Finest Hour

Well, there we go. Let's just say that this afternoon , in the FA People's Cup, did not turn out to be Arun Amblers' finest hour.

We had fought our way through the traffic to the venue on the outskirts of Croydon. It was a bit basic. The Gorse Fox has a number of observations regarding the venue and the organisation. This may seem like a case of sour grapes, but as we were not unduly affected, we cannot and would not use them as an excuse:

• The pitches, though Astroturf, were on a significant east-west slope. As the games were only a single 10 minute match, there was no levelling of the disadvantage by switching rounds at half time. 
• As the afternoon wore on, the sun dropped lower in the sky, and the team at the east end of the pitch (at the bottom of the slope) were playing directly into the bright sun.
• A clear set of rules was handed out on arrival. Indeed, several were mandatory for even registering, e.g. use of shin pads, only the goalie can wear long trousers, the goalie must wear a different coloured top from the rest of the team. We seemed to be one of two teams that actually complied.
• The referees were unclear of what was a direct  and what was an indirect free-kick. Indeed, against one team, they awarded a penalty for what should only have been an indirect free-kick.
• The standard of refereeing was woeful - because of its inconsistency
• It was walking football - and there was blatant running going on - particularly by the team that actually won the competition.

Despite this, we had good fun, and we played some nice football. Indeed, one of the referees congratulated us on the quality of our football. Unfortunately, our team was really made up of midfielders and defenders, which meant we really had no experienced, predatory goalscorer. The result was that we lost 3-0, then drew 1-1, then lost 3-0, and lost 1-0.

Not our finest hour, but a good learning experience.