Slaying the Dragon

Orangefield Dragons

Shakespeare's Brothers

There'll be singing in Paisley

Burnsy lifts the "MVP" of the Air Raid Siren Award

L'Amour and St Geordie

Maxi does his mean pose

Sunday 23rd April, coincidentally St George's Day, Shakespeare's birthday and the day the Love Street Perpetual Trophy was returned to it's rightful place, on Mark Carron's mantelpiece. The return leg of the competition had taken more than three years to organise having had to negotiate a pandemic, a catalogue of injuries and a place on thon mantelpiece amongst the ever increasing array of awards fighting for space there. Fortunately "Champ" had just recently emptied the bottle of Doom Bar which had been taking pride of place.

We convened for a 2pm kick off and it was noted that both teams had assembled big squads. The Ulidia clipboard was the subject of much interest as the starting eleven was announced and there was no room for the star striker but after a bruising five minutes in the number 9 position, I realised that I had to make room before there was an incident on the touchline. "Runaround" helped quell the potential for disaster, keeping Champ focussed by working on his jab.

After a tentative start, the stalemate was broken when Orangefield won a corner. The pinpoint delivery to the back post was met by Gary Boyd who placed his looping header beyond the scrambling cat in the Ulidia goal. Little did he know it would he the last scrambling he would have to do in the first half. Encouraged from the touchline, Ulidia took control. This was as much a surprise to the management as it was to the players who got on the scoresheet. Both centre backs Ruari and Andy, Paul Madden and Vize from the midfield and the centre forward partnership of Little and Large rounded off an even six in the first half. Champ turned so quickly to take his goal that nobody saw it. 

The half time lecture was replaced by smiles and laughter as finding ourselves in unknown territory meant that St Geordie could proffer the Lurgan champagne to any interested party. Both sides made significant team changes at half time but it was the Dragonslayers who took first blood in the second half. Yul Brynner, cameoing as Conor Mulholland, took an excellent first touch on a deft through ball and slotted the ball past the stranded Orangefield keeper. This was to be the final nail in the coffin and the game turned in Orangefield's favour. Camping in the home team's half for most of the rest of the game saw them claw their way back but they couldn't get out of that coffin. Goals from Jimmy "The Foot" Huston, another from Boyd and a debut goal from William Vance, advanced their tally to four. When the referee blew for the end of the game, smiles were apparent on the faces of both teams' players. Each team won a half but the significant half belonged to Ulidia and the Love Street Cup had come home.

The football, however, was only the warm up for the main part of the day. Making our way to the Pavillion for the post match craic and banter has been an important celebration of these friendly games. On Sunday we were also celebrating the life of Stevie Wilson, former player and much loved raconteur. We are raising funds for Marie Curie who cared for Stevie in his final days and if you have yet to contribute, please follow the link below. Donations on Sunday totalled £931 which is superb for a bunch of old men with nothing better to do. A huge thank you to all who have made a donation and to Michael Lavery of The Pavillion who provided the post match buffet gratis. Respect.

MARIE CURIE DONATION

The page will be live until the Ulidia Marathon Relay team complete the challenge on Sunday coming. Look out for more old men trying to put one foot in front of the other.

Orangefield have indicated that they believe that the movement of the Love Street Cup to Champ's mantelpiece is only temporary and plans are currently afoot to execute a dawn raid. I would suggest some time in late 2023. Stand By.

Love the life you live and live the life you love.

 

Youth Policy

 

The versatile "Runaround" celebrates selection for the "Masters"

Unaware that the Ulidia Youth Policy has been latently in operation for years, Stevie "Runaround" Huston panicked that his youthful appearance, realistic hair and Turkish teeth might preclude his selection for the upcoming Love Street Cup challenge match. What he has not been reckoning on, are the criteria for being part of that aforementioned "Youth Policy".

1    NOT in possession of a bus pass

2    NOT in possession of grandchildren

3    NOT in possession of metal implants to aid walking

4    In possession of a permanent thatch

5    In possession of at least 50% natural teeth

6    In possession of a hefty wallet in order to bribe team selectors

In his most recent outing on the hallowed plastic of Belfast's first football pitch, Runaraound was obviously overwhelmed by his newly found sportsman status and contributed little. He later opined that he was saving himself for the upcoming challenge match. 

A 5-5 draw on Monday was a good workout for all, especially the goalkeepers. Some great goals and some terrible goalkeeping kept the game interesting.

You are all reminded that this Sunday, we play Orangefield Crocks, our football nemesis. Everyone is welcome, nay, expected to attend. Please follow the link below to contribute to the charity which is again Marie Curie and we are all aware of the reasons why. Post match refreshments in the Big House.

Love Street Charity Fundraiser

Ban the Bomb

Return of Blogger

 

Scratch It, Hatchet and Thatch It!

It's been a long time since we had regular match reports appear here. The main reason has been my ongoing proclivity to injury and inherent unavailability for Mondays. A couple of games recently would appear to have banished this ghost to the back seat of my tour bus, so I hope to be more fruitful in providing a commentary, especially now that I have little else to do.

Since my enforced premature and somewhat futile retirement, it is unfortunate that no one has stepped up to fulfil the role but the reasons are many. 

Ron Manager has taken to jogging as a way of walking the dog and is continually worried that he might get injured. He will be fine as long as he picks Marty on the same team. 

Sean Nolan has had a double hip replacement and has taken to a life of leisure (or his bed) but is fostering ambitions of winning the Cregagh Golf  Cup when he gets back to swinging.

Together with a couple of more long term absences, several new players have been introduced and it would be remiss of me not to provide a player profile for those new faces.

Paddy, the Fermanagh Man, who talks a lot but nobody can understand what he says; Derek, a Leeds man, so first on the teamsheet; Sarge, good in the air with the follicles to prove it; Deccy, good on the floor where he spends most of his time; Micky who might be a worthy replacement for Culchie but the fucker keeps coming back. Then there are the The Vietnamese contingent - younger, fitter and generally better so nobody will pass to them. Therefore when Trung get the ball he shoves it up his jumper, Billy takes a knife and fork to it, Jack looks for Trung and Alex shields the ball like it is unexploded ordinance. We could learn from them all.

Last night's game was relatively uneventful. I was concentrating on not getting kicked so missed a lot of the action, Kev's Thatchers ran out worthy winners with the evening's outstanding performance coming from Mark "Cavan" who could do no wrong. A goal direct from the corner was the least he deserved. The glass boot is a formality.

It is worth mentioning that we have a couple of other games in the coming weeks. Love Street Charity Cup on Sunday 23rd sees the return of the game with Orangefield when we will be fundraising for Marie Curie. There will be food , drinks and a raffle afterwards in the Big House. Please turn up and donate even if you don't make the team. This is a game we must win in memory of our fallen former team mates so a strong team will represent us. If you can't make it on the day, I will post a justgiving page where you can donate. This will also be an opportunity for you to donate to the Ulidia Belfast Marathon relay team (Davy, Kevin, Ron, John and me) who will be running to raise more funds for Marie Curie. That will definitely be a test for my ailments.

Football for All.