My ears pricked up this morning while listening to a podcast (this one, if you're interested) when I heard what I thought was someone mentioning someone who shares a name with Accies no 17, Robert "Bobby" Rauchenberg. Sadly it turns out they were actually talking about Robert Rauschenberg, but still, worth one minute of my day to fling up a random blog post! Anyone else know of any Accies stars who share a "famous" namesake-except-for-one-letter-of-the-alphabet? No? Oh.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Rauschenberg!
My ears pricked up this morning while listening to a podcast (this one, if you're interested) when I heard what I thought was someone mentioning someone who shares a name with Accies no 17, Robert "Bobby" Rauchenberg. Sadly it turns out they were actually talking about Robert Rauschenberg, but still, worth one minute of my day to fling up a random blog post! Anyone else know of any Accies stars who share a "famous" namesake-except-for-one-letter-of-the-alphabet? No? Oh.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Frustration
This evening we turned the early promise of a surprise 2-0 lead into a frustrating 2-2 half-time score and a despairing 5-2 final score.The early lead was thanks to 2 similar goals - both from Gobby long throws, both flicked on by Thorny - the first headed into his own net by an oppo defender, the 2nd headed in by Shaky. Given that we rated the oppo quite highly at the start of the game, to storm ahead like this was a treat and no mistake.
Sadly Wycliffe FC sorted their lives out - in fact they could've scored straight after going 1-0 down but didn't; but at 2-0 they quickly got back into the game and the less said about the equaliser, the better. The 2nd half saw patches of good play from the Accies punctuated by 3 Wycliffe goals. Plenty of huff and puff from the red'n'blues, but precious little else from where I was standing - but to be honest I don't like criticising any aspect of the performance because I didn't play so it seems mean spirited to find fault with the 14 who did. Hence the 'Frustration' motif - as The Hut and Coach09 will testify, it's hard being on the touchline unable to directly influence what you're watching your mates going through. Not that I put myself in anything like the same bracket as my two talented but injured teammates in terms of ability, of course!
I suspect the Coach might be wishing he'd saved his 'ARRRGGGHHH' headline for his next post... Neill hates losing and takes it personally/cares so much that it really hurts when he watches us concede 5 goals - I was worried about him in the dressing room after the final whistle tonight. Chin up, top man.
Team (I'm still struggling to contrive - and know some of these are contrived, believe me - those last couple of nicknames...): North-Ants, Miami (sub: TBALT), Gobby, Munky, Elbows, Spudgun, Thorny, Rushy (sub: Joe), Shaky, Mike (sub: Luis), Dangermouse
Scorers: Own Goal, Shaky (a goal to mark his 100th appearance, well done Mes)
Up the Accies - good (early) night.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
AAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!
Not much more I could think of for a heading, as the frustration mounts, we come to play one of our more accomplished opponents and 'squeaky bum time' doesn't seem to cover my sense of foreboding.
On the plus side, many aspects of our current form are very promising. Last weeks game saw a lot of moving the ball from wing to wing and plenty of crosses into dangerous areas, this is very pleasing to see as we are spreading play and not getting congested. In my mind (as small as it is), we only lack the fitness to compete with many of the teams we play and that is something that is a little out of my control.
All I can ask is that players do some personal training in the breaks between games and hope they can find the time.
We still seem to lack confidence on the ball and given some of the talent available I find that hard to understand. Losing Stuart 'Marathon Man' Dade until after his little Sunday morning amble in a few weeks is a loss. Not over looking his new level of fitness, his attitude and application to his task is first class and the loss of his presence on the field will be something else for us to cope with.
So we need to go into this game with renewed optimism given some of the expansive and exiciting football we have been producing. If we can focus for a whole game and not give in we should be able to turn things around in our favour.
On the plus side, many aspects of our current form are very promising. Last weeks game saw a lot of moving the ball from wing to wing and plenty of crosses into dangerous areas, this is very pleasing to see as we are spreading play and not getting congested. In my mind (as small as it is), we only lack the fitness to compete with many of the teams we play and that is something that is a little out of my control.
All I can ask is that players do some personal training in the breaks between games and hope they can find the time.
We still seem to lack confidence on the ball and given some of the talent available I find that hard to understand. Losing Stuart 'Marathon Man' Dade until after his little Sunday morning amble in a few weeks is a loss. Not over looking his new level of fitness, his attitude and application to his task is first class and the loss of his presence on the field will be something else for us to cope with.
So we need to go into this game with renewed optimism given some of the expansive and exiciting football we have been producing. If we can focus for a whole game and not give in we should be able to turn things around in our favour.
Monday, 23 March 2009
Barmy Blog Army!
This is my boss. His response to my Facebook status from last week ('Andrew Dade is sorry to report a 5-3 Accies defeat') was:
'...on the plus side, reading the Accies blog on the train every Friday morning is possibly the highlight of my week. My fav line today..."a classic shambolic Accies few minutes at the start of the 2nd half".'
Just thought I'd share the fact that even non-Accies love reading this blog. I'm sure this will make his day : )
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Friday, 20 March 2009
Last night in pictures
The beautiful stadium, pre-match; four new kits await their owners; and a grateful Accies No 40...
Suicidal Tendencies
Sheesh. Right now, it seems no one knows how to give away stupid goals like we do... This evening we lost 5-3 to a team I thought were called Becket Chambers, but seemed to actually have a different name that I can't even remember. In the first half we outplayed them in most departments but still went a stupid goal down... but our luck hadn't run out at that point and an oppo defender elected to head a Dangermouse cross into his own net. 1-1 at half-time and we were feeling confident.
Unfortunately the confidence disappeared, replaced by a classic shambolic Accies few minutes at the start of the 2nd half, and before we knew it we were 4-1 down. Unforgivable. We stuck at it and got a goal, a great Thorny header from a Spuds cross, and for a time there was hope that we'd get a 3rd goal to give the oppo The Fear. Sadly a remarkable cross-cum-shot from their right-winger looped over North-Ants and in for 5-2. Dangermouse, a thorn in Becket's side all night, made it 5-3 with not long left and it still felt like if only we had a few minutes to spare and could stop the madness at the back, maybe we could get something improbable. But of course not, and so it was that the aforementioned shambles consigned us to an all too avoidable defeat. All this despite us scoring 3 goals for only the 2nd time in 2009.
The other point to note was that Messrs Heath, Gardener B, Macdonald and Lejeune looked lovely in their brand spanking new Accies kits, as did Stuart Hymams, landlord of The Paxton, who was presented with a No 40 shirt as a very belated 40th birthday present. He seemed suitably chuffed.
Up the Accies. Goodnight.
PS I recommend 'Institutionalised' by Suicidal Tendencies. A riotously good tune.
Unfortunately the confidence disappeared, replaced by a classic shambolic Accies few minutes at the start of the 2nd half, and before we knew it we were 4-1 down. Unforgivable. We stuck at it and got a goal, a great Thorny header from a Spuds cross, and for a time there was hope that we'd get a 3rd goal to give the oppo The Fear. Sadly a remarkable cross-cum-shot from their right-winger looped over North-Ants and in for 5-2. Dangermouse, a thorn in Becket's side all night, made it 5-3 with not long left and it still felt like if only we had a few minutes to spare and could stop the madness at the back, maybe we could get something improbable. But of course not, and so it was that the aforementioned shambles consigned us to an all too avoidable defeat. All this despite us scoring 3 goals for only the 2nd time in 2009.
The other point to note was that Messrs Heath, Gardener B, Macdonald and Lejeune looked lovely in their brand spanking new Accies kits, as did Stuart Hymams, landlord of The Paxton, who was presented with a No 40 shirt as a very belated 40th birthday present. He seemed suitably chuffed.
Up the Accies. Goodnight.
PS I recommend 'Institutionalised' by Suicidal Tendencies. A riotously good tune.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
F****in 'ell
There's lots of good stuff on The Hut's film this week. Check out Luis' South American skills, Thorney and Steve's comedy double act, Mike's nut busting point blank blast, Miami's potty mouthed tirade and Gobbydinio's fierce late volley.
Friday, 13 March 2009
30mins heaven, 50mins hell
Well what can I say? Yet again we get defeated by a team not as good as the scoreline suggests.
For periods of he game we had control, playing good passing football and defending as a unit, then the demons kick in............Poor pass choice, not passing ball quick enough, running down blind alleys and poor control.
It is, as coach, very frustrating watching a team who you know can play good, solid and attractive football, underperforming to some extent each game. In the coming weeks we need to concentrate on passing when in possession and our running and marking when we do not have possession.
We also need to communicate precisely with each other as the game progesses so that players know what options are available to them, I am willng to give this time but players need to start taking responsibility themselves.
For periods of he game we had control, playing good passing football and defending as a unit, then the demons kick in............Poor pass choice, not passing ball quick enough, running down blind alleys and poor control.
It is, as coach, very frustrating watching a team who you know can play good, solid and attractive football, underperforming to some extent each game. In the coming weeks we need to concentrate on passing when in possession and our running and marking when we do not have possession.
We also need to communicate precisely with each other as the game progesses so that players know what options are available to them, I am willng to give this time but players need to start taking responsibility themselves.
Goal
The Hut captured lots of excellent footage from tonight's game. He didn't miss either penalty. Ironic that. Highlights (& lowlights) package to follow in the next few days. For now, here's the goal.
Accies Pay The Penalty
Well, that might've been the headline in a proper newspaper. I have to keep this entry brief because I'm way more tired than usual and my laptop is slow and unresponsive (there's an obvious joke at this point which I shall refrain from making).
Undeniably to ship 5 goals against Dolphin was a poor show and after 2 good weeks defensively, I'm sure the whole team holds its hands up on that front. Especially as "on another night" we could/should have scored [pause there to attend to son who is perturbed because Custard the cuddly animal of no discernable breed had "gone", aka fallen on the floor] 4 more goals than the one we did notch. Two spot kicks, a ludicrous save from Mickael's close range would-be netbuster, a one-on-one save vs Dangermouse, Luis hitting the bar... the list goes on. Must of course mention Elbows' Man Of The Match performance - Brian Potter hit the nail on the head when he said that besides his goal, Phil barely wasted any of his time on the ball tonight - an example to us all and no mistake.
Maybe it was the fact that things had gone badly in our own penalty area that influenced things going just as badly in the oppo's. Whatever, we lost 5-1 and I'll leave it to the Coach to blog about how we can/will improve next week.
Team: North-Ants, Elbows, Barry (sub: TBALT), Munky, Marathon Man (sub: Gobby), Miami (sub: Joe), Rushy, Thorny, Spudgun (sub: Mickael), Dangermouse, Shaky (sub: Luis)
Scorer: Elbows
Undeniably to ship 5 goals against Dolphin was a poor show and after 2 good weeks defensively, I'm sure the whole team holds its hands up on that front. Especially as "on another night" we could/should have scored [pause there to attend to son who is perturbed because Custard the cuddly animal of no discernable breed had "gone", aka fallen on the floor] 4 more goals than the one we did notch. Two spot kicks, a ludicrous save from Mickael's close range would-be netbuster, a one-on-one save vs Dangermouse, Luis hitting the bar... the list goes on. Must of course mention Elbows' Man Of The Match performance - Brian Potter hit the nail on the head when he said that besides his goal, Phil barely wasted any of his time on the ball tonight - an example to us all and no mistake.
Maybe it was the fact that things had gone badly in our own penalty area that influenced things going just as badly in the oppo's. Whatever, we lost 5-1 and I'll leave it to the Coach to blog about how we can/will improve next week.
Team: North-Ants, Elbows, Barry (sub: TBALT), Munky, Marathon Man (sub: Gobby), Miami (sub: Joe), Rushy, Thorny, Spudgun (sub: Mickael), Dangermouse, Shaky (sub: Luis)
Scorer: Elbows
Monday, 9 March 2009
The Alamo
We even threw the kitchen sink at MHP's goal in the second half. Unfortunately the referee's assistant ruled that the whole sink hadn't crossed the line and so the match ended 0-1.
This clip is much longer usual - I didn't have time to edit it down to 3 quality mins. All of the bits making us look a bit better than we really are, are in there somewhere though. You just have to rummage around to find them... or not bother, it's up to you.
Twinkle Toes Models Secret New Kit
Stuart Dade shows how he keeps his athletic prowess up to scratch to perform 360 degree turns to perfection on match days
Sunday, 8 March 2009
MOTM
Still can't upload match highlights to the blog. Shame because the footage of Marathon Man's 360 degree airshot /swear/head slap sequence is pure video gold. Only Marathon Man could put in easily the best football performance on the night and still find time to perform the best comedy routine. Legend.
The only clip that will upload is this one- no idea why - a rough edit clip from the (possibly) forthcoming anniversary video.
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Anniversary Kit
Here's a quick look at one of the sample anniversary shirts that arrived from Sports Scene this week. Let me know if you would like a shirt. Tops are available with short or long sleeves and are expected to retail at approx. £12. I'm contractually obliged to state that these shirts are 'Just Souvenirs*'(*S.Dade 5.3.9). They have not yet been adopted as official Accies club kit.Friday, 6 March 2009
What could have been
Reporting on last nights game is a bitter pill to swallow. After the team performance last week, I was hoping for a continued vein of form to increase confidence.
From the starting whistle it seemed as though my wish had been granted. Unfortunately, this was not to be as things seemed to go awry for the final half hour of the first half. We had begun looking confident and trying to play our game, but soon we reverted to panicking with the ball at our feet, losing our shape and misplacing passes.
Ant kept us in the game with a sublime close range save and we defended hardily but still went in a goal down.
The second half started the same but suddenly the team awoke from their slumber with Thorney covering at the back and Mes trying to push the team forward from midfield we began an onslaught that lasted right to the final whistle but to no avail. Stuart was one of the chargers who spurred on us with several intense marauding runs down the flank and was even clearly impeded at the back post but the referee waved the appeals away.
Perre should have scored and was unfortunate on several occasions and more composure from several players in the final third would have surely saved the game however it was not our night but we will bounce back and try again.
From the starting whistle it seemed as though my wish had been granted. Unfortunately, this was not to be as things seemed to go awry for the final half hour of the first half. We had begun looking confident and trying to play our game, but soon we reverted to panicking with the ball at our feet, losing our shape and misplacing passes.
Ant kept us in the game with a sublime close range save and we defended hardily but still went in a goal down.
The second half started the same but suddenly the team awoke from their slumber with Thorney covering at the back and Mes trying to push the team forward from midfield we began an onslaught that lasted right to the final whistle but to no avail. Stuart was one of the chargers who spurred on us with several intense marauding runs down the flank and was even clearly impeded at the back post but the referee waved the appeals away.
Perre should have scored and was unfortunate on several occasions and more composure from several players in the final third would have surely saved the game however it was not our night but we will bounce back and try again.
Armchair supporter
Another one posted on Elbows' behalf, this time from last week's match vs 1860 Lambeth. With subtitles for anyone not from Sarf London.
MHP match highlight
Elbows asked me to put this vid up - happy to oblige. It's entitled Whole Lotta Keeper!
Three is a magic number, but one is the loneliest number
This is your official Opta-sponsored MOTM reporting on a 0-1 defeat to MHP, in a game with 9 less goals than the last time the two sides met, when players were dropping like flies and the final score was an improbable 4-6. Obviously I'm well chuffed to have been singled out by the Coach for a performance where at least some of my runs and passes worked a treat. But the night was tinged with sadness which had nothing to do with the defeat.
No, the sadness is because I learnt we shall shortly lose one of our number, our number one. Ant and (huge) family are moving to Northampton (seems ridiculous when the team you support is Southampton, but I digress), and of course I'm so happy for them because they've been wanting to make the move for a good while now - but gutted to lose a long-serving comrade. I can still remember the Saturday when I met Ant and discovered that he was a goalkeeper. It so happened that the following day we were off to Oxford for an 11-a-side match against some contacts of Joe's and, lo and behold, Ant duly played his first game for the Accies!
For a good while he divided his loyalties between Effra and Blue Flag, but we ended up his only team because we simply lasted longer than the Sunday Leaguers. It's been a pleasure to play alongside Ant, although maybe I should save the footballing obituary because he's got a few weeks left! As I type I can remember his first clean sheet, in a 0-0 vs Dolphin Riders if I'm not mistaken - all the defenders triumphantly hugging Ant as we'd finally compensated him for all the times our shoddy work meant he had to pick the ball out of the onion bag.
Huge congrats to Ant, Lesley and the lovely little Emerys. I'll miss you and I really hope we can bag at least one more clean sheets for you before you depart. (NB Naturally as we walked to the Paxton and Ant said he had some news, Miami piped up: "She's not pregnant again, is she?")
A quick note on the match: we were below par in the first-half against a beatable team, but we upped it in the second half and especially in the last 25 mins, the ball was barely out of the opposition half and we really should've scored at least one. Dangermouse will probably be enduring a sleepless night as he relives two good chances to get a goal, Thorny will wish he'd kept that header down and the Match Of The Day cameras will surely focus on the push on yours truly that stopped me getting a header on target and might've deserved a penalty award.
Goodnight!
Team: North-Ants, Elbows, Gobby, Barry, Marathon Man, Miami, Spudgun (sub: Paddington), Thorny, Mickael (sub: Rushy), Dangermouse, Shaky
No, the sadness is because I learnt we shall shortly lose one of our number, our number one. Ant and (huge) family are moving to Northampton (seems ridiculous when the team you support is Southampton, but I digress), and of course I'm so happy for them because they've been wanting to make the move for a good while now - but gutted to lose a long-serving comrade. I can still remember the Saturday when I met Ant and discovered that he was a goalkeeper. It so happened that the following day we were off to Oxford for an 11-a-side match against some contacts of Joe's and, lo and behold, Ant duly played his first game for the Accies!
For a good while he divided his loyalties between Effra and Blue Flag, but we ended up his only team because we simply lasted longer than the Sunday Leaguers. It's been a pleasure to play alongside Ant, although maybe I should save the footballing obituary because he's got a few weeks left! As I type I can remember his first clean sheet, in a 0-0 vs Dolphin Riders if I'm not mistaken - all the defenders triumphantly hugging Ant as we'd finally compensated him for all the times our shoddy work meant he had to pick the ball out of the onion bag.
Huge congrats to Ant, Lesley and the lovely little Emerys. I'll miss you and I really hope we can bag at least one more clean sheets for you before you depart. (NB Naturally as we walked to the Paxton and Ant said he had some news, Miami piped up: "She's not pregnant again, is she?")
A quick note on the match: we were below par in the first-half against a beatable team, but we upped it in the second half and especially in the last 25 mins, the ball was barely out of the opposition half and we really should've scored at least one. Dangermouse will probably be enduring a sleepless night as he relives two good chances to get a goal, Thorny will wish he'd kept that header down and the Match Of The Day cameras will surely focus on the push on yours truly that stopped me getting a header on target and might've deserved a penalty award.
Goodnight!
Team: North-Ants, Elbows, Gobby, Barry, Marathon Man, Miami, Spudgun (sub: Paddington), Thorny, Mickael (sub: Rushy), Dangermouse, Shaky
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Mark of the man
Whilst away on a recent trip to Peru, Luis didn't only think about the Accies and his team mates, he bought everyone a replica kit of one of Lima's football teams. How many of the rest of the club would do such a thing? Probably none of us.
But that is what marks out Luis, a smashing, thoughtful man.
Thank you Luis.
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Sunday, 1 March 2009
All hail the Effra Kings!
Who are our namesakes? Where do they play? We may never know. This audio clip is from Radio Five Live's breakfast show this morning - listeners were invited to text in their teams' odd scorelines and the mighty James Alexander Gordon then read out the scores in his inimitable style. Enjoy.
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