by Ark Royal »
06 Dec 2009 19:55
Terminal Boardom Royal Rother Windsor & Eton 1-0 AFC Totton
A very good game of football, both teams were a credit to themselves and the league. Osobu scored with about 5 minutes left; well, that and 6 minutes of added time. The Totton players reacted like they'd lost a Cup final at the final whistle.
Still relatively early days but I'll be very surprised if these are not the top 2 teams at the end of the season.
I reckon the crowd was about 250, of which half were from Totton. W&E really need to be doing more to engage with the public - there's an apathy to counteract I'm sure but I can't believe we couldn't get another 50 or 100 if there was some publicity in the town.
I was there yesterday along with Ark Royal. Most enjoyable footballing experience of the season. Two sides trying to play football and none of the nonsense or shennanigans of the pro game. I thought the referee had an excellent game but was obviously helped by both sets of players. You say the Totton players reacted at the end as if they had lost a cup final. Well, W&E celebrated as if they had won a cup final.
Great experience and looking forward to my next appearance there.
Despite stepping off an trans-Atlantic flight barely a few hours before, this was an uplifting experience. Stag Meadow is a wonderfully archaic venue surrounded by slopes and scary looking oaks that cast spooky shadows and just being there was a stark reminder of the era when I fell in love with the game in the first place back in the 60s at Elm Park: the smell of tobacco, Bovril, moaning old gits in sparse crowds and terraces! Wonderful. We stood by the Totton bench and every other word was oxf*rd. A great afternoon spent in the Stygian gloom of an English December day. Me and TB wallowed in the beautiful simplicity of it at all as we have not done so for many a year.
Two very good footballing teams that were a credit to their league. Totton were gutted at the end and you got the impression that this was a cup final for them; they deserved at least a point. As well as doubling the attendance, their small travelling band of supporters were magnificent. The Royalists will face Bracknell Town at the Stag next Saturday and the Robins are going to get a new arsehole ripped.
The coffee was appalling, the sausage and bacon roll was obscenely phallic in shape and equally appalling (but yum); the club shop stank of...old programmes, piss and Bovril and if you want an Eastville Colliery prog from 1994 it is the place to go.
- round the M25 to the FA Vase Tie Hoddesdon vs Kirkley & Pakefield - away side are a recent merger of two suburban teams from Lowestoft - was a bit of a mis-match very comfortable 4-0 away win. Hopefully will get a 4th round tie in too - I think Royals are at Forest that day [16th Jan]. Co-incidentally K&P's nickname is The Royals. No idea why?
