v Kenley (H) 22 November 2008

So how many would it be this week: 7, 8, 9 - or ... yikes! Well read on, and you just might be a bit surprised.  Not for the first time this season, it looked good on paper: 7 or 8 regular Bulldogs to be bolstered by the comforting presence of Jiji, Tom G, Kram and Harminder. And with 3 of our young tyros all yapping for their chance to be our junior rolling sub on a freezing afternoon, there was no lack of optimism.

To begin with , it looked ok. Yes, we creaked a bit now and then at the back (...force of habit?) but, hey - those horrible mis-hits and unlucky deflections and other misdemeanours in our D didn't happen. And before we knew it, we started to look a bit useful ourselves. Jiji was, well, Jiji, while Tom G and Harminder brought the best out of Peter and Satbir in a refreshingly robust midfield. Ian G and Kram made thorough nuisances of themselves up front and, at the back, Nigel and Mike T at last got the chance to remind everyone - including themselves - just how good they are when they're given reasonable support around them.  And behind all that, the GMB was in one of his cussed, muttering to himself, goalframe tapping, 'Blimey! What's he doing there? Don't ask - just let him get on with it' moods. So far, so good - but could we do the unthinkable, from an unusually promising position of:

HALF TIME: 'Dogs 0 Kenley 0

A keenly contested first half gave way to an even more keenly contested second half. Both sides showed plenty of ambition up front, but both defences and goalkeepers were getting their angles and interceptions right. All our 1st half performers, bolstered by canny cameos (don't push it - you're almost readable so far this week - Ed) from our rolling young trio of Richards C and S, and David, kept up the good work. Then, another wicked aerial bomb from Jiji fell dangerously in their 'D' and Ian got a bit of it, to Kram and - bing bang bosh! - 1-0 'Dogs! Kenley were too good to take this lying down and back they came at us. The GMB, by contrast, decided more than once to take it lying down as the ball hit him. But we threatened to bag a 2nd on more than 1 occasion and hey, this was exciting end to end stuff. Then - talk about vintage brandy at the end of a banquet - Paul Mangat came on for someone or other for the last few minutes. Kenley huffed and puffed from all sorts of angles but our kennel would not be blown down today.

FULL TIME: 'Dogs 1 Kenley 0    

How about that! After weeks of misery where, for want of 2 or 3 extra players of quality, we had been routinely and regularly hammered, we showed that, we could play, after all. Make no mistake, this was indeed the regular 'Dogs, bolstered by some more than handy players, not a completely different side. Kenley were - as ever - a very good side and must have been pig sick to lose this one.  Great company afterwards, too - thanks and see you at your place early next year, guys.

WINSTON OF THE WEEK: can't possibly pick out any one individual from a such a good all round team performance, so the winner was ... NPL Bulldogs! (...and doesn't that sound good?)    

v Sunbury (A) 15 November 2008

Well, a bit of a change this week.  Instead of being hammered by regular Conference opponents after a difficult and long journey, we got hammered by less regular opponents after a straightforward and short journey.  It was lovely to renew acquaintance with old local rivals Sunbury: what they did to us was, however, a bit less lovely. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

We started off ok, our exotic mix of old (7) and very young (4, with a combined age of +/- 60) players determined to put up a good show. The problem was that Sunbury were a rather useful team - thanks for waiting till after the game to tell us modestly you beat Wallington twice last season, guys - and they were a bit goal hungry. Pressure soon told and, though we didn't get the rub of the green with a couple of deflections, hey, scores like this don't lie:

HALF TIME: Sunbury 5 'Dogs 0  

They gave us oranges at half time and the offer of a swap of goalkeepers, by the sound of it. But before you could say 'take him, he's yours - and you can keep him till Easter!' our backboard was soon rattling again to the sound of annoyingly well-taken goals. So what consolation points for the 'Dogs inmidst this canine carnage?  Well, all 4 of our youngsters played as well as they could have, and none of them looked totally out of place. Everyone else also continued to try to stem the flood of Sunbury attacks, no canine heads or shoulders dropped and we kept on doing our best which simply wasn't good enough. 5 more goals duly arrived in the 2nd half but, you'll like this bit, the last of them was a resounding boomer from a short corner from Ian G, followed at once by the final whistle, bringing to an end:

FULL TIME: Sunbury 9 'Dogs 1

Well, we got one - as tends to be our wont this season, so look forward with ridiculous optimism to playing a couple of teams between now and Christmas who might, if we play really well, not put quite so many on us.

WINSTON OF THE WEEK: a no-brainer. Wonderful to see Jimmy back with us and looking in pretty good fettle. Well done for a typically no-nonsense efficient umpiring display, and for a match summary which defied even this correspondent's sense of optimism "I thought you were a bit unlucky, the way things were going you just ran out of time!!"

Many thanks to Sunbury for a fine game on a fine pitch - and excellent hospitality afterwards. Best of luck to you on your exotic 4 Counties travels up and down the M4 corridor and (...I can't really believe I'm saying this) let's hope we can do it all again soon.    

v Wimbledon (A) 01 November 2008

After a weekend's break during which a joint 'Dogs/Desperados team had flown the NPL colours at the Kenley Tournament, the 'Dogs returned to the fray at Wimbledon.

An eclectic team of old and new (see below) started off brightly.  We more than held our own in the opening 15 minutes or so, so it was particularly galling to concede 2 very soft goals, partly of our own making (at least you're creating goals one end of the field - ha! Ed). But then things took a welcome upturn as we completed that rare surprise 'Dog tactic - get a shot on target from a short corner.  Bravo, Satbir - 2-1 Wimbledon. And then, just before the half time whistle, a cruel blow. Their forward stood in the GMB's way (ok-ish) then took a step back into the GMB as a shot came in, blocking his sight and movement (definitely not ok-ish). But Avni saw no wrong, so we reached half time, most undeservedly:

HALF TIME:  WIMBLEDON 3 'DOGS 1

Now, think of almost everything that could go wrong in a second half, barring any injuries, and it did.  A couple of unlucky deflections: check. P- (careful, please. Ed) Pouring (that's better. Ed) rain, turning to sleet, into our faces: check. Opposition who stepped up several gears: check. Dispirited and bedraggled 'Dogs, who lost the ability to string 3 passes together: check. 

On and on it went, and in and in they went.

FULL TIME: WIMBLEDON 8 'DOGS 1

Now that was weird, really weird. Even they - decent blokes as ever - said it hadn't felt like an 8-1 sort of game. But for the 3rd time in 4 games this season, we found ourselves on the wrong end of a right royal thrashing.  Why is this happening? Your correspondent suggests 3 main reasons (oh blimey, here we go... Ed):

1/ our opposition  usually is made up of players who know each other's game and have played together for many a year, while we...

2/ have had a lousy run this season of non-availabilities, both long and short term. Of our 7 to 8 regulars who formed the backbone of the successful side at the end of last season, only 2 or 3 have been able to play this year. And that's just too big a burden to carry, especially when...

3/ we are blooding youngsters.  Full marks to James G, Richard C and Richard S who all played really well in defeat this week, showing precocious talent for their combined age of barely 40.

Frustrated: yes. Downhearted: no! On we will go, aware that, even if we don't set the pitch alight just at the moment, we still play a pretty good 3rd half in the bar afterwards.

Woof! Woof!