Arcticterntalk.org
The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world
Archive for the month “August, 2016”
A worrying Brentford performance. Brentford 1 Sheff Wed 1
Although the result shows a draw this game should go down in the annals as a game that could start a season of struggle. Many fans struggled to get to the game on time due to roadworks in the area and to avoid the dangers of Knotweed.
In short Brentford with the exception of Daniel Bentley and Ryan Woods were poor. Off the pace all afternoon. Abysmal tactics. Disjointed substitutions. I am struggling to recall a single tackle Brentford won and if they won a single header then I missed it.
Sheff Wed should have been even 4-0 up at half time . An astonishing miss from under the crossbar will go viral on Twitter later. Brentford were second to every ball. The Brentford goal from Vibe was a comedy of errors from the keeper Westwood who having kicked the ball against Vibe then watched it trickle into his net.
The referee managed later to send off two players when really he should have had better options. The game hardly contained a meaningful foul.
The Sheff Wed equaliser had been coming and when it did arrive in injury time the Brentford players played the remaining minutes seemingly hanging on to the point.
Why were Bees so poor? Certainly the physical presence of their opponents was one factor yet that does not explain the abysmal work rate. The whole midfield were anonymous and with the exception of the tenacious Ryan Woods one might have been excused not knowing that Yennaris and McCleod were even playing.
In contrast Daniel Bentley was superb making world class saves. So simply there is no real explanation for this poor performance. But a worrying sign of what might lie ahead.
Carshalton 3 Farnham Town 0. FA Cup Preliminary Round 2016. Photos of the game.
A reasonably entertaining game but one which the hosts won too easily and the result was never in doubt.
Photographing NonLeague Football Makes You Smile. Some Quite Curious Photos. Carshalton v Farnham Town FA Cup 2016
Sometimes when you photograph a game you get lucky. The game is exciting, or there are spectacular goals. Sometimes though you just get a series of quite unintentional photos. Here are a few photos from a Preliminary Round game in the FA Cup 2016 Carshalton Athletic v Farnham Town.
The keeper is punching the ball at the precise moment the shot is taken
Trail left on a 3G pitch
Two things I like about this shot. The sign saying “no ball games allowed” and the photographer here imagining nothing interesting will happen.
Tommy Bradford, a Carshalton forward seems to have become a dwarf
The guy in the background leaning onto the pitch and gesticulating gives the impression of being not only Voldemort but also a pony tail for this Farnham Town player
The Student Cat and A levelsÂ
While A level and GCSE results are avidly awaited this cat continues her studies . Let us applaud her and spread her photograph around the world
A Nervy Finish and Great Brentford Pies but Brentford 1 Notts Forest 0
A very different game from Saturday but ending with the same result . Two home games and two victories. A tap in goal from Scott Hogan was enough. The first half was a scrappy affair really and either side of Hogans goal Forest had chances . McLeod came into the game increasingly with some superb passing. Daniel Bentley made some decent saves but saved his best for the 95th minute saving point blank to save the points. Sawyers had a quieter game and Forest in the last 20 minutes ran all over Bees in midfield.
The sending off of Damien Perquis the French defender seemed to spur Forest on. Although they will feel unlucky to lose Bees did have other chances and Egan almost doubled Bees lead with a header from a corner.
All in all lots of positives. Set pieces look far better already and generally work rate is high. Man of the match? Maybe Daniel Bentley for that save.
The most surprising fact of the night though was off the pitch where Brentford pies in the Directors box got great acclaim from journalists. Tweeting Pie photos at half time says it all.
Sri Lanka V Australia at Galle 2016
During a recent trip to Sri Lanka we were fortunate enough to have a spare hour at the end of the day to watch the cricket from the Galle Fort that sits high above the ground.
Many choose to watch from here as it is free and the views are not too bad. Some locals and some tourists. A great experience to see English folks avidly supporting the Sri Lankans. Maybe the most interesting use of a coconut I have seen as a pillow for this slumbering gentleman.
Brentford 2 Ipswich 0.Early thoughts and opinions on Championship
A sunny afternoon greeted the first Brentford home game of the season played against a team that Brentford normally respect however with the bad taste left in the mouth from the encounter at Portman road a few months ago, this was always going to be an interesting occasion. Even the River Thames at Brentford looked acceptable in the absence of any water.
Griffin Park
River Thames at Brentford
Thankfully football prevailed and there no side shows provides, Alan Judge did not make a visible appearance, Luke Hyams “injured” and Mick McCarthy played a decent role as the pantomime villain cheekily acknowledging the applause that greeted Dean Smith, as if for him.
The game was played mostly in good spirit and refereed well. In the first 30 minutes Brentford might well have been behind, the post saving us from an opening Ipswich goal, as the large sized Ipswich team marauded forward and at that stage my massive £1 bet on a Brentford win looked very much in doubt. in fact most Bees fans would have taken a draw if offered. But the Ipswich dominance became less as the half went on and it was no great surprise when Brentford took the lead early in the second half with an excellent attacking header from John Egan and soon after a close range superb finish that Hogan would have been proud of, made it 2-0 and effectively the game ended there. Sam Saunders should have added to the score and 2-0 did not flatter Brentford.
What did we learn? Firstly Ipswich will struggle this season to be a play-off contender. They were well beaten by Brentford who many take to be a mid-table side. The Ipswich style of play is a long way from the Sir Bobby Robson era and frankly I would not want their style transposed on Griffin Park too often. They may also want to consider signing a goalkeeper with more presence.
Romaine Sawyers
Brentford in contrast were surprisingly good. The new players all settled quickly. Callum Elder looks a good left back and very much in the Bidwell style. John Egan grew into the game and will be a superb centre back. Harlee Dean had a great game and I dont say that often. It is unclear how Barbet or Bjelland will get into the side apart from injury or suspensions. Romaine Sawyers was simply superb and my man of the match. Looking like a Clayton Donaldson lookalike he ran the midfield and grew into the game increasingly. Lewis Macleod was the only player I have some early reservations over lacking physical presence and missing an excellent opportunity. Dan Bentley had little to do but did suggest that his kicking game had been stoled from David Button. 
A good start to the season and many encouraging signs for Brentford but maybe not for Ipswich. How long will Mick McCarthy remain as their manager? My bet is not for long at this rate.
The Animals of Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka
Many travellers to Sri Lanka have heard of and visit Yala National Park however far more visit Udawalawe.Udawalawe National Park lies on the boundary of Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces, in Sri Lanka 165 kilometres (103 mi) from Colombo. Udawalawe is an important habitat for water birds and Sri Lankan elephants. It is a popular tourist destination and the third most visited park in the country.
Udawalawe is an important habitat for water birds and Sri Lankan elephants.
The national park was created to provide a sanctuary for wild animals displaced by the construction of the Udawalawe Reservoir on the Walawe River, as well as to protect the catchment of the reservoir  and covers 30,821 hectares (119.00 sq mi) of land  and was established in 1972.
Other than than the more exotic animals such as elephants , a whole plethora of birds, water monitors and other lizrd creatures seem to appear from nowhere.
A Great Place
The rants and warblings of an active and some would say disturbed mind. A Brentford Fc supporter and a psychiatrist and photographer. Welcome to my musings and rants.
chris1957
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