A good keeper that I have watched the last 2-3 years at Carshalton in Ryman Premier. Played for Chelsea as a youth and German by birth. 25 years old. Has been given a game in the development squad this week.
Nick Hamann
Nick Hamann
anyone needs a drink if they are in goal for Carshalton!
The nearer one gets to the end of the season the more certain matches matter. Woking are safe in the conference and in fact are the most successful part-time club in the UK. Wrexham are a full-time club striving to be back in the football league where they belong. The reality before this game was that their most likely channel would be the playoffs and after this game this is now a certainty. However it is worth just thinking how much football needs to be played by the better sides that are successful in the cup competitions and in fact Wrexham won at Wembley the FA Trohpy a few weeks ago. They looked tired and most likely were tired having played 48 hours before. Woking were on top for most of the game and always looked the likelier team to score and they duly did twice in the second half in front of 1500 supporters. Jayden Stockley scored both goals and missed a simple chance for his hat-trick. He was the best player on the pitch. The other player to impress, mostly in the first-half was Dele Adebola, who is still a physical handful at this level.
LOOKING WORRIED
chris Maxwell
Dele Adebola
CHRIS MAXWELL BEATEN FOR THE FIRST GOAL
Jayden Stockley scores his second goal versus Wrexham
Ron Rawlings I never met but is an example of a character without which football would simply fail to exist. He was the long standing kitman at Woking FC. From the tributes that were written about him in the Woking V Wrexham programme it was clear that he both a friend and an important contributir to many players at Woking. Without these unsung heroes nonleague footbal would simply not exist. He died after a long illness on Easter Sunday 2013.
A few humble photos to pay a little tribute to someone admired.
Ron Rawlings Tribute
Right upfront I will admit my bias that I have been listening to and watching LBO for around 2 years now and have seen them play in decent size auditoria and in smaller venues. On this occasion it was a tiny venue a Pizza Express Music Club in the King’s Road. This venue is maybe even although intimate a little too small. Having said that the acoustics were fine and the concert was great. LBO have it seems been in the studio a lot of late creating a second album which will be due out later this year and it will be a little different from the first but nothing to detract affictionados from buying it. The album production is being funded by a system of pledges for either buying the album, even singing on the album, or more realistically wathcing the band in the studio. It must be working as 74% of the money has already been pledged. To learn more try here
http://www.pledgemusic.com/blog/522-lucinda-belle-ushers-in-rockabilly-gypsy-jazz
Lets be brief and summarise, great concert, two hours went quick, great guitar work from Sheldon Conrich ( who co-writes and vocals on a few songs), the new music is superb. My only complaints? Minor ones, that a few of my favourite tracks did not get played including SlideShow.
Anyway take a look at some photos here. The lighting was miserable ( as it should be of course), so working without flash was nigh on impossible even at high ISO speeds ( dont like going much over 5000, even though the camera goes to 24,000), such that a little post-production magic was needed. So enjoy these and if you search on my blog you will find 2-3 other photographic sets too.
Lucinda Belle and Harp
Sheldon Conrich
Lucinda Belle and Harp
Lucinda Belle and Harp
Lucinda Belle and Harp
Sheldon Conrich
LBO Lucinda Belle Orchestra
Lucinda Belle and Harp
Philipp Groyssboeck
Lucinda Belle and Harp
Lucinda Belle Orchestra
Ferero Rocher Chocolates next to lyrics for Washed up on love. No explanation
Friends getting married on friday and they asked for a reprise of some art work done last year in the form of a B and L, for Bruce and Lisa. Here they are. Which one is best?
This game to almost both teams surprise was a relegation 6-pointer with the prize for the loser being an ever increasing chance of relegation to the Combined Counties League. The reality was the game was dire, without much atmosphere,passion and devoid of skill, and both teams frankly look awful enough to deserve relegation. A summary of the game would be two scrappy goals for Walton and Hersham in the first half and two equally scrappy goals ( if one can count a penalty that ought not to have been given, as almost the last kick of the game) for Walton Casuals in the second half. For mitigating factors one can count the wind which was brisk and arctic, but such a devoid absence of skill I have not seen at any level for some time now. I will also confess to supporting both these teams, and in fact have been watching Walton and Hersham for almost 50 years. When one also looks at the crowd that this local derby generated, about 150, it is clear that a small town like Walton cannot host two teams at this level, and the return fixture a month ago drew only 115 souls.
Enough of the moaning. Some halfway decent action shots.
Good ball control
The ball did cross the line. The first Walton goal
Keeper punching seemingly into his own goal
More keeper action
Scrappy Walton Casuals first goal
Penalty
Opinions please. Which is best choice? Should this author ever complete a non-medical book?
Mordor Returns
This year has been a good one for Met Police as they sit on the verges of the Ryman Premier play offs. To those not familiar with non-league football, this is 3 promotions below the football league. The ground is a decent small ground near Thames Ditton with a car park and is on the same grounds as the social club for the Met Police. The only problem are small crowds and in fact only 115 arrived for this game and maybe 20 of those were visibly from Carshalton.
The game was as one-sided as a 1-0 game ever could be. Met Police missed a penalty, hit the bar and scored a single goal early in the second half. Realistically this was the last chance saloon for Carshalton who now can look forward to relegation with certainty. The season has been complex for them, with some decent, though apparently highly paid players moving on. One who will certainly move is their keeper Nick Hamann, the best keeper in this league and he kept Carshalton in the game in the first half with a series of superb saves. A conference level keeper in my humble view.
Winkworth Arboretum is a National trust property about 5 miles from Guildford in a quaint town called Godalming. The most striking thing about Godalming is that the houses are massive and the Waitrose in the centre of town even larger. The impression given is that a huge crater was created into which Waitrose slotted to fill the hole, and the road then re-built to bypass said Waitrose. But I digress. The Arboretum is a decent place to walk but sadly the extensed winter meant that few plants were visible today other than the occasional daffodil or snowdrop. No evidence of the Magnolias coming to life.
The walk is also not an easy one, many steps and slopes means that the walk might not be suitable for all. Can it be recommended? Maybe. One needs to return when spring has made an appearance to be decisive but I suspect it will become a nice place to walk. The Boathouse, is what it sounds, an old hut by the lake, but with chairs and old books in it gives the impression of a real old room. A sign on the door mentions that the NT have applied for permission essentially to have music and alcohol in here. Sounds good.
Just occasionally a flight is interesting. Sometimes the cabaret that some passengers bring, sometimes the crew but also sometimes the view. Flying into Edinburgh yesterday it was fascinating to see the snow. There was a fair amount from the Borders up to south of Edinburgh and then none at all. Edinburgh seemed devoid of its fair share of snow. Today also driving up to Perth and Stirling, there were areas that looked whited out and areas that were luscious green, that seemed to have also missed the snow. I suspect there are complex geographical reasons that will remain hidden from me till eternity.
View from plane
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 