Mar. 29th, 2009

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Whose bright idea was it to stage i) the Australian Grand Prix, and ii) a morning kick-off for the Hampshire Women's Cup Final, for the morning the clocks go forward?

I hauled my carcass out of bed at 5.30 am regardless for the GP. As a Red Bull fan with a liking for BMW, I was gutted when Vettel and Kubica, apparently assured of podium finishes with three laps to go, collided when both refused to yield and took each other out, but you've got to be delighted for Jenson Button and for Brawn GP. Being a hopeless sporting romantic, if the constructors' championship can't be Red Bull's I will bloody love it if Brawn win it - hey, stranger things have happened, Verona won the scudetto in 1985...

And so over to Westleigh Park. The 11 am start ruled out a pre-match visit to the clubhouse, but it was good to be back. 15 minutes before kick-off I couldn't resist the tempting smells from the tea hut any longer and was drawn down there for a Westlers hot dog. "Is this your breakfast?" the tea lady asked.

"Brunch."

By the tea hut I met Sid and Molly, who are actually on holiday at the moment but came home for the day to see the Cup Final and join us at the Showaddywaddy concert tonight. They remarked that I'd been absent from the men's matches for a while; I told them I'd been working for a couple of months then just plain short of cash but that I'd be back on Saturday.

Just before kick-off I spotted Malc. I did a quick chant of "3-0, 3-0," but he had something else on his mind. "I want a word with you - who the hell is Ronnie Racoon?" He's a character created by an e-pal of mine in aid of Comic Relief, so I'd invited my Facebook friends - who include Malc and family - to join the group she set up for him. Explanation over, Malc then pointed at me and added "Shut up. Lucky Dutch."

As the Hawk girls are shooting for the division immediately below Portsmouth Ladies', I really believed we'd give them a good game. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. Pompey had us under the cosh almost all game, although thanks to superb goalkeeping from Sadie and defending from Billie and Jenna D we kept the game scoreless until just before the break. Then Kirsty McGee gave Pompey the lead with an admittedly beautiful volley.

Our tactics didn't help - we weren't using the wings and again lacked shape - and Rob's team selection looked questionable. Abi played in central defence, though suffering from chest pains, when Michelle could have ably stepped into the breach; Abi lasted less than half an hour, meaning a substitution was wasted, and then the sub Rob brought on was not Michelle but Trudi, a midfielder, with Jodie dropping back to defence - a role she's not at all accustomed or suited to. The other Rob (Chelsea's dad) reckoned Abi had got the nod because Rob (manager) wanted to field as many ex-Pompey players as possible against their old club. That didn't explain his including Telé, suffering with a calf strain, among the subs and bringing her on on the hour.

During half time my old friend Katie, a sub for Portsmouth today, popped up to the stand so I got up to say hello and gave her a hug and kiss. She asked me "Who are you supporting today?"

"Hawks." I pointed to the club badge on my Hawks shirt.

"Ooh, that's not good enough." She paused. "I'll let you off." I asked her how her reserve girls were doing (she's now reserve team coach there) and she said they had a game this afternoon which she'd had delayed to allow her girls to watch this one.

Early in the second half McGee scored another sublime goal, in off the post from a free kick from 35 yards out. From then on Pompey filled their boots and it ended up 5-0. Our one attack ended with Charlie getting the ball kicked in her face by Louise - our former keeper now at Pompey - then getting warned by the ref after protesting to him. I spent the closing minutes of the game at pitchside talking to Jade, Penny and Michelle. We hung around to watch our girls collect their losers' medals and clap Portsmouth when they were presented with the cup, then I said my goodbyes and sloped off to the station.
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To Ferneham Hall with the Hawks fans to see Showaddywaddy. No Steph, alas - the poor lass wasn't feeling too well - but Malc, Aly, Simon, Tracey, John and about a dozen others were there. Simon and John both remarked how I hadn't been at matches lately, so I explained about the financial crisis - Pete said a lot of people had been in the same boat - and said I'd be back Saturday. Simon asked me to "bring some wins with you"...

Just before the show began I got a text message from Ann, to say she was sitting behind me in the block to the left of the stairs! Showaddywaddy were fantastic as usual. Front man Dave had quite a bit of banter with the audience, and early in the show introduced us, the fans who'd made Under The Moon Of Love a terrace anthem, and announced proudly that we'd made them honorary members of HawkSupport - "which puts them up to 23!" They opened with some tracks from their latest album, recorded at Sun studios, then had a Q&A session with the audience. Malc asked when they were coming to a Hawks match! Dave explained that he's the only football fan in the band, and "Leicester [his team] are doing really well so why would I come all the way down here?" He said that if Hawks ever play at home to Kettering Town, his favourite non-league side, he'd come to that and try and get the band to play an impromptu concert in the clubhouse. They filled out the first half with several 50s rock 'n' roll classics.

At the interval I looked round for Ann, exchanged waves and blown kisses, and had to climb up a staircase - pretty awkward when everyone in the section is slowly going down it - to get to her. Her new job at a university library involves supervising a lot more staff, and a lot more work generally, so it's taking quite a bit out of her and she was glad of this one night out, a rare oasis. The good news is she expects her holiday won't coincide with the Eurovision, so we should be doing the Contest at her place as usual.

The second half of the set consisted of a mixture of the 'Waddy's hits and more 50s classics. Halfway through Dave announced "Here's one for you all to sing along to, especially the Hawks fans...no, it's not that song yet, it's one to get you in the mood." It turned out to be Summertime Blues. Finally, as the penultimate number of the set we Hawks got our call to come up on the stage for Under The Moon Of Love. As we climbed up the stageside steps Dave quipped "They sing this whenever Havant & Waterlooville score a goal - so it's been sung about three times this season." He added "You've been crap this season, haven't you?" We all chorused "Yes!" His reply was "I'll come and see you when you're better."

Then, after we'd all taken up spots along the back of the stage and dodged out of the way of guitarist Roddy, Dave and Danny led everyone in der-der-dering and we all sang the first verse unaccompanied, then the band launched into the tune and we all sang along (with the bits we knew - one show-off had actually learned the whole thing). We left the stage with Dave's good wishes for next season ringing in our ears, Roddy shaking hands with all of us as we went. When we arrived back at our seats, it was everybody up on their feet for Hey Rock and Roll. The band left the stage to shouts of 'More' and came back for a quick encore of two songs from the new album.

Passed Ann in the foyer on my way out.

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