Just when we thought Ryde Council had jumped the gun by calling off all football for the weekend, Sunday brought an afternoon deluge and made us all happy to be indoors for a change. It was unusual to be waking up on Saturday morning a little later and having time to ease ourselves into the day.
Sunday morning gave us then our only action of the weekend, with Ernie Smith Reserve declared fit for play, and the Gladesville Ravens Under 13 GSAP squad made the journey to Moorebank near Liverpool to take on the Southern Districts. The game started with an early goal to the home side before a classy finish from Alessia, curling a shot in from ten yards out, brought the scores level at half time. Ravens then took the lead with what I am now classifying as Aurelia’s finest moment on the football field.
A corner had been played in and cleared – Aurelia and her central defensive partner Izzy were debating as to whether they should attack the corner when the ball is cleared. Next corner, the ball was cleared again. This time Aurelia ghosted away from the player she was marking, ran onto the rolling ball and unleashed the most audacious shot from twenty-five yards. The ball sailed through the air, beyond the outstretched hand of the goalkeeper and into the top left hand corner of the net for a quite extraordinary goal. The cheers from the sideline were huge, none louder than Dad, as Aurelia raced away to celebrate with her team mates. What a buzz!
Okay, thirty seconds later the home side scored and then went on to win 4-2, but that moment will now be etched in Aurelia and my memory forever. What. A. Goal. Doughnuts and bacon sandwiches after the game as we headed back up the A6 to home.
Some encouraging words on the Football Book Reviews page followed earlier in the week, Sue and J.C. leaving some smashing words in the comments. That’s the sort of feedback that I thrive on. I know the book has entertained. Then there was this, almost a Peter Beardsley photo special from Marcus, an old friend who I last saw walking out of a pub in Putney, London. We had been on a boozy morning session watching the 2002 World Cup and I left the pub to a chorus of “he’s going home…”, before heading straight for the airport to catch the flight to Sydney. He is the most ardent of Blackburn Rovers fans and he sent over a photo of himself enjoying a few moments in the sun with an Unashamed Football Novel. Quite the opposite to the wintry climate we’re experiencing in Sydney at the moment. Love your work Tatts!
Training was somehow on at Bedlam Bay on Tuesday, much to the delight of Aurelia. Then training for Texi on Wednesday night, swapping a swampy Meadowbank field 4 for the pristine field 3. A storm hit just as I was heading there and that put a few unhardy souls off, but a decent turnout saw a six-on-six game go right to the last goal. Aurelia’s training was high tempo on Thursday, while Zach’s 15/1 team played the 18/3 team in a tasty encounter and more than held their own.
And so to the end of another week – this one not as busy as others – no refereeing, no games for Texi or Zach, and thankfully today it only rained after the council cut-off for postponing the weekend games. The chances are very high that we will be on tomorrow and Zach especially has a full-on day, game at 8:30am then three AR appointments back to back from 11am. Coerver coaching still went ahead tonight and the girls loved it, lots of squealing and shouting. Aurelia’s team has yet another bye this weekend (honestly FNSW how can you have three byes in a season?).
Finally, a social media gem popped up on one of my old Ravens team mates’ feeds and he shared it around. The mighty Gladesville Ravens 10-year memory of winning the Grand Final at Carlingford. What a top bunch of lads, and what a fantastic Grand Final display at View Street. Ten years ago! And that was not my first over 35s season. How old does that make me feel?
Stand by for a busy week coming up, hopefully no rain stops play, and Sydney FC manage to lift the plate with a win – its’ been a while.