GPSFA Isle of Wight Tour
Gloucester A’s October half term tour to the southern hemisphere began with a comprehensive victory over Reading Academy at the Madejski training complex, an excellent facility that boasted, amongst other things, a fine 3G surface and the classiest Portakabin changing rooms in the civilised world.
The visitors, with Liggett imposing himself to good effect in the city midfield completely dominated the opening quarter, Smith grabbing a twelve-minute hat trick alongside strikes from Liggett himself and Blackburn.
As the game wore on there were further goals from Liggett, Blacker (2) and Clifford, but excellent throughout were Jones and Mclean who are quickly establishing themselves as key players in the city team’s defensive strategy. Chamberlain also impressed with his forward runs and right wing crosses, while the midfielder was twice denied a second score of the season by the woodwork / reinforced aluminium of the Reading goal frame.
A 2.00pm ferry crossing from Southampton preceded a visit to Alum Bay via the spectacular chairlift that drops more than a hundred feet over the multi-coloured cliffs, with the famous Needles and accompanying lighthouse making up the iconic background.
Queen Victoria was a regular visitor to Alum Bay – and probably to the evening’s destination, Sandown Pier, as well – though she had been on the throne only six years when Blackgang Chine became Britain’s first theme park in the summer of 1843.
The hedge maze, Dinosaur Land, Crooked House, Mouth of Hell (say no more) and Cowboy Land (appropriately with a bank dedicated to Chamberlain’s ongoing search for more readies and a jail with cells just large enough for twelve convicts at a time) took up the morning’s first hour, while Waterforce (slides) and Cliffhanger (roller coaster) took up most of the next two.
With Lawson surreptitiously attempting to disguise the crusts he hadn’t eaten and failing (in order not to lose an eating mark) and Jones unsurreptitiously embarking on his twenty fourth latrine search of the day in the neighbouring forest, Robin Hill Country Park was the afternoon’s destination.
The Maze Race was won (2-1) by the Mclean VI, while the Rabbit Run, Colossus, tobogganing and Squirrel Tower proved almost as popular as rolling down the hill (or in Mclean’s case, forward rolling down the hill), a display that proved how keen the players were to stay in shape (if not in one piece) on their footballing ‘day off’.
The evening meal saw a marked improvement from Wilkes, who had lost an eating mark the previous day due to leaving eight beans and a bad chip, while Blackburn, a very traditional eater in the truest sense of the expression, wolfed everything down. If ever there’s a meat and two veg man, it’s him. If ever there isn’t a meat and two veg man, it’s Jones, after revealing his Thursday morning nutrition had consisted of Pain au Chocolat, a revelation that brought about eleven quizzical looks and three barely suppressed groans.
On table one Lynam and Moroney were by now excelling mathematically, while Liggett’s mental numerical dexterity, after a slow start, was also coming to the fore. Smith’s mathematical forays meanwhile were limited to adding up the number of names he’d acquired over the previous eight weeks, before being forced to give up after running out of fingers.
An hour’s swimming at The Heights Leisure Centre ended Friday’s activities, while an early-morning (6.15am) call began Saturday’s, much to the disgust of both Desmond (Lynam) and Paul (Basford).
The mini bus was eerily quiet on the cross-country lap to East Cowes, though the ferry crossing temporarily aroused interest, notably when Chamberlain began begging for pennies for the second day running.
The first twenty minutes of Saturday’s game against Portsmouth was evenly contested, but it was the hosts that struck first, Evans netting from close range midway through the first half. Fine defending by both Blackburn and Mclean, together with an excellent save from Moroney kept the deficit to one before the visitors began to get on top, Wilkes and Chamberlain each nearly fashioning an equaliser, Liggett striking the crossbar and Smith being denied by a fine save from the home keeper after being freed by Jones’s scoop.
The second period was virtually all Gloucester and ten minutes in a fine strike from Blacker found the top corner for a deserved equaliser. Liggett struck the bar for a second time, Clifford twice went close and Chamberlain forced a fine save from the home keeper before the winner arrived with eight minutes remaining. Lawson, who had another great game at left back, clipped a corner to the back post and Liggett, timing his run to perfection, drove in the winner.
With Lynam, Mclean and Lawson in the city backline giving nothing away, Moroney was largely untroubled in the second half and it was a happy front of bus on the way home. In the back, there was sleeping (Desmond), head-bobbing (Mclean), sight-loo-seeing (Jones) and Carpe-Diem-point-losing (Wilkes, amongst others), before KFC-eating (everyone) brought about a temporary silence at Membury Services.
The last leg of the journey home was a time for reflection. It had been the first time for a decent number of years that we’d won both games on our October tour down under. It was the first time ever that half a dozen players had celebrated victory with a post-match mug of tea. And it was the first time in the history of GPSFA that a player had almost been arrested for vagrancy. As Uncle Quentin (Enid Blyton’s Famous Five) might once have said, ‘It was a jolly good time.’ Finger-lickin’ good, in fact.
Gloucester: Moroney; Lynam, Blackburn, Mclean, Lawson, Chamberlain, Wilkes, Clifford, Jones, Liggett, Smith, Blacker.
The visitors, with Liggett imposing himself to good effect in the city midfield completely dominated the opening quarter, Smith grabbing a twelve-minute hat trick alongside strikes from Liggett himself and Blackburn.
As the game wore on there were further goals from Liggett, Blacker (2) and Clifford, but excellent throughout were Jones and Mclean who are quickly establishing themselves as key players in the city team’s defensive strategy. Chamberlain also impressed with his forward runs and right wing crosses, while the midfielder was twice denied a second score of the season by the woodwork / reinforced aluminium of the Reading goal frame.
A 2.00pm ferry crossing from Southampton preceded a visit to Alum Bay via the spectacular chairlift that drops more than a hundred feet over the multi-coloured cliffs, with the famous Needles and accompanying lighthouse making up the iconic background.
Queen Victoria was a regular visitor to Alum Bay – and probably to the evening’s destination, Sandown Pier, as well – though she had been on the throne only six years when Blackgang Chine became Britain’s first theme park in the summer of 1843.
The hedge maze, Dinosaur Land, Crooked House, Mouth of Hell (say no more) and Cowboy Land (appropriately with a bank dedicated to Chamberlain’s ongoing search for more readies and a jail with cells just large enough for twelve convicts at a time) took up the morning’s first hour, while Waterforce (slides) and Cliffhanger (roller coaster) took up most of the next two.
With Lawson surreptitiously attempting to disguise the crusts he hadn’t eaten and failing (in order not to lose an eating mark) and Jones unsurreptitiously embarking on his twenty fourth latrine search of the day in the neighbouring forest, Robin Hill Country Park was the afternoon’s destination.
The Maze Race was won (2-1) by the Mclean VI, while the Rabbit Run, Colossus, tobogganing and Squirrel Tower proved almost as popular as rolling down the hill (or in Mclean’s case, forward rolling down the hill), a display that proved how keen the players were to stay in shape (if not in one piece) on their footballing ‘day off’.
The evening meal saw a marked improvement from Wilkes, who had lost an eating mark the previous day due to leaving eight beans and a bad chip, while Blackburn, a very traditional eater in the truest sense of the expression, wolfed everything down. If ever there’s a meat and two veg man, it’s him. If ever there isn’t a meat and two veg man, it’s Jones, after revealing his Thursday morning nutrition had consisted of Pain au Chocolat, a revelation that brought about eleven quizzical looks and three barely suppressed groans.
On table one Lynam and Moroney were by now excelling mathematically, while Liggett’s mental numerical dexterity, after a slow start, was also coming to the fore. Smith’s mathematical forays meanwhile were limited to adding up the number of names he’d acquired over the previous eight weeks, before being forced to give up after running out of fingers.
An hour’s swimming at The Heights Leisure Centre ended Friday’s activities, while an early-morning (6.15am) call began Saturday’s, much to the disgust of both Desmond (Lynam) and Paul (Basford).
The mini bus was eerily quiet on the cross-country lap to East Cowes, though the ferry crossing temporarily aroused interest, notably when Chamberlain began begging for pennies for the second day running.
The first twenty minutes of Saturday’s game against Portsmouth was evenly contested, but it was the hosts that struck first, Evans netting from close range midway through the first half. Fine defending by both Blackburn and Mclean, together with an excellent save from Moroney kept the deficit to one before the visitors began to get on top, Wilkes and Chamberlain each nearly fashioning an equaliser, Liggett striking the crossbar and Smith being denied by a fine save from the home keeper after being freed by Jones’s scoop.
The second period was virtually all Gloucester and ten minutes in a fine strike from Blacker found the top corner for a deserved equaliser. Liggett struck the bar for a second time, Clifford twice went close and Chamberlain forced a fine save from the home keeper before the winner arrived with eight minutes remaining. Lawson, who had another great game at left back, clipped a corner to the back post and Liggett, timing his run to perfection, drove in the winner.
With Lynam, Mclean and Lawson in the city backline giving nothing away, Moroney was largely untroubled in the second half and it was a happy front of bus on the way home. In the back, there was sleeping (Desmond), head-bobbing (Mclean), sight-loo-seeing (Jones) and Carpe-Diem-point-losing (Wilkes, amongst others), before KFC-eating (everyone) brought about a temporary silence at Membury Services.
The last leg of the journey home was a time for reflection. It had been the first time for a decent number of years that we’d won both games on our October tour down under. It was the first time ever that half a dozen players had celebrated victory with a post-match mug of tea. And it was the first time in the history of GPSFA that a player had almost been arrested for vagrancy. As Uncle Quentin (Enid Blyton’s Famous Five) might once have said, ‘It was a jolly good time.’ Finger-lickin’ good, in fact.
Gloucester: Moroney; Lynam, Blackburn, Mclean, Lawson, Chamberlain, Wilkes, Clifford, Jones, Liggett, Smith, Blacker.
