Lawyers, Doctors & Architects

06 Thursday Feb 2014

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Tuesday 4th February 2014 ko 19.45

Southern Counties East League

TUNBRIDGE WELLS 2 (Davey 37 Parsons 42)

CORINTHIAN 4 (Wilson 21p Ascheri 64 Gayle 73 Marsh 76)

Att 146

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

I’m beginning to think that the Kentish town of Tunbridge Wells has something of an image problem. You tend to think of the place as being the epitome of a brand of blue-rinse conservatism that manifests itself in the form of an acerbic letter to the newspaper signed by “Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.”

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Loneliness

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

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1st February 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Newey 40 Connolly 56)

AFC WIMBLEDON 1 (Wyke 75)

Att 5,745 (693 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc’ Oxford Mail)

A few years ago I was genuinely lonely. I was sat in a house that I was doomed to be leaving, on my own. Although friends and family spent plenty of time with me and I’ll always be grateful for their support,  I didn’t start rebuilding my life until I moved out.

It felt a lot like that at Oxford United over the last few weeks with former manager Chris Wilder surrounded by people, but utterly alone with only his own thoughts for company.  On Saturday with Wilder happily ensconced in a relegation battle at Northampton Town, it felt that the burden has been lifted on both club and former manager.

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The Free Tick

01 Saturday Feb 2014

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Tuesday 28th January 2014 ko 20.00

Friendly

OAKHAM UNITED 1 (Eason)

YAXLEY 7 (Carter 10 77 87 Hook 34 72 Cooke 67 Whaley 86p)

Att 7

At Uppingham Community College 3G pitch, Uppingham, Rutland

Entry FREE

No Programme

There aren’t many advantages of this lousy weather, but a game on a ground not usually used is a bonus. Oakham booked the college pitch, watched as one opponent pulled out then found Yaxley as a late replacement. It offered a tick not usually available, although with Oakham’s ground waterlogged this pitch is set to be used for league games. The Peterborough & District League have none of the hang-ups over a good artificial surface that the Conference do. I am indebted to uber-hopper Brian Buck for alerting Lee West and I to this fixture. Continue reading →

Exit North

31 Friday Jan 2014

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Saturday 25th January 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Smalley 6)

TORQUAY UNITED 0

Att 4,744 (322 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Oxford Mail)

There are some advantages of writing this article a few days after the event, Saturday was nothing if not bizarre!

On the pitch, it was a routine Chris Wilder game, dull, uninspiring, against a team in desperate trouble at the bottom of the table. The one bright moment was Deane Smalley’s well-taken goal, but many eyes were less on the pitch and more on the home dugout. Continue reading →

Shooting Practice

30 Thursday Jan 2014

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Wednesday 22nd January 2014 ko 18.00

Malta FA Trophy 4th Round

HIBERNIANS 0

PIETA HOTSPURS 1 (Kooh Sohana 82)

Att c150

At Centenary Stadium, Ta’ Qali

Entry €6 (both games)

No Programme

Teamsheet FREE

Kinnie €1.50

Popcorn €2.00

Our last full day in Malta allowed a visit to one of the islands most famous sites, Fort Rinella, on the eastern side of the Grand Harbour, over the water from Valletta. The number 3 bus made its way past Vapur for Hibernians’ ground, then past the former Naval Prison and Kalkara before terminating outside the main gate. Continue reading →

Victor

29 Wednesday Jan 2014

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Tuesday 21st January 2014

18.00 Malta FA Trophy 4th Round

LUXOL ST ANDREWS 0

BIRKIRKARA 4 (Camenzuli 12 86 Bissi 32 Benites 74)

Att c400

20.00 Malta FA Trophy 4th Round

QORMI 0 Bajada missed penalty 120

TARXIEN RAINBOWS 0

AET Qormi won 6-5 on penalties

Att c200

Both games at Victor Tedescu Stadium (Hamrun Spartans), Hamrun

Entry €6

No Programme

Teamsheets FREE

Coffee 60c

With the change in locale it was high time for Andy and I to explore Malta’s capital, Valletta. It’s one of the world’s smallest capitals, being just 0.8 km2 in size. It was named after Jean Parisot de Valette, who succeeded in defending the island from an Ottoman invasion in 1565, and is one of the world’s first examples of a city designed along the grid system.

It’s the defences though that grab the attention, the huge walls were constructed in the 15th century and proved to be a bastion against German and Italian attack during the Axis powers attempts to invade the strategically important island in World War II. The legend has it that the island was defended by 3 Gloster Gladiator aircroft named Faith, Hope and Charity. Continue reading →

Untarnished

27 Monday Jan 2014

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Monday 20th January 2014 ko 20.15

Malta Youth League Section E

SWIEQI UNITED 3 (Grech 20 53 56p)

MTARFA 0

Att 27

At Pembroke Athleta Ground, Pembroke

Entry €2.50

Andy and I found a street café on Sliema waterfront and contemplated life overlooking the azure bay with its views of Valletta. Life wasn’t bad, we’d got a free upgrade at our new hotel, the view from the balcony was spectacular, and there wasn’t a nervous pensioner in sight! Behind us the ferry over to Valletta chugged happily for a mere €1.50 each way.

It was soon time to catch the bus around the coast to Pembroke, Malta’s newest town. It, and adjoining Sweiqi are the most affluent part of the Island. The town is named after Robert Henry Herbert,  the 12th Earl of Pembroke and British Secretary at War in 1859. Continue reading →

Dereliction

26 Sunday Jan 2014

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Monday 20th January 2014

Empire Stadium, Gżira

Monday morning saw us swap the north-east of Malta for Sliema just over the bay from the capital Valletta. It was altogether more urbane than the zoo-like hotel with the nervous pensioners we’d left behind.

The real bonus was the views over the bay of Valletta, and the proximity of so much of interest to visit, but our first destination was a site that has been derelict for over 30 years, and it was just a few stops on the bus along the bay. Continue reading →

Charity

26 Sunday Jan 2014

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Sunday 15th January 2014

13.00 Gozo League Division One

XEWKIJE TIGERS 5 (R Buttigieg 20 54 Shields 31 Portelli 52 Camilleri 72)

ORATORY YOUTHS 0

Att c300

15.00 Gozo League Division One

VICTORIA HOTSPURS 1 (Nanapere 41)

SK VICTORIA WANDERERS 1 (Nwankwo 29)

Att c600

At Gozo National Stadium, Xewkije

Entry €4 (both games)

No Programmes

Team Sheet FREE

Coffee 50c

Gozo is the second largest of the Maltese Islands, and is easily reached by ferry from the port of Ċirkewwa. The crossing takes around 45 minutes and costs €5.65 return. It’s an odd system, the only tickets available are returns and they are only sold from the port of Mġarr on the Gozitan side. It reminded me of trips over the Severn Bridge!

On the ride over we passed the only other inhabited island in the Maltese archipelago Comino. That has a population of only 4 permanent inhabitants so the possibilities for football are rather limited! Continue reading →

Hope

25 Saturday Jan 2014

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Saturday 18th January 2014

14.00 Malta Premier League

RABAT AJAX 2 (Allopardi 61 Micallef 72)

TARXIEN RAINBOWS 6 (Barbosa 10 Pulo 29 77 82 Santos Silva 36 71)

Att c350

16.00 Malta Premier League

VITTORIOSA STARS 0

VALLETTA 4 (Nafti 26 Agius 28 Dos Santos 78 Nyang 84)

Att c350

At Hibernians Stadium, Paola

Entry €6 (both games)

No Programme

Teamsheet FREE

If you want to find out about what makes a country tick, give its public transport a try. With Andy headed to tick a ground on Gozo I decided to tick one of Malta’s most famous grounds Hibernians, very much in the hinterlands of the country’s capital Valletta.

The bus wended its way along the northern coast of the island, passing past the salt pans at the edge of St Paul’s Bay, then through the small villages due east. Hearing the Maltese language fascinated me. The structure is Semetic, or Arabic and its the only language of its type to have a western alphabet albeit with some adapted letters, there’s an H with an extra horizontal bar for example. However with Sicily only 50 miles north, the Italian influence is clear with large chunks of the language thrown into the linguistic melting pot, Grazie and Ciao being perhaps the most obvious. Continue reading →