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Sep. 2nd, 2007 08:33 pmUp early this morning, to be at Westleigh Park for the Ladies' 9.30 meet-up for the FA Women's Cup match at Tooting. There were no trains running between Portsmouth and Havant, so all travellers were crammed onto a replacement bus - with a load of Pompey fans on their way to Arsenal, plus the Gosport Arsenal Supporters Club. (There was no aggro between the two groups.)
We were all kept waiting by Sam, who finally rolled up at 10 am a little the worse for wear - I later heard she'd been out all night, shambled home at 9.40 and rushed straight to Westleigh. Lucy, who'd left us at the end of last season to concentrate on basketball, had been persuaded to turn out today as we had lots of players absent, mostly through injury and holiday, so she joined Dick and me in Trevor's car. Trev drove 'the scenic route' round West Sussex, to enable us to stop at his favourite newsagent's shop for him to stock up on provisions and Dick to get a Brighton Sporting Argus. We still arrived at 11.50, over two hours before kick-off.
Tooting have a nice ground with a very impressive cafe-bar, 'The Hub'. After buying Bulmers for Trevor and myself and a Coke for Dick, I scanned the menu and ordered a 'Hub Burger'. This turned out to be a generously-proportioned hamburger with lots of salad in the roll, with a decent-sized helping of chips. Very tasty - and it drew envious glances from Trevor, Dick and others, a couple of whom were then tempted to order food for themselves.
With the players and coaching staff in the changing room, I was left sitting in the bar with Rita, Becky, Rosie and Vicky. While the big telly was showing Sky Sports 1 with sound up, the girls were more interested in a little TV high on a ledge opposite them, showing the repeat of yesterday's X Factor with no sound. (Nobody joked about that being the best way to see some of the auditionees.) They'd seen the show last night so we all talked about it. Becky said there'd been too many people with sob stories highlighted this year; I agreed.
"You don't want to hear my sob story, then?" said Rita.
"Have you got a tragic background?" I asked her.
"I've got a sob story."
"What is it?" Becky and I both enquired, and she said "I met Simon [one of the coaching staff, Jenna D's dad, and Rita's partner]." A pause, then she fell about laughing and the rest of us joined in.
Rita quizzed Becky on how exactly she was related to Sam, who's Becky's cousin. Becky explained that Sam was her maternal uncle's daughter, after which Rosie and Vicky went outside for a smoke. As they got up to go Rosie made some remark to Becky about her mother, which led me to ask Becky if Rosie was related to her and Sam.
"No, she's not related to anyone. Except Jo," Becky added with a grin. Rita explained that Rosie is Jo's partner. I asked whether Vicky was in a relationship with any of the players and was told yes, Kayleigh.
A bit later, when someone mentioned that there was a £2 admission charge, Rosie and Vicky said they'd avoid it by going into the changing room and coming out into the ground with the players. "We're injured players," Vicky said, meaning that would be their cover story.
"If you think about it, you're the WAGs," I replied. They loved that. "Yes, we're the WAGs," said Vicky, "we should have our own box."
It was a below-par performance from the Hawk girls, with a lot of missed chances ballooned high and wide. Sam scored via a deflection early on but for the rest of the first half she had a stinker. Some of us were inclined to put that down to her night out, but Rose, her mum, told us that Sam had a headache that was worse than what a hangover would be. The girls got the job done, though, winning 4-0 - Clare added our second late in the first half, then after the break Kayleigh scored a well-taken volley and Sam redeemed herself with a goal in the closing minutes.
On the drive home, Trevor and Dick did a lot of trying to persuade Lucy to come to training tomorrow night (she was reluctant as she thought it would mean missing Neighbours) and to play again next Sunday. They weren't joking either, as we'll have a few absentees next week too. Trevor asked me to write an article about the women's team for the programme and give it to him at next Saturday's game. I explained that I can't make it on Saturday as, when the match was still scheduled for its original Friday night date, I made irreversible plans for the Saturday.
"No plans are irreversible when it comes to football," replied Trevor. "Or basketball," he added, glancing at Lucy. I said my mate Paul would be well pissed off if I blew him out at this short notice. Unsurprisingly, Trev's suggestion was "Bring him to the match."
We agreed I'd e-mail Trevor my article during the week.
We were all kept waiting by Sam, who finally rolled up at 10 am a little the worse for wear - I later heard she'd been out all night, shambled home at 9.40 and rushed straight to Westleigh. Lucy, who'd left us at the end of last season to concentrate on basketball, had been persuaded to turn out today as we had lots of players absent, mostly through injury and holiday, so she joined Dick and me in Trevor's car. Trev drove 'the scenic route' round West Sussex, to enable us to stop at his favourite newsagent's shop for him to stock up on provisions and Dick to get a Brighton Sporting Argus. We still arrived at 11.50, over two hours before kick-off.
Tooting have a nice ground with a very impressive cafe-bar, 'The Hub'. After buying Bulmers for Trevor and myself and a Coke for Dick, I scanned the menu and ordered a 'Hub Burger'. This turned out to be a generously-proportioned hamburger with lots of salad in the roll, with a decent-sized helping of chips. Very tasty - and it drew envious glances from Trevor, Dick and others, a couple of whom were then tempted to order food for themselves.
With the players and coaching staff in the changing room, I was left sitting in the bar with Rita, Becky, Rosie and Vicky. While the big telly was showing Sky Sports 1 with sound up, the girls were more interested in a little TV high on a ledge opposite them, showing the repeat of yesterday's X Factor with no sound. (Nobody joked about that being the best way to see some of the auditionees.) They'd seen the show last night so we all talked about it. Becky said there'd been too many people with sob stories highlighted this year; I agreed.
"You don't want to hear my sob story, then?" said Rita.
"Have you got a tragic background?" I asked her.
"I've got a sob story."
"What is it?" Becky and I both enquired, and she said "I met Simon [one of the coaching staff, Jenna D's dad, and Rita's partner]." A pause, then she fell about laughing and the rest of us joined in.
Rita quizzed Becky on how exactly she was related to Sam, who's Becky's cousin. Becky explained that Sam was her maternal uncle's daughter, after which Rosie and Vicky went outside for a smoke. As they got up to go Rosie made some remark to Becky about her mother, which led me to ask Becky if Rosie was related to her and Sam.
"No, she's not related to anyone. Except Jo," Becky added with a grin. Rita explained that Rosie is Jo's partner. I asked whether Vicky was in a relationship with any of the players and was told yes, Kayleigh.
A bit later, when someone mentioned that there was a £2 admission charge, Rosie and Vicky said they'd avoid it by going into the changing room and coming out into the ground with the players. "We're injured players," Vicky said, meaning that would be their cover story.
"If you think about it, you're the WAGs," I replied. They loved that. "Yes, we're the WAGs," said Vicky, "we should have our own box."
It was a below-par performance from the Hawk girls, with a lot of missed chances ballooned high and wide. Sam scored via a deflection early on but for the rest of the first half she had a stinker. Some of us were inclined to put that down to her night out, but Rose, her mum, told us that Sam had a headache that was worse than what a hangover would be. The girls got the job done, though, winning 4-0 - Clare added our second late in the first half, then after the break Kayleigh scored a well-taken volley and Sam redeemed herself with a goal in the closing minutes.
On the drive home, Trevor and Dick did a lot of trying to persuade Lucy to come to training tomorrow night (she was reluctant as she thought it would mean missing Neighbours) and to play again next Sunday. They weren't joking either, as we'll have a few absentees next week too. Trevor asked me to write an article about the women's team for the programme and give it to him at next Saturday's game. I explained that I can't make it on Saturday as, when the match was still scheduled for its original Friday night date, I made irreversible plans for the Saturday.
"No plans are irreversible when it comes to football," replied Trevor. "Or basketball," he added, glancing at Lucy. I said my mate Paul would be well pissed off if I blew him out at this short notice. Unsurprisingly, Trev's suggestion was "Bring him to the match."
We agreed I'd e-mail Trevor my article during the week.
