Valentine’s Day massacre
As the Wingate & Finchley website reports, 2-0 is known as a dangerous lead. To be honest, I’ve always thought it’s a far less perilous lead than 1-0. On Valentine’s Day evening, Bowers & Pitsea, the visitors to W&F, were leading 3-0 with eight minutes left. The winners of the game were Wingate &
Finchley, as they scored four late goals. Two converted penalties were followed by W&F’s keeper and skipper Ben Goode’s powerful header, who almost scored from the previous corner. The outstretched leg of Antonis Vasiliou was all that was needed to poke home a winner.
Pen dramas
Given this website’s occasional obsession with ampersands, it has not passed us by that this game was contested by two clubs with ampersands in their name. However, remember that the comeback in the Wingate & Finchley game started with two penalties – and, guess what, pen dramas is an anagram of ampersand. And just for the record, the score at half-time was 0-0. And, finally, finally, Jimmy Glass may be the most famous scoring goalkeeper, but Goode’s goal broke a keeper-scoring goal rule by being the penultimate goal of the game rather than the last one.
Corinthian spirit
Corinthian sit at the bottom of the Isthmian League South East Division. On Saturday, they faced high-flying Chatham Town. It is hard to say whether it was their Corinthian spirit or Chatham’s version of Fergie-time meant the points headed off with the Chats. The Corinthian sportsmanship deemed that a player would never be so ungentlemanly as to concede a penalty deliberately. In such cases, the Corinthian keeper would lean on the post while the 
penalty-taker scored into an empty net. Against Chatham, they allowed their opponents, through Ollie Sotoyinbo, to score in the 90+18th minute to win 1-0. The Chats probably collectively said “cheers” to that spirit and are now second behind Ramsgate.
More Corinthians
A TWR Bi Folds Wearside League result caught my eye this week. Windscale from Cumbria travel from coast-to-coast regularly to play in the League. There’s no truth in the rumour that they had to sell a field to fund their travel. This week, they travelled to Durham Corinthians (no standing aside when they concede a penalty, I suspect), but the home side proved too strong, gaining a 3-2 win. Curiously, the Wearside League website is in a foreign language, making it hard to read. Maybe, they use French Windows.
Close encounters of another kind
Rhyming football matches are few and far between or games contested by teams with almost identical names. Wroxham v Wrexham would be a great game, particularly as both clubs have a silent first letter. Harlow v Marlow would be an excellent rhyming encounter – or Harrow and Barrow. Stamford v Stafford would also be a fascinating clash. And what about Buxton v Burton or Hereford v Hertford. There must be many more. Another wasted evening lies ahead for me, I fear.
Jersey Royal
Someone called Charles wrote to us this week. As regular readers may recall, I answered the quiz question about which Channel Island had a working
underground train on it last week. Alderney was the answer, you may recall. Charles must have missed last week’s issue, as he has asked for details about where the underground is on Jersey. He claims to know Guernsey “very well” and “knows it can’t be on Alderney”. The lesson is never to miss a Weekly Review, Charles.
Missing word competition
It’s back to the Bowers & Pitsea defeat at Wingate & Finchley. Can you fill in the missing word from Bowers & Pitsea’s Twitter feed soon after the game’s conclusion? “No other way to put it than we’ve _______ it”. Answers on a postcard. Or maybe not; it wouldn’t be fair on the postman.
The Chelsea Cricket Club
On Saturday, Harborough Town scored a 1-0 win over Cambridge City in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division. The result pushes the Bees closer to the playoffs and a chance to play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. (The Premier League Premier Division never sounds right) The scorer’s name, Dempsey Arlott-John, held a few memories – Fulham and Chelsea pensioner John Dempsey and much-loved cricket commentator John Arlott. This week, I’ll end with an appropriate John Arlott quote, “I’m going while people are still asking me why I’m going rather than thinking why doesn’t he go.” See you next week, Charles.
