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Sep. 10th, 2006 08:34 pmMy mother has had a right monk on with me for three days. This morning she finally confessed that she's hormonal at the moment, plus getting headaches; then an hour later she promptly flew off the handle with me for no reason again. Time to get out of the house...
...to Bracknell for Havant & Waterlooville Ladies' first ever competitive match, in the FA Women's Cup Preliminary Round. Arrived at the ground with nearly half an hour to spare - it being a scorching hot day, made straight for the club house for a Coke with ice. Trevor, secretary of the men's club, was there writing out the team sheet - talked to him until he had to go and give it to the ref. I knew Jade, Jenna D, Sam, Sabrina and Sarah C from Pompey Ladies.
Squeezed in another coke before heading out to the stand a few minutes before kick-off. The lady who'd seen me outside West Leigh Park at the Weston match turned out to be Lisa, assistant manager, secretary and Jade's mum; she greeted me enthusiastically, and Sabrina, Sam and Sarah all said hello as I passed them. Lisa was sat right next to the little wall dividing the ordinary spectators from the away team officials, so I sat bang the other side of the wall, effectively next to her. Lisa and I talked for a little while before kick-off about how the team had shaped up well in pre-season, the promising young players we've signed and another one she and Rob (manager and Lisa's husband) have got their eye on! In the officials' area with us were the club photographer's wee daughter, who was a big fan of Jade, and Lisa's toddler son Brannan, who had ants in his pants all afternoon and gave the team (especially his big sister) plenty of loud vocal support!
A few seats along from me was a talkative home fan, who kept asking me questions about our team but was a nice enough chap.
Cracking performance from the Hawks girls! Sam scored a hat-trick, including a beautiful shot slammed into the top corner of the net for her third and our fifth. Chantelle and Sian also got on the scoresheet to give us a 5-1 win. Jenna F came off towards the end of the first half, suffering breathing problems because of the heat; she was fine once Lisa'd acquired a bag full of ice from the barman and put it on Jenna's head. In the bar at half-time Sam's mum Rose said hello; she asked why I wasn't at Fareham watching Pompey Ladies, but was delighted when I explained that now Hawks have a women's team of their own, I'm giving them my whole-hearted support.
For the beginning of the second half Jenna F came and sat where Lisa had been, so I talked to her for a little while. She said how she has trouble with heat but likes cold - when I said she'd be fine come the winter, she enthusiastically agreed. I made a mental note to nickname her 'Eskimo Jen'. After the Bracknell number 6 scored their goal, she lifted up her shirt and ran along in celebration, only for the ref to book her for it. Everyone was stunned when, once the ref had put his yellow card away, he immediately produced the red. We thought the girl must have given him some abuse as soon as he booked her to get that, but no-one had heard anything and several of the Bracknell players were protesting indignantly. Finally, the ref apologised, explained he'd thought he'd booked the girl earlier, making this her second yellow, but in fact he hadn't, and called her back onto the pitch. "Well done, Graham Poll," shouted one spectator.
At the final whistle, I joined our official party in standing up and clapping the girls off, then said goodbye to Lisa and Trevor and made my way out. As I went, I said "Well played" to Sam who was standing nearby and she said a friendly goodbye. Jade, who was halfway across the pitch, yelled "Thanks for coming" to me; I waved. Made it back to Bracknell station just in time to sprint over the bridge and catch the 4.11 train.
Got to go watch The Full Monty on telly.
...to Bracknell for Havant & Waterlooville Ladies' first ever competitive match, in the FA Women's Cup Preliminary Round. Arrived at the ground with nearly half an hour to spare - it being a scorching hot day, made straight for the club house for a Coke with ice. Trevor, secretary of the men's club, was there writing out the team sheet - talked to him until he had to go and give it to the ref. I knew Jade, Jenna D, Sam, Sabrina and Sarah C from Pompey Ladies.
Squeezed in another coke before heading out to the stand a few minutes before kick-off. The lady who'd seen me outside West Leigh Park at the Weston match turned out to be Lisa, assistant manager, secretary and Jade's mum; she greeted me enthusiastically, and Sabrina, Sam and Sarah all said hello as I passed them. Lisa was sat right next to the little wall dividing the ordinary spectators from the away team officials, so I sat bang the other side of the wall, effectively next to her. Lisa and I talked for a little while before kick-off about how the team had shaped up well in pre-season, the promising young players we've signed and another one she and Rob (manager and Lisa's husband) have got their eye on! In the officials' area with us were the club photographer's wee daughter, who was a big fan of Jade, and Lisa's toddler son Brannan, who had ants in his pants all afternoon and gave the team (especially his big sister) plenty of loud vocal support!
A few seats along from me was a talkative home fan, who kept asking me questions about our team but was a nice enough chap.
Cracking performance from the Hawks girls! Sam scored a hat-trick, including a beautiful shot slammed into the top corner of the net for her third and our fifth. Chantelle and Sian also got on the scoresheet to give us a 5-1 win. Jenna F came off towards the end of the first half, suffering breathing problems because of the heat; she was fine once Lisa'd acquired a bag full of ice from the barman and put it on Jenna's head. In the bar at half-time Sam's mum Rose said hello; she asked why I wasn't at Fareham watching Pompey Ladies, but was delighted when I explained that now Hawks have a women's team of their own, I'm giving them my whole-hearted support.
For the beginning of the second half Jenna F came and sat where Lisa had been, so I talked to her for a little while. She said how she has trouble with heat but likes cold - when I said she'd be fine come the winter, she enthusiastically agreed. I made a mental note to nickname her 'Eskimo Jen'. After the Bracknell number 6 scored their goal, she lifted up her shirt and ran along in celebration, only for the ref to book her for it. Everyone was stunned when, once the ref had put his yellow card away, he immediately produced the red. We thought the girl must have given him some abuse as soon as he booked her to get that, but no-one had heard anything and several of the Bracknell players were protesting indignantly. Finally, the ref apologised, explained he'd thought he'd booked the girl earlier, making this her second yellow, but in fact he hadn't, and called her back onto the pitch. "Well done, Graham Poll," shouted one spectator.
At the final whistle, I joined our official party in standing up and clapping the girls off, then said goodbye to Lisa and Trevor and made my way out. As I went, I said "Well played" to Sam who was standing nearby and she said a friendly goodbye. Jade, who was halfway across the pitch, yelled "Thanks for coming" to me; I waved. Made it back to Bracknell station just in time to sprint over the bridge and catch the 4.11 train.
Got to go watch The Full Monty on telly.
