Friday 30 April 2010

OAP FC vs Totten Ham United

The score from last night's game is irrelevant. What mattered most following the Rotterdam trip was that we ensured our terrific team spirit continued, and I certainly think we achieved that!
There were some frayed tempers being shown on the hallowed turf, but from my perspective this is a good thing. A desire to win, and crucially play good passing football, was in evidence from both teams. This level of ambition and desire will win us more games this year than we'll lose. In some respects it was a joy to see. Certainly if we can match those levels against Dolphin next week, we'll give them a great game!
It was also a complete joy to see so many familiar faces, and to welcome some new ones. Billy Monkton, Nick Connolly, Junior and Neill Robertshaw were all warmly greeted. Phil C's Colin, Binna, Fabio, Lee's Paul, Perre's Blake, Steve's Sean, Neill R's Glenn and Paxton Neil made up the list of new faces.
On the whole, it was a very enjoyable football match, albeit marred at times with a bit of needle. As we would all expect (and I hope demand if necessary), the needle was left on the pitch at the end of the game, and the general consensus in The Paxton afterwards was that the game was an unqualified success, with a large number of people asking about doing it again. An idea has already been mooted to do it straight after our sojourn to Spain later this year, what a great idea!
I'd like to spend the next half hour or so typing out a detailed account of the game, but that goes against the essence of what the match was all about. The game did tick the boxes I hoped it would; get us all back together, bring in some familiar faces, give everyone an enjoyable game after the Rotterdam trip, give us all a decent physical work-out, and provide us with an environment where we all felt comfortable trying to take an extra touch on the ball. Mission accomplished from the Coach's perspective!
Keep the faith!
Joe

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