eiffel_71 | (no subject)

As arranged months ago,

girlafraid1973 and Simesy from Leamington came down on Saturday to attend the Hawks v Bromley game with me before we all met up with

girlafraid1973's Portsmouth based friend Paul and his partner Amy in the evening. I arrived at our agreed meeting place, the Parchment Makers, just before noon and tried and failed to enter the place through two apparent doorways on the main road, much to the amusement of

girlafraid1973 and Simesy who were watching through a window. Eventually one of the pub regulars pointed and mouthed to me that the entrance door was round the corner on a side road.

girlafraid1973, Simesy and I said our hellos over coffee before getting down to lunch - a shared plate of nachos - and real ale, Simesy and me both being connoisseurs. Simesy had warned me by text that the pub didn't yet have some of Hampshire's best known ales on, so we went for Ruddles Best. Simesy and I talked non league football,

girlafraid1973 and I caught up on our news, and she observed that we'd all be meeting Amy for the first time that evening. I told Simesy that Paul is a F1 fanatic, and

girlafraid1973 added "Amy is! Mind you, she doesn't have a choice." I concurred "She has a choice of being either a F1 fan or a F1 widow."

We took a taxi over to the ground where we met Mark and Ade in The Westleigh. There was a guest ale on called Hannibal's Nectar, that met with Simesy's approval - so much so that he squeezed in a second pint and entered the ground just before kick off. It wasn't a classic game but Hawks won 2-0 so we filed back into the clubhouse happy - apart from Simesy, whose afternoon was ruined by the news via text message that Leamington had lost 1-0 at Swindon Supermarine, or 'Submarine' or 'Aquamarine' as he variously called them. We met Dick and Lauren over post-match pints.

Then it was the walk back to the station to take the train to Portsmouth Harbour, where had a hell of a time wandering around Gunwharf searching for the Slug and Lettuce where we'd be meeting Paul and Amy. In the event, we got there before them. Our first choice had been to go for a Chinese, but the length of the queues in the Water Margin put the others off. Paul and Amy suggested Chiquito but the queues were as long there. It was the same story at Frankie and Benny's. Well, this was a Saturday evening on Gunwharf - it was bound to be busy. Simesy and

girlafraid1973 said the queues in Nando's had been less horrendous than in the others, so we settled on going there and accepted the offer of a half hour wait for a table.

We were given a table by a wall with comfortable benches but not much room to get in either side. I went for the butterfly chicken breast in lemon and herb, the least hot of the coatings (the peri-peri sauce was spicy enough as it was) with a side of halloumi cheese. I found the food excellent though we agreed the portions were rather small, and Paul and Amy said later that they found it all underwhelming. Over dinner I asked Amy which constructor she supported in F1, and she said "I'm not into it," pointed at Paul and added "He is." So she's a F1 widow after all, though Paul smiled "I'm doing my best to convert her." He and I talked about prospects for the season ahead - he wasn't happy about the beginning being postponed, believing an alternative venue could have been found for the GP scheduled for Bahrain.

And so we all parted company saying fond goodbyes and agreeing to meet in Leamington next season.

Up early yesterday morning to go to Alton for Hampshire Women's Cup Finals day. I'd been tipped off by Trev that the Intermediate Cup Final would be worth watching as there'd be a couple of ex-Hawk girls on display. There turned out to be two on each team - Katie and Tiff for Lindford, and Claire and Nikki for Andover New Street Reserves (plus our former goalie Erin who's their assistant manager). That allowed me to appreciate the match as an impartial observer. Both Katie and Tiff played with great skill - they could easily play at a higher level than the Hampshire 4th Division, but as Lindford's their hometown club they clearly opt to play for them out of convenience or local loyalty.

Tiff was the most talked-about player of the match, but not for a happy reason. With the score 0-0 late in the game, she was standing on the line as an Andover shot sailed towards goal. Unable to get her head to the ball, she tipped it over the bar with her hand. A calculated gamble : she knew she'd be sent off, but stopped Andover scoring, giving her goalkeeper a chance to save the penalty. But Andover scored. By then most of the Hawk girls had arrived, and as Tiff left the field she came over to stand with us, where many of the girls gave her a ribbing.

Lindford's number 10 lofted in a beautiful equaliser with minutes to go. Extra time was goalless. The referee went over to the Andover team and told them that as Lindford were down to ten, Andover had to withdraw a player to even the sides for the penalty shoot-out. Andover protested, but the ref explained that they had to, or if the shoot-out went down to the 11th kick, Lindford would have to go back to their first penalty taker while Andover fielded their 11th, so Andover's worst penalty taker would be up against Lindford's best. Katie and Claire both scored their kicks while Nikki didn't take one, so I was happy enough. For the record, Andover won the shoot-out.

After lunch and a couple of Worthington's Cream Flows in the clubhouse it was time for the main event, Hawks versus Portsmouth Ladies in the Challenge Cup Final. The Hawk girls ran Pompey as close as they ever have in a fast and open game, but were undone by a couple of impulsive gambles from Sadie. Just before half time Sadie ran out of her area and smothered the ball at Gemma Hillier's feet just the wrong side of the line, and Pompey's ex-England international Justine Lorton curled the free kick straight into the roof of the net. Then on 54 minutes Hillier was clean through on goal, and Sadie rushed out and brought her down 25 yards out. Red card. With Yzzy still out with her knee injury Kaylee had to take over in goal. She played well, but our defence couldn't stop Lucy Quinn haring down the wing and sending over a cross for an unmarked Rosie Bidder to knock in Portsmouth's second. Our bogey team strike again.

Then last night the men were at home to Dorchester. It ended up as one of those 'I was there' matches, but not because of any moments of dazzling football brilliance. With 68 minutes gone a youth with an Afro, dressed in nothing but a lime green mankini, ran onto the pitch and was chased around by stewards until the Dorchester player-manager Vickers brought him down with a rugby tackle (which got Vickers a red card for his trouble). With only minutes to go a Dorchester player aimed a punch at Giuseppe Sole and was sent off; a team-mate protested too much and also saw red, reducing Dorchester to eight men. Oh, and Hawks came from behind to win 3-1, Steve Ramsey netting the third deep in injury time.

On annual leave today.