On a night when the rain was biblical in its intensity and Ark building was a more sensible pastime, 18 members were present when Andy asked Kenny and I to pick pairs of animals. This was despite me pointing out that I had not played for the past 2 months (Andy's 1st black point of the evening). I won the toss and picked Gary (what a waste of time), Blake, Bob, Paul H (nightmare of a game), Mac, Laurie, Mark and Carl. Kenny picked Andy Ayres, I'm not moving all night Geoff, Dave Wood and One Two, Neil, Chris, Can't Count Alister (more about that later) and young Nick, who has come on well during my enforced absence.

As usual, the sides were well matched, although I felt we had the better of the first 10 minutes until the ball got to Gary and Mac, who provided a totally ineffective attacking force. Then out of the blue Carl at right back played the ball square across the our penalty area and Alister thumped in their first goal. Never mind, it was against the run of play so nothing to worry about.
The next goal resulted from a 4 touch dribble and shot by Alister (5 IN TOTAL which I called before the shot!), but was allowed to stand because Andy (I didn't see the incident Wenger) Ayres wasn't counting (Andy's 2nd black point of the evening)! Never mind, it was against the run of play so nothing to worry about.
We then managed a well deserved goal, courtesy of an OG following a corner. 2 - 1 and it was again all to play for. Then out of the blue Carl at right back played the ball square across the our penalty area AGAIN and it was 3 -1. Apology accepted Carl, it can happen to anyone - but twice in one night!!!
There then followed what could have been a very serious incident when Neil (I'll lash the ball into touch as far away as possible) put brother Gary into the boards behind the goal - the bang as they hit could be heard across all three pitches. A lesson to everyone else - don't be so stupid!

In the clubhouse after a nice hot shower in a very warm changing bag room and Carl had received a rather full brown paper bag from Kenny, two issues were raised. The first was the immediate granting of membership to Dave Owen - welcome Dave but always remember - do not expect fairness to prevail at the Plus 30's!
The second issue was the wearing of studs / blades by a very limited number of members, and the consequences to the player wearing them (Richie suffered a re-occurrance of his ankle injury last week because his studs stuck in the astroturf) and to those of us who get very painfully stamped on by those boot wearers. This issue was dismissed by Andy Ayres (Andy's 3rd black point of the evening) because he wears studs and wants to keep on stamping on others and is not prepared to change. However, this issue will not go away and I intend to raise it at the AGM next September.

Am I bitter and twisted - YES, YES, YES I am. Will I be there next week - no I won't!