Ice, Ice Baby!

The plan was that the next blog entry would follow Handsworth's game against Albion Sports scheduled for today but since the game has been postponed due to frozen water pipes at Oliver's Mount, I thought I might as well bore you now.

If I'm totally honest, I'm quietly pleased that there's no game today. I think I'm getting a bit "stale" when it comes to my football photos so a short break feels a little bit welcome perhaps? I keep saying "I'm getting too old for this" when shooting football and I think maybe I'm seriously starting to believe it! 

It's also my 74th birthday tomorrow. I don't want to be 74 but what can you do!?!

There's not really a lot to say when there's no football to go to. Our social life basically revolves around Handsworth FC.

Really only two items of note in my pretty mundane existence during the last week. 

Our son and his wife have finally moved into their fabulous new house after several weeks of waiting for the i's to be dotted and the t's to be crossed. Delighted for both of them. The only real concern was how their cat Izzy would react to the new place.

He's a rescue cat and can be very timid but he's been checking out the new house and Mark thinks he's almost decided where his "safe area" will be. Izzy used to like to sit by a radiator at their old place but the new home has underfloor heating which seems to have confused Izzy a bit! I'm sure he'll be fine!

Izzy selecting which box will be his

I've also had to see the nurse at our doctors surgery. A couple of weeks ago, at Handsworth's game against Bottesford, I stumbled and took a chunk out of my left leg on a metal stanchion in the stand. Didn't realise how much damage I'd done (to my leg - not the stanchion!) until I got home after the game.

I got a little concerned that the wound didn't seem to be healing and the area around it was reddening. Our local pharmacist told me that the reddening could be a sign of infection so I'd better get it checked out. Anyway - you'll be glad to know that the nurse at our surgery cleaned and dressed the wound and is pretty certain it's not infected but I have to go back on the 26th to see how it's going.

I learned a couple of interesting things from the nurse too. I told her I'd left the wound uncovered for a couple of days to "let the air get to it" (my grandmother's advice from many years ago) but the nurse said it should always be kept covered because letting air get to it can also let infection get to it.

Secondly, when I said I'd put Savlon Antiseptic cream on it she grimaced and said Savlon should never be put on an open wound.

You learn something new every day!

So - a blank Saturday. What to do. I've absolutely no idea. Roll on bedtime!

I'll let you know what, if anything, I get up to but in the meantime, I'll leave you with a shot of this morning's sunrise through the landing window.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning - your boats on fire...

😁😉😂

Contrasts.

So I finally get around to updating the blog. My only excuse for not doing it sooner? I've been busy. It's been a hectic couple of weeks since the New Year started but I'm not going to bore you with all of the details.

Our football experience has been mixed. Handsworth have played 3 games resulting in one win, one draw and one defeat.

The win came in the County Senior Cup when we beat Sheffield FC after a penalty shoot out.

Ian Robinsons match report:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/0-5805517/report

My pictures

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2024-01-03-sheffield-fc-00-45-on-pens-ambers-shsc3-1087588.html

The draw was in a NCEL Premier League game against Bottesford Town when the game finished 3-3

Ian's report:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094648/report

My pictures

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2024-01-06-ambers-33-bottesford-ncel-prem-1087979.html

The loss was last Saturday (13th Jan) when we lost by a single goal at Penistone Church, again in the NCEL Premier League.

Ian's report

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094662/report

My pictures

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2024-01-13-penistone-10-ambers-ncel-prem-1088602.html

I've put the links there now so that you don't have to read the rest of this rubbish if you don't want to!! (But it would be good if you did! 😉 👍 😘)

The game v Sheffield was staged at Handsworth's ground at Oliver's Mount because the persistent rain over the preceding days meant it was more than likely that Sheffield's home pitch would be waterlogged. Being a cup fixture, it was important that the game got played to help ease fixture congestion if it got postponed again. The Ambers 4G pitch ensured it went ahead.

Handsworth played very well against a team from a division higher in a fairly even game. After 90 minutes, the score was 0-0 so the game went to a penalty shoot out which Handsworth won 5-4. The deciding penalty was scored by young Rion Arbuoin who had joined the game as a sub with about 15 minutes left. It was a lovely moment for the lad for 2 reasons. 

First of all, he has been out of the 1st team squad for 6 months through injury and this was his first appearance since he got hurt. Secondly, last season Handsworth lost a penalty shoot out against Winterton when Rion's penalty was disallowed in very controversial circumstances. The ref initially allowed the penalty then changed his mind and decided that Rion had "double-kicked" the ball. Some very nasty scenes followed as the players left the pitch with some fans involved in the fracas.

The huge grin on the lad's face when he scored the winner against Sheffield was amazing and to be honest, it was very brave of him to put himself in the frame like he did.

Rion is congratulated by his teammates after striking the deciding pen.

Final comment on this game? The performance of the match officials was exemplary. Referee Danny Guest and his two assistants never put a foot wrong. Wish they could ref us every week!

Three days later, we witnessed a contrasting performance by the match officials in the 3-3 draw with Bottesford Town. The referee seemed determined to show everybody that he was in charge. He awarded Bottesford two penalties, at least one of which was highly debatable (even the Bottesford players seemed surprised!). 

The ref then sent 2 Handsworth players to the sin bin in the  space of 3 minutes as they protested the award of the second penalty. It's also the first time I've heard of an assistant ref swearing at a couple of Handsworth spectators, telling them to shut their mouths (expletive deleted) as they reacted to the penalty award!

In the dying minutes of the game, Handsworth number 5, Matt Reay, was red-carded when he collided with the Bottesford keeper as both tried to win a dropping ball. Matt slipped as he moved in and the keeper fell on top of him. (Matt was one of the two players sin-binned earlier in the game.) The keeper needed no physio treatment and wasn't badly hurt but the ref decided to display his power once again.

Matt Reay is dismissed for losing his footing as he went for the ball

Handsworth did have chances to make the game safe the most notable of which was when Leon Howarth's penalty kick beat the keeper but hit the base of the post. Score was 3-1 at that point but hey, I keep saying it - that's football.

I had a bad day photography wise, missing clear shots of all 3 Handsworth goals.  I'd moved into the small terraced stand to get out of a rain shower. A guy stood directly in front of the camera as Mitch Dunne scored The Ambers second - the goal of the game. In my haste to get around the guy blocking me, I stumbled against an iron stanchion and took a hefty chunk out of my left leg. I'm counting it as my first ever footballing injury!

We then moved on to a very cold Penistone Church on Saturday 13th January. The teams were pretty close in terms of recent form. Handsworth still had some player availability issues and weren't helped by the suspension of Matt Reay following his red card the previous Saturday.

The Ambers gave a good account of themselves and as the game progressed, it looked increasingly likely that one goal would settle it. That happened when Penistone pounced on a defensive error and scored the winner in the 68th minute. Despite some heavy Handsworth pressure in the final 15 minutes, we headed home with nothing but feelings of what might have been.

It was a bit of a stop start affair with some niggling fouls and yet more referee interventions which caused protests and disbelief amongst players and fans. It was very concerning in the last few seconds when Leon Howarth took an elbow to the head and went down in a heap. The referee completely ignored the incident and played on for maybe 20 or 30 seconds then blew the final whistle. 

He never checked if Leon was OK but instead joined his assistants to receive the handshakes of the departing players. Leon, clearly dazed, left the pitch with the physio and Handsworth players helping him after the officials had gone to the changing rooms.

A dazed Leon Howarth is helped to his feet after the final whistle.

Next game is at Oliver's Mount against another of the high flyers in the division when Albion Sports visit. Albion are in the play-off places despite having a 3-point deduction and it'll be another tough one. It's true that there are no easy games!

I'll not bore you with details of how my computer crashed, meaning system reinstallation and files recovery had to be completed but let me tell you, it was a real pain in the backside!! Took 2.1/2 days to get everything back up and running! Ain't technology wonderful!

Hopefully, the next entry on Norton Yer Life will be shorter and again, "hopefully", it will follow the Albion Sports game next Saturday. Unless of course, something really incredible happens but we're talking Ken at Norton Towers here so "incredible" is highly unlikely!! 

😉

See Yer!!

Happy New Year!

It's been 2 weeks since my last posting, largely due to the fact that the Christmas and New Year holidays got in the way a bit.

In those two weeks, Handsworth FC secured a 0-0 draw at Hallam FC on Boxing Day and then crashed to their heaviest ever home defeat when Emley AFC were the visitors.

We didn't go to the game at Hallam as we had something else happening on Boxing Day but reports suggest it was a hard-earned point secured after a fine goalkeeping display by Dylan Parkin. Handsworth's squad was massively depleted through injury, suspension and the unavailability of a few first team players who would normally be almost guaranteed starters in a 1st team game.

Ian Robinson's match report is here:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094637/report

No match album as I wasn't there with the camera.

Next up, on 30th December, was a home game against Emley AFC, a team many believe will win the title. They are in 2nd place, 2 points behind leaders Campion FC but with 2 games in hand. Emley are also still in the NCEL League Cup and the County Senior Cup and have a 4th Round proper game in the FA Vase on 13th January.

We knew it would be a tough ask although Handsworth were unbeaten in 4 games in the league and in fact the previous 6 games had produced 3 wins and 2 draws. In addition, only one team in the Premier Division had kept more clean sheets than Handsworth's 7 this season so far. OK, so that was Emley with 11 but even so, those of us of an optimistic bent thought we might just get something from the game but has I've said elsewhere, I don't have a massive amount of faith in statistical analysis!!

Emley's long unbeaten run had come to an end the previous week when they lost 1-0 to Penistone. Another reason to hope maybe?

In truth, Handsworth were beaten by a much better team on the day. It didn't help that The Ambers were down to the bare bones as far as squad selection went with only 4 subs on the bench one of whom was 16 year old goalkeeper Tom Hill. Another was the hastily arranged dual registration of Koby Erratt-Thompson, a young lad on Ilkeston Town's books.

I don't think I've seen a better side than Emley at this level. They are big, fast, tactically aware and they have a good skill level in all positions so I guess there's no real disgrace in losing to a side of such obvious quality.

Read Ian Robinsons match report here:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-12-30-ambers-17-emley-ncel-prem-1087322.html

And my pictures from the game are here: (not my best set. That's why there's fewer than the usual number. The weather was awful and I spent most of the game shooting from the back of the stand in an effort to avoid the wind and rain!)

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-12-30-ambers-17-emley-ncel-prem-1087322.html

Next up is another tough one. We play Sheffield FC, from a division above Handsworth, on Wednesday 3rd December in a County Senior Cup tie. The game should be a home fixture for Sheffield but it is being hosted at Oliver's Mount where the 4G pitch will hopefully remove the possibility of another postponement. It is followed on Saturday 6th December with a home game against Bottesford. 

Then, a week later, we have yet another hard test when we visit Penistone Church FC. who will be buzzing having recently ended Emley's long unbeaten run. We usually manage to get to "Penistone away" every season but we'll see what the weather gods have to say.

Away from football, we enjoyed a very quiet Christmas. Because our son and daughter-in-law couldn't make it to Sheffield this year, we conducted present opening via a video link. It's not the same as having everybody in the same room but it's a workable alternative I guess.

So, 2024 is upon us and we're already 2 days in! We have a couple of significant birthdays happening this year and our son and his wife now have a date for moving into their fabulous new home. That will happen in mid-late January if all goes to plan. I'm still hoping we can get over to The Netherlands sometime in the spring maybe. That would be really good.

That's it for now folks. More hopefully follows after the next couple of games unless there is something really important that I think you should know about before then!

Happy New Year All!- and "Many Thanks" for taking the time to read this stuff. It's really very much appreciated.