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Feb. 9th, 2008 11:59 pmHawks v Cambridge City this afternoon, and with everyone who presented a Liverpool ticket stub being let in free, I got over there early to bag my seat before it got nicked - although I did wonder whether we'd actually get that many more than usual. As it turned out, from 2.30 onwards there was a steady influx of people into the ground, and by kick-off the stand was nearly full and there was a much bigger contingent of Hawks than usual behind the goal. The crowd was a league record 2007.
They were rewarded with an exciting first half that saw Hawks take the lead through Tony Taggart on 35 minutes, Cambridge equalise almost immediately as their winger crossed to their striker over the heads of our defence for him to nod in, and Rocky Baptiste put us back in front with a header just before the break. The second half saw plenty of incidents but no further score - the win was what we desperately needed, but it was a shame that people began streaming out of the ground with five minutes to go. Who leaves a match five minutes early when your team's protecting a one goal lead??
I'm optimistic that at least some of today's day trippers will have been impressed enough to come back for further home games. It's just a shame that we don't have another Saturday home match for three weeks (or any home match until Monday the 25), as there's a danger that by then the momentum will be lost and many of the day trippers will have just slipped back into their usual Saturday pastimes.
To Warsash in the evening for Sarah #1's Valentine Ball. It was nice to meet up with lots of the ladies from work outside the office environment and have friendly chats. Sarah's husband Andrew immediately complimented me on the cup run - Sarah must have told him I was a Hawk - and engaged me in a discussion about football; he suggested - tongue in cheek? - that Hawks would soon be overtaking his team, Southampton! A more bizarre exchange happened in the Gents, when a guy who came in as I was washing my hands said to me "So you're a Forest Green Rovers fan?" I corrected him and, unsurprisingly, he asked if I'd been to Liverpool.
Sarah's known as our office disco diva, so it was no surprise that the accent was on dancing for most of the evening. I got away with sitting at my table supping Magners most of the time, though every so often a lady from work would wave me up onto the floor and I'd have a restrained boogie with them just to be sociable. I have to confess I hit the dancefloor voluntarily earlier in the evening, when the house band struck up their second song...Summer of '69. I can never, ever resist Summer of '69. When Sarah #4 introduced me to her husband soon after that song ended, he said "You had some pretty good moves out there." I knew that my dancing would in fact have resembled an orang-utan wading over quick sands, because it invariably does. Maybe he was being polite; maybe he was another bloke who isn't much of a dancer and was empathising with me.
I won a prize in the raffle. It was late in the draw, but among the remaining prizes was a box of milk chocolate After Eights, so I swooped for them. Hostess Sarah #1, on the mike, began to exhort me to pick a framed picture, then said "Oh, you've already gone for the After Eights. Fair enough."
The buffet was ace. Lots of olives (big thumbs up); onion bhajis; a very tasty rice, sweetcorn, bean and sultana dish; chicken salad; some nice seeded breadsticks; and gherkins (another big thumbs up). On the dessert table, most of the sweets were heavy on chocolate content and so proscribed to me (after failing last year because of chocolate desserts at civic functions, this year I'm resolved to do Lent properly), but there was, thank goodness, lots of lovely cheese as an alternative. Danish Blue, Cheddar, Brie, Edam and my favourite - Lancashire. That was me sorted.
Then another two hours of the disco. During one of my little sojourns on the dancefloor, I was bopping with Cathy and Sally when Sarah #4, during one of her moves, bent over. I playfully came up behind her and mimed giving her a gentle pelvic boomp (without actually touching her). All the girls around her had hysterics, while Sarah #4 surfaced, wondering what had been going on, and Cathy sternly yanked me away from Sarah #4 and back into her circle...
When Saturday Night by Whigfield came on, as I'd never learned how to do the dance, I just watched ladies near me and followed them - though that at first got a bit tricky when the turning meant I found myself facing the front, till I hit on the idea of watching the lady to my side. One guy said to me near the end "You seem to have it off pat." I told him the truth.
The After Eights are in the kitchen cupboard till Easter.
They were rewarded with an exciting first half that saw Hawks take the lead through Tony Taggart on 35 minutes, Cambridge equalise almost immediately as their winger crossed to their striker over the heads of our defence for him to nod in, and Rocky Baptiste put us back in front with a header just before the break. The second half saw plenty of incidents but no further score - the win was what we desperately needed, but it was a shame that people began streaming out of the ground with five minutes to go. Who leaves a match five minutes early when your team's protecting a one goal lead??
I'm optimistic that at least some of today's day trippers will have been impressed enough to come back for further home games. It's just a shame that we don't have another Saturday home match for three weeks (or any home match until Monday the 25), as there's a danger that by then the momentum will be lost and many of the day trippers will have just slipped back into their usual Saturday pastimes.
To Warsash in the evening for Sarah #1's Valentine Ball. It was nice to meet up with lots of the ladies from work outside the office environment and have friendly chats. Sarah's husband Andrew immediately complimented me on the cup run - Sarah must have told him I was a Hawk - and engaged me in a discussion about football; he suggested - tongue in cheek? - that Hawks would soon be overtaking his team, Southampton! A more bizarre exchange happened in the Gents, when a guy who came in as I was washing my hands said to me "So you're a Forest Green Rovers fan?" I corrected him and, unsurprisingly, he asked if I'd been to Liverpool.
Sarah's known as our office disco diva, so it was no surprise that the accent was on dancing for most of the evening. I got away with sitting at my table supping Magners most of the time, though every so often a lady from work would wave me up onto the floor and I'd have a restrained boogie with them just to be sociable. I have to confess I hit the dancefloor voluntarily earlier in the evening, when the house band struck up their second song...Summer of '69. I can never, ever resist Summer of '69. When Sarah #4 introduced me to her husband soon after that song ended, he said "You had some pretty good moves out there." I knew that my dancing would in fact have resembled an orang-utan wading over quick sands, because it invariably does. Maybe he was being polite; maybe he was another bloke who isn't much of a dancer and was empathising with me.
I won a prize in the raffle. It was late in the draw, but among the remaining prizes was a box of milk chocolate After Eights, so I swooped for them. Hostess Sarah #1, on the mike, began to exhort me to pick a framed picture, then said "Oh, you've already gone for the After Eights. Fair enough."
The buffet was ace. Lots of olives (big thumbs up); onion bhajis; a very tasty rice, sweetcorn, bean and sultana dish; chicken salad; some nice seeded breadsticks; and gherkins (another big thumbs up). On the dessert table, most of the sweets were heavy on chocolate content and so proscribed to me (after failing last year because of chocolate desserts at civic functions, this year I'm resolved to do Lent properly), but there was, thank goodness, lots of lovely cheese as an alternative. Danish Blue, Cheddar, Brie, Edam and my favourite - Lancashire. That was me sorted.
Then another two hours of the disco. During one of my little sojourns on the dancefloor, I was bopping with Cathy and Sally when Sarah #4, during one of her moves, bent over. I playfully came up behind her and mimed giving her a gentle pelvic boomp (without actually touching her). All the girls around her had hysterics, while Sarah #4 surfaced, wondering what had been going on, and Cathy sternly yanked me away from Sarah #4 and back into her circle...
When Saturday Night by Whigfield came on, as I'd never learned how to do the dance, I just watched ladies near me and followed them - though that at first got a bit tricky when the turning meant I found myself facing the front, till I hit on the idea of watching the lady to my side. One guy said to me near the end "You seem to have it off pat." I told him the truth.
The After Eights are in the kitchen cupboard till Easter.
