GREAVESIE IS A SAINT ...

GREAVESIE IS A SAINT ...

Smash and grab daylight robbery - marvellous!

Marden Russets Men's 4s 0 BEHC Highwaymen 2

With match reports via social media rapidly being squeezed into oblivion by "live" reporting on facebook, the online website audience now struggling to maintain single figures, and many readers claiming to have missed important business meetings, annual family gatherings, the births and weddings of children, and even entire days wading through previous Highwaymen diatribes, it has been agreed to keep future reports brief, if not necessarily to the point.

A match between one team named after fruit and another after eighteenth century muggers is indeed a potentially rich source of ammunition for jokes about "bad apples", umpiring decisions being "rotten to the core", and various worrying comments regarding "low hanging fruit".  But suffice it to say that a decent crowd was on hand to watch the 11.00 am push-back as the bar had been well-populated from early on, thanks to the live TV transmission of England's World Cup Rugby semi-final victory.

This was the proverbial game of two unequal portions.  In the first 15 minutes Matt Robinson crashed a shot against the crossbar, Ravi Wickramasuriya smacked in a composed and delicious opener following a short corner, and Phil Bunker capped a fine midfield display with a deserved first goal for the Club via a composed finish from three foot out to double the visitors' lead.  Thereafter, and for the best part of an hour, an excellent and talented Marden team played the ball around with no little skill, dominated territory and possession, and did literally everything but score, including one missed effort from a penalty flick which man-of-the-match and Highwaymen debutant, keeper Rupert Greaves saved to his right.

If the result was on the one hand harsh on the hosts, it was nevertheless a deserved victory for the men from BEHC based on one of the best rearguard actions the team has ever produced.  Beautiful this was not, but brave and gutsy it was in abundance, a bit like Little Big Horn Mark II, except this time Custer escaped with all three points.

Unfortunately, the umpiring was once more the main topic of discussion in the bar at Marden, as the game saw no fewer than six supposed miscreants get their marching orders via green or yellow cards during the full 70 minutes, including that serial offender and "thug", 82 year-old Tony D'Cruz, who would generally not qualify as a cereal offender in a Corn Flakes packet.  In fairness, he only got sent to the naughty chair when a home umpire wished to brandish a yellow to the visiting captain ... who was off the pitch at the time, but all the same ..... For the avoidance of doubt, the game was hugely competitive but never remotely looked like it would degenerate into anarchy, but this is what happens when rash early officiating decisions then set the bar at an impossible level thereafter.

It is derby day at BEHC next week-end, although it will be tough to match the excitement of the previous two weeks' action.  Bring it on ...

Team:
Rupert Greaves (G), Ed Smyth, Tim Walters, Richard Cleall, Phil Kinch, Andy Rose, Sammy Chana, Phil Bunker, Chris Bernard, Ravi Wickramasuriya, Pat Gainey, Stephen Gilbert (C), Tony D'Cruz and Matt Robinson.
 
Man-of-the-match:
Rupert Greaves - the government should have used him for BREXIT negotiations, as he never let anything get past him - a brilliant display from start to finish.

Umpires:
Richard Cleall and Ravi Wickramasuriya whistled excellently for a half each, whilst their Marden Russet counterparts also whistled ..... rather a lot, unfortunately.