AFC Match Report

Match report .

Listening to radio 4 ,as I do on waking and the world radio service . At predawn times of circa 0500 . And a poem by W H Davies quoted . A beautiful poem . One that I am sure many of you must have heard or read in your time. If not, I do urge you to read it in full (see below). So beautiful and so apt to life .

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?-
............
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Match of the day seen and enjoyed . Loaded up and water bottles full. Fresh croissants from our Superb COOP store .
And all the while thinking of those in the Ukraine . So different now from the time's of that monster Hitler and his gang of killers -- now mobile phones etc bring it all into our houses and we witness just what horrors this new vile person, Putin , is visiting on the country. We hope to see just what we -- here in the safety of the most southern part of leafy Cheshire , can do to help alleviate the horrors that those in the Ukraine are suffering . More on this as the days pass by .

But to football .

We face Leighton FC this day . In Crewe at the George's pitches .
On Friday we had a call from them saying can they call the game off. Lack of players etc . But the league have deemed that they must play.
We need to play -- to wipe away that most acrimonious defeat last Sunday . Three red cards . Two to Cooper Buckley and one to us . Costs the players £55 each in league fines!! Plus a three match ban each .
Today
Good squad named but our regular goalkeeper cannot be with us , nor can our top scorer, Nick Gregory.
So Simon Cavell in goal.
Referee Des Evans gets us under way . Bright glaring sun, but so very cold as I sit in the side line .
11.05Usual fast start as Adrenalin gets going and the need to warm up those muscles.
1st shot on goal goes to LFC. Goes wide
1st free kick to LFC . Then an injury as they have ro play their sub. Very early in the game
11.15 Hard tackle by Kev Rodgers and into the book he goes .
11.20 Play more or less 50/50
Race upfield by Will Cork and he tries a shot . But over the bar .
11.22 A chance for us to score but fine save by their keeper . LFC player down with a touch of cramp.
Simon in goal saves well a tentative shot.
(Grace, partner to Dan Rooney, here with their lovely fox red Labrador named Lola )
Sun comes out and gives a semblance of heat .
Play still not electrifying . No team taking advantage yet.
Then a great shot by Andrew Beco Betteley forces a super save by their goalie .
11.35 Shot by Will Cork and keeper saves. Playing very well that keeper .kicking out so well and giving me cause for concern
11.39 First corner of the match -- goes to LFC -- and they score!!

O-1

LFC player down with injury . Play stopped for 5 minutes.
Cold win has got up and my eyes stream in the cold.
Goodly number of stops and starts as LFC players appear to get injured.
Half time called .
Kev Mort and John Bryan -- trainer -- give all right roasting to all . Playing so poorly. And not together as a team .
11.56 Chastened, off we go again .blue sky and some sunshine. Dry of course.
Referee lectures Ross Henderson who is so fearless and full of running.
Free kick awarded to us as Ross is taken down. Later his right eye brow swells up from the coming together .
Ref books an LFC player.
Mrgr Kev Mort plays two subs. Off comes Carl Greatbanks and Toni Sindstadt and on comes Rob Martin and Tom Smart .
12.10 Free kick to us. Taken by Kev Rodgers . Met by Tom Smart and to Seb Burrows who scores .

1-1

Free kick to LFC . No gain
12.16LFC have their second corner of the game -- and they score !!!!!

1-2

Mgr Kev Mort plays more subs. Off comes Andrew Betteley and Ben Walker on .
Kev Rodgers and Dan Rooney off . Stefan Kotowski and Sam Mason on as Kev M plays his last throw of the dice .
Ref.. booking still -- but their player .
Now we are peppering their goal and their keeper playing so very well , as he stops shot after another.
Final whistle . Game over. Our second loss of the season. Last time we met Leighton FC we thrashed them 7-0! Now the boot is on the other foot as they win.
I notice , as i troop over to congratulate their manager , that the name of their sponsor emblazoned on their shirts is -- " John Knowles, funeral services" .
Well they for sure buried us on the day

Man of the Match goes to Ross Henderson , a player who never gives up
Next game at home, versus Princes Feathers.
A big hello to our fan, David Wallis from across the Atlantic in Salt Lake City , in Utah . A city that sits at around 4500 feet above sea level . And to our fans in Australia -- all of whom enjoy our match reports .

Ralph Warburton
Audlem Foitball Club

Poem by W.H.Davies (1911)
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?-

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.