McVitee FC on tour - Bournemouth IFC (a)

Bournemouth IFC 1 McVitee 3

TWO PARROTS IN A TANK - MCVITEE FC IN BOURNEMOUTH!

As I was saying, there's two parrots in a tank.... no that's not
right, I know there are two goalfish on a perch, one turns to the 
other and says "You want some!!!"

Oops, sorry a lapse, sleep deprevation!! It's 4:30 am, the alarms
blaring, the body and soul wants to ignore it, can't do that 
leaving the boys in the lurch. So up and about and out to the car for 
this early start for the Bournemouth game. First stop Ashton to see
the suspicious Andy Holgate shuffling down the road. Then onto
Cheadle to pick up Dave Severn (Cheadle Blue)- a non player - 
only wanted a lift down @ that god forsaken time!!!

Onto the motorways and a decidedly quiet drive - how surprising, 
who else would be up at this unearthly hour. Make good time and stop 
for a motorway service breakfast - highway robbery. Then the final 
drag onto Bournemouth, just on the outskirts and the phone rings, a
decidely "croaky" voice on the other end tells us to get our kit 
on, we're playing - sounds like a good time was had by all in
Bournemouth - hic!!.

Arrive at the ground, after only one missed turn, to find no one 
else there (10:15) and a sign saying "Pitches UNFIT for play" - groan, 
all that way for nothing! The pitches look in good condition - a 
little wet but that's about it, I've played in much worse conditions. A
trickle of players arrive, both City and Bournemouth and things 
look promising. The match eventually kicks off, both City and 
Bournemouth having a full 11. Bournemouth have one sub, plus a few supporters
(it should also be noted that the chairman plays for them - any
chance of Bernstein doing the same for us). McVitee FC have a 
full 11, three subs and a watching audience. Dave B included three new 
players in the starting line-up (two making there debuts, Neil and 
Nigel):

Rich
Martin   	Lee G	    Neil   	  Gavin
Rob	      Nigel	    Spenner	  Andy H
Lee H	    Ian H

subs
Wookie, Dave B, Mark C

The game started in it's usual frantic pace, both sides trying to
find a weakness, niether being really able to dominate the early
exchanges. Both sides created chances, which were either saved or
missed!!

Bournemouth however managed to get on the score sheet first. Some
indecision at the back, left MCVITee unable to clear the ball. A 
neat passing movement on the left, left MCVITee short and the whipped
cross into the middle was scored between the goalie and defender.
Straight from the kick-off, MCVITee levelled through the
irrepresible Lee H. A quick interchange of passes down the middle 
of the park, broke to Lee on the edge and he beat the keeper. The 
rest of the half was a fight with both teams creating chances, but 
nothing came of them. So it was 1-1 at half time.

Dave B, made two substitutions, Col replaced Martin in the right 
back berth and Dave B replaced Nigel, but with a slight tactical 
switch, Dave B moved in the back four and pushed Neil into midfield.
This has the desired effect of steadying things. It was still a 
battle, but the Blues poked there noses ahead when Ian H was up-ended in 
the left side of the box. Lee H bagged his second goal of the game 
from the penalty spot.

The third and decisive goal came from Ian H's boot this time, 
from a pass from Lee H. With a comfortable lead but never secure, Ian H 
left the pitch to be  replaced by Mark C. The lead was threatened through 
the remainder of  the half, but Bournemouth were unable to pull a 
goal back. At the other end City had chances as the Cherries pushed forward. An 
amazing goalmouth scramble, with boots swinging wildly at the ball, ended
when the Cherries keeper grabbed the ball after a richochet off a
knee. Time ran down and MCVITee claimed their sixth straight win 
after a stern test from the lads from the South Coast. Thanks to all the
MCVITee blues who made the game, the Bournemoth lads (including 
their chairman - any chance of David Bernstein taking heart???) and the
council for letting us play on the pitch (it turned out to stand 
upto the game very well).

A quick shower and change and then onto Dean Court to watch the 
first team in what turned out to be a dire game.

After the match it was 1.5 hours before we could get back on the 
road outta Bournmouth. If you ever go to Bournemouth for a game, try 
not to park on the official car parks by the ground, it's a 
nightmare.

The journey home was interspersed phone calls in both directions 
to see how those staying behind were celebrating the win. Finally 
home to bed for a few hours sleep at 11:00 p.m..

Martin Ford

MCVITEE TOUR OF BOURNEMOUTH

The weekend saw McVitee FC, football team for this mailing list, 
head south to the seaside town of Bournemouth. Even being so far away, 
we still managed to assemble 11 of the regular McVitee players, with 
3 new players coming from down South. Our usual pre-match training 
involved heading into the night-life on a Friday night to sample the best
Bournemouth had to offer.

Everything was going to plan until we tried to get into a 
nightclub called the Cage - myself, Lee Hanson and Mark Cohen got straight 
in, but the next group were stopped by the bouncers - they asked where 
they were from, and someone said Manchester - big mistake. They said that 
they'd heard that a load of Manchester lads were coming down to cause 
trouble and were stopping anyone from there coming in. So we came back 
out and headed off to the Opera House - 8 quid to get in and 3 quid a 
beer. Really bad nightclub as well, so me and Lee headed back to the 
hotel to try and crash a 21st birthday bash and left the lads to it - 
turned out it was a fancy dress party and most of the girls were wearing St.
Trinians schoolgirl outfits so that was a result!

Onto the match. We assembled at the venue about 11am, with only 5
Bournemouth lads there to start with. Also, the council had 
called off all matches saying the pitches were unplayable which would have 
been a right pain with the distance we'd travelled for this fixture. One 
of the Bournemouth team is actually the chairman of Bournmouth AFC and 
he persuaded the council differently (David Bernstein if you'd like 
a trial give me a shout!).

Bournemouth managed to assemble a full team and we started with:

Richard Savage
Martin Ford    Lee Grime       Neil Corney     Gavin Hodge
Rob Hodge      Spenner Grady   Nigel Burstow   Andy Holgate
Lee Hanson      Ian Hall

Subs:
Dave Barker
Mark Cohen
Colin Surrey

The new lads were Neil, Nigel and Ian. The match started with
Bournemouth dominating the opening 5 minutes after which their 
striker broke through our defence and slotted an easy shot past Richard. 
However Lee Hanson equalised immediately after kick-off and we thought we 
were on for a high-scoring match. Not to be as the remaining 35 
minutes saw McVitee having numerous attempts on goal but always just going 
wide or hitting the bar. It was very even between both teams and we were 
lucky not to go down again as Bournemouth broke through the defence 
again, but thanks to the striker's poor finishing we managed to go into 
half-time even.

A change was made bringing Nigel off, I took over from Neil in 
central defence, moving him into midfield, and Colin Surrey replaced 
Martin at right-back.

After re-grouping we played most of the second half much better 
than the first, dominating right from the start. The passing was good and 
the running off the ball was excellent. However we still couldn't get 
the finishing right until Ian Hall was brought down, leaving Lee 
Hanson to take the pressure and place it in the bottom right corner. We 
still couldn't finish them off even with our playing better and were 
always nervous of conceding another (especially with my woeful heading 
from a ball coming from the skies - 'Daves', and then miss by a mile!). 
Lee Hanson crossed from the left leaving Ian to slot the ball home to 
a great relief for McVitee. Mark was brought on for Ian and we 
played the last 10 minutes defending with a couple more attempts at their 
end but the scoreline stayed as it was and finished 3-1 to McVitee.

This was by far the hardest game we've played so far - especially 
being so far away from home and having new players as well. The new 
players played really well since they haven't played with us before and 
did a good job. The Bournemouth lads also played very well and it was a 
very even match. I was very impressed with their determination and 
effort.

Their manager sent me this message today:
----
Great to meet you guys, and thoroughly enjoyed the morning game. 
No hesitation in having you back down again whenever you want. Most 
used phrase from our players afterwards was how good spirited you 
were.
----

This shows how well the lads behave against opposing sides and 
are a credit to us. It is what Internet Football is all about - 
building bridges between rival sets of supporters.

The match in the afternoon showed why Bournemouth are unbeaten 
for so long - the referee was an absolute disgrace - however, I'll leave 
it to another fan to give you all those details. Our man Spenner Grady 
started his own chant after swilling his pot noodle with 'There's only 1 
pot noodle, one pot noodle' for all the away fans to join with him. 
You really are a leader amongst men.

The after match celebrations went much better than the night 
before. We knew we had to get to the Cage early to try and get in. We split 
into 3's and denied all knowledge of Manchester. First group were from 
St. Albans and the other group was on their birthday bash from 
Sheffield. 2 lucky lads scored in the opening 5 minutes. It was only 10.30 
when 2 ladies were hip-dancing, groping and kissing - and then they 
swapped around!

The theme for the whole weekend was 'do you want some', shouted 
between the lads and chanted at the right moments to be funny (I think). 
I suggested that we all had to go up to a girl, and holding your 
groin or chest say 'do you want some'. It was generally agreed but I 
really didn't think anyone would do it. Daft idea but things you do when 
drunk. About 11.30, one of the lads (won't tell you who he was to save 
his embarassment - but he tends to play a game of football with his
hands...), he suddenly shot over to a girl and shouted 'do you 
want some', hand on groin. She was completely gob smacked - I'm sure 
she was gonna cry. Gotta be one of the funniest moments you could ever 
see.

We left Bournmouth around 11am on the Sunday. We really didn't 
want to go. It was a great weekend and we met some great lads from the
Bournemouth team and the place itself is recommended for a good 
weekend away. Thanks to everyone who came and played for us, especially 
for the supporters club who came and supported us Saturday morning.

Dave Barker