News Section
“What a summer”
21.10.06 After seeing us win 3 fairplay trohies at the SACFL Awards Night at the end of last season I was really chuffed and proud of our players and the world of sport. Lots of folks playing in the right spirit. But sadly the summer just gone was one cheating nightmare after another: Allegedly the world’s fastest sprinter was a drugs cheat, the Tour de France winner was a drugs cheat and even cricketers were tampering with the ball and then refusing to come out to play when caught. What a disappointing summer and then the footy season starts and player’s are diving again. Boy do I hate diving and cheating and I’m sure you do too. Let’s strive to play in a way that we would like others to play against us, please let’s not copy bad habits that we see all around us!
At the 2006 NCFF in Manchester (July) with 32 Church Teams present we won the Fair Play Trophy again, a great achievement guys.
We beat Walton 5-1, Glenwood from Wales 3-2, Drew with our good friends from Frinton (Essex) 1-1 and with Loughborough (A disputed late penalty against Nick Blythe!) 2-2 and lost 0-2 to both Heworth (the Geordies) and Westcliff Baptist Church (from Essex) - both games we could have won!
A great time with loads of laughs, good football, bad football, a few beers, interesting dancing from Kitto, good time keeping from Alan Bridger, goal of the season nominee from Tom Rutter (yes Tom Rutter, truly amazing from 30 yards and with his right foot!) and great rooms in the Britannia Country House Hotel, perfect.
MCCFC Awards Night at the Golden Curry Wednesday 3 May 2006, what a great night!
Clubmen of the Year: Dan Black, Ashley Russell, Alan Bishop, Paul Morris
Players Players of the Season: Andy Maher, Carl Stevens, Jack Cross, Dave Simms
Goals of the Season: Stuart Davies, Mark Hallala, Paul Morris, Neil Burnham
Refs Players of the Year: Dan Black/Lee Davis, Carl Stevens, Steve Barham, Russell Wyeth
Mare of the Season: Peter Motis, Dan Dawkins, Mario Vella, Mario Vella!
Miss of the Season: Mark Blythe, Alan Bridger, Mario Vella, Andy Litchfield
Mario Vella Club Spirit Award: Graham Beadle
Most Promising Player Award: Chris Simms
Own Goal of the Season: Lee Davis
Wyeth Wobbly Award Winner: Russell Wyeth
Scottish Goalkeeper Award: Steve Brice
The Wes Maher Award (lateness): Andy Gray
Best Newcomers: Alan Davies, Lee Riggs, Philip Indge, Steve Barham
Highest Scorers: Peter Motis 16, Carl Stevens 13, Mario Vella/Andy Simms 3, Steve Barham 7
Club Clubman of the Year: Tony Doe
Players Player of the Year: Andy 'Wes' Maher
SACFL Awards Night at Chertsey FC, Tues 2nd May 2006.
The C Team completed a unique treble, never before has a team won the Championship, the Referees Fairplay trophy and the Opposition Sportsmanship trophy in one season, truly remarkable. Well done Manager David Ingold and everyone who has played.
The K Team also won the Opposition Sportsmanship trophy so we won 3 out of the possible 4 sportsmanship awards, just fantastic.
Carl Stevens was the Refs Player of the Year in Div 3 and Dan Black in Div 2.
The Golden Boot chase went to the final week of the season, sadly for him Peter Motis lost his trophy as one goal on the final Saturday wasn't enough, old man Blythe scored 2 and finished on 21, one ahead of Peter on 20 goals. The fact that Mark played an extra 12 games is not important or relevant!
VETS CUP FINAL - sadly we lost 0-1 to a strong Wheatsheaf Royals (Woking) side. However we did have good chances, Blythe pulled wide after 10 minutes, Kev Henderson hit the post in the second half and Steve Brice headed over the keeper and wide. On play we probably should have won but that's cup football, maybe next year. Dave Simms was outstanding and easily man of the match.
C TEAM WIN DIV 2 CHAMPIONSHIP
Our C Team have been crowned the Div 2 Champions and are on their way back to Division One next season, the 30th year of the SACFL. Well done Manager David Ingold and all the players who played with a great attitude too.
11.2.06 C Team 4, Twickenham 2. (H/T 1-1) A close game to clinch promotion as we recorded our 12th consecutive league victory. Dan scored in the first half and despite Twickenham equalising unselfish play by Motis put Rob Leo in to put us back in front. Rob scored again before Motis made promotion safe with the 4th. There was just enough time for Maher to impress his watching girlfriend with a complete scuff wide when clear through to clinch mare of the match!
11.2.06 K Team 4, Chessington 1 (H/T 2-0) A good game to prepare for our last league game next week, an OG from a Dawkins corner opened the scoring, somehow Dan tried (note tried!) to claim it, he’s that desperate for goals! A cross from Lee Riggs floated in for the 2nd then goals from Carl Stevens (again) and another Mark Hallala classic sealed the game. Highlights were the 1st half forward line of Ashley Russell & Graham Beadle! Man & Mare of the match votes went to Liam Lovell, great build up play but terrible shooting! Nash Rothenburg made his debut (he’s played Div 1 in Norway before!).
4.2.06 Staines Cong 1 C Team 5 (H/T 1-3) An excellent team performance with concentration being the hardest part against a struggling team. Two goals by Dan Black, an opportunist headed goal by Blythe, a fantastic header from a corner by Wes Maher and a goal of the season contender from Stu Davies completed the scoring. There were too many miss of the season nominations to mention, suffice to say that no one knows how Kitto & Motis didn’t score! Best ever game for the club for man of the match Stuart Davies.
4.2.06 CCNew Malden 1, K Team 1 (H/T 1-1) A far different game to the previous weeks 8-3 thrashing of CCNM. An early goal down to a different side and only some great defending by Morris, Dawkins and Beadle kept the score to one. Then a great finish by carl Stevens put us level and form then on it was an even game with chances at both ends. Doey got mare for an attempted overhead scissor kick clearance, he missed the ball completely! We hit the inside of the post with 5 minutes to go and as the ball rolled along the line and out our victory chance disappeared. Sadly Dan Dawkins was booked for unsporting behaviour in the last few minutes, hopefully a lesson learnt and not to be repeated! Man of the match was
21.1.06 Sport for the Day “Sven & Motis unite!”
“Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark” any idea what this is referring to? Maybe the headline above helps? Why has the England Manager been in the papers recently? A Premier League Chairman has said he should be sacked for ‘gross misconduct’. Peter Motis was shown the red card in the last C Team match for shouting out a single offensive word. What was Sven’s crime? He had said some uncomplimentary things about England players. The initial statement goes on “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person…..” (James 3:5-6). It can be a real challenge not to talk about someone behind their back. I once heard the saying ‘if you can’t say something in front of someone maybe it shouldn’t be said at all’. After all the media attention and general disappointment with his behaviour I presume Sven wishes he had kept his tongue in check.
I know Peter wishes that! The Bible has loads of helpful directions “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4.29) Benefit!!!!
TEENS WIN INTER-AGE!
Well done the Teenagers for winning the inter-age kick-about for the first time! Club players were split into 3 age groups, there were the Boys (teenagers), the Men (20-30s) and the Pensioners (40+)
The Scores were Men 0 Pensioners 0; Pensioners 1 Boys (teens) 2;
Boys 0 Men 1; Men 2 Pensioners 0; Pensioners 0 Boys 2; Boys 1 Men 0.
Man of the Match was Alex Blythe.
Mare of the Match not awarded but would most likely have gone to Dave Ingold!
3.12.05 K Team 4, Ashford St Hildas 2 (H/T 1-2) SACFL Div 3. From 0-2 down to 4-2 victors in a superb team performance. The first league defeat of the season for Ashford with goals coming from Carl Stevens, Peter Madigan, Pat Royston (Man of the Match) & Mark Blythe (pen)
3.12.05 S Team 3, Wheatsheaf 0 (H/T 1-0)SACFL Vets League. A tough vets game against an experienced and fit Wheatsheaf who started very strongly. An OG split the sides in the first half. Second half goals by debutant Steve Brice and Steve Barham secured a good victory and a place in the end of season cup final. Mark Blythe won mare for stepping on the ball and falling over when straight through!
26.11.05 Duke Street 3, C Team 3 (2-2 at 90 Mins, Molesey won 4-3 on pens) SACFL Cup Rd 1. What a performance, true Molesey spirit at it’s best. A strike force of young Chris Fish (never played striker before and already played 75 minutes in the morning) and an ageing striker who’d already done 90 minutes exercise in the morning and wasn’t fit anyway! We went 2-0 down after 20 minutes and they kept running riot, brilliant last ditch defending by Kevin, Tom, Lee and Neil, quality saves from Andy Gray and some very poor finishing meant they didn’t kill us off when they could/should have? The 2nd have was a different story, real Molesey passion and we deservedly scored a Lee Davis deflected shot and Blythe pounced from 2 feet to stab home the equaliser with less than 10 minutes to go) . First half of extra time a Lee Davis throw in is headed home for an OG and we were ahead for the first time, they equalised and we went to a penalty shoot out. Andy Gray, magnificent throughout, saved 2 pens so Tom Rutter wasn’t needed to score his first goal for the club with the fifth penalty!
26.11.05 M Team 6, Hurst Park Dads 4 (H/T 2-2) Friendly. What a game, always enjoyable games against the Hurst Park Dads in their annual outing. Ex-Brentford pro Barry Clements soon scored and set up another to put HP 2-0 up, it would have been 3 with a Chris Simms penalty if the alert Ref hadn’t spotted penalty kick encroachment? Like his Dad, penalty culprit Jack Cross denied the foul!.
All level by 1/2time, a Barry own goal and Steve Barham’s first for the club. Hurst Park started great after the break and the tea is being drug tested. We were soon 2-4 down but the great spirit saw us back in the frame with just 15 minutes to go. Nick Dunn scored 2 great goals, Mark Blythe a tap-in and Steve Barham scored his second, (latching onto a 40 yard backpass by Andy Litchfield to his keeper who was in the other penalty box trying to score!). Mario was great making 3 goals unselfishly!
26.11.05 Tearfund Town 5, K Team 7 (H/time 1-4) SACFL Div 2 Another WOW what a game feeling, a half-time comfortable lead was whittled down to 5-5 with Tearfund looking for a winner to get their first points of the season. Fortunately we (and the referee) regained composure and we scored 2 late goals to maintain the now 3 match winning streak. Kevin Valentine scored 3 and Goalmachine Hallala 2. Dan Dawkins scored again at Egham Leisure Centre and Kev Hendo scored his first of the season before sustaining a nasty shoulder injury. Well done guys.
19.11.05 C Team 5, Chessington 3, SACFL Div 2.
Another quality performance where the result flattered the opposition. A Hat-trick from Dan Black puts him back in golden boot contention with 2 goals from Peter Motis keeping him ahead. Bricey secured Mare of the Match for a dummy that no-one else was expecting, but he was just ahead of quality nominations from Kevin Smith (landing on his face after a throw-in) and Andy Gray (throwing the ball into his own net). Six wins out of six in the league and a cup quarter final against top of the table Duke Street Baptist Church next week (they've played one more league game). Keep it going guys.
19.11.05 St Martins Morden 1, K Team 3 (H/T 0-1) SACFL Div 3. A great performance everywhere but up front, that was just good. We could have won by a hatfull but Blythe's shooting and a bobbly pitch helped to keep the game close. Carl Stevens scored at last and what celebrations! He deserved 3 at least for a great performance. Dan Dawkins got 2 man of the match votes and 12 for mare. How he missed from 3 yards no-one knows? But Dans 50 yard pass to put Liam Lovell through was just superb, shame he just missed. Graham somehow kept alert as we dominated and made a superb save. Peter Madigan scored again and we have an early Goal of the Season nomination from Mark Hallala. Back to the goal, a flick over the defender, spin round and a 25 yard volley into the top left hand corner, just superb. Great performances particularly by Alan Bridger, Paul Morris and Dave Simms but a great all round team victory.
M Team 7, Youth Team 5 (H-T 4-1) What a game it had to be seen to be believed! The very first match on a full size pitch for many of the lads coming through our Saturday morning kids football and what a performance, the future is bright and orange! Alex Blythe put the youngsters ahead from the spot but within 2 minutes Mario Vella had volleyed home from 15 yards to equalise, yes you read that right, and it gets more amazing he scored again 3 minutes later??? 2 more goals gave a 4-1 half-time scoreline and the M Team looked safe. But Chris Simms thought otherwise. 14 years old, and obviously with his Dads natural finishing ability, Chris scored FOUR excellent goals, all very well taken. Two late goals, with Mario getting his hat-trick, gave the Ms the victory but what a game. Well played lads. Scorers: ‘Ms’ Mario Vella 3, Peter Madigan, Tony Russell, Mark Blythe, og. ‘Ys’ Chris Simms 4, Alex Blythe.
Middlesbrough 4, Manchester United 1 (Just incase anybody missed it!!!)
K Team 6, Tear Fund 1 (HT 3-1). First victory of the season in a big bottom of the table 6 pointer. Although they had good strikers the result was never in doubt after Peter Madigan scored early on & Blythe chested home a 2nd soon after. Great performance by Alan Davies on his debut, a great scissor kick air shot by Dan Dawkins, a hat-trick by Blythe and a moody refereeing performance by Andy Maher (but thanks for filling in for Harry!) were the highlights. Andy Gray rang up with the excuse of the season so far, “I’m in the house ready to come but can’t find my keys”!
S (Seniors) Team vs Chessington Vets Away Won 9-0 (HT 3-0) Scorers Kevin Valentine 3, Mark Hallala 2, Richard Cross 2, Neil Burnham, Mark Blythe. What a result, especially as it was 0-0 after 33 minutes and Chessington had already hit the post! A great all round team performance and 54 year-old Alan Bishop looked very sprightly. Neil Burnham starred at the back and Graham kept his first clean sheet for quite a while! A good start to the vets season.
SACFL Div 2: St Peters 3, C Team 1 (Half-time 1-1)
There we all we're waiting for Elliott to give us
all a hard time in the changing room about how the Welsh Rugby team are
playing so well and it all came to nothing?
We started well and took the lead with another Lee Davis super strike from
the edge of the box, things we're looking up. (Motis rattled the bar from 25
yards – his quote!) But as usual we let the opposition back in and they
equalised before half time. Russell came on for the start of the second half
after arriving late, but didn’t have his usual quality play making impact on
the game, through no fault of his own. Before long we we're losing 2:1, and
then 3:1 down. (Neil Laws managed to claim his 3rd OG of the
season!) Elliott also came on and decided to have an argument with the
tallest player on the pitch. It was like little and large! We had our
chances in the second half but we never took them. The second half was poor
for us as we did not play as well as we did in the first half, Steve Brice
got Refs man of the match and Elliott easily won the mare.
SACFL Div 3 K Team 2, Cheam 3, (Half-time 2-1)
Top of the league Cheam probably turned up with confidence after beating us 7-1 earlier in the season, but we don’t play like that any more! This was quality from the first whistle, apart from Blythe sealing mare in the very first minute after putting wide with only the keeper to beat? How? Trying to make amends Mark scored a few minutes later, then Kevin Harwin hit the post & Liam Lovell went close. Somehow Cheam broke and equalised but we kept pressing, Dan Dawkins breaking brilliantly down the left & Paul Morris & Ashley Russell down the right. By half-time Alan Bridger had turned up, no the kick-off time hadn’t changed 3/4s of the way through the season Alan! We went 2-1 up with a controversial goal scored off the back of Mark Hallala, had it crossed the line? Cheam thought not! A different top-of-the-table Cheam came out for the second half and we didn’t really get a look in. Barry Melham had a great game throughout and sadly Doey showed his frustration with a few minutes for go and was sent off for foul & offensive language, that’s not a new rule either! A disappointing result but a good overall performance.
Match Reports 19.2.05
SACFL Div 2: Tearfund 3, C Team 3 (Half-time 2-2)
We started of slowly and went 1:0 down very quickly. But we soon got into the game and chances came our way. David Ingold hit the cross bar. Peter Motis was brought down in the box and then coolly scored from the spot. About 5 mins later Dan took a throw in, threw the ball between two defenders for David Ingold to run onto and score. Just before half time we failed to clear the ball and Tearfund equalised. 5 mins into the second half Tearfund went a head when Kevin Smith went to pick the ball up, but it ended up going through his legs for Neil Laws to blast into his own net. (Kevin won mare). We kept on pressing until Lee Davis went on one of his runs and was then brought down in the box. Lee scored from the spot. 3:3 We had other chances, David Ingold after winning the ball and going around a defender should have passed to Peter Motis instead of shooting at the keeper. Promotion is still on.
SACFL Challenge Trophy Semi-Final K Team 1, Chessington 6, (Half-time 0-3)
An unsettled build up with Dan & Liam turning up 20 minutes before kick-off for the biggest game of the season? Liam had also had flu all week, Alan Bridger had a damaged rib and Golden Boots Hallala was away on holiday. Playing with the wind the 4-5-1 formation didn’t work as we fell 0-2 behind early to some skilful play. Then Dan Dawkins struck a superb 25 yard freekick onto the post & the rebound bounced between Andy Litchfield & Mark Blythe!
0-3 at halftime we started the 2nd half much better. Kevin Harwin came on releasing Richard Cross into midfield. Richard set up Mark Blythe for a simple header to put us back in the game, but Chessington then scored 2 more! Tony Doe had a great 20 yard effort going in the top corner before Graham magnificently just tipped it over! Graham then fumbled a soft shot into the net for goal number 6 and to win mare of the match! A disappointing end to the cup run as we knew we could have done a lot better, there’s always next season?!
Match reports 12.2.05
SACFL Div 2: C Team 2, Tearfund 2 (Half-time 0-0)
A strange game indeed. Molesey started very well, putting St Stephens under a lot of pressure, with a strong wind blowing against us in the first half we played very well. We kept Tearfund to just a couple of chances which they didn’t take (Kev Smith – solid!), we also created a couple and defended very well. But there was one mishap. Lee Davis went to clear the ball but completely miss hit it and Nick Blythe managed to stop it going for a corner. The second half arrived and the wind stopped then Tearfund scored after 15 seconds! We had a good opportunity to make it 1:1 but David Ingold completely missed the ball when just 4 yards out (it happens)! Tearfund scored a second then we got a free kick Lee Davis took it David Ingold headed it on and Peter Motis scored for the first time since Christmas, a great move! Five mins later Lee Davis scored from the spot and we deservedly drew. Lee got the Refs Man of Match vote as well and David Ingold got the Mare vote on a split decision 12-1!
Friendly Away: Molesey Royal Mail 12, K Team 1
What a match against the Posties who don’t play often and were still tired from the morning round! Sadly they had the quality of Eli Bowers and the tackling of Steve Bowers, two of our former “Player of the Years”. We were 2-0 down after 4 minutes and 3 down after 10! Kieran scored in the second half and Mike Ray got most man of the match votes.
Charity Game: Molesey Community Team 1, Chelsea Old Boys 5 (Half-time 1-1)
Have you heard, David Ingold scored, what else is there to know? Oh yes we raised £3,000! Molesey CCFC Girls Team 1, Molesey Badgers 0 A last minute Hannah Rusby goal clinched victory for the girls in front of 600 people, amazing! Well played all of you.
Match reports for 29.1.05
CPO National Church Cup: C Team 1, Tabernacle Worthing 5 (Half-time 0-2)
It was a tough game but we had our chances. Ingold missed a chance to put us 1 up after Pete Motis crossed a low ball across the face of the goal. Paul Kitson had a chance but just missed. Then Tabernacle broke which believe it or not it was against the run of play and scored. Then they got a disputed penalty just before half time. 2nd half started we were still up beat & felt we could turn this game around, we kept battling and working hard to no avail Peter Motis continued his outstanding positional play but sadly missed a sitter which earned him Mare of the match. Kevin Smith won Refs player of the match. We finally got a goal when there was some lovely play on the left hand side of the pitch which Dan Black finished well.
Friendly: K Team 4, M Team 5(Half-time 4-0)
What a scoreline, K’s up 4-0 at half-time and then losing 5-4, just amazing, you can imagine how Tony Doe’s voice was getting louder as the strikers kept missing chances and goals were going in during the second half! Putting an injured Dan Dawkins in goal at half-time was probably not the best move in hindsight! Two goals by Andy Litchfield helped to put the K’s well on top in the first half and if Paul Morris hadn’t won mare missing a sitter it could have been 5-0 at the break!
It’s a game of two halves as they say, and this time it really was. Kieran Walsh (Refs Man of Match) was unbelievable in the 2nd half, scoring 3 and they were all from outside the box. Ashley Russell drove home a cross (shame it was an OG!) & Ashley Couch drove home a penalty to give the M’s a surprise victory when all seemed lost, a great never say die attitude!
Match reports for Sat 22 January 2005
SACFL Div 2 Ashford 3, C Team 1 (Half-time 2-1)
On a very bumpy and sandy pitch we somehow found ourselves 0-2 down after 15 minutes playing against 10 men! Heads didn’t drop and then we dominated the rest of the first half, Kitto headed over from 6 yards, Motis put wide from 5 (Mare of the match) and Bricey & Steve Harte missed what can only be classed as very very good chances! Dave Ingold hammered home from 20 yards to show the guys how to do it, but no one else could. Second half was much of the same with Chris Howard doing some good moves down the wing, Crouchy hitting the post and Kitto getting a ‘bobble’ when in a good position! Naturally they broke and scored a third. We missed Dan and Wes in the middle but with the possession we had we should have won.
SACFL Div 3 Chessington 3, K Team 0 (Half-time 0-0)
What a harsh scoreline, 0-0 with 12 minutes to go after a great performance all over the pitch against the Chessington youngsters. Our defence was superb, Alan Bridger marshalling all from sweeper with Paul Morris, Tony Doe & Dan Dawkins having their best games of the season. Graham made some superb saves and picked up 3 man of the match votes. We had Darryl Burton & Ben Lucas, two 15 year olds from our Saturday morning football making their debuts and they both did excellently. Sadly with 12 mins to go they poked in a goal from a goalmouth scramble and then while we were still in shock they got a 2nd 15 seconds later! Tony Doe clinched mare of the match (to go with his refs & players man of the match nominations!) with a great header into his own net from a cross! We still had time for Andy Litchfield & Mike Ray to go very close to scoring in the dying minutes. A performance that gives us good hope for the cup semi-final…
Match Reports for Sat 8th January 2005
SACFL Div 2. Ashford 1, C Team 7 (Half-time 0-1)
At times it appeared that winning the coveted mare award was more important than the actual result of this match. Sadly, there isn’t enough space here to mention all the candidates (it would fill the whole programme). Maher DEMANDED the ball in the box before shooting far wide, outdone only by Dan who had several impressive ‘range-finders’ and then put a shot so wide that he scored in the goal of the neighbouring pitch! Davy Ingold had a fabulous match including setting Peter Motis up for a nice goal, but undid all his good work when trying to shoot later as he appeared to do a Ronaldo step-over when clear through on goal, falling flat on his back and missing the ball completely! Amongst all that, there was some super play. Lee Davis showed great skills to dumfound the opposition defence on several occasions and was rewarded with a goal. The golden boot race stayed interesting when both Dan Black and Pete Motis got two each. Russell Wyeth banged one in from 20 yards, and Andy Maher tapped into an open goal from 5 yards. The ref was impressed with an excellent defensive performance and made Steve Brice the Man of the Match.
SACFL Div 3. K Team 2, Christ Church New Malden 1 (Half-time 0-0)
What a performance, after losing away 1-7 to CCNM earlier in the season this was another mega result.
Pure grit and hard work. Captain Paul Morris was the star right from the start, he won the toss and chose the right end for a change! We defended brilliantly against a very strong wind and could even have gone in ahead but for a bobble for Mark Hallala when straight through! It was great to have Kevin Valentine back and despite losing Tony Doe for a while with a gash & then Colin White through a bad knock, it was going to be our day. Sniffer Hallala tapped in from 4 inches after the keeper couldn’t hold an Andy Litchfield header & minutes later we nearly went 2-up, instead Kevin Harwin snatched the mare of the match glory! We then relaxed, CCNM got on top, equalised and were looking good for the winner when, with just 3 minutes to go, Captain Marvel Morris lobbed the keeper from 40 yards to give us the 3 points to get us off the bottom of the table. What a goal, what a comeback, refs Man of the Match was Nick Blythe with Nick, Kev Hendo & Kev Valentine sharing the players votes.
Happy New Year
What a difference a day makes. Less than 24 hours after the games and fun of Christmas day the first news of the Tsunami was filtering through. I can’t count the number of times my eyes have filled up just watching the horrific scenes on a television screen. Scenes of parents carrying their dead children away to bury them and others totally lost being the only family member left alive, what a difference from the joy and excesses we as a family had indulged in the day before. You can just see and feel the pain and suffering through the pictures.
The son of our Church leaders, Phil & Anne, was in Phuket and he had to run for his life as the water surged towards him, fortunately he made it. Thousands didn’t. This puts our playing football in perspective, we do it for enjoyment, how can we get angry and start fights over something like this when real issues and unbearable suffering are going on? Why does God let it happen is the question that so many of us ask, I wish there was a simple answer. See comments on the back of the programme for some thoughts on the matter.
A big thank you to Staines Cong’s Paul Marchant who has taken on the role of SACFL Treasurer this season and also to Jamie Mackay of Christ Church New Malden who collates and issues the Leagues prayer requests. Each week team leaders pray for issues concerning folks in our league from any team. We pray for players who have been injured, people out of work, in fact anything that is requested, if you have an issue please mention it to your team leader, you may be surprised at the results!
God bless,
Mark Blythe, Club Chairman
Match reports for 18 December 2004
SACFL Cup Quarter Finals
Challenge Cup Egham 1, C Team 0 (Half-time 0-0)
What a start, in the warm-up keeper Paul Smith twisted his thumb and had to go straight to hospital for 8 stitches! Already short of players due to it being the last Saturday before Christmas we played the first 30 minutes with just 10 men before hero Andy Gray came out of bed and retirement to go in goal for us. We played really well throughout and had chances to win, sadly with just 30 seconds to go Egham scored and advanced to the cup semi-final. Very disappointing result but a great performance.
Challenge Trophy K Team 4, Cheam 2 (Half-time 2-1)
What a performance, after losing away 1-7 to Cheam earlier in the season this was a mega result.
Right from the start we were up for it and when Andy Litchfield fired home after 15 minutes we knew it was going to be our day. Liam Lovell fired home the second from the edge of the box and Richard Cross was outstanding in centre midfield (Refs Man’o’match). Cheam kept battling and pulled 1 back as Dan Dawkins volleyed home on the goal line for OG number 2 this season! When Liam scored the third & Kevin Harwin the 4th we were in dream land, our first cup semi-final in the Challenge Trophy. Blythe was stitched up to get mare of the match when the ball took an outrageous bobble just before he shot in the first half! The whole team deserved man’o’match votes for a great team performance.