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Now Is The Hour
Aug. 1st, 2012 06:15 pmTravelled up to Coventry for the New Zealand v Cameroon women's match. Nipped into the newsagent/post office opposite the station to buy a postcard of Lady Godiva, write it and mail it off to Ann, then took a taxi to the Novotel.
I can highly recommend the Novotel to anyone wanting a place to stay in Coventry. It's a lovely place and the staff are all very friendly and helpful. Had roast duck followed by strawberries and cream in the restaurant with Olympic rowing on the high mounted telly.
The hotel was a 10 minute walk from the Ricoh Arena, sorry, City of Coventry Stadium. There were, alas, a lot of empty seats, but the people who were there created quite an atmosphere nonetheless. In front of me were a row of Kiwi women all face-painted with 'Go NZ'. A couple of blocks along the stand were lively groups of Cameroonians with flags and drums. Most of the crowd was made up of locals, especially families.
Early on word went round the crowd that Great Britain had gone one up against Brazil. All the locals momentarily smiled but no-one was getting over-excited, after all it was early doors and the opposition were Marta, Cristiane and Co...
New Zealand dominated the game and won 3-1 to the delight of the Kiwis around me. For me one of the stand-out moments of the evening came at half time, when gigantic bouncy balls festooned with London 2012 logos were sent into all sections of the crowd. In my block, kids were scrambling to get a touch of the big ball, and when they did their faces lit up with pure joy. They were especially delighted if they got to give it a big biff and send it sailing a long way.
Let no-one say it was "only" a women's football match, and one between two outsiders at that. As it happened, the 3-1 win was enough to send New Zealand through to the quarter-finals as one of the two best third-placed teams, drawing a huge cheer from their fans. And let no-one say it was in Coventry, many miles from London. All their lives, those kids will have the memory of when they were at the Olympic Games.
No updates from Wembley came through all evening, until in time added on a buzz went round the ground that GB had beaten Brazil 1-0. Soon after the final whistle, the tannoy confirmed this to an enormous roar. The tannoy and the big pink screens then announced that Great Britain would face Canada in the quarter-finals, right there in Coventry, and that tickets were going on sale straight away.
By the time I filed out of the ground the queues for GB-Canada tickets were already a mile long. Not that I could have gone anyway, mouthwatering as the prospect is - I'll be at the Aquatics Centre on Friday night rooting for Miss Adlington...
I can highly recommend the Novotel to anyone wanting a place to stay in Coventry. It's a lovely place and the staff are all very friendly and helpful. Had roast duck followed by strawberries and cream in the restaurant with Olympic rowing on the high mounted telly.
The hotel was a 10 minute walk from the Ricoh Arena, sorry, City of Coventry Stadium. There were, alas, a lot of empty seats, but the people who were there created quite an atmosphere nonetheless. In front of me were a row of Kiwi women all face-painted with 'Go NZ'. A couple of blocks along the stand were lively groups of Cameroonians with flags and drums. Most of the crowd was made up of locals, especially families.
Early on word went round the crowd that Great Britain had gone one up against Brazil. All the locals momentarily smiled but no-one was getting over-excited, after all it was early doors and the opposition were Marta, Cristiane and Co...
New Zealand dominated the game and won 3-1 to the delight of the Kiwis around me. For me one of the stand-out moments of the evening came at half time, when gigantic bouncy balls festooned with London 2012 logos were sent into all sections of the crowd. In my block, kids were scrambling to get a touch of the big ball, and when they did their faces lit up with pure joy. They were especially delighted if they got to give it a big biff and send it sailing a long way.
Let no-one say it was "only" a women's football match, and one between two outsiders at that. As it happened, the 3-1 win was enough to send New Zealand through to the quarter-finals as one of the two best third-placed teams, drawing a huge cheer from their fans. And let no-one say it was in Coventry, many miles from London. All their lives, those kids will have the memory of when they were at the Olympic Games.
No updates from Wembley came through all evening, until in time added on a buzz went round the ground that GB had beaten Brazil 1-0. Soon after the final whistle, the tannoy confirmed this to an enormous roar. The tannoy and the big pink screens then announced that Great Britain would face Canada in the quarter-finals, right there in Coventry, and that tickets were going on sale straight away.
By the time I filed out of the ground the queues for GB-Canada tickets were already a mile long. Not that I could have gone anyway, mouthwatering as the prospect is - I'll be at the Aquatics Centre on Friday night rooting for Miss Adlington...
