Marks goal tally. Work on that reverse, make it so you don't hit it with the back of the stick for starters.<br />
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<u>Dave</u>: If someone is getting ripped on Dave is never far away... as the guy getting ripped on. Re-deployed at left-half this year he's made the most dull position on the park all his own, with slightly less bitching that we've seen before too, result!<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>The time is now</b>- Got to commend Dave for his turnaround, he openly admitted to not enjoying them game at the start of the season but has knuckled down and worked hard to get himself back into the swing of things. To stick his head above the parapet and document this in the form of a blog is a brave thing to do. I'm ashamed to admit I don't read it as much as I should, particularly as a hockey blog writer myself. Just wanted to say that so you all know how awful a person I am really.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>The worst flick in history</b>- Now when it comes to Turkey moments Dave is a man that can rival Bernard Matthews himself at times. A late contender was (apparently) winning £3,500 in a casino over Christmas and giving it away to some homeless man outside, in an act of Ballotelli-esque stupidity (£20 to shelter would've been better lad!). However, I cannot award him his big portion of Turkey for that as instead I had to go for Dave's solitary league goal this year, the worst penalty flick of all time. It was flicked straight at the keeper who, in an act of surprise bounced the ball off his leg pad, then arm pad, then kicker, and let it roll (just) over the line. Really it was the keepers own goal but Dave has claimed it and so can claim the Turkey that comes with it.<br />
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<u>Jim</u>: Midfield utility man Jim is always a useful man to have in a tight spot. Until recently I would've said that Jim'll fix it but given that he already has the nickname Uncle Jim we best steer well clear of that one. <br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>The Unfineable</b>- A great achievement this one given how much he dishes out. Jim has a remarkably good track record of not getting hit with big money during the fines meetings, and being generally unfineable. Some might not think that's too good but I can tell you from personal experience it is the way to go.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Missing piece</b>- always tough to find a decent Turkey moment for Jim. So I'm going to have to plump for that most devilish of scourges that gets Hockey players with actual responsibilities in their lives, sketchy availability. Jim misses more than his share of games thus depriving us of the chance of seeing him do something proper stupid and getting a decent Turkey moment.<br />
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<u>Charlie</u>: Our first new boy on the list Charlie is possibly even the newest member of the club overall and the only student on the team (PHDs do not count properly, it is known). <br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne Moment</span>: <b>Rapid rise</b>- No messing about from Charlie when he joined he was quickly up into the first team after one appearance for the 2's, a 14-0 win. <br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>- <b>Catching the greens</b>- I am told that for every game Charlie has played for the 1's he has managed to both fall over and receive a green card, in one case I think he got a green card as a result of stopping himself from falling over, bad times. The fines tin loves green cards but its the definite stuff of Turkey.<br />
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<u>Jon O</u>: Cat Man is back! The buzzing midfield hornet that is Jon O has seen some 1's action this season but like a few of us has drifted between the teams, but there's always room for our feline friend here.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Duracell Cat</b>- Despite being a man between teams Jon Os energy hasn't dropped one bit, his intensity is a great asset, it's easy to get lazy out in the half-back positions but Jon Os relentless desire for goals and pitchtime always see him working hard, a great credit.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Nose bleed</b>: Jon Os above mentioned desire for goals and pitchtime often leads him up into the lofty heights of the back post of the opposition. This is sort of a positive but also a very ambitious position for a defensive midfielder whose man is near the halfway line to be in. I personally find it funny watching the mad dash back into position, can't say the defence agree.<br />
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<b><u>Inside Forward</u></b><br />
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<u>Lyndon</u>: We've so many Inside forwards now I decided to make it a category of its own and at the top it's none other than Sale legend and Voice of Reason and fair play (most of the time) Lyndon. A huge asset to the team many a forward has scored off his well timed balls, indeed I'd go so far as to say we're always looking to get on the end of Lyndon's balls.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Lyndon mode</b>- First discovered while drunk on tour Lyndon mode is the strange berserker mode that Lyndon sometimes goes into, but instead of swinging wildly for the ball and taking on too many men (as I would do) he manges to wriggle out of a 3-4 man midfield press hole and play a pass away. Sublime<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Mr. Glass</b>- Without doubt our biggest injury saga of the season Lyndon's back deserves a blog of its own detailing it's exploits and mood swings. This Turkey is more for your back Lynners in the hope that it will cheer up over Christmas, do backs like Turkey? Guess we'll find out...<br />
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<u>Mike H</u>: Sneaking onto last years list with one appearance before jetting off to New York Mike H is back, and hopefully I'll be able to say something more substantial about him this time.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Wait a minute Mr. Postman</b>- Being the fittest man in the squad through the pre-season fitness weeks deserves a credit of its own but Mike has to get the glory for being the man who loves getting a diving back post deflect goal. The kind of goal that makes coach weep tears of gritty North Eastern joy. The undisputed highlight in this was his goal in the cup vs Knutsford. Great stuff<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Gooner</b>- Mike has the misfortune to be an Arsenal fan, as if that wasn't enough he also had the misfortune to have to miss a game to go and watch them get totally outplayed by the Red Devils down at Old Trafford. Proper Turkey stuff that, on the plus side though he's not as Turkey as Arsenal's attacking options.<br />
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<u>Mike P</u>: Another new boy and another Mike, both playing in the same position. Not confusing at all that, I personally blame coach for not picking the team different, though it should be said if I were at inside forward we'd be bottom of the league.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Release the Dragon</b>- Mike has brought us a drag flick outlet actually capable of scoring us a goal, sorry Neil, Nick, Ben, and... Marky (lol). After a few cracking saves through the season Mike finally managed to stick one away, and there was much rejoicing. Apart from H, H said he would've saved it. Scrooge.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Backdoor</b>- Sale Christmas Night out. The boys are feeling rowdy, time to hit the dance room and throw some serious shapes. where is Mike? Oh he's only gone and back-doored it, bad form. 40-year-old Kiwi was out at 4.30am. Lad.<br />
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<b><u>Forwards</u></b><br />
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<u>Danny</u>: Finally onto the business end of the team and here we have Sale 1st team veteran Danny. Despite a gammy knee he's still sticking them in left right and centre. He's yet to score his once a season zero-angle goal but I'm sure it won't be long before we see it.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Reverse bag</b>- Everyone loves a reverse stick goal and Danny's reverse bag across the goal and into the opposite corner with one touch was just about as good as it gets, he may of admitted it was a fluke but I say it was pure class.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Dragnet</b>- Never shy of a controversial fashion choice Danny decided to push the boat out on the Christmas do and rock the trilby, which was loved by all the lads but did make him look like a 1940s US police detective. It's something most of us have wanted to dress as probably, but having seen what it looks like now I'll know to give it a miss.<br />
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Goldsie: Much derided for his choice of intimate partners Goldsie has blown very hot at time this season (insert your own joke here) and been a revelation over on the right. <br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Goals galore</b>- Goldsie has manged to turn possession into goals this year which is nice, already he's surpassed his total for last year by some distance, but according to Fixtureslive he's NOT the top scorer for the team, never mind eh!<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Passively aware</b>- Two goals scored by... passing the ball, it missing it's intended recipient, and going into the goal, fantastic stuff, but unintended, making this a positive piece of Turkey. Like Turkey with cranberry sauce or something.<br />
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<u>Neil</u>: Prolific goalscoring machine last season Neil has taken a bit of a step back this year, not played as many games etc. His presence has been missed it has to be said, but it's the only way I'm getting into the team it seems so every cloud has a silver lining!<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>- <b>Goal King</b>- Despite missing games Neil has still manged to be the top scorer for the 1's according to fixtureslive. Now I know there is some dispute about the goal scorers and accusations of dodgy admin flying about when it comes to updating those stats but as of 23rd of December that's how they read. The man is prolific and Goldsie is gutted he's not top.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>No treble</b>- Neil was a hat-trick specialist last season, but so far all has been quiet on the jug-front. I'm sure he's just stalling for a new year comeback.<br />
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<u>Lewis aka <span style="background-color: cyan;">Ice Cold</span></u>: Ice cold, the coolest customer of all the forwards, he sends a chill down the spines of the opposition and always gives them a frosty reception. He's as fleet as a winter wind, leaves his markers frozen to the spot, and never thaws out in the heat of battle. I'll get on with it now as I'm struggling to 'Arctic'ulate any more puns into this description.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>More goals</b>- Yet another forward who must be commended on improving their goal scoring numbers, It's a good sign that our goals are coming from a diverse range of options. We all know where the goal is, but wait! Put the champagne on ice! Lewis has indeed scored more already than he did last season but he's not top scorer, his generosity in goal is good though and has benefited me directly, so can't have a go.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Squatters Rights</b>- Such is his dedication to the Sale cause Lewis has been living- in an unspecified location- on his girlfriends floor. He has his own patch right next to her bed, it's touching in a way and a tale of true romance but it's the stuff of grim festive Dickensian fare and most definately qualifies as Turkey.<br />
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<u>George</u>: At last we get to me, the all-star talisman and spear head of the attack. The knife in the dark and the shadow in the D. Scoring goals and fighting for justice as I do it, truly I am the unsung hero of the team.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Hat-trick hero</b>- Coming back into the side after a little stint with the 2's and scoring a hat-trick. The only Hat-trick on the first team this season I might add. did I also mention I'm the top scorer of 1's and 2's combined... oh yeah... only every week. Pretty sure it was my first 1st team hat-trick though so I am pretty happy, even if the jugs are expensive.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Bad defence</b>- The most obvious bit of turkey would be me getting dropped and floating between teams, but I'm going to avoid that and go for a classic turkey moment. The moment I drifted back into our own 25 trying to help out in defence. I gave away a short corner for blocking a clearance with the back of my stick. Don't think it was converted but it certainly made me feel like a right turkey.<br />
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<u><b>Coaching Staff</b></u><br />
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<u>Rob aka Coach</u>: The real leader of the team right here and the man we all look up to (except maybe Jim as he's quite tall), Rob is our Sunderland-loving coach and the heartbeat of the way we play. we've certainly frustrated him this year but hopefully we can step it up for his sake and our own in the new year<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Knees up</b>- Poor old Coach has been having a bit of trouble with his Knee this year but I'm pleased to say he's now been in for his op and is hopefully on the up. A real bit of champagne-worthy stuff there. I'm sure I speak for all of the lads when I say get well soon Coach.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span>: <b>Seeing Red</b>- Now let's get down to business. Coach will not tolerate any of us giving lip to umpires, and rightly so. I've been hauled off the pitch by him myself for it and I'm one of the most placid guys out there. It's is with great delight I get to dish up some great turkey for the moment Coach saw a red card given to him (subsequently rescinded) for heckling from the touchline at the umpire and had to leave the arena. Now this didn't happen with our team but let me be the first to say that it doesn't matter to me one bit and is proper hilarious. The whole team found out through Dave and now I'm telling the Internet. Looks like mine and Dave's blogs could be telling you all about life in the 4th team as of next year then!<br />
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<u>Team</u>: Bit of a mixed bag for us this time round, not really hit the highs of last years campaign yet. Is it because we're playing better teams? Are we more tired? Less hungry? I don't have the answers but I'll try and pick out two moments that serve as a high an a low so far.<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Champagne moment</span>: <b>Derby day</b>- A big game highlight has got to be beating the Brooklands in the first game we've played actually in Sale for years. Local bragging rights are always good value and I think this was a hard fought win that goes down as our best result, not our best performance, our best result.<b> </b><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Turkey moment</span><b>: Barn doors and banjos</b>- In a similar vein our worst moment has got to be our 0-0 draw before Christmas. We swaggered into the game and forgot totally how to play, how to control a ball, time a pass, or get a shot on target, an awful grim day that I'd like to put behind us quickly, I'm really hoping for a big reaction in the new year from that.<br />
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Well there we are folks that is another mammoth Christmas special blog done. I hope you've enjoyed it and I'll repeat what I did last year and say that I can't promise I'll do this again. It really does take a long time and I have to scrape my memory right out at times to find material, hope no one is disappointed with their moments, if you've got any better suggestions hit me up with a comment, please try and keep it clean though, this is a family blog after all! <br />
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I guess that concludes this years..... but wait! There's BONUS BLOG! You didn't think I'd forget the features surely...<br />
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<b><u>Song of the week</u></b><br />
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It being Christmas it has to be a Christmas hit for this week. I toyed with the idea of going for some kind of dub-step Christmas carol remix (they actually exist, humanity hits yet another low). In the end I went for a song with a connection to our team, in that Nick has introduced it to all of our lives, all credit to him for this selection then and zero credit to anyone involved in the production of the song. This weeks song of the week is the frankly surreal track: <u>Bob Dylan- It Must Be Santa</u><br />
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and now for our favourite...<br />
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<u><b>The Teas League</b></u><br />
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A disappointing result for us and most of the boys headed straight home for the club Christmas meal, but The Teas League survived and some of us wen back to have a taste. Turned out to be an excellent choice.<br />
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<i>Disclaimer: This is only a bit of fun. I am an appalling cook myself
and in no way a food expert. All criticism will be tongue-in-cheek and
if any people/clubs choose to take offence please know that all reviews
are intended to make no negative reflection on the friendly welcome and
hospitality that all teams always provide us, for which we are very
grateful and thankful for.</i><br />
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<u>15/12/12 Oxton Away</u><br />
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Roast Beef/Ham with roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, sweet potato AND mince pie dessert<br />
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Jesus H. Christ I'm starting to think the word is getting out about the Teas league, what a feast!<br />
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<b>Substance</b> 10/10- I'm not sure it can get any better than this. Absolutely blown away by this effort. Perfection<br />
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<b>Taste</b> 7/10- No roast lives up to a bit of home roast but it gave it a good go the Beef was supposedly better than the Ham, but I had ham so this remarkable meal falls back ever so slightly.<br />
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<b>Presentation</b> 9/10- Our highest score in the all-important category. Plated up, table service, condiments, places laid, really don't know why I'm scoring it 9 it should be 10 but what's Christmas without a bit of bah humbug!<br />
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Above and beyond the call of duty this excellent hospitality this from Oxton, it is just a great shame that there weren't more of the team to witness this. let's look at the table now...<br />
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1. Oxton (Roast Dinner, Trimming and Mince Pie)- S: 10 T: 7 P: 9 Tot: 26/30<br />
2.Colwyn Bay (Chilli & Chips)- S: 8 T: 9 P: 7 Tot: 24/30<br />
3.Chester (Chilli, Chips & Rice)- S: 7 T: 7 P: 6 Tot: 20/30<br />
4.Brooklands (Sandwiches & Chips)- S:5 T:6 P:8 Tot: 19/30<br />
5.Timperley (Spag Bol with Rosemary & Salt Focaccia)- S:5 T: 2 P:6 Tot: 13/30<br />
6. Bebington (Jacket Potato & Maybe Turkey Chilli)- S:4 T:2 P:1 Tot: 7/30<br />
7.<br />
8.<br />
9.<br />
10.<br />
11.<br />
12.<br />
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Number one with a bullet! The Welshmen are knocked off the top in brutal style, with a great effort. Congratulations Oxton, you may be having a hard time in the league but you're on course to be the Teas League champions and have won a place in our hearts.<br />
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Right folks, I feel like I've been writing this for most of my life now so if you've made it this far down I thank you from the bottom of my heart, wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy new year when I'll be back with more tales of THE MIGHTY SALE.<br />
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As a final present here is a freshly stolen picture from the Internet of the perfect combination of hockey and Christmas...<br />
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... Oh. Coach says don't eat too much as well. <br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-2310790883346563842012-12-14T20:27:00.001+00:002012-12-14T20:27:26.275+00:00Getting FestiveSo there it stands behind us, half a season gone. It wasn't so bad, could've been worse, but there's still a hell of a lot of work to do going forward. Luckily we're still winning and 6-2 last weekend was a great looking result on paper. It was a little more scrappy than that though and only by virtue of three of the worst goals I've ever seen (and I've seen and scored plenty dreadful goals!) was the scoreline so flattering. I really don't know which goal to pick out as the worst: we have the worst flick of all time (Dave), the 16 attempt tap in (Danny), and the miracle of the topped reverse stick hit that somehow wasn't backstick (Also known, incorrectly, as the tomahawk- Mark). A tough field, though maybe I'm just being jealous as I didn't grab a goal myself and now my 4 goals before Christmas target is becoming a bit of a stretch.<br />
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One target well within sight is the winning all games before Christmas. We're off to face bottom of the league tomorrow so we're up for a win for sure. It's also the first game after the turnaround, which mean it's the first team we'll be playing for the 2nd time this year, so no more surprises. It'll be a good chance to see if all my guff about our attacking improving is actually true. Last time we scored 4 goals, so let's see if we can get a few more this time around!<br />
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When we get this close to the Christmas break it can be feel like a bit of an effort if you've got a late away game like we have but I know the boys will want to lift themselves and go away happy. We've all had a week to sleep off the hangovers from the team Christmas night out. That's a night that never lets my expectations down and this time was no different. The highlights include some lovely buffet food, gangnam style line dancing, and lots and lots of bottles of vodka. It was madness, such a good party even Peter Crouch popped up for a cameo!<br />
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I thought with this being a festive edition I should spend a bit less time talking about the game and share with you some lovely photos taken by me (I think) from the party last week. Don't worry they're all family friendly! At Sale we're all about having a good time and we're a really good social club on to be a part of I think. So here we go...<br />
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<b>1st Team Christmas Party 2012</b><br />
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First let's deal with the bit most of you will be interested in. Some of the boys happened to bump into the Stoke City FC Christmas party on Deansgate. Unfortunately for Martin he was one of the guys there and was forced into this 'little and large' photo by Marky. Mark can count himself lucky as only 1 inch separates him and Martin in height. if he'd not been there, he'd of had to step up. <br />
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We started off with some pretty standard posing shots: This is (left to right) Me, 'Ice Cold' Lewis, & Goldsie. <br />
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Here we have Martin, Charlie, and Nick. Martin gets a lot of stick for being the shortest guy in the team though I feel I have to point out that the other two are on a ledge at this point. <br />
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Here's Jim and Dave <a href="http://davejwynne.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">'other blog'</a> Wynne. Jim was the only man not to partake in the vodka free for all, a wise move. <br />
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In ascending height order are Martin, Marky (the guest teas league reviewer), and Me. For the record those aren't my fingers behind Mark that would've required me having the worlds shortest arm. <br />
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Here's the life and soul of the evening in Danny. I didn't get a picture of it but Danny chose to come out rocking a trilby, making him look like some kind of 1940s US cop. He's almost, but not quite, as drunk as he looks in this shot. <br />
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And here we have the alcohol that fuelled the whole evening. We gorged ourselves on bottle after bottle of vodka and pitcher after pitcher of 'energy drink'. When we ran out we decided to stuff a random persons shoe into the pitcher, as you do, and much to Dannys delight. <br />
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Not sure why Dave is on the floor, there was an accompanying shot to this one but it was censored.<br />
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A round of the infamous drinking game '5s' is in play here with Lyndon and Mike H facing off in the final. Judging from this shot Mike P has lost a few rounds earlier on. <br />
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Here is the Gangnam Style dance-off. On your far right is Captain H. Mark had an absolutely legendary video of this incident but like a fool deleted it from his phone at 5am. Fail. <br />
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As the evening wore on it all got a bit much for some. On our way to the dance floor we spotted this lady having a bit of a kip. <br />
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The lovers Danny & Kiwi were in full flow when we reached the dance floor. <br />
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I tried to muscle in, don't think it went down well with Danny. <br />
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Very generous of the boys to lean back like that in the shot for Martin.<br />
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Probably my favourite shot of the evening. We have no idea who this guy making some kind of gangnam style effort is. I can promise you it was very dark in the room we were in and this man could not have been able to see anything. To be fair most of the team were in a similar state then. If you're wondering who is making the rude gesture that would be Ben.<br />
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The next day. Says it all really...<br />
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So there you have it. Can't say if we won or lost that evening really, only that it was fun.<br />
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<b>Song of the week </b><br />
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In homage to the friend we made on the Christmas party and the lost dance video, this weeks song of the week can be none other than the Internet sensation that is <u>Psy- Gangnam Style.</u><br />
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Thanks for reading folks. Hope the lack of content was made up for in an abundance of pictures. I'll be back again soon, as I've now got to go away and start planning this years 'Christmas Special' Blog. Jingle Bells!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-31390872504813570212012-12-06T22:42:00.002+00:002012-12-06T22:42:31.667+00:00Mixed BagThe big weekender has left me feeling a little under the weather so apologies for any delay in service, I've been hacking up half my lung and gasping a death rattle breath that sounds like a rejected Darth Vader audition... but other than that I'm great!<br />
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The big weekender turned out to have just about a little bit of everything in it. It was a big game for me coming back into the 1's after a few weeks away, the cup was a huge game with a lot to be said about it, and I've also got to spare a little time to offer commiserations to the 2's. So, lots to get through.<br />
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Let's start at the beginning with our journey down to Chester. A second trip to the old Roman town this season for me but with a far happier return as we came away 7-1 winners. Big news alert on a personal front was the fact that I returned to the 1's and managed to score a hat-trick! Exciting stuff and I'm very happy with that result I can assure you. I should also point out that it was a hat-trick of my typical style of goals, which is essentially the finish on a good bit of teamwork and movement from less than 5 yeards out. Nearly every single goal I score is the result of at least one other players good work and skill, so to start going both barrels about being a deadly threat and lethal to the opposition is probably a bit rich really. That said, I will credit myself with all the hard work I put in to beat markers and sneak in to get into those key positions in the first place, the vast majority of which takes place off the ball when no one is watching to quote Mo I'm 'like a ninja'. Normally I subscribe to the rule of 'Self praise is no praise' but I'm going to let myself off this time, why? I scored a hat trick.<br />
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Funny thing was we didn't totally boss the game and got put under the cosh a few time in the second half, I can't say how much of that was due to us being 7-0 up with an eye on the Sunday game at the time or not. It's a good thing then that we found the goal so well, that really was the plus point, we scored nearly all of our chances. That is something we have been working on in training (if that doesn't sound ridiculous, when are you not working on that?). There have been some very frustrating nights at training in pursuit of that 'goal' but it is certainly having a slow and steady effect I'm pleased to say. We're not there yet though, as we'll now find out...<br />
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So Saturday done and dusted, jug bought and drank. All the boys in for an early night for big game Sunday. When we woke up it was cold, icy cold, pretty much cancel the game cold. Still, we rose up and loitered outside the pitch until someone finally rocked up to open it (my feet were numb by this point). The verdict turned out that the pitch was playable, so a bit of creative warming up to remove the top layer of frost and we were good to go. Then the heartbreak, We ended up losing 4-3, a real real tragedy for us as I think as the weeks roll by we'll think we really deserved to win. Two things that could've gone better for us: 1. We could've played a better first half, 4-1 at half time is a big ask to come back from anytime. 2. We could've/ should've took our chances. Now the quality level of the keeper we faced on Sunday was superb (some have speculated it may even have been better than H- though he's having none of it), but that doesn't change the fact we had well more than 3 chances but no more than 3 goals. The worst of it was just how dominant we were at the end, when a last minute Penalty Corner dropped I really thought it was going to extra time. Instead I watched from the subs bench in agony as it went wide. I was stood on the sidelines the last time a last minute short didn't go our way in the cup, although that one hurt a lot more I must say and the less said on that the better. So the cup run is over for this season but we've had a fun time again, proved our value and that we belong in a higher league I think so we'll be back next year for another shot, though I must say I really wanted us to bring it home in our 125th anniversary year... c'est la vie.<br />
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In more disappointment news the 2's didn't manage to bounce back from last weeks loss going down 2-1 to Bowdon. I don't know too much about the game but I wanted to express my sympathies, coming back from a big loss like that is never easy. I did also hear chance conversion was an issue there too though. I see a theme developing here...<br />
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To bring it back to a happier spin I managed to put another goal in on Sunday which gives me 4 goals for the weekend. That's lovely as I can remember scoring 4 goals in a season once and finishing as joint top-scorer for the team (yes, we got relegated). For those interested in following the tally of this elite attacking predator that is me my seasonal tally is now at 12, which is only 3 behind my final tally from last year. The target is to beat that by Christmas (4 goals in 2 games essentially). For me, as a forward, my currency is goals. Not man of the match shouts, not clean sheets, and not pitch time. Goals. That's just a personal thing really, I'm not a technically gifted player nor the fittest, tallest, fastest, or strongest in the club, I'm a poor tackler and dreadful at controlling aerials. I am however the current top scorer out of all 1st and 2nd team players, so for me none of the previous matters and business is a-booming!<br />
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<u><b>Song of the week</b></u><br />
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Well I think you can see the theme glaring through all down this weeks blog. Scoring goals and taking chances. It really is an obvious song choice that I should have to explain no further then I think. The only change I've gone for is in selecting a cover of this song and not the Abba original. The reason for this is the pure hilarity of the music video, seriously you have to check this out, Camp-as-Christmas it is... and watch out for the 'reggae' breakdown at the end. This weeks song of the week is <u>Erasure- Take A Chance On Me</u><br />
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Well I have no words for that video so let's move on swiftly...<br />
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<u><b>The Teas League</b></u><br />
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I'm back in the hot-seat this time folks so Mark Holmes reign of culinary judgement terror is taking a brief hiatus. I only hope I can live up to the high standards of review we have set before. I trembled at the thought but I had the advantage this week, I'd eaten these Teas before...<br />
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<i>Disclaimer: This is only a bit of fun. I am an appalling cook myself
and in no way a food expert. All criticism will be tongue-in-cheek and
if any people/clubs choose to take offence please know that all reviews
are intended to make no negative reflection on the friendly welcome and
hospitality that all teams always provide us, for which we are very
grateful and thankful for.</i><br />
<br />
<u>1/12/12 Chester Away</u><br />
<i> </i><br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Chilli, Chips and Rice<br />
<i> </i><br />
I'm starting to think we should re-name this feature 'The Teas League- Sponsored by Chilli', anyway let's see what we have.<br />
<br />
<b>Substance</b> 7/10- Can't fault a Chilli in the interest of fairness and the addition of chips AND rice is a big bonus. Bit of grumbling about portion size though. A 7 it is, and a harsh one at that.<br />
<br />
<b>Taste</b> 7/10- We're becoming something of a bunch of Chilli connoisseurs these days so opinion was split on the Chilli taste, some harsh words flying about. I thought it was passable and the rice was good stuff. Never underestimate a well cooked rice. A more generous 7 this time.<br />
<br />
<b>Presentation</b> 6/10- self-service plastic plates and cutlery. No home comforts there I'm afraid, but service was easily done and dished out so it claws some points back for proper serving utensils. Playing on my conscience with a with a cheeky 6.<br />
<br />
A pretty solid if unspectacular performance here. I was expecting big things for Chester having sampled it before but the quality wasn't as high and as we all know it's the performance in the test that counts. So let's check that league table...<br />
<br />
1.Colwyn Bay (Chilli & Chips)- S: 8 T: 9 P: 7 Tot: 24/30<br />
2.Chester (Chilli, Chips & Rice)- S: 7 T: 7 P: 6 Tot 20/30<br />
3.Brooklands (Sandwiches & Chips)- S:5 T:6 P:8 Tot: 19/30<br />
4.Timperley (Spag Bol with Rosemary & Salt Focaccia)- S:5 T: 2 P:6 Tot: 13/30<br />
5. Bebington (Jacket Potato & Maybe Turkey Chilli)- S:4 T:2 P:1 Tot: 7/30<br />
6.<br />
7.<br />
8.<br />
9.<br />
10.<br />
11.<br />
12.<br />
<br />
A brave challenge from Chester but NOT ENOUGH to topple Colwyn Bay as their superior Chilli quality held off the lure of added rice. Can Chester hold a respectable 2nd place for the rest of the year? Only time will tell. One more stop on the Teas league Train before Christmas, I'm hoping something festive is served so if you're reading this Oxton, mince pies please!<br />
<br />
Thanks again folks for joining me in a week when I'm happy to be back in the side and scoring but sad to see us drop out of the cup. I've started to think about this years Christmas Special too so if you're around the first team squad and have any Champagne or Turkey moments you would like to nominate for anyone please give me a shout at the weekend or on the Christmas do. See you next time!<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-74515528703570863782012-11-30T00:22:00.001+00:002012-11-30T00:22:36.825+00:00The Big WeekenderWhat an intriguing weekend of action for Sale. Three fantastic wins, one terrible loss. Focus on the positives first. The 1's kept rolling with a 6-2 win, the 3's kept smashing their league with an 11-0 demolition job, and best of all the 4's got a 7-1 win, yes 7-1! The 4's are where I'd like to start because I think that they're such an important aspect of our club going forward. More than just our club, I see the philosophy and what they represent as crucial to the wider game. The 4th team are the bottom team of our club, playing in the bottom league in the region. It's a development team where what you'll hopefully get is a good mixture of social players, young kids picking up their first stick, and old heads who have to choose between the hockey or the housework of a weekend. I think they're great as it's where almost every player starts and where all those that have a real love for playing the game will end up. I started on the 3rds (then the lowest team) as a geektastic 12 year-old boy. We had a man who once told his wife before a match he was going out for some milk come and play for us, a 67 year-old marathon runner, an umpire with an eye patch, and half-time oranges soaked in whisky (I found out about that last one the hard way). We sometimes won 10-0 one week and lost 14-0 the next, visited pubs before and after the game, and generally tried not to take things to seriously (while still trying to win of course). Those little nuggets of magic all added together is what takes a sport like hockey from being a pure physical game that keeps me fit and challenged into something I have a passion and love for. My off-pitch memories are just as vital as my on-pitch ones when it comes to looking back like that.<br />
<br />
The point is that the 4ths represent the heart and soul of what I think hockey really is, and what makes people want to play it. Over the years we've seen the subtle vulgarities of the culture of football bleed in a little bit but keeping that friendly attitude and desire going is what sets hockey apart. The 4ths were shafted by the league re-structure in a way that I've covered in previous weeks, shafted to the point that when the season-long goals were set it was survival as a functioning team that was the number one target. To see them get a win and such a great win as 7-1 is fantastic news that brings a smile to my face and something really worth celebrating across the board at the club. For the record, I'm playing down any suggestion that my Dad dropping himself had any part in the 4th team win.<br />
<br />
Now after covering my love for the game and last weeks wins I have to regrettably cover the result I was a part of last weekend. It was a heavy defeat, the heaviest I have been involved in for nearly 3 years. I take no pride in being a part of it and feel embarrassment that it came in a week when all the other teams did so well, yet a part of it I was. We played against a very very strong team who were very experienced and knew what they were about in terms of how they wanted to play; we came totally unstuck. Any suggestion that it was a close tie is quickly non sensed by the 9-2 scoreline (yep, read it and weep). We did have our moments of quality but the outlook was overall bleak, with those moments being the hint of sunshine in an overcast day. I wouldn't go as far to say we ever gave up but we were certainly outmatched and punished brutally for it. I personally thought I was awful and despite tweaking a hamstring that limited me to the same pace as my late 40s marker (which to be fair isn't much slower than normal for me!) I can only criticise myself for being a part of a poor loss. With results like that though I think it is best to adopt the simple mentality that it didn't happen and focus on coming back stronger and harder. Of course there is always something to learn from every game but a 9-2 can suck you in and impact your next game by reflecting on it too much. I hope the 2's can come storming back this weekend in another local derby match up against Bowdon... but I won't be with them as I'm back off to the 1's this week!<br />
<br />
Slightly bizarre that I'd find myself back amongst the 1's after probably my worst outing of the season but sometimes that's just the way the availability falls, and I'll be determined to do my very best to make amends for last week. The 1's have nothing short of a huge weekend coming up (The big weekender), and I want to cover that next. On Saturday it is league game time and hopefully the 4th win in a row to keep the pressure on the top of the table on and keep that initial target of winning every game before Christmas alive. Then when that is done and dusted it is time for the big one on Sunday: The semi-final of the Cheshire Plate. We're facing off against Knutsford 1sts at home at 1pm. I would love to see as many people as possible turn out and show their support, this really is a huge game for us. Our opposition are a league above and with a place at stake in the final will be fighting just as hard as us. We need to make home advantage count and hopefully make it to the final, which would frankly be the biggest game many of us will of ever played in. Before that though comes this tough test. It is a chance for us to raise ourselves and show us what we can potentially be and how well we can play, and I think that is often when we are at our best. I'm unsure if I'll be playing or supporting myself as yet but regardless I'll be there, hopefully you will too!<br />
<br />
<u><b>Song of the week</b></u><br />
<br />
Big week coming up for all teams but focus has to be on the 2's with 'OPERATION BOUNCEBACK' and the 1's with '#CUPSETpt2'. Hopefully both will deliver. Fight, fire, and mental mastery will all be essential to victory so I'm going all out for pure motivation with a song from one of my favourite bands. Their last album was roundly panned by many fans and rightly so in some respects but this is a blood pumper that I have seen used for at least 5 'football preview' montages in the last 2 months. It must do something to inspire then. Advice: PLAY IT LOUD. This weeks song of the week is: <u>Muse- Supremacy</u><br />
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So we come to the end for this week. Thanks for reading. I hope more than anything to bring tales of #CUPSETpt2 being a success. You won't need to wait until next week to find out how it went though as I'm sure you'll be down there supporting...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-57792723830927845852012-11-22T23:59:00.002+00:002012-11-22T23:59:42.109+00:00Slave to the systemAnger is a gift. So says fiery counter culture orator Zach de la Rocha; lead singer of Christmas chart topping metal band Rage against the Machine and teenage hero for all angsty left leaning ex-teenage dirtbags (like me). When in full flow and fury his words are hard to disagree with. Anger <i>is</i> a gift, and we should use it to fire ourselves up and attack challenges... and scream down microphones if they're in the vicinity. Anger has it's limits though, depending on the context. In Mr. de la Rocha's world of violent revolutions it's a pretty big plus point, though quite a sad one when attributed to students bouncing bins off the windows of the local Barclays. In sport anger is a fire that needs to be contained. The obvious example is in boxing. If a fighter gets angry in the ring and loses his discipline then most of the time he will be finished by a swift punch to the temple. In hockey, a rash challenge or a needless dribble from ill discipline can damage the overall team effort. All players have done it, regretted it, and beaten themselves up about it. While they're right to reflect like that it's important to remember that to have passion to control you must possess it first.<br />
<br />
My own passion has run high this season, omissions and frustrations bearing heavy on my mind. For the record I am fine and enjoying things quite merrily now, ploughing along this year and hoping to do the best I can to win games. I think over the last few weeks my words here have become a little severe at times in that I appear to have been reacting to my situation in a negative way. I apologise for that impression and it certainly is not my intention. Many weeks ago when the prospect of hovering between two teams first popped onto my horizon I stated that any anger and passion at such decisions needs to be directed at the pitch and not in becoming dismayed or arrogantly railing against the perceived 'poweres that be'. I haven't lived up to that mantra in its fullest it would be fair to say; but that forest has been walked through and I must say I'm out the other side and enjoying every second of Hockey I'm playing at the moment and ready to make those points nowhere but on the field of play. Perhaps my most enjoyable moment this year came last weekend during a 6-1 win (I scored 2, set up 1, thanks for asking) when an opposition defender bellowed at his team mates to mark me tightly as I was the 'danger-man'. Now I've been called a lot of things in my time but that's got to be a new one!<br />
<br />
For the record I would never ever intentionally label in a negative light anyone who is prepared to take the plunge of the challenge of organising, shaping, and running a hockey team or club. It's not an easy thing to do even at the best of times and those people never get enough thanks for it. I've helped to run teams for years and sat in more that my fair share of bleak committee meetings facing the prospect of this marvellous club I play for dropping a team from competition or even winding up altogether. I have the fullest respect for all of the guys making those tough tough calls at the moment on selection issues and would like to point out in a season where our teams are regularly facing 10-man sides and witnessing clubs drop out of leagues altogether, Sale is going from strength to strength with full teams and subs, players who have a great time, and fantastic passionate training sessions (which I urge all non-attending players to attend... 3rd team I'm looking at you!). This is due in no small part to the effort and commitment (mental as well as physical) that those folks on the committee put in and I thank them all for that, and if you play you should too.<br />
<br />
You may be feeling a little misled by now at my title and opening comments. Perhaps you were expecting some barnstorming 'arab spring' revolutionary talk. No, not here. The system I'm talking about being a slave to is not the free market neo-liberal capitalist economic doctrine that is slowly eroding both the welfare state and the concept of Social democracy in Europe. It is the system of play that we operate under here at Sale. Now I'm still not daft enough to divulge the details of that here but the point I wanted to make is that only through complete commitment and embracing of that system are we going to perfect it to it's devastating maximum potential. That was the message of coach after another frustrating drill for our attackers, that we need to all do our specific jobs, whether hard or easy, and place complete faith in the system. What this means in a nutshell for example is: if I receive a ball and look to play the ball to a winger, but that winger isn't where he should be, that isn't my fault. What it also means, crucially, is that just because that winger isn't there doesn't mean he won't be next time I get the ball, or the time after that etc. etc. It takes trust in each other, discipline, resilience, and dedication to play our system, we need to be slaves to those emotions. The attackers have had a tough time when it comes to taking chances this year but if we commit to the system and stay on task we will finish those chances and we will be irresistible.<br />
<br />
Last weeks 6-1 win for me was a great game and great fun, I was pleased to see it trumped by the 6-0 win the boys on the 1st team managed. A special mention for the first clean sheet of the season for the 1's too! That winning every game before Christmas target is still good and i'll hope to see them pick up some momentum now and drive on with another win this weekend.<br />
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I'm heading into a pretty tasty top of the league bash this weekend and hoping that us 2's can come off with a win, it really is a must to keep pace in our division and I know we can do it if we start right from the first whistle and play the system with dedication, I hope to bring you big tales of grandiose wins next week. <br />
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<u><b>Song of the week</b></u><br />
<br />
A tough choice this week as I'm not feeling any puns coming on. For that reason I've decided to plump for a Rage Against The Machine Song. I'm certainly NOT going to be going for 'that' Rage Against The Machine song. Instead I'll treat you to the song from which the quote that begins this blog originates from. Anger is indeed a gift, but my present to you is this weeks song of the week : <u>Rage Against The Machine</u>- Freedom<br />
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<u><b>The Teas League</b></u><br />
<br />
I may be absent from the 1's currently but it's going to take much more than that to kill off the legendary teas league! This week we've got our guest judge Mark 'Michel Roux' Holmes taking up the reigns again. So let's see if it was a taste-tastic whirlwind rally down the path of adventure or a congested grey commute around the circular motorway of blandness.<br />
<br />
<i>Disclaimer: This is only a bit of fun. I am an appalling cook myself
and in no way a food expert. All criticism will be tongue-in-cheek and
if any people/clubs choose to take offence please know that all reviews
are intended to make no negative reflection on the friendly welcome and
hospitality that all teams always provide us, for which we are very
grateful and thankful for.</i><br />
<br />
<u>17/11/12 Bebington Away</u><br />
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Jacket Potato and Maybe Turkey Chilli<br />
<br />
<b>Substance</b> 4/10- Potato and Chilli filled the gap for those that braved a full portion.<br />
<br />
<b>Taste</b> 2/10- Basic food (as in Sainsbury's basic) and questionable meat, maybe turkey, whatever animal it was it certainly hadn't seen much seasoning. Some of the boys had to visit Colonel Sanders on the way back to fill up.<br />
<br />
<b>Presentation</b> 1/10- Plastic bowls and forks. It says it all.<br />
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Another blunderbuss review from Mr. Holmes, a hard man to please. Have to express solidarity with the plastic bowls though, what's all that about?<br />
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</xml><![endif]-->Well let's take a look at where that leaves them in the league tab- STOP THE PRESSES!- We have a late extra tea from last week to bring to you attention from last week. This 11th hour entry cannot be reviewed as it was brought in from home packed lunch style by 1st teamer and fellow blogger 'The New Dave Wynne<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>®'. And here it is:</div>
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Chicken Salad! Now don't panic folks the Teas league is not going to be sullied with something as downright scandalous as a salad, but it is a good time for me to point you once again in the direction of Dave's journey blog which you can get here:</div>
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<a href="http://davejwynne.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">My Time is Now!</a></div>
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RE-START THE PRESSES! Let's look at that league table:</div>
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1.Colwyn Bay (Chilli & Chips)- S: 8 T: 9 P: 7 Tot: 24/30<br />
2.Brooklands (Sandwiches & Chips)- S:5 T:6 P:8 Tot: 19/30<br />
3.Timperley (Spag Bol with Rosemary & Salt Focaccia)- S:5 T: 2 P:6 Tot: 13/30<br />
4. Bebington (Jacket Potato & Maybe Turkey Chilli)- S:4 T:2 P:1 Tot: 7/30<br />
5.<br />
6.<br />
7.<br />
8.<br />
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10.<br />
11.<br />
12.</div>
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Hard times for Bebington there with our lowest score so far. I think they could be set for a bottom of the table dogfight as the season progresses. Next up is Chester, which I've had a sneak preview of and think could be a very big contender at the top!</div>
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As always thanks for joining me this week. I enjoyed clarifying a few things this week and stating how proud I am to be part of a club that has such dedicated people as members. I'm no voice of dissent and my whole purpose here is to show what a great club Sale is to be a part of. I only hope that those who have read my blog over the weeks have that impression in the forefront of their minds. It is the truth.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-92127177235284561192012-11-14T22:10:00.003+00:002012-11-14T22:10:58.967+00:00Quarterly ReviewSo we're a little bit over a quarter of the season gone now so I thought I'd have a look at how we're doing this year down the teams. Starting with my lovely 1's; things have gone a lot tougher this season so far. Not really anything surprising about that as we've shot up two leagues, but to go from winning and winning well to losing tight games has been tough to take. I'm not as on the pulse with collective 1's mentality this season but I'd say that overall we're disappointed but not disheartened, and hell, it's still good fun! Targets are tough to define for the 1's at the moment but I'd of thought winning every game from now until Christmas should be a good place to start.<br />
<br />
The 2's are having a decent time of it so far. Had some silly losses to be fair, but some right good wins too. They're a little bit back in terms of points in their league but well in the shake up at the top. The hard yards are yet to come for them this season and the key ingredient for them is going to be desire. Last week I played for the 2's and they put in a 2nd half display that proved to me they have the technical and physical ability to impose and dominate games if they want to, it was a joy to be a part of and I hope we get much much more of it as we go forward in the season. For me, anything less than promotion is a failure this season.<br />
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The 3's are down on the bottom of the leauge pile bossing Div 8 SE. That's to be expected if you ask me seeing as they are rapidly becoming less the third team and more like the 1st team: vintage edition. The spanner in the works for them will be the fact they have to win their league to get out of it, but they're managing it so far being 4 points out in front. My old man is the 3's captain and is also 50 this year and I think (though the records are hazy) this could be his 10th year at the 3rd team helm, so a promotion should be just the ticket and an absolute nailed on target!<br />
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The 4's are in the same league and having, ahem, a slightly tougher time than the 3's. In fact they kicked off their season with a 16-1 drubbing off the 3's; how sporting of the 3's!. The aim for the 4th team is simply survival and trying to get some points. I don't mean survival as in not going down (there is nowhere to go), I mean fulfilling their fixtures and having the will to go out there every week. It is my belief that the 4's, only in their 2nd season, have been utterly shafted by the league who pandered to the complaints about long travelling time by a noisy minority of clubs to restructure the league in a way that is frankly, if left unattended, going to be the death of grassroots level social hockey in the North West region. That anyone could pick up a stick after either not playing for a long time or having never played before and come up against teams of the quality of the 3's (for example) and not get disheartened seems impossible to me. I hope the league looks at this madness at the end of the year, and I hope the 4's keep sticking it out and enjoying it, It could well be the best achievement of all 4 teams if they do.<br />
<br />
So that's my two pennys on where we're at in this moment now. I think it is important to remember who and what we are. At Sale we're all about playing as hard as we can and being as friendly and social as we can along the way. All you need to do is look at some of the team numbers the 1st team come up against in their league to realise that we are a long way from being the biggest club in the region. Right now we're building and we're moving forward even when it looks like we're standing still. As long as we can turn out and enjoy playing a game of hockey the right way (the right way being the way Coach tells us to play of course) and the fair way, with 4 full teams of up fot it players then we're doing something good. A happy atmosphere we'll win more than we lost and move up accordingly.<br />
<br />
Lastly on the issue of quarterly reviews I suppose I should I should turn the spotlight on myself. I'm a bit disappointed with myself this year in that I haven't personally taken as much a step forward from last year as I'd of liked. I've got frustrated, made mistakes, and worst of all missed chances that I should score (which I can genuinely lose sleep over!). My playing confidence has suffered and bobbing from one team to another probably hasn't helped that. To be bluntly honest on my own feelings for all the talk of competition and players interchanging from teams when you've been dropped (or provisionally dropped) for 6 weeks in a row, without explanation or constructive criticism it's difficult not to feel singled out and hurt by that process, especially when you feel you've contributed. Motivation can suffer, dedication can be questioned, and all sorts of strange and dark and unwelcome feelings can be felt; I know I'll not be alone in saying it's an uncomefortable place to be. The good aspect about that is that while I don't ultimately control what team I'll play for I am in control of my play, my attitude and my effort and enjoyment. I can say that I'll not be going anywhere anytime soon and whichever team I play for I'll be giving 100% of my effort and bringing my unglamourous but effective game to bear wherever I can, with a smile on my face and a spring in my step (unless we're losing 4-0 or something, anyone smiling then will be getting a slap)!<br />
<br />
That's enough reflecting. Back to this weekend now. I'll be hoping to see at least 3 Men's wins on the board. Playing away for the 2's last week I was fortuitous enough to see two other teams in the 1st team's league go against each other. I won't name the teams but it wouldn't be too difficult for anyone to work it out if they fancy a bit of fixtures live based sleuthing. The 1's have played neither of them yet but if they don't dispatch them both with ease it will be nothing short of unforgivable (I am of course not recognising the fact that teams can change wildly from week to week), they were poor and it struck me as to how much teams really now have to raise their pace to compete with us now. It used to be the other way around. Be proud of that guys. A bit more clinical in the D and we'll be smashing teams for 10 (no, really).<br />
<br />
<b>Song of the week</b><br />
<br />
What I'd love to see for the moment is all of the lads in all the teams get on a run of wins and start to dominate games and show ourselves to be the winners we are. Not the winners we can be, the winners we ARE. Anyway this seems like a good time to drop some dirty UK grime, back from my youthful misadventures of one-leg skanking and shouting blap blap for no real reason (yes, I was retarded). This is one of the better tracks from back in those halcyon days (as the top comment on the Youtube video correctly surmises it is a: 'dope tune straight up' (sic)). So for your audio pleasure may I present to you, this weeks song of the week: <u>Ghetto feat. Katie Pearl- Run the Road</u><br />
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<br />
No teas league this week of course, though getting a tasty treat of what some future teas last week may be The competition could be very strong up at the top of the table (we could be looking at a chilli battle).<br />
<br />
Final point from me now. Dave, another one of our 1st team squad lads has started dropping a blog all about his fitness attempts. As a man who once took that undertain first step out into blogging I knew I would take some inevitable stick from't lads but I'd hope that Dave will ride that out and keep it up. You get out of it what you put into it, though I'm sure from the language he's using he's well aware of that.<br />
<br />
Constructive criticism #1: Sort the design of the page out Dave lad! The people need bright colours and pictures, get a bit of that famous Sale Yellow knocking about.<br />
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Please spare some time to check it out folks here's the link:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://davejwynne.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Dave Wynne: The Time is now!</a><br />
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Thanks for reading once again, I hope those in the know agree with my assessments and honesty! See you next time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-56107717823731344752012-11-09T01:28:00.000+00:002012-11-09T01:28:28.298+00:00Road TripSo the time finally came for the Sale waggons to fire up and leave Manchester for the very first time this season. We've been quite fortunate to not face any long trips yet, but that lucky road of close away trips came to an end in dramatic fashion by serving us up with our longest road trip of the season to Colwyn Bay, a North Wales town unremarkable in nearly every way, a bleak outpost nestled between the superstar A-list holiday destinations of Rhyl and Llandudno. Poor Colwyn, but in other Trivia it is the birthplace of Timothy Dalton (AKA that Bond that wasn't as good as that other one but definitely better than that rubbish one), also in HUGE NEWS the actor and serial philanderer Bill Roache (AKA Ken Barlow) of Corrie fame went to school at the very school at which we played! Awesome Stuff! For more Colwyn info get over to their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colwyn_Bay" target="_blank">Wiki Page</a>.<br />
<br />
Anyway it was a crucial game for us, we needed a result here like nothing else or we'd probably be looking like slipping into the abyss of mid-table. I'll cover the game a bit later but this away day has finally given me a chance to give a bit of an insight into what an away day in hockey is like. I think these long trips are a big burden onto anyone who chooses to play the awesome sport of Hockey but it's also potentially the best part of the sport and what makes you want to keep coming back time and time again. It's amazing how fun car-pooling with 13 other lads and driving to obscure parts of the North West can be! So here it is my first ever attempt at a photo journal of a typical Sale 1's Away day...<br />
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<b><u>Sale goes to Colwyn: Beyond Discovery into Infinity...</u></b><br />
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<br />
I hope you like my pretentious title! First thing is first I need to introduce a couple of traditions. On long Journeys like these I like to throw together some 'Bangin Tunez' to keep the car I travel in firmly entertained. These songs can range from such classics as the star wars theme tune to 'enola gay' and other tracks of epic quality! I like to go with an intentionally embarrassing album title so that the car the CD gets left in can be discovered by another person, with HILARIOUS results. My finest hour so far was the raised eyebrows Marky had to face when his dad discovered 'Gary Glitters Xmas Album' recently. As I was taking pictures today I went for the slightly reserved 'Ladz on Tour'.<br />
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Another Tradition is the award of 'Dick of the Day' (DOD) which goes out to
the player who has made the biggest dick of themselves that day (obviously). This
can be awarded for any action from the moment that person wakes up that day until
the moment that the votes are cast, so you've got to have your wits
about you. In a tradition that has been revived especially for this blog and also due to me rooting around in my attic we have the return of the DOD hat. <br />
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As you can see it is a vile pink pvc effort that is every bit as disgusting as it looks in this picture. But who would be wearing it come the end of the day??... Stay tuned! Now my kit was packed it was off to the meet at the world famous Sale sports Club.<br />
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There was an early shout for the DOD award when Dave rocked up in these boots...<br />
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Here's the standard meeting place for the 1's; the front door to the clubhouse. Many a driver has arrived at the club over the years to the sight of non driving freeloaders like me huddling around outside this door. This is usually a time when all the piss-taking/ wind up efforts for the day get their first airing. In this photo Nick is admiring Dave's new stick whilst hopefully simultaneously admonishing him for his new choice of boot. When this is done it's time to get directions, get organised, and get on the road.<br />
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This is the man responsible for all that part of proceedings. This is a very photogenic picture of our captain H and makes him look like a well turned out on-the-ball sort of chap. Do not be fooled, he has the nickname 'Captain Organised', and the only thing you need to know about that is we're a big bunch of sarcastic wind-up merchants when it comes to nicknames. Lucky for H despite being the furthest away game of the year all we really had to do was turn right, drive down one road for a long time to get there, then turn left a couple of times.<br />
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This in fact was the road itself. The M56, Gods own motorway. Not much to say here other than the tunes were being pumped out quite consistently at this point.<br />
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Bit further down the road and we're in Wales itself! what a lovely view and what a lovely day.<br />
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The next treat on our smooth journey was only the lovely Sea! So lovely I went in for a close up...<br />
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This is perhaps the most poignant image of the North Wales coast ever taken. A lovely sunny sea view, with a big grey lamppost straight down the middle ruining everything.<br />
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We arrived early and ahead of the other cars so we got to spend a few crucial minutes dicking around smashing an over sized tennis ball at each other around a school PE changing room. Living the dream.<br />
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I love this picture because it looks like H is in the middle of some kind of super skillful manoeuvre of the kind you wouldn't expect a keeper to have the ability to execute. He does though of course...<br />
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Fooling around over it was time to get kitted up. Here's a shot of H getting his big leg pads on. This week wasn't too bad but usually the stench of stale sand, sweat, and astro turf emanating from this kit bag is a real biological curiosity to inhale, though one that may result in mind-altering effects.<br />
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Colwyn had the audacity to play in Yellow so the Famous Sale Yellow was swapped for the not-as-famous Sale Blue. This was the kit we won the league in last year. The omens are good...<br />
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By now my incessant picture taking was making me a target for abuse, mostly from Marky our teams pint-sized piss-taker. As you can see the wit extends to such things as 'sticking two fingers up to the camera', a classic #BADMAN. Yes, that is a real kit bag and not something pulled out from a smouldering skip fire by the way.<br />
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So now all the messing around was done and dusted team talks were given and we hit the pitch ready for action. This is a last second snap of Colwyns pitch with some of the school buildings in the background. I'm a bit whimsical about this picture as it may show the very building where Ken Barlow picked up the first of his elite womanising skills. Hallowed Turf. So, the match...<br />
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We lost 2-1. Devastation, apocalypse, death by the sea. We fought but it didn't drop for us, we didn't score enough, didn't impose enough and didn't press enough. A hard game, against an unbeaten team, but the funeral bell for our league title hopes could be heard up in the hills on that final whistle. More on that a bit later though...<br />
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After the game we changed and some of us were lucky to be treated to a cold shower, whilst others copped out and waited until we got back to their Clubhouse where such luxuries as 'warm water' existed. Wimps.<br />
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Post matches are dominated by teas (teas league round 3 is below have no fear!), the Man of the match and DOD awards and of course fines. Fines is basically a free-for-all insult session that usually starts out as jibing someone for letting a goal in or not scoring a chance and ends with a stream of awful abuse likely to result in long term psychological issues, but you take your fines and pay the price, all the money collected goes for a good cause (Beer).<br />
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Here's H tucking into the Teas, I know, a sneak preview of the Teas league, but teas are a crucial part of any away trip.<br />
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Post fines here was what was collected, everyone suitably insulted and all money into the end of season beer kitty. The man-of-the match was Ben for defending despite someone putting a massive hole in his leg. And the all important DOD was...<br />
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Danny! Congrats Danny on being the first to wear the sexy dick of the day hat this year. Danny received votes for being green carded and giving lip to the umpire, but I think we can all agree that this was certainly the happiest pink PVC hat wearing man in all of Colwyn Bay that day. Now he's Internet famous!<br />
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Time to hit the road again and head back on the long road a defeated but not dispirited team. The one thing our team always seem to have over our opposition is superior camaraderie in the clubhouse, we love our pink hats and our fines and I really think that spirit is what makes us a special team with a stronger core than many others. Anyway, when we got back it was dark so here's an artistic shot of our club at night.<br />
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It's always nice to have a pint back at base at the end of a long gruelling day. It was a significant and tough day for us to take, and I think we were all a bit tired, as H's perfect mid-yawn capture shows.<br />
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As for me, well I was happy to wrap my hand around the Clubs finest pint of lovely Becks, a long day, a long way to go to lose but sometimes that's just the way it goes.<br />
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That's it for the photos and I hope you can get a bit of an idea what it's like hitting the road with our bunch of reprobates. It was an odd game to use for a photo journal and I really really wanted to be able to come back with a big win and a great showing but it wasn't to be. As I said before I think most reasonable analyses would say that us being way off the top two in terms of points leaves us a bit cut adrift in 5th place and 9 points back is death for our league title hopes. We've played 6 and gone Won 3 Lost 3, not the stuff of champions. It's a bitter pill to swallow but one that's going down the neck either way. Rather than go off the wall and let everything we've worked hard to accomplish over the last year or two I hope that this bitter pill can be turned into the medicine we need to move forward. Let me explain.<br />
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We don't do pressure very well, and this league we're in is pressure incarnate. Pressure on the ball from the opposition, pressure to not make mistakes, pressure to score every chance, make every challenge, and win every game bar none. Too much pressure; we folded up on it. The pressure came mostly form ourselves I feel, which is good, we have to push ourselves but now that we've slipped back in this race I hope we can take a step back, drop the pressure and dial up the desire. This is a chance to examine our errors, identify what we need to work on to improve into that team that is going to leap forward once again. There is nothing to fear now, in slipping back from promotion positions the worst for us is over now. We need to be a bit more targeted in what we want to achieve, how we want to achieve it and make sure we don't slip into regression, we need to focus on putting in the hard work now that is going to make us come back on those teams that have beaten us for revenge later on in the year.<br />
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The early signs as a reaction from last week... not great. Numbers were down at training but to be fair I got to see some real passion from some of the guys down there, and I hope to see that from all of us, but first we need to get everyone there, I can't speak for the passion of the invisible man, but he makes a crap hockey player.<br />
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<u><b> Song of the week</b></u><br />
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So with us being a bit off the pace and not needing to bludgeon ourselves for our frustrations and mistakes I've decided to go for something that I hope will make us all relax, realise that the world hasn't ended or all our hard work has now never happened nor been for nothing. The goalposts have moved a bit for us now, but we're still on the pitch and we're still playing. This weeks song of the week is: <u>Doves- There goes the fear</u>.<br />
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<b><u>The Teas League</u></b><br />
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A long road trip like this makes for a very important tea at the end of it. The whole concept of the Teas league was indeed spawned from the experience of some very long road trips being accompanied by some very very poor teas at the end of them so when we arrived at Colwyn HQ a lot of nervous eyes were of the Chafing dishes to see what delights were hidden within.<br />
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<i>Disclaimer: This is only a bit of fun. I am an appalling cook myself
and in no way a food expert. All criticism will be tongue-in-cheek and
if any people/clubs choose to take offence please know that all reviews
are intended to make no negative reflection on the friendly welcome and
hospitality that all teams always provide us, for which we are very
grateful and thankful for.</i><br />
<br />
Pleased to say that yours truly was back in the judging seat for this one despite Marky's excellent deputising.<br />
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<u>03/11/12 Colwyn Bay Away </u><br />
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Finally the food was uncovered and plated up and what we found was this...<i> </i><br />
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Chilli and Chips<br />
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<b>Substance</b> 8/10- Chilli is close to the heart of any Sale player as it's what the home teas have been for many years but Chips were the perfect fresh addition. Self service meant portion size as desired (H is a chip fiend).<br />
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<b>Taste</b> 9/10- Faultless really. The Chilli had a lovely balance of flavours, a delicate spice that didn't burn you up and the chips were fine too. Only a 9 as it was tray served rather than straight off the stove. Better than Christine's chilli at home? Controversial...<br />
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<b>Presentation</b> 7/10- No real problems with the presentation, plastic crockery and cutlery holds it back slightly, despite the matching colours. Proper Chafing Dishes are a plus point though. A solid effort.<br />
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Belting effort from the Colwyn Lads here, this really was very nice and though it's early doors the gauntlet has been well and truly thrown down here to the rest of the league. Let's see the table now...<br />
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1.Colwyn Bay (Chilli & Chips)- S: 8 T: 9 P: 7 Tot: 24/30<br />
2.Brooklands (Sandwiches & Chips)- S:5 T:6 P:8 Tot: 19/30<br />
3.Timperley (Spag Bol with Rosemary & Salt Focaccia)- S:5 T: 2 P:6 Tot: 13/30<br />
4.<br />
5.<br />
6.<br />
7.<br />
8.<br />
9.<br />
10.<br />
11.<br />
12.<br />
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Brooklands reign at the top is all over and Colwyn step into the breach, how long will they remain, who can say?<br />
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That's all folks hope you enjoyed the photos, bad times about the result but that won't stop us from coming back next week don't you worry! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-4960200138009077372012-11-01T19:04:00.002+00:002012-11-01T19:04:18.812+00:00Where the rubber meets the roadThey say a watched pot never boils. I've never understood whether this means that if you don't light a fire nothing will happen or that if you literally watch a pot it seems to take longer to boil. Perhaps a bit of both? Answers on a postcard. To make that bizarre opening relevant I'm going to compare our team to the said pot. Maybe we've not started our fire and that's why we're not on the boil. Maybe we're scrutinising and navel gazing ourselves too much and it's making us take longer to come good... maybe a bit of both.<br />
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We won last week 7-2 but the general consensus was that we were poor value for that win. I could agree for the most part but there were some decent passing spells throughout the game and times when we kept the ball away from our opponents for minutes on end through fluid movement of the ball. Rare moments admittedly, most of our joy came through that favourite past time of mine; front line pressure. If we're to come across teams so willing to cough up the ball in the depths of their half every week 7-2 could well become the norm, sadly that won't happen. More to the point, it won't happen this weekend.<br />
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Yes this weekend the Sale show finally gets on the road will a full on balls out road trip down to the lovely seaside town of Colwyn Bay (speedos optional!). This match is a good reference point for how far we've come along. Last season we were playing Colwyns 2nd team. this season we're testing ourselves against their firsts. Progress. I'd love to spend the rest of my blog making wisecracks about getting the ice creams in and building sandcastles but the fact is that some very serious business is on the cards down at the bay this weekend. It's as near as damned a make or break fixture for us as we're going to get this year. They're unbeaten just like Timperley so it's another top of the table opponent and if we lose then we're 9 points off the top spot and firmly in the doldrums of the table without any kind of upward motion. It is a simple statement: we have to win.<br />
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To lighten things up a bit I'm hoping to take a few holiday snaps of our lovely road trip journey (assuming selection of course!) regardless of the outcome. These long trips can often be the most fun part of the game, providing the result is the right one. North Wales is a long way home on the back of a loss, I know that from experience. I also remember a 5-4 'last minute winner' game at Colwyn a few years back, to this day one of the best games I've ever played in. I hope for something as fun this weekend but hopefully with a more clear cut win for us than that!<br />
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Whatever spring we got from last week we need to use every part of it to build up a good head of steam for this match. Momentum is key and right now they have more of it than us, but on the pitch its 11 men v 11 men and we're at our absolute peak when we want it more than the other 11 do.<br />
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<b>Song of the week</b><br />
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Given that we're heading into such a crucial game I thought it would be appropriate to have a song fitting with our destination. In this case I've gone for a lovely little tune that was pretty much my favourite song of summer 2011. It's called 'the Bay' (see what I did there??), and whilst the bay in question wasn't written to be Colwyn Bay I'm sure that if you listen to the lyrics with a thoroughly sarcastic ear then you'll find some resonance with the Bay in the song and the Bay where the battle will take place this weekend. So this weeks song of the week is: <u>Metronomy- The Bay.</u><br />
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That's all folks I hope to bring joyous tidings, photos galore, and of course another instalment of the famous Teas league next week!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-5918384157281686972012-10-25T23:26:00.000+01:002012-10-25T23:26:23.831+01:00Ripe and RuinGoing to be a tough one this week. Not sure where to start here. It's a strange one as for the first time ever I've got two games to cover and a lot of conflicted feelings in between. I think I'll lead on from last time when my emphasis was very much on the top of the table clash. Sadly the boys couldn't pull off the win. From everything I've been told this wasn't due to a lack of dominating play but not being there I can't put too fine a point on it sadly. The facts are there now which are that we're six points adrift of the top two places. Six points off is the nice way of putting it, us having half the points of our rivals is the harsher language. Both lines tell the same truth; we're not where we want to be. I can empathise.<br />
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From rags to riches last week, while we fell to a second league defeat of the year, I was about five miles away winning 14-0 and scoring a hat-trick. Happy days? I have to be happy from a performance point of view with 3 goals in a season I've not put too many away in so far, one of my goals was a lovely chip finish that I've been trying to score for about 5 years now but mucking up every time (which is another way of saying it was a bit flukey). When you win 14-0 you have to put a bit of that on your opponents doorstep for sure, they were awful and that cannot be denied. They are a team that is just gritting its teeth and trying to get through the games and I have a great respect for that. This said, I think a good bit of credit has to be set aside for the attacking intent of the 2's. They're making the right moves at the right times and playing the right passes to score goals. I think that much better sides would have failed to contain them. Perhaps the greatest praise I have was that despite coming in at 5-0 up on the half, rather than stepping back and acting like the game was over they went for the neck and bagged 9 goals in 35 minutes. That's desire there, and it's that will that wins you games and more importantly wins you leagues; which I've every faith the 2's can do IF they want it enough. It'll be a lot tougher than that 14-0.<br />
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Overall I wasn't happy though, and the more I though about it the more unhappy I became. Yes I'd won and done my job, but MY team had lost and not one of my goals made the blindest bit of difference. I might sound a bit miserable but there's a sense of ownership within me over my team I can't apply readily to another team. It's been ground in over time and is deep down. It comes from the 10-1 losses and the long trips to places like Cockermouth and Carlise many years ago. It comes from the going down divisions and the sitting around wondering if we can get enough people to get a team together. It comes from the last minute wins and the last minute losses. It's all the goals and the clean sheets over the last three years and most of all it's the winning.<br />
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My team; we're winners now. This league is fighting like a rabid dog to rip that winning mentality which we have toiled over weeks, months, and years to gain in leisure centres and schools in all the nooks and crannies of Cheshire and North Wales you can imagine. Two losses is a rip, two losses isn't a tear. A game away from my team is a rip, not a tear. The league hasn't taken it away from us yet, and I'm not going to let it. Why? Because that is what winners do. They come back stronger, they fight harder. They don't let what is ripe go to ruin, they use it to grow.<br />
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The next few weeks will test our resolve.<br />
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<u><b>Song of the Week </b></u><br />
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The time has come to bounce back and come back stronger now. I've abandoned The Beatles and even temporarily abandoned the puns. I wanted to go for something purely energetic and cerebral. A song that would convey the kind of fire we're going to need to put teams to the sword. I went with one I hope you all know. The Prodigy- Spitfire<br />
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<u><b>The Teas League</b></u><br />
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Not all gloomy and emotive this week. the much trumpeted Teas league is back for its second outing!<br />
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<i>Disclaimer: This is only a bit of fun. I am an appalling cook myself
and in no way a food expert. All criticism will be tongue-in-cheek and
if any people/clubs choose to take offence please know that all reviews
are intended to make no negative reflection on the friendly welcome and
hospitality that all teams always provide us, for which we are very
grateful and thankful for.</i><br />
<br />
Sadly I didn't get the chance to chow down on the grub myself so Ive had to pass over to a special guest contributor for this weeks addition. It's none other than plucky Centre Half and reigning Sale 1st team player of the season Mark Holmes!<br />
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Lets see how his palette found the culinary delights of last weeks game:<br />
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<u>20/10/12 Timperley Away</u><br />
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3-2 loss against top of the table, bad times. But a short walk for the field of battle is the clubhouse where you'll find...<br />
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Spaghetti Bolognese with Rosemary & Salt Focaccia<br />
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<b>Substance:</b> 5/10- Although the plate seems rather full on the picture, the portions were somewhat stingy. After being starved of victory, our hunger still went unsatisfied.<br />
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<b>Taste:</b> 2/10- Where to begin... the bread was far too salty to quench our appetite for more bland bolognese. Safe to say it's not how mother used to make it, far from it.<br />
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<b>Presentation:</b> 6/10- Top marks to presentation, the spaghetti on the bottom and the bolognese on the top. Little Timperley.<br />
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Choice words the Mr. Holmes there. A tough customer it seems. Perhaps I'd recommend any team aspiring to win the coveted teas league title doesn't beat us in the game itself! Let's see where that puts them on the chart...<br />
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1.Brooklands (Sandwiches & Chips)- S:5 T:6 P:8 Tot: 19/30<br />
2.Timperley (Spag Bol with Rosemary & Salt Focaccia)- S:5 T: 2 P:6 Tot: 13/30<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
5.<br />
6.<br />
7.<br />
8.<br />
9.<br />
10.<br />
11.<br />
12.<br />
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Still early doors of course. So that means that even with a low 13/30 puts Timperley in at #2. You could also call that is last place too, been all about duplicity this week haven't we?<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-58136653469782865312012-10-19T18:05:00.003+01:002012-10-19T18:05:42.105+01:00Tied HandsSo another week rolls by and those familiar chills of winter are beginning to be visible on the horizon. Being a right hard nut my underskin is still firmly in the wardrobe (unlike other members of the team). The meat of the season is starting to be served now and our Bem Brazil token is firmly on green for now. Two wins in a row should hopefully firm up our momentum and strip away from us any remaining fear of the division that we unjustifiably had. We won 4-1 at the weekend, it could've been more, it should've been more, and while two wins is nice it hasn't helped our cause much yet. We're still languishing in 6th position and have been all season. Perhaps that will change with a third win on the bounce??<br />
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No easy task, we have to overcome our local rivals and top of the league, who beat us in the first friendly game of the season (see this seasons first post) with a pretty comfortable (for them) 3-0 win. I think we were a shadow of what we are now on that day, but three wins out of three for our rivals speaks for itself as to the challenge we're up against. So a big early season crunch battle is in store for us in our second away game of the season. Again, this 'away' game is still about as far away from our club as our own home ground but that's beside the point; it's in the lions den, and we're going to have to fight hard in this early season grudge match.<br />
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I may as well come clean with it, I won't be present at this battle having been assigned to the Twos this week. As said last week I maintain that I can't be happy about it, but that it does come as a challenge. It's a particular shame to me as I personally felt I had a much stronger game last week than some other weeks, but we are oversubscribed in the forward department so it is always going to be difficult. I certainly have a case to present on that matter but that won't be put forward here and now.<br />
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The thing I'm discovering right now is that I have had to change my mind on a matter. Previously I have always stated that the most uncomfortable position to be in any game is on the sideline, watching and being unable to change the course of proceedings or take an opportunity that you spot. I know now this is not true. The most uncomfortable place to be is not there at the game, when you know you can be there. Watching, you can eventually make an impact and change a game. This weekend my hands are tied. Having played for my team for three years pretty much unbroken, it hurts to not be playing against a team who will likely be rivalling us at the top of the table. I know that anything short of a commanding three points from the guys will leave me furious. That's just honest.<br />
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All said though I'm looking forward to the 2's game. 2nd teams are crucial to the strength of any club, and as we want to build ourselves into a big successful club again only by winning with the 1's and 2's (and indeed 3's and 4's) are we going to achieve that. In the 1st teams division we play 2nd teams, 3rd teams, and even 4th teams more than we do 1st teams, so strength down the teams is clearly the mark of a good club. I will still be playing with 100% intensity, as I would expect from everyone. The fact we're playing bottom of the league should hopefully be a bit of a Brucey bonus for attackers like me too!<br />
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<b>Song of the week</b><br />
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Sorry to go all Liam Gallagher here and get obsessed with the Beatles but I've had to plump with another classic tune of theirs. This song is meant purely and simply as a challenge to the lads this weekend. Against top of the league I expect nothing but the best and so this weeks song of the week could only be: The Beatles- Don't let me down.<br />
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No Teas league this week folks as we were at home last week though it will hopefully be making a welcome return next week, providing my cover man for it doesn't bottle the big task and provides fair analysis. Catch you all at some time next week folks...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-47014190631492184242012-10-12T19:07:00.002+01:002012-10-12T19:07:36.844+01:00TurbulenceOnce again apologies for lateness, I'm just not very punctual these days really am I? There was a very valid reason for this weeks delay but I'll be covering that in more detail later on. The first and great thing to bring to your attention is our glorious derby victory against arch-rivals Brooklands. Ok ok, maybe arch-rivals is too strong, after all we played their 4th team and their 1st team are a national league outfit (albeit one that takes a regular beating). Maybe in the 1970s it was the case but it was a different time back then; goalkeepers played in cricket pads, all the sticks were whittled down from railway sleepers, the balls hewn from granite, the pitches churned into mud and.... you get the idea. Never the less, we'll take the points and the victory, our first points in Division 3 for many years and also our first victory actually IN Sale for maybe even longer.<br />
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I can't say it was comfortable. We're still feeling our way in a little bit, like the new kid in school. We're not back to our best standard and we're not dominating teams the way we know we can. I think that there are signs there that we can get back but as always with Sale the biggest battle is in the head. We need to believe in it first to make it happen. We need to be less the nerdy kid wanting to make new friends and be a bit more like Ray Winstone in the classic film <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn7o35NcJwo">SCUM</a>. This is the time of the season where your reputation is going to be gained. Last year we trounced the first few teams and we ended up with teams turning up to play us fearing the worst. Time to step on a few more throats I hope!<br />
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So back to the #FORTRESSSALE this weekend it is to take on a team we played last year. Well, what I mean is that we'll be playing the team above the team we played last year from the same club. In case anyone doubted our 'plucky minnows' status that team will be said clubs 3rd team. I don't think we care about that nonsense though, all games are still 11 vs 11 on the pitch, a goal is a goal and 3 points is three points. Speaking of goals I'll be hoping to contribute myself to the tally tomorrow after coming close last week with some efforts that never quite came off right.<br />
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As a matter of fact my overall play and lack of finishing has led me into the unenviable position of being dropped earlier in the week. Now despite the respect I have for all the lads down on the 2nd team I cannot honestly say I was pleased with this state of affairs. I should say that I'm not for one second trying to sound like I've a chip on my shoulder I simply believe that being unhappy or angry at being dropped shows the passion and desire needed to turn it around again, and that a far more worrying reaction would be nonchalance or dismissive arrogance at the 'powers that be'. Now this week I've had an 11th hour reprieve from execution and so like a man returned from the gallows I've been given a new lease of life. My own performances haven't been up to the standard that I'd want them to be, for a whole host of reasons that I'll not cover here for the sake of brevity, but if that is to continue beyond tomorrow it'll only be because I've run myself into utter physical and mental submission.<br />
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The only thing I'd like to add to the issue of dropping is that it is, and has to be, seen as a challenge of character as much as of ability. There is not a single player within the 1st squad that can't compete and win in Div 3, but can every player stay focused for the whole game? Make that crucial decision when the pressure is on? Make that full-pitch sprint that stops the counter attack in the last minute? Thinking and saying you can isn't good enough anymore, we're in the world of actions now and by actions will squad places live and die.<br />
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Anyway, that explains my delay this week, I was mustering myself to deliver a blog on my dropping and have instead had to 'drop' (groan) all that and re-think. I have to admit doing this on the eve of battle is quite a refreshing change so maybe I'll wait this long next week too. Or maybe I won't, that's the kind of wild unpredictability you'll have to get used to on this blog!<br />
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<u><b>Song of the week</b></u><br />
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Not easy this week. It's been a bit of a turbulent ride for me personally but the team have won some points and want to be lively. This rules out Radiohead (apologies Radiohead's #1 fan Harrison Daly). Instead I've gone for a poignant classic banger from the most famous Scousers in music. I hope we can all forget the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson#Helter_Skelter">Charles Manson</a> links and enjoy this weeks song of the week: <u>The Beatles- Helter Skelter</u><br />
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Belting track! Now after all the commotion going on this week you could be for given for thinking I'd forgotten all about this weeks new feature. BUT NO! Allow me to introduce the inaugural bi-weekly feature that is.....<br />
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<b><u>The Teas League</u></b><br />
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Ok. So in Hockey (and other sports) it is traditional for visiting teams to have food (Teas) laid on by the home team after the match. It's a lovely tradition and yet another reason I love dedicating all of my Saturdays to this sport. It has long been a subject of intense debate amongst the lads as to which club offers the very best and the very worst teas after the match. So with that in mind, I thought I'd introduce the Teas league where we rate and review the Teas of our opposing teams throughout the season and rank them in a league table.<br />
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<i>Disclaimer: This is only a bit of fun. I am an appalling cook myself and in no way a food expert. All criticism will be tongue-in-cheek and if any people/clubs choose to take offence please know that all reviews are intended to make no negative reflection on the friendly welcome and hospitality that all teams always provide us, for which we are very grateful and thankful for.</i><br />
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After a bit of debate we drew up three categories for reviewing the teas these are:<br />
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1) Substance- what the teas are, and their various health benefits/ drawbacks.<br />
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2) Taste- Simple enough to grasp this concept I think.<br />
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3) Presentation- How the teas are served and packaged.<br />
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All marks in each category will be out of 10, making a total score out of 30 for each team.<br />
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.... still with me? Ok. let's get started:<br />
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<u>6/10/12 Brooklands away:</u><br />
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3-2 derby win and in the bar afterwards we were treated to our own officially 'reserved' tables where the following teas were served:<br />
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Aaah the classic Sandwiches and Chips combo. Let's see how we do:<br />
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<b>Substance</b>: Sandwiches have long been considered to be the typical minimum standard for teas. Easy to make, cheap to buy, boring and always met with a dispassionate reception. However, with the addition of hot chips on the side the case has been aided. Further marks are gained for (as Nick pointed out) the two forms of Carbohydrate available, aiding athlete recovery. Mark here <b>5/10.</b><br />
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<b>Taste: </b>Always going to be held back by substance but the sandwiches were fresh and came in several varieties (egg mayo very decent). The chips were hot and ketchup was available too. A solid <b>6/10.</b><br />
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<b>Presentation:</b> The above picture is of my own arrangement so no marks can be awarded for that. All food came foil fresh (fresh to death) and real crockery was provided. Nothing to complain about here and as it's the first week and I have nothing to judge it against I'm going to go all generous and give an <b>8/10.</b><br />
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So, our first entry straight in a #1 in the Teas leagues is Brooklands- Sandwiches & Chips with <b>19/30.</b><br />
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<u>League table</u><br />
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1.Brooklands (Sandwiches & Chips)- S:5 T:6 P:8 Tot: 19/30<br />
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Wow. Gone on quite a while this week. Hope you've enjoyed it guys and thanks for reading if you've made it this far down. See you next week.... at some point. <br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-40518033249751242672012-10-04T20:20:00.001+01:002012-10-04T20:20:07.201+01:00Fine MarginsApologies for the delay to normal service this week, I know you've all been dying for your fix so without further explanation let me try and bring you up to speed. The short version of events is that we kicked off life in Division 3 (South) last weekend and started off looking like we were going to carry on where we left off only to find ourselves on the end of a 3-1 defeat. Damn. It was a little bewildering as we thought we played quite well for long periods of the game, bossed possession, bossed tackles, superior fitness etc. But there it was after 70 minutes, 3-1. Welcome to the big leagues I guess.<br />
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I should say at this point that rather than stumbling blindly into the challenge this league is offering like a drunken rambler into a ravine we are very aware of how we went wrong and what we can do to fix it. The frustrating aspect of it is that the formula for success is so simple. It is making sure those simple but crucial moments go our way more often than they don't. These fine margins are to be the furnace in which our season is going to be fired into fuel or burned to ash, it is where we are going to win or lose and where we are going to have to play our hardest and put our best effort in. The fine margins are no secret to anyone so I feel free to label them here. I'm talking about the crucial touches of a games. A tackle, a save, a finish, a key pass or a good call. Getting those key moments right and wrong was what was separated us from victory last week. The obvious one to pick out was our finishing. We had several good chances to score goals last week when at 1-0 up, 1-1 all and 1-2 down and fluffed them. Now as a forward I feel I can speak for the lot of us by saying that our frustration was palpable both during and after the game. With missing goals you want to be careful not to turn it into a complex and instead try rope it off as 'just one of those things'. In our league we're going to get better defenders and better keepers so we'll have to rise to that and place our shots better. On the same note it's 'just one of those things' that isn't going to happen again.<br />
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It's not just getting the right angle on your tap in that is crucial though. Those defensive tackles, blocks, and saves are all going to play their role as well. We could have lost 5-1 at the weekend if our opposition had not been guilty of some 'nailed on dick-of-the-day' antics. I still can't decide if I prefer the 'backsticking the ball over the line when it was going in anyway' effort or the 'beat two defenders and the keeper then hit a stand up reverse stick bat shot so bad it drifts off well wide of the open net' that had me and my marker laughing. My point is we were as lucky as we were unlucky last week. Now I'm not sure what the best way of homing in of these areas is or what tactics we need to change as I think that answer lies on an individual to get right but I do know that we play our best stuff when we're focused and pushing ourselves and each other to give everything in a game. So that would be my one-liner for a quick-fix remedy; 'give them everything you have' (house keys, PIN numbers and quality graffiti style print t-shirts being obvious exceptions to that rule).<br />
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So the wagon roles on and after 4 consecutive home games and 4 weeks of appalling icy-cold, dripping-like-a-rusty-tap, embarrassing-to-the-club 'showers' we finally get to get the Sale show on the road. I say on the road, our first away game sees us playing Brooklands (which, atlas fans, is a part of Sale!). Because we are Sale but play in Whalley Range our first away game of the season will ironically be played closer to our club house home than our own home pitch, all of which probably means this will be the only week that H does directions and the only week we won't need them. I'm going to bill this as a 'local derby' game to decide who has the bragging rights down the J.P Joule this Saturday (as if anyone in the J.P. Joule has ANYTHING to brag about). I missed training this week so can't offer much in the way of our collective attitude towards this encounter but if the lads are as fired up for it as I am it should be another entertaining contest.<br />
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<u><b>Song of the Week</b></u><br />
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In keeping with the theme of working on the tight bits in games that separate a win from a loss I've gone for a song (like usual) based purely on name. I am happy this week however to admit to being a proper real genuine fan of this song and the band that perform it. Sadly, I think that being able to use songs I really like could become a rare occurrence over the season so I hope you'll join me in enjoying this song by the 'so hot right now' (Zane Lowe voice optional) band known as The Black Keys, the track is called Tighten Up:<br />
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Thanks again folks and maybe next time you won't have to wait until Thursday to get an update. Be sure to check back next week for more spiel, hopefully winning spiel! I'll also finally get to debut my brand new feature... <b>The Tea's league!</b> For hockey players this will be a fairly easy to work out feature, if you're not a player, well come and check it out next week, all shall be revealed...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-80954405932794991872012-09-25T19:34:00.000+01:002012-09-25T19:34:34.566+01:00Delight and DelugeSo it has been raining for about 55 hours pretty much non-stop now. This has put the big brakes on training as across the board all sessions have been cancelled. This means I think we might want to re-appraise the definition of the term 'all-weather pitch'. It's pretty bad timing for us too as I know we'd have all really liked to have got another session in before we embark upon the great crusade for which we have striven for these many months; the league season. That's right, 22 games of intense competition will decide if we can sail the great ship Sale on to even higher seas. We feel we deserve to be there but as we've found in the past many many times thinking you're better and being better are two very different things. Every week now we'll have to push ourselves to the limit, only 100% is going to be good enough this time round, it's what we owe ourselves, it's what we owe each other.<br />
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I've started by mentioning the league as it is our main focus this year but of course I have to bring you the joyous news that on Saturday we were very much 'up for the cup' and pulled off a dramatic 3-2 win. The facts show that we bested a team a league above us but I'd much prefer to point you to the confluence of promotion/relegation/restructuring that means we beat a team which 6 months ago were playing 4 divisions higher than us. There was a bit of pride there naturally for us but as an old wife once warned me, pride comes before a fall. We played well yes, but we can play better, and we certainly thought we had it won and let our opponents back into the game. Where coach may of been delighted with our goals (one in particular that was straight from a training session, for maybe the first time ever!) he was having heart palpitations in the last minute when the score was reduced from 3-1 to 3-2. We battled through though, eased some of the heartache from last year, and moved into the semi-finals of the competition. We play Knutsford now on the 5th of January, which if previous Christmas excesses are anything to go by is VERY bad news for us.<br />
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That's a battle and a blog for the future though and I'd like now to thank those lovely friends of mine who I hassled into coming down to watch me for showing the support and flying the flag (or perhaps I should say foam hand) for the team, who knows, we may even make players out of some of you yet! My thanks is also extended to all the members of the club who came to watch, we're at home in January too so I hope you'll come down then as well.<br />
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Saturday also saw my second ever game as an Umpire take place, as I oversaw my Dads 3's best Didsbury 7ths (or some ridiculous team number like that). It was nice to get another game done and I'm moving closer to getting approved. Not too many tough calls to make though I'm sure I missed a couple of things too, only one way to better though and that's to keep trying. I'd encourage as many players as possible to get involved in umpiring, it's not a very easy thing to do but enables you to see the game in such a different light and appreciate how hard it can be to make a call sometimes. The fact we always need umpires for games is a factor in my encouragement too!<br />
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I've gotten a bit aware that these blog posts are a little texty and now that I have a phone that would be described by men in jeans and tucked in t-shirts as 'smart' I'll hopefully be bringing some greater image content over the next few weeks and maybe even another feature to add to the hugely popular song of the week feature. Speaking of which...<br />
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<u>Song of the Week</u><br />
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Given that we had the delight of Saturdays battled win and the deluge of rain of Tuesday that washed out training I thought I'd go for a song that combined both Rain and happiness. Sadly, this ruled out most of The Smiths back catalogue as they were a bit heavy on the rain. So instead I went for a twist on the obvious choice. This weeks song of the week would've been Gene Kelly- Singing in the Rain but <i>out of respect for those awesome street dancers they have on Market Street</i> in Manchester City Centre I thought I'd go for the <i>sick </i>re-mix. <i>I love street dancing, I hope they keep releasing more generic 3D films of it at the cinema</i> (in this section italics denote sarcasm). This weeks song of the week: Mint Royale- Singing in the rain<br />
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That's pretty much it for this time but I feel bad for leaving you on the note of that atrocity of a song. So by way of an apology please see the below panoramic image that I took of our home pitch on Saturday AKA #FortressSale. For anybody interested it was taken during a Ladies 1st team game which they won 4-0. Cracking stuff girls, see you all next time!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-81169545148496337322012-09-19T09:30:00.000+01:002012-09-19T09:30:12.906+01:00Up For The CupMuch happier tidings. On Saturday we posted up our first win of the season! If only it was as simple as that though. Last season I often struggled to come up with way of making a 3-0 win where we dominated the opposition from start to finish sound interesting to outside readers; this year I doubt I'll have that problem. Sadly that isn't because my literary skills have increased to Tolkien levels of description, no, it is just a plain fact that our matches are going to be a much tougher battle than before. Saturday was one such battle.<br />
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For a friendly it was feisty and physical and attritional, lots of bullying off the ball and lots of 'early season' tackles going in as Danny so eloquently put it after an attacker had just sweep tackled Martin shins. Despite only being 24 I belong to a something of an old school of Hockey that thinks friendlies should be exactly that, where you own up to your fouls and have a laugh with the opposition. The long term trend in the game is going away from this as more and more the vulgar aspects of the culture of a game like football bleed over into the our own game, so I was somewhat saddened that the 'friendly' tag was not as appropriate as it should be. That said, two sides who both want to be pushing hard in their respective divisions came together on Saturday and I do think it was a positive experience to face that kind of intensity before we get into the meat of games that actually matter.<br />
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The result was a 5-4 win. From our point of view it was a much improved display than last week particularly from an attacking point of view. I think we can consider ourselves lucky with some of our goals (Mark) but also be happy that we were able to create sustained periods of pressure that, in turn, made that bit of luck more likely. The most all-round impressive aspect of the game was perhaps the heart and fight that we showed when we found ourselves 4-2 down and turned it around to win for 5-4. I was happier with my display having assisted the first goal (and by assist I mean I had my goal stolen!) and scoring the winner, but I know both myself and the team haven't gotten into that top gear just yet.<br />
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That's what we'll be hoping to do next weekend though as our first 'real' game of the season is this Saturday, in the cup AKA the Cheshire Plate (which, yes, technically isn't a cup but let's not argue crockery please). Our opposition are from one league above our own and it is a knock-out winner takes all situation. Last season our cup game had the strange status of being one of the seasons greatest achievements whilst also being undoubtedly the most heartbreaking moment of the season, and maybe even of all my seasons. The details are all in the archive of posts if you're interested but I'll briefly cover the facts. We were playing a team 5 divisions ahead of us in our first fixture of the season (no friendly warm-ups for us!). We matched them for the whole game and came back from 1-0 down to lead 2-1. With 10 seconds remaining on the game clock we conceded a short corner and they equalised. They went on to win 3-2 in extra time as a result of a golden goal. Brutal.<br />
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If there is one thing I want to put right this year it is that heart break. We owe this cup a win and I desperatley hope we go out there and deliver one, and aim to match last seasons intensity. This season we have been drawn at home and will be playing at 3pm. This is my official call for support, please come down and help us make that home support count. It doesn't matter who you are or what team, if any, you play for. If you're Sale, get down. Bring your friends, bring your girlfriends, bring a bunch of strangers no one knows that are a bit weird, it doesn't matter just come and support!<br />
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<u><b>Song of the week</b></u><br />
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Yes the now famous feature of song of the week is back for its 2nd edition. Many people might have believed that this feature would never reach such a prestigious landmark but you've always got to believe! This week, in homage to some of the outrageous tackling that was coming from both teams on Saturday as well as the amount of sheer perspiration put in by our boys i've plumpled for and 80s classic that is surely loved by all: Olivia Newton-John- Physical...<br />
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**WARNING: VIDEO MAY CONTAIN BANANA HAMMOCKS AND THRUSTING**<br />
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That's all for now folks. I hope to bring tales of a cup win and no more 10 seconds away from glory sob stories next week. CiaoUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-5272505771972317842012-09-11T22:55:00.001+01:002012-09-11T22:55:39.120+01:00Knuckle DownFirst friendly off the mark. First loss off the mark and first bad performance off the mark too. Not a great start and not the one we wanted. In the burning heat of Saturday (now a distant rain-soaked memory) our style and substance melted away after 10 wonderful minutes and we ended up on the bad end of a 3-0 drubbing from league and local rivals. I won't lie to you all it was a grim post-match team talk, a concise and stark depiction from coach of just how far down the mountain of glory we've let ourselves slip and how much effort is required to get back up there. Grim. The good news though is that we know our problems, what we have to do to fix them, and how long we have to do that in.<br />
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It comes down to a simple currency that we have to get more liberal at spending: hard work. It's how we've done it in the past and it's present when we're at our best; working hard for each other. I'm confident that with a little bit of that voodoo magic we can turn that 3-0 upside down. The hard work is in evidence to be fair, some of the boys have been double training the last couple of weeks and everyone has been putting the effort in at training. At this point there is still a little rust needs shaking off but the whetstones seem to be out and we are in the process of sharpening and tightening up. I think it would be fair to say that everyone as an individual is getting a little frustrated with their game through this process but collectively we are still working together. Mistakes are often contagious, the key is to brush them off and right them for next time, heads on and heads up and maybe just maybe I'll be talking to you all about a lovely win and good performance next week!<br />
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All said about how bad we did it was nice to finally get some game time on Saturday, the hockey off season is a long one and I always seem to add at least a stone to my weight at various points in that gap, but no matter what fitness, drills, talks, mini games, or diagrams you work through nothing will get you sharpened up like a bit of game time. For me on a personal level it was a bad day, I missed a great chance at 0-0 (and by great I mean it was on the line) and kept missing my through balls and, as a consequence, had to chase a defender halfway down the field to recover every time (what kind of defender attacks?! It's bang out of order!). So, in summary my first touch and sprint resilience need to be improved drastically, bit of a shame that those are two of the most important things in my position but never mind, I'll keep trying.<br />
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So we're in a bit of an 'under construction' phase at the moment but just like a Tesco express that could face local planning permission protests from hippies we'll be built up, ready, and open for business as soon as possible.<br />
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<b><u>Song of the week</u></b><br />
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A new feature for this year that I'm going to try out is the song of the week. In case you're a bit daft, this means that I'll be putting a song up that I think best sums up the previous week in my hockey world. Sometimes the song will be good, most of the time it will be dreadful, and if I get the chance to use some kind of cheeky pun I will: AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY. This week is a fairly safe choice as it is the first time I've run this amazing feature. It's a nailed on classic tune and to me represents our inability to hit the ground running on Saturday but also the recognition that we can turn things around. So without further ado the first ever Mighty Sale song of the week is... <u>The Rolling stones- You can't always get what you want</u>.<br />
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See you all next week!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-1875216538696808002012-09-04T23:29:00.001+01:002012-09-04T23:29:09.194+01:00Suddenly.... September!Hello my old friends. I know it has been a while, sorry about that. As the months of summer began to wash over me (rain-pun very much intended) I drifted away from the lovely life of hockey and into the doldrums of inactivity that I think can be best summed up by the image of an empty can of Pringles. The break was certainly necessary, for more mental than physical reasons. Last season began before the one before had even ended and it was a make or break one for us. We totally dominated it from beginning to end, it may have looked easy on the table but it wasn't, not when all you really have to fight is yourself for 6 months. It takes it out of you, and it took it out of us as a unit. As a unit we all needed a holiday, and what I can tell you is the Ice Cream in Croatia is both delicious and moderately priced.<br />
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Anyway I awoke in horror the other day with the sudden realisation that it was in fact now September and the new season is pretty much on the doorstep. Now I've not been totally ignorant of that fact and we have been doing some punishing pre-season fitness work for a while now, which has either made me fit or brought me closer to death. I don't think our preparation has been quite as good this season than last year (for a thousand poor quality reasons) but the good thing about that fact is that it can be changed at any moment when a group of individuals decide to graft together and remember the team that we are.<br />
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I'm writing this after 2 consecutive days of 2 hour training, no problem for an athlete I suppose, however I have never professed to be such and in fact I may end up sleeping in my computer chair tonight due to an inability to remove myself from it. It is all good really though, no pain no gain, carpe diem etc. And despite the pain I am excited that the new season is here, so please let me do a brief preview.<br />
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Those that followed our adventures last year will know all about our glorious league winning antics, but what you may not know is that when we gained promotion, due to a serendipitous league re-structure we ended moving up two divisions. So this season the 1st team will be competing in the lofty heights of Division 3 (South) of the Barringtons North West Hockey League, happy days! Of course moving up like this is exactly what we wanted but I would also spare a thought for the poor 4th team who have been dumped with the brown end of the re-structure stick and have been moved up 3 and a half divisions (don't ask me how you go up half a division, I don't know), and will play teams the 2nd team played last year. I just want to say keep smiling boys and remember, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (plus they also play the 3rd team which is a nailed on 6 points surely!).<br />
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As always happens between seasons we lose some guys and gain some guys. Some people choose to have things like families, jobs and careers and such nonsense that is against all team-working principles. Despite this outrage I'm happy to report that the competition for places looks like it is going to be hot once again with stronger 1st and 2nd teams looking like the likely scenario overall. There are no safe or certain places in any team (especially mine!) and all the guys are judged by the effort and commitment they provide to training and the results they produce on the weekend, so embrace the privilege of pressure if you find yourself in the 1st squad in the early season, and if you're in the 2nds squad, hunt those squad places down mercilessly and without complaint and you'll likely get your chance.<br />
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This would also be a good time to mention that I am no longer understudy and chief-organiser vice-captain extraordinaire for the 1st team for this campaign. The 'poisoned chalice' has been passed on to our zealous defender Nick, a man who if he approaches the role with the same zeal he does a 50/50 ball will do a far better job than me. On a personal level I'm happy to see the team develop, get the opportunity to focus on my own (technically-limited) game and more importantly not have to sort out collecting subs and providing directions every week any longer!<br />
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Our first game is at the weekend against local opposition and fellow league adversaries Timperley, we're walking somewhat blind into this league so it's going to be a good chance to see what the standard is like and blow off our match rustiness. It's only a friendly but I think I can speak for most of the team in saying we want to hit the ground running and pull off a win.<br />
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Thank you guys for reading and I'm sorry if this blog doesn't flow too well this time. It's my first post since April (despite claiming at the time I would post during summer, sorry!) so I'm just getting rid of another kind of rustiness. I will be keeping you guys up to date as the season goes on so if you have me on Twitter or Facebook then prepare to have your news feeds invaded for the next 6 months because...<br />
HOCKEY IS BACK!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-4485017000882572272012-04-12T20:32:00.001+01:002012-04-12T20:32:43.645+01:00I'll see you in the fieldHello everyone, hope you're well! I know I've vanished off the radar for a few weeks now that the regular season has taken its bow, but I hope you can forgive that as my Hockey love level usually reaches saturation point at about this time of the year and for my own sake I have to have a bit of a 'come-down' period; but I'm pleased to say that come this Saturday we are back in business as the hockey returns for the annual club tournament!<br />
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For those that have never come across this tradition before (and frankly, where have you been?) the club tournament is an all day grass hockey extravaganza and all round great day out/ piss-up. I've been playing in it since the age of 14 and after many years of getting thoroughly battered actually made it to the final last year. It was a losing appearance sadly but as a team I think we all accepted our medals for moral winners owing to the fact that by the time the final came around the majority of the team had ingested so much cider we couldn't see straight, and we were just being civil by allowing our opponents to win because they felt sorry for them trying!<br />
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The tournament is classic tour hockey, by which I mean mixed men's and women's teams. It is looking like this year (barring any late tapping up) I'm going to be hooking up with the cornerstone of Sale teams, the one and only 'Dream Team' run by my Dad; hopefully I'll be able to bring some 1st team class to proceedings, but after a few weeks off and a few more pounds on the scales I'm not sure that all will go quite to plan.<br />
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I'd urge anyone who is craving a bit of action or just a bit of a social to get themselves down this Saturday (14th April) to the club, we'll be playing and drinking all day on the grass hockey pitches, which some strange people also call the cricket pitch. Last year the weather was very kind to us and it was sunny all day. This year it's not looking like we'll be basking all day in the heat but hopefully the sun will pop out just long enough for H to get sun burnt (which is about 15 minutes normally).<br />
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For those wondering how hockey is different on grass, well the rules are all the same but when playing on grass the concept of a slick, flowing, passing game is usually shelved in favour of a more direct approach. As a forward this involves me standing on the edge of the opposing teams D and waiting for the ball to bobble from a 16 yard hit all the way through 20 players sticks and reach me, at which point I will also miss it and hope to tap it in when the keeper also misses it. It's not pretty but it gets the job done (which is also what I believe the Bishop said to the actress).<br />
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So please, grab yourselves some cider and some camping chairs and come on down. Hope to see you there. Viva Dream Team!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-17089519603733295672012-03-20T19:54:00.004+00:002012-03-20T19:54:56.642+00:00Curtain CallThe show is officially over folks. It's tailed off a bit in terms of thrills and spills at the end but this season's journey, which began all the way back in last July (A mere 8 months ago), has reached it's final resting place. I remember back then setting out with all of the burning ambition and confidence of a team certain of its ability to achieve its promotion goal ready to take the fight to the league 22 times in a row, and I stand here slightly ragged and worn, but on a field of victory, proud of myself, and more importantly, proud of my team.<br />
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It represents a coming of age for our team I believe (yes, even the older players). It was the proof that we can triumph, proof we needed. Whilst the memories of moments where we won this league will boil down in our minds to great goals, skills, tackles or saves, the finer truth is that the win has come over the hard work that has been going on for the last 2 seasons. Ever since the moment where we got relegated a few seasons ago when it was sink or swim for the entire club. We chose to swim, and it has turned out OK right about now! Of course, it's not enough. The quantum leap that we made in this campaign has to be matched and improved upon as we go forward. I read an article recently written by a man who had interviewed a slew of multiple Olympic champions. They all said that it was the thrill of the journey that equipped them with the ability to repeat it, rather than the prize itself. I hope that we can understand and adopt that mentality. I have enjoyed all of the improvements we have made this season, and my own personal improvements. It has been my most productive season on terms of goals by some way, and I am determined that is not something which is going to be a flash in the pan.<br />
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As for the last game, well if you didn't know, we lost. I think the mood was one of disappointment rather than dejection and devastation. Our opponents, chasing us for so long had a major point to prove and turned up highly motivated. Now in an ideal world we'd have matched that fire; but being 2nd for so long and wanting to stick one over us just simply outshone our motivation of having a 16 point lead rather than a 10 point lead at the end of the season. A shame yes, but worse things happen at sea. Lest we forget that there has not been a single moment from the start of the season when Sale hasn't occupied that top spot. That's a pole to flag championship right there, I've had the 'beating top of the league' achievement and I know where I'd rather be stood right now.<br />
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So what now? Well most immediately we have to deal with the section annual general meeting (AGM), on Friday night. I'd urge all members who read this to please make an effort to attend. It is the most important meeting of the year and a great chance to get your voice heard and also volunteer yourself to help out, there are always positions available on the committee so why not spare some time and help out? Any effort can only help us to improve and move forward together as a club, which is the only way we want to move forward.<br />
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After that it's the presentation evening! We'll be handing out the top scorer award and the much sought-after players player award will be revealed (I do know the result already, obviously I'm not going to say it here, but let's just say that H won't be taking the shield home this season sadly for him). Of course a few jars of the finest will be had too! If you're not busy in the Saturday I urge you to come down to the pitch at Parrs Wood at 13.30 to watch (my)Dad's Army the 3rd team try and win the league, they've had a great season and hopeully can polish it off with a championship.<br />
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After all the sobriety (AGM ) and merriment (presentation night) comes the well earnt break that we deserve. Of course the Hockey never really stops and between tournaments, tours, and summer league I'd expect you can all get as much (or as little) of a fix that you want before we come back around for pre-season training and the trials ahead.<br />
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As for me and this blog well I have to admit that I've immensely enjoyed writing about our journey and sharing my thoughts and whims. I'll be honest, when I started I thought that there was a chance I'd be ridiculed constantly for my efforts but all of the compliments and constructive comments I've received have been genuinely humbling to hear. I am lucky to have such a good readership and am hopeful that there are some of you our there reading this who find the sport of Hockey a little more appealing and interesting than maybe you once did. I'm certainly not going to stop writing now. I think the next you will hear from me will be sometime next week where I'll offer up a 'season in review' edition similar to my x-mas special where I'll talk you through some of the best moments of the season as well as the most ridiculous too! After that? The Hockey world is my oyster and I'll hopefully give some insight into what we get up to in the 'off season' including summer league, tours etc. and maybe even some Olympic stuff, in case you can't tell I don't really know what I'm going to do yet.<br />
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Well that is for the future and for the now I'll just sign off by saying thank you to all of you. Yes you! You who is reading this right now, thank you for reading it and I'll see you soon in the bright tomorrow!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-62389211519312567652012-03-13T22:43:00.000+00:002012-03-13T22:43:22.594+00:00The weary today, The bright tomorrowNow as I write this we'll have pulled the curtain down on training for this season. Which in party terms is the equivalent of the lights flashing and everyone preparing for a rousing last dance. You may all have you're own preferences for this ritual, in my 18 year old days we used to emerge into the early Mancunian morning to the sound of 'Hey Jude' or 'Don't look back in anger', only to burst into street side choruses of 'Oh Manchester!.... (you should know the rest)'. I've always had a soft spot for a bit of New York New York myself, in true party fashion. The point is the only thing that remains for us to decide is on what note to end on. Musically 'we are the champions' has got to be a good shout, of course I don't mean musically though.<br />
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Not at all, this weekend we face 2nd place and it's the perfect game to end on. It should be a fierce battle of wills with both teams wanting to prove they have the beating of the other. They have been chasing us all season and while they never quite got close enough to us to trouble us they are the best team we have come up against this league season and I hope that plays out true again on Saturday. I think that now with one game to go I can admit that the weary signs of a long and intense campaign are showing. I'm certainly feeling them. It's not a complaint really, it's more something to be proud of. The following quote from legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi explains what I mean quite eloquently:<br />
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<span class="sqq">“I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the
greatest fulfilment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he
has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field
of battle - victorious”</span></blockquote>
Beautiful words, and true for our team. The achievements of our campaign our given to no single moment, but rather they were forged through the fires of industry with the heat of our will, and we hammered that league week after week into brutal submission. With one more hammer strike to fall our eyes are all on the horizon for the next challenge. That challenge is to do it again but in a harder league against tougher opponents, to challenge ourselves and each other to improve and to once again embark on that journey towards glory again. But not yet. Indeed I want to warn against pushing too hard, we all deserve to bask in our victories and relax our play, we know how to play and I've no doubt every man is up for the challenge coming. To keep banging on the war drum isn't going to help us and indeed I believe it sows doubt in much the same way that a man who continually talks about the large size of his manhood sows rumours of a child-like endowment. So with that in mind I'm taking a fresh attitude into my game this weekend and that is to STFU, using what I know and the confidence I have; go out there and enjoy the final song of this wonderful opera that has been our season. The fat lady is singing, and I'm joining her on stage!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-20065686942547313612012-03-05T22:19:00.000+00:002012-03-05T22:19:36.652+00:00Champions, Champions, ChampionsI've thought long and hard how to title this post, but frankly I cannot come up with anything better than the above. The statement of fact: we are the champions!<br />
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And I'm tempted to stop there. What more can be said? We have won our league. It is the first time we have been promoted in 9 years and the first time we have won a league for 16 years, and those are facts! I've been part of running this team for three years now and am truly proud and privileged to see this day come. I can remember all of those dark days and those bad losses, all of the times when we questioned why we were doing this to ourselves week in, week out. I can recall the pain of relegation and the humiliation of losing to inferior teams. Now those trials stand quiet in a corner, their time is through. For now we have achieved and now we are on the up and coming back, now we can say we have achieved EXACTLY what we set out to achieve.<br />
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I may as well take you through it then. The stage was set for a procession style victory on Saturday, 1st vs 11th should be a no contest right? Well, we were all nervous beforehand, you could feel it in the air, the elephant in the room we all kept telling each other to ignore. Complacency was our biggest threat that day. In a weirdly ironic way our opposition helped us by fielding one of their strongest sides of the season, their challenge was enough to get us going and we got into our stride and waltzed into half time 4-0 up, happy days. I think even the most cautious of people (and coach was trying his very best to be cautious) would say that the tie was over by then. The second half stood in stark contrast to the first, it was frustrating and we never really got going (I personally played very poorly), so it was then that as the final whistle sounded at 5-1 there was almost an air of anti-climax... almost. Soon the champagne started flowing and the smiles were out in full force, there was a party atmosphere in the changing room which even the old Jamaican man who had been to the gym and had the misfortune to change when we did wouldn't begrudge us. Further celebrations proceeded and I'm fairly confident I can say a fun time was had by all (from what I recall), I know it was had by me, even if I did fall short of my Christmas party level of drunkenness!<br />
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Chief among proud facts for me is the fact that we have led the table from day one... to day finish. For the observer it was a Vettel grand prix win, as dull as anything, for us, we don't care. I'm also proud to be able to say all of this about our dominance with 3 games to go, the gap at the top of our table is bettered by no other team in our entire league structure, and we still have the opportunity to improve it! And improve it we shall aim to do. The fact is that we now have a range of goals (or side quests for those of you who enjoy a bit of skyrim) left to achieve. I'll now list some: Finishing with a 100% home record, scoring the most goals in the division, conceding the least, having the divisions top scorer in our side, and finishing on an 8 game winning streak having dropped 4 points all season. All lovely aims, all achievable I believe.<br />
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So even though the party is over the band are still playing, and this weekend they're working overtime as we've got a double header on Saturday and Sunday, the pressure is off and now we can enjoy it, but then again what am I saying? I've loved every minute of it anyway...<br />
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More next time on the bright future for us but for now let me leave you with a picture of the 2011/2012 Division 5S Champions...<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918691130207495047.post-10606473214388783082012-02-27T12:42:00.000+00:002012-02-27T12:42:22.373+00:00A Date With DestinySo here we are, having travelled so far and worked so hard for so many weeks, we have finally risen over that last rise and now our goal is in sight. Real, actual, sight. I woke up Sunday in a beautiful world, a world where only one more win shall separate us from the league title, the prize for which we have striven these many months, and striven we have. We have had to battle and rally, we have been down in the trenches as well as flying high on the winds, we have been staring down the barrel of a gun and we have been putting teams to the sword. We have had to have words both with ourselves and each other, we have had to <i>stop</i> having words with umpires and now here we go, crossing the line once again and hearing the bell ring out as it does in those long, incredibly dull, athletics races. One more lap to go.<br />
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We have had to fight complacency and arrogance all season, not because we are vain and lazy, but because we didn't want to bastardise our confidence into something that works against us. We haven't so far and I thoroughly expect that to be the case next week, the stakes are no higher than normal and the challenge will be the same as always; win the game. I admit the team talk in terms of motivation might be a bit easier than normal, because frankly if you can't get motivated by the words 'win this game and we win the league' you don't deserve to be in the room.<br />
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I hope we can match and build on our play from last week. Our dominance in a 5-2 win was great against a team that really deserves to be pushing higher up the table, and that beat our chasers the week before. It was great to see Neil re-igniting his claim for top scorer of the division and hopefully he'll take back sole possession of the top spot this weekend. My only concern for us were the two sloppy goals we conceded. Although there was much 'debate' about the second goal and why we shouldn't have let it in I must admit I was more surprised by the first goal, to my memory it was the first time we had conceded on a break from the other side this season. Now let me say that I think the back line has been outstanding all season and the rock on which our fortunes have depended but having only come away with 2 clean sheets since the Christmas break I would hate to see their superior stats chipped away at by some late season fatigue setting in (and if you're wondering boys, yes, that is a challenge).<br />
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As for this weeks game itself, we couldn't ask for a better setting. Having been denied the chance to win the league at home we instead must travel up the road to the commonwealth pitch at Belle Vue (in my opinion the best quality pitch in the region) to take on our opponents and (for the geographically uncertain) local rivals in an away game. Except, I don't want this game to have any away feeling to it whatsoever. For all those who have backed us all season I implore you that come Saturday don't head down to William Hulme (sorry 2's) but travel the extra 2 miles up the stretch and come and live the moment that we have all been waiting for, there is even a stand for gods sake! All hockey associates should know where Belle Vue is, but if you don't play, or are an idiot it is <a href="http://maps.google.com/?q=M12%204TF">... HERE</a>. Push back is 3pm sharp!<br />
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So please come one, come all, bring replica shirts, flags, signs, rattles, bells and vuvuzelas and show us some love because we've got a date with destiny and we wouldn't want you to feel left out.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0