Sunday, 26 September 2010
Thursday, 23 September 2010
GO COMPARE!
U9 Bullard, Homer's Heath, Tuesday September 21
BUCKLAND ATHLETIC…13
MARLDON…3 (16-3 AET)
BUCKLAND’S early-season goal fiesta continued against a talented and sporting Marldon team on a night of mixed fortunes for the home team.
On the up side, records tumbled as Buckland recorded their highest-ever goals tally with 16 breathtaking strikes. Seven of those went to the outstanding Harry, who bettered Beck’s previous individual high of six set in the season opener at Broadmeadow.
Harry was in imperious form in the centre of midfield, and he deservedly shared the player of the week award with Jamie, who put in arguably his finest shift yet in a Buckland shirt. Jamie was strong in the tackle, quick to cover and his distribution was first class.
But the rest of the team were not to be outdone – Daniella grabbed her first goals for the club, one with a wicked deflection and another poacher’s strike from Georgia’s lob. Georgia also grabbed two goals, opening her account for the season, and Hamish marked an excellent debut with a brace.
Beck, sporting his fabulous new Adidas F50 boots, took his season’s tally to eight with two well-taken efforts, meaning he is currently averaging a goal every 10 minutes. Not even Ken ‘Waggy’ Wagstaff could match that in his Hull City heyday.
The scoreline was further enhanced when Declan scored arguably the goal of the game, unleashing a Roberto Carlos-style free kick into the top corner from 20 yards.
Josh replaced the absent Gabriel in goal and played a full part in the victory. No keeper in the world would have stopped Marldon’s goals, all of which were top-class strikes. Later, when Beck took over between the sticks, Josh was desperately unlucky not to put his name on the scoresheet.
The excellent performance of fast-flowing football was tempered by news of an ankle injury to Joey, who was forced to come off after just 10 minutes and now faces at least two weeks in plaster on the sidelines.
But there was worse news for Buckland when it emerged that the club is the subject of a full-scale investigation by the football authorities into the circumstances of the re-arrangement of the fixture. The game was originally scheduled for Sunday morning but was switched at short notice for reasons which were not made public.
Allegations subsequently came to light that Buckland joint manager Paul had made the switch as it clashed with a male bonding session in a local licensed premises he had arranged.
The alarm was raised last Friday night when Paul’s cohort Darren took a call from the league secretary during a board meeting taking place at the Wolborough Inn, which Paul had failed to attend. It is understood the league issued Darren with a dire warning as to the possible consequences.
Today Paul was unapologetic, insisting he had nothing to answer for.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “I feel we are being unfairly singled out. I know for a fact that if one of my managerial contemporaries like Jose Mourinho needs to rearrange a Real Madrid match because he wants to go to the pub with his mates, nothing’s ever said about it at UEFA or FIFA. But when I do it they throw the rulebook at me. There just ain’t no justice in this world."
Darren insisted he was fully behind his managerial colleague. “Paul quite rightly draws a parallel between himself and Jose Mourinho,” he said. “In fact only the other day, one of our fans stopped me in the street and compared Paul to the Real Madrid boss. He said ‘compared to Mourinho, Paul’s absolutely rubbish’, and you can’t say fairer than that".
Buckland goals: Harry 7, Beck 2, Georgia 2, Hamish 2, Daniella 2, Declan 1
Players of the week: Harry and Jamie
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| Mourinho: 'The Special One' |
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| Hannah: 'The Special Needs One' |
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
THE TREATMENT TABLE
Update on Joey's injury: X-rays have revealed no significant damage, but as doctors cannot exclude the possibility that Joey has a small avulsion fracture they have decided to put his ankle in a lightweight cast for 10 days or so.
He can walk on it but he will be out of football action for a couple of weeks. He was disappointed to find he wasn't handed a set of crutches and instead was given a lovely orthopaedic sandal, which was decorated with teddy bears, to keep his cast off the ground.
So we decided to get the marker pens out and pimp it up a bit...
So we decided to get the marker pens out and pimp it up a bit...
We'll bring a pen on Sunday so his team-mates can sign his pot leg in the traditional manner.
BECK'S MISSING GOALS
I've found the missing footage of two of Beck's goals from the game away at Broadmeadow. As they say in cowboy films, 'nice shootin' son, what's ya name?'...
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
REARRANGED FIXTURE
SUNDAY'S home game against Marldon has been postponed and rearranged for next Tuesday evening (September 21).
Players meet at Homer's Heath at 6pm for a 6.30pm kick-off.
Players meet at Homer's Heath at 6pm for a 6.30pm kick-off.
Monday, 13 September 2010
Y VIVA ESPANA!
Broadmeadow…2 Buckland Athletic…13
BUCKLAND opened the new campaign with a new system and a hatful of goals against a valiant and spirited Broadmeadow side on Sunday.
Ditching last season’s 2-4-0 Italian-inspired formation, Buckland employed Beck as a lone striker in front of a midfield trio comprising Georgia, Harry and Joey, with Gabriel in goal and rock-steady defensive duo Declan and Jamie giving the rearguard a familiar look.It didn’t take Beck long to make his mark – he fired home an early opener, exchanged a slick one-two with Joey before hammering home his second, then turned in Joey’s pinpoint cross at the far post to ensure he had a hat-trick to his name within 10 minutes of the season’s start.
But it wasn’t all one-way traffic – Broadmeadow had pulled the score back to 2-1 with a well-worked goal before Beck resumed his netbusting antics, his predatory instincts grabbing him another two goals before the break, one a fine left-footed effort from Georgia’s defence-splitting pass.
Buckland began the second period with Daniella replacing Jamie in defence and Josh coming on for Joey in midfield. Both made their mark, Daniella with some tough-tackling defensive work and Josh with his strong running on the flank.
Beck grabbed a sixth shortly after the restart to complete a stunning double hat-trick before handing over goalscoring duties to Harry, who was in sensational form in the middle of Buckland’s midfield. On any other day he would have surely walked off with the player of the week award, but Beck’s six of the best pipped him to the prize.
Harry drove through the middle at will, blasting home four times, with both feet, as Buckland ran away with the game. Broadmeadow were rewarded for their spirited efforts with a well-taken goal which just evaded the excellent Gabriel in Buckland’s goal. It’s fair to say that without Gabe, Dec, Jamie and Daniella the scoreline could have been very different.
Jamie showed flashes of Kenny Sansom-like quality, winning the ball in defence before surging forward and unleashing a fearsome shot from long range which the home keeper did well to push away.
Declan also pushed forward to play in the left midfield berth, progressing further up the pitch than any member of his immediate family had ever previously managed.
Once Harry’s goal glut was over he reverted to his former role as provider, passing on the goalscoring baton to Joey. Harry stormed down the wing before whipping in a cross to the back post where Joey was waiting to fire home with his left foot.
Moments later Harry’s clever ball allowed Joey to fire high into the net with his right foot to claim his second, and the little man completed his ‘perfect’ hat-trick with a stunning downwards header from Declan’s corner. It was the sort of goal superstars of world football like Didier Drogba, Nat Lofthouse or ‘Rambo Billy’ Whitehurst would have been proud to score.
Buckland’s management team of Paul and Darren, who have defied the bookies’ odds to remain in charge for a second season, were delighted with the way the team had handled their opening fixture.
Buckland’s management team of Paul and Darren, who have defied the bookies’ odds to remain in charge for a second season, were delighted with the way the team had handled their opening fixture.
‘While I was watching the World Cup this summer it dawned on me that the 2-4-0 Italian Catenaccio system we were using was too restricted, too rigid’, said Paul.
‘The football Spain played in South Africa told me that the game has moved on. I subsequently carried out an in-depth study of Spain manger Vicente Del Bosque’s methods and his team’s fluid lone striker system, and Darren once went on holiday to Benidorm, so we felt changing the system was the right thing to do.
“We see Beck as a cross between David Villa and Torres, Georgia as Iniesta, Harry as Xabi Alonso, Joey as Xavi, Declan and Jamie as Puyol and Pique, Gabe as Casillas, Daniella as Sergio Ramos and Josh as Pedro. I’m obviously Del Bosque and Darren is that big fat bloke with the drum.”
Buckland goals: Beck 6, Harry 4, Joey 3
Player of the week: Beck
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Monday, 6 September 2010
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