Being grateful

FUTURE LEGENDS 4-0 ALVESTON RESERVES

Saturday 27th November

Midland Combination Division 3

Moat House Leisure Centre, Coventry

What a surprise...a change of plan, though this had nothing to do with my indecisiveness but the weather. If any readers from outside this overcrowded little island do not know then the picture below will give you a pretty good idea. This was the scene outside my house at around 7am this morning, though snow itself is not a problem but frozen pitches are. 

I'm sure some of you from North American or northern Europe are thinking that we are a bunch of softies / pansies etc but unfortunately we have a case of health and safety gone mad over here. Are frozen pitches worse than rock hard ones found at the start and end of the season? No need to answer as I was being sarcastic. In the end myself and Gary had a limited choice in the East Midlands but a game on a 3G (3rd generation artificial) pitch in Coventry some 25 miles away gave us the get of jail free card.

I can hardly tell you a thing about our host club today because quite simply I have no information on them. All I know is that they joined the Midland Combination (Division 3) in the summer and they are based at the Moat House Leisure Centre in the northern suburbs of Coventry. End of. Well not quite - they currently sit in ninth place in the fourteen team division with ten points from their nine league games played so far. Opponents Alveston sit two places and three points below them though they have played four games more.

The game was not too bad though the first half was somewhat sterile with the home side scoring twice in the space of five minutes on (I believe) the fifteenth and twentieth minutes. The first was a header from Shahid Ahmed with the second from Suleimon Leluu. The game livened up a lot after the interval with both sides having chances to increase the scoring. The visitors were unlucky not to get on the score sheet as the Future Legends keeper made three top class saves during the half while other chances went wide of the uprights. Legends scored two more goals but they also could have had numerous more. Richard Roantree got both goals number three and four - the third with around fifteen minutes from time when he made a run into the Alveston penalty area and finished well past the keeper. His second and Legends fourth came on the 82nd minute when he turned home a free kick from several yards out. How the home side failed to add to the scoring is something that they will wonder themselves as the frame of the goal was struck four times during the second period.

Overall I'm just glad to get a game in at a new venue, something that will be increasingly difficult if the cold weather persists.

Admission / programme: none

Attendance: 24 (head count)

Match rating: 3 out of 5

Further photos of the game taken during the first half can be found here: FLFC