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.