Saturday 11th August
CML North
Glapwell 0 Easington United 2
Monday 13th August
Holderness Cup Winners Cup
Final
Easington United Reserves 0 Brandesburton 1
Well that’s not strictly true of course. The Euro's and the Olympics
have ensured there has not really been a close season this year (Mrs Slush will
testify to that!) while down at Low Farm we had the added distraction of
wholesale management changes.
A couple of enjoyable trips into North
Yorkshire meant I’d missed The Sumo’s opening pre-season games, which resulted in two-nil defeats at HPL outfits Crown FC and Sculcoates Amateurs.
Despite the defeats, I received good reports from
both inside and outside the camp with regards to the quality of football
played. I finally got to see it for
myself when the East Riding County FA Juniors made their annual trip to the
Farm and again a week later when Sumo’s side concluded their schedule at Long
Riston.
Comfortable victories were recorded in both games,
with several players providing their manager with pleasant surprises ahead of
the first league game.
Indeed, the only disappointment for me came in the
Traveller’s Rest at Long Riston where the much-vaunted Aleympic Gold (from
Great Newsome) had run out. Grrrgh. That was part of the reason for arranging
this fixture in the first place!
So to Saturday’s CML opener and the first part of a
weekend double-header, which on Monday would see the Stiffs hoping to double-up their South
Holderness Cup win of May by retaining the Holderness Cup Winners Cup won by the First Team a year ago.
Glapwell endured a horrendous time of things last
season, culminating in them travelling to Low Farm in May with just eight
men. Thankfully, things have improved
somewhat since and they appeared to have twenty-two available for our visit to Hall Corner!
We too travelled in strength. Fifteen players made the trip, all but one on
the Pistol Pete Express, with Wilky Woo accompanying the Gaffer and me in car (Mrs Slush's new weekend working commitments ensuring I would not be on the much-vaunted first away day 'beer-bus' of 2012/13).
Surviving the scare of a “technical issue” that
restricted its progress to 50mph for the last segment of its journey down the
M1, all was shipshape come kick-off time.
Sumo handed full debuts to two new faces – Willo and
Robbie – along with a “second debut” to the returning Neilo. Completing a quartet of new faces (and a trio
of ex-Withernsea men) was Nige Newton whose chance would come off the bench
second half.
Jamie C has been appointed Captain Cousins for the
season, although much more Michael Jackson blaring our pre-season and he’ll
find the armband being removed as quickly as it was given him!
Hall Corner is a smart little ground, with a pitch
that rises towards the cricket pitch behind the far end goal. It also has possibly the most protective
groundsman in the league.
“No warm-up in the goalmouths, only in the corners
where I’ve placed the posts. Goalkeeper
can have ten minutes. Crosses only. No shots.
If I see any shots you’ll get this.”
At which point he drew his hand across his throat. Nice.
As the game began I wondered whether our lads were continuing to carry out his instructions - we ventured nowhere near the Glapwell goal in the opening ten minutes!
The hosts dictated matters in this first spell
and actually had the ball in the net but the lino had flagged.
Having taken a while to get into our stride, we
then finished the half slightly on top.
Alex Malong – who surely has the biggest hands in the CML – was the
busier of the two keepers and produced one exceptional save to deny Wilks. Jimmy D and Fitzy should have done better,
while a Glappy player also headed against his own post. As we enjoyed the half-time hospitality of
our excellent hosts, we wondered whether these misses would come back to haunt
us. Pistol Pete, meanwhile, was more
concerned as to whether or not his repair kit of "scissors, fork and beer-can"
would do the trip to enable the Express to get the lads home!
Thankfully we needn’t have worried - on both counts. A majestic second half display, capped by two
goals inside three minutes, ensured we would have a maximum points haul to take
back home. And Pete’s “handiwork”
ensured they would get there.
Neilo and the Skipper were on target but the main
plaudits were reserved for the hard-working Wilky Woo. Elsewhere Sam Mac was almost faultless,
Fitzy’s influence grew as the game wore on and Willo was solid on “dayboo” (as
the Aussies would say). But, in truth,
all played their part in an encouraging first show.
An al fresco post-match pint was accompanied by the amusing sideshow of Coach Nicho accusing team-mates of having swiped his iPod...before finding he'd actually dispatched it to the bin alongside his waste pack-up!
One of the benefits of travelling by car came with
me back home sober and in good time to catch another great night for GB at the
Olympics. I didn’t envy the lads on the
bus, with their 48-can haul, struggling back up the M18.
No, honest, I didn’t.
Monday night brought cooler climes and a chance to see Gav Thurkettle take charge of the Stiffs for the first time.
Withernsea was this year’s chosen venue for the
annual meeting of north and south Holderness Cup winners, with Brandesburton of
HPL Division 1 the opposition.
Brandes’ had ended Hornsea’s recent monopoly in the
Tanton Cup by beating both the Seasiders’ first and second-strings en route to
their sixteenth success in one of the oldest competitions of its type.
Gav retained faith with most of the lads who’d
performed such heroics in May. He also
included Frosty (missing at Glapwell due to work), “Cousin” Mark, young Hoppy
and the returning Darren Thompson. The manager
himself was among the subs in a 15-man squad but, disappointingly, was not to
grace the field this evening.
And the locals could have done with him on there. For despite shading matters in
terms of possession, there was a distinct lack of quality in the final third
and Brandes’ keeper Nathan Otley was rarely troubled.
The game’s defining moment came as early as the
12th minute. And it arrived from
Brandesburton’s first shot on goal, a crisp half-volley from Phil Skit that
flew past Ben Akam from 15 yards out.
On chances, the Tanton Cup holders could have more
than doubled their tally. Skit hit the
bar while Akam twice saved superbly from hapless sub James Barker who also
rolled another good chance wide.
All in all it was a scrappy game, which wasn’t
great on the eye for those of us spoilt by Saturday’s slick display. Still, it’s early days and while the
retention of the cup would have been nice,
promotion back to the County League Premier Division has to be Gav’s priority.
