|
By kick-off time on Saturday,
it will be 4 weeks since the first team last saw any action and, even worse, 6 weeks since the Reserve team last played. Looking at this enforced period of inactivity in a rather more positive light, though,
if you are only as good as your last game, both teams have had an unusual length of time in which to bask in the glory derived
from their last outings.
The First team’s last game
was the excellent 2-1 home victory over Broadwell Amateurs just five days before Christmas.
As the side has now had the opportunity to get back onto the training ground, it is to be hoped that the same effort
and commitment, which brought a deserved and very welcome victory almost a month ago, can be transported down to Brimscombe
& Thrupp on the southern edge of deepest Stroud. Conditions this coming weekend
are likely to be very different from those that confronted the side when they renewed the club’s acquaintance with Division
One of the Northern Senior League in the first League game of last season. On
that occasion, shelter had to be sought from the sun, rather than the cold or the rain, as the temperatures in late August
2007 soared and contributed to a very uncomfortable afternoon for everyone from Star FC.
We were 3-0 down by half time, pulled one back immediately after the restart but then finished up somewhat shell shocked
and on the wrong end of a 5-1 drubbing. In the immediate aftermath of that
defeat, consolation was found in the belief that the home side that day was on its way to the top of the table but, in actual
fact, Brismcombe & Thrupp finished well off the pace, in 7th position, despite the impetus they derived from
their excellent performance that day. We put in a much better display in the
return between Christmas and New Year 12 months ago, which was drawn 1-1, and felt unlucky to lose to the only goal when the
two sides met at Cheltenham Road earlier this season. However, overall, Brimscombe
seem to be closer to fulfilling their promise this season than last, as they currently occupy top spot following their 4-3
home victory over Gala Wilton three weeks ago. They have by far the most impressive
goal difference in the Division, too, but this, mostly, harks back to the successive home victories, over Cheltenham Civil
Service and Wotton Rovers by scores of 9-2 and 8-1 respectively, that they enjoyed early in the autumn. Strangely, soon after these wins, they were knocked out of the GFA Senior Amateur Cup by Newton FC, from
Division One of the Cheltenham League but they have won both their last two home games and will, no doubt, be looking forward
to our visit on Saturday. It is to be anticipated that, after 4 weeks without a game, the Firsts will also be relishing
the opportunity to get back into the action, especially as they have had the benefit of a full squad from which to select
for this gam, save for Simon Delaney, who remains unavailable
For the third week in a row, the
Reserves will be hoping that they actually get to wend their way down to Randwick to decide who goes into the Semi Final of the GFA
Junior County Cup. Not surprisingly, there is very little to be said in preview
of this fixture that hasn’t already been said, so here are a few bits of random trivia, loosely connected to the game,
that will fill the space instead.
- The game will be played at Archway School,
which is where Matt Howells, who played for the club for 6 years, on and off, from 1999, completed his teacher training.
- The club chairman’s wife used to attend Archway school.
- There is a district called Randwick in Sydney,
which has its own racecourse
- The origin of the name Randwick, or more anciently,
Randwicke, and Rendwicke, is supposed to be Saxon-from the Saxon rendan, to 'divide,' and also 'a street' ; which is held
to be descriptive of the situation of the place which is divided from Standish, to which the village formerly belonged. Or
it may be the same as the generally held derivation of Painswick, which comes from “wicke”, a dwelling- i.e. the
dwelling of Pain, which must have been great fun in the dark ages. Ergo, Randwicke
might, therefore, simply be the dwelling of Rand – which might have been a better idea
than the dwelling of Pain, dependent on your orientation.
- Its on a hill
Once more, a strong Reserve Team
squad awaits the order to move out and head southwards to take on Randwick and includes Dan Wood and Ben Norman, with Sam
Bastow retaining his place in goal
The third team will still be seething
about losing their unbeaten record in the League on a pitch more suited to ice hockey than football and will be keen and eager
to get back into the action as soon as possible. The opportunity to do just that
is presented by the visit of Charlton Rovers third team to Cheltenham Road
this Saturday. The 2008-09 season has, so far, been something of a disappointment
for Charlton Rovers. They have not won a single game all season, having lost
all of their League matches apart from the four that they have managed to draw and losing in the first round of both cup competitions. Their best result of the campaign up to now, by a country mile, is the 1-1 draw that
was achieved at home to C & G on October 18th, a day on which, coincidentally, the club’s first team,
who compete with our Reserves in Division Two, did not have a game. Other games
to result in draws have been the home matches with Falcons Reserves and Sherborne Harriers and the trip to Tewkesbury Town
Reserves at the beginning of December, which represents the team’s only away point all season. When the two sides met at The Beeches in late November, the thirds took all three points with a 4-1 win
that saw Rob Vaughan score two and Adam Slade notch his first ever goal for the club. In a week in which the club benefited
from having plenty of players to choose from, the thirds look particularly strong for this game, with Graham Withers included
in the squad for only the second time this season and Stefano Pucello hoping to return to the action following the Christmas
break
|
| Please send any articles you might have to James Mole |
|
