Jersey (A)

[greygraham]

Well it looks like the lads did us proud again. Hope we will see a few words on the game from those who were there.

COYGs

[hendo]

Whilst the Gs and top support were posted overseas to serve our club with honour, I made the equally arduous trip to Walton and Hersham to see them get a last-kick draw with Tooting Bec on their fabulous 4G pitch.

The football was excellent, but the crowd was disappointing, I counted around fifty, and with them all lost in such a huge stand, the whole thing looked like it was being played behind closed doors.

Of course, it’s that time of year, and talking of ‘time’ it’s worth noting that B&Q obviously have some inside information of a serious temporal cut this year with a sign outside their Guildford store that reads: ‘20% off Christmas’. That’s almost 3 hours. How do they know this? They’ll have to drop the Queen’s speech and The Great Escape.

On the pitch, there was an excellent display of skill by both sides, benefitting from the predictability of the surface, but a few things caught my eye.

Tooting’s keeper, who made some excellent saves, was quite small in stature, and the barrier that surrounds the pitch is rather high. With no crowd behind the goal to throw the ball back, when he was faced with the prospect of vaulting the fence to retrieve the ball, he hesitated, looking like a Shetland pony trying to clear Becher’s Brook.

The referee was a Godalming regular, Reuben Simon, the runner-up in the 2019 Bob Marley lookalike competition, and he, and his faithful linesmen, got a load of unwarranted abuse from the home fans, including the charming lady in the burger van who brandished her fish slice in a very worrying manner.

Glancing down the team sheet, Walton have clearly chosen their team based on having magnificent names. No ‘Terry, Danny or Bobby’ to be found in their line-up, but ‘Munashe Mwatsiya, Parish, Hamzah, Tyreke, Miguel and Mo’ all trotted out for the Swans with Mamadaliu Balde relegated to the bench, presumably at the request of the PA announcer.

Anyway, it got me away from the seasonal scrum, although I was tempted by a poster in the window of a shop in Walton High Street that suggested I enter their establishment for stress-free shopping so I wouldn’t ‘Get my tinsel in a tangle’.

[greygraham]

Wonderful words from Hendo as always.

I am still hoping to see a few words from someone who made the trip to Jersey. Failing that I think that I will be tempted to write my own fantasy. Now that would be up Hendo's street.

Still would like to know:-  Who got the two yellow cards? Was it still 0-0 when they got sent off?
                                      Did Ollie Ballam get to make an appearance?
                                      Was it a 3G pitch?
                                      What was the flight like?
                                      Did they meet Charlie Hungerford?

[Grassroots]

Hi Greygraham, saw a video on u tube worth a look.