It May be Sunny: bank holiday weekend matchgoing

[Ray de Galles]

North Greenford United 8 (eight) Godalming Town 4
Combined Counties Premier Division

A demob happy affair tonight which I think comfortably exceeded the most goals I’ve ever seen in a game before. Already relegated Godalming conceded first but then shot in to a 1-3 lead after twenty minutes but were then pegged back to 3-3 just after the half hour.

Both sides managed not to concede before the break which was something of a shock, indeed there was no further score until after the hour mark where an exchange of goals within a minute made it 4-4. From there, NGU seemed to decide to take control, taking the lead again in the 77th minute and adding another three in the final ten minutes with two players completing their hat trick. This meant there were three in the match as a visiting forward had already clinched his.

There were some fine quality goals amongst the dozen, as well as some dubious defending, keeping and officiating from the linesman but it was all immensely enjoyable end of season fun, quite fitting for what I think will be the last league game I see this campaign.

[imp]

FSG Grünberg/Lehnheim/Stangenrod 4 SG Obbernhofen/Bellersheim 2
Kreisoberliga Giessen/Marburg (Level 8)

The extended names of the two teams reflect the state of German amateur rural football - there have been lots of mergers. On a lovely warm evening, after three days cooped up inside the Hessen FA coaching camp just outside of town, I escaped into the centre of the ancient and woodenbeamishly German settlement of Grünberg for an ice cream and a coffee. There I saw the poster advertising tonight's mid-table, end-of season three-pointer, a short walk away from the coaching school. Five trainee trainers came along, and we drank beer on a grassy knoll with the descending sun in our faces while pointing out all the technical and tactical deficiencies of the two teams before us. The ref did okay, the teams behaved themselves, the sun went down, we headed back to the hostel bar. Some days, there's nothing much wrong with the world when you don't have to look too far beyond the next hill.