Bouncebackability

Every so often a football match comes around which can either make or break a player. A chance to filter the men from the boys. A time to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Last night provided one such occasion...

A week ago saw my Monday evening Power League 5 aside team, HEARTLESS CREW FC spectacularly end our winning run and with it the chance to complete a 'PERFECT' Season. Going into the game we proudly boasted the quite remarkable record of 11 wins, No draws and no defeats with just 3 games left to play. The Championship and promotion were in the bag and all we had left was the amazing record to chance. We were up against second placed OUT OF BREATH who we had already trounced 17-11 in the reverse fixture. Unfortunately, history was not repeat itself as we, the five heroic warriors (with no subs might I add) bravely battled but unfortunately succumbed to a late onslaught from the opposition; conceding 3 goals in the last 2 minutes to lose 12-10.

Needless to say, we were devastated. The 134 Bus journey was a sombre one that night. Barely a word was exchanged as we lamented our loss.

All week the defeat played on my mind. Losing is not something I've ever learnt to do well. All the ifs, buts, ands or maybes were going through my mind as I would try and complete the most simple of tasks. All I could think about was the '0' from our losses column in the league table was gone forever.

I was distracted from my life. Defeat had been agonizing. It was almost getting too much to bear...

Then it dawned on me. It was gone. It was in the past. What was important now was not to lose again! The real test of a man is not about whether you lose, it's about how you react to that loss. It was time let go of the past, strap up my shinpad and get back out on the pitch!

I had some football to play....

We were back in Barnet. A week on from the scene of our crushing defeat. On this night, we would be facing THE UNTOUCHABLES. Let the battle commence...

The opposition barely proved a challenge and were dispatched with ease. We ran out 22-9 winners with yours truly grabbing a hat-trick which included a cheeky back-heel which outwitted the goalkeeper with Sun Tzu-like execution! The Heartless Crew were back!

Once again, we went into battle light in numbers. The team was ravaged by injuries and for the second week running, the five warriors to the pitch to face laden with substitutes to chop and change their side with. But like true soldiers, we overcame this handicap to reign supreme.

What this week showed was our mental strength; our ability to bounce back and triumph in the face of adversity.

REDEMPTION! THY NAME IS HEARTLESS!!!!



Joey Barton could do with taking a leaf out of our book.

In Attendance: Barnet FC v Chesterfield @ Underhill, Barnet - December 29th 2007

With the matches coming thick and fast over the festive period there is a danger of fans getting bored. Oversaturation can happen very easily. The Sports channels are pumping out the games at such a rate it's almost difficult to keep up. There are even those who championed the idea that this country should adopt a winter break during the football season...

Not me though!

Me and my mate 'The Mooch' have for a long time been talking about throwing our support behind Barnet as they are esentially one of our local sides here in wonderful North London. The Bees are currently languishing in league 2 so Me and Mooch hopped on the Northern Line (High Barnet branch naturally) to see if Paul Fairclough's side could show some signs of progressing beyond this level.

Having arrived at the Ground about an hour early, we thought we'd get tickets from what we thought was a ticket office. Let me set the scene: Underhill is essentially a football pitch surrounded mostly by corrugated iron... on a SLOPE! We approached a portacabin when people seemed to be queueing. When we got to the window they told us that we just pay at the turnstiles. Sheepishly we shuffled our way round to the East Terrace handed over our 15 quid (yes, 15 pounds stirling to watch 4th Division football!) and enter The ground.

The Theatre of dreams his was not.



The South Stand is currently being redeveloped while the North is uncovered and essentially protected by a fence so I can imagine the wind, if it's strong enough, having a major impact on the result.



As I said, we arrived early so we had the pick of almost the entire stand in which to take up a decent vantage point. We were soon to discover that our location had a restricted view of the corner to out left. D'oh!

I would like to say that the pre-match entertainment consisted of cheerleaders, a light show and a performace from Shakira but i'd be lying. We were However, privilaged to watch Hertfordshire's finest going through their pre-match warm up. We were literally spitting distance of our new heroes.

The Barnet side contained former Arsenal youngsters Adam Birchill, Nicky Nicolou and Joe O'Cearuill.

In contrast, the Spirites had lined up Jack Lester, Gregor Robertson and Keeper Barry Roche. All former Nottingham Forest players.

On that basis, I expected a dose of quality play from the Bees considering the lads were products of the Gunners' famed academy and having watched Forest for 3 years while at uni I have to say I wasn't excepting a great deal from Chesterfield.

Departing Striker Liam Hatch was named captain for he day as the Bees took the field. As is tradition, the home side played uphill on the infamous slope in the first half.

The game started out very scrapily. The away side seemed committed to giving the ball away at ever opportunity whereas Barnet employed the useless tactics of passing sideways a lot - that would be the Arsenal influence - before hoofing the ball up to the seemingly disinterested Hatch. Jason Puncheon, the Bees' hero on boxing day, showed some nice touches but his final ball was atrocious.

A lofted ball into box saw Liam Hatch completely mistime a jump as wasted a golden opportunity to open the scoring.

He would shortly come to regret it as the hopeless Joe Devera - an accident waiting to happen - failed to clear his lines and a Jack Lester through ball allowed Adam Rooney (no relation) to give Chesterfield the lead on 20 minutes.

At the time, I suggested that Lee Harrison in the Barnet goal could have done better but on the evidence of the rest of the game, I decided that he probably couldn't have. This is the keeper who also picked up a backpass and failed to convincingly deal with any cross he had to face in the first half.

Chesterfield probably should have the opportunity to double their lead when Lester was seemingly hacked down in the box (Devera again unsuprisingly) but rather than a penalty, referee Mike Thorpe booked Lester for diving. Good to see.

The first half dragged on. It was like marching through treacle wearing concrete boots. The half time whistle couldn't come too soon. The fans had itchy feet and took to heckling the players to keep themselves entertained.

Barnet's one shot on target of the half came from the lively Puncheon cutting in from the right wing. It was simply catching practice for Roche.

At half time, Fairclough tried to spice things up by introducing the nippy Anthony Thomas for the dispassionate Hatch. Suddenly, Barnet decided to play football. It's obvious that the slope makes a huge difference.

However, despite the nice build up play and fluid passing, the home side seemed to completely bottle it every time they got into the final third. Nicolau and Gillet worked well together on the left side but their delivery let them down time and time again. Crossing was aimless to say the least. When Micheal Leary wasn't giving the ball away, he was scuffing his shots and crosses. It was no suprise when he was withdrawn for Ashley Carew on 70 minutes.

Barnet's wasteful play was to cost them. With just ten minutes to go, Spirites defender Janos Kovacs stabbed home a loose ball to make it 2-0 after a poor Chesterfield corner was dropped by Lee Harrison to the shock of absolutely no-one at Underhill. Game over.

Cue more more mishit shots and crosses from Barnet before the ref put everyone out of their misery by blowing the final whistle.

10 years ago, Chesterfield were famously denied an FA Cup final appearance by the fialure of the officials to spot the ball crossing the line. They didn't perform nearly as heroically today but got the result to help keep up their promotion push.

Barnet on the other hand were woeful up front and I very much doubt they would have scored if they were playing til NEXT christmas. The club are currently midtable and at times I got the impression that they were content with that. The Bees wont get relegated but they are unlikely to threaten Chesterfield on any of the other play-off hopefuls.

As me and Mooch strolled back to the tube station, we decided that we would certainly be back to watch the Bees again. Hopefully by then, they will have learnt to put the ball in the back of the net.

Final Score: Barnet 0-2 Chesterfield
Attendance: 2,346
Man of the Match: The ref

Sex, Money and Drugs (Well, maybe not the sex)

The subject of players' wages has been brought to fore once again after Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe suggested that England Captain John Terry's wages for his club side CSKA Fulham are 'obscene' and said that the astronomical amounts of money going into players’ back pockets are alienating the ordinary fan in the street.



The MP for Bradford South however did make a valid point about ever-increasing ticket prices - implying a correlation with the huge wages - citing the rises at Manchester United in particular. On Victoria Derbyshire's 5Live show this morning a Old Trafford season ticket holder called in to say how the club would not allow him to renew his season unless he purchased tickets to all their cup games which are not part of the season ticket package. The fan was forced to buy a ticket for United's recent Carling Cup defeat against Coventry where the Sir Taggart fielded what was essentially a C-team squad.

However, If CSKA Fulham can afford to give Terry - their prized asset - £130,000 a week to play football and the team continue to win football matches and trophies then I very much doubt the average shed end regular will be worry too much about being alienated. Even the Man Utd fan in the example above said that watching Cristiano Ronaldo week in, week out is worth every penny.

100k+ a week to kick a ball around may be 'obscene' in the eyes of some but how much more obscene is it to give Orlando Bloom however many millions of dollars to run around pretending to be a pirate or Jonathan Ross £18million to present a chat show?

Where Sutcliffe should be looking is in the lower leagues. As of April 2006, the average player in league 2 was earning around £50,000 per annum. That's 50 thousand pounds to play at the forth tier of the professional game! I know it's all relative but anyone unfortunate enough to have ever seen the likes of Notts County and Bury go head to head will wonder where all the money is going. High-earning players in the lower leagues are the cause of high-prices at this level (It costs as much as £20 for the best seat at Barnet...).

At premiership level, at least you know you pay for quality and most fans will not argue with that. The top-end premiership sides, know that their fan base extends far beyond those that fill the ground each week. For the Tottenhams, the Arsenals, the Liverpools and the Uniteds, if one fan decides the will not renew their season ticket, there are ten more fans ready to take his place. The obscene wages earned by John Terry are not necessarily the cause of high ticket prices but rather a result of them. Compare this to the lower leagues where it seems to be the opposite.


Drugs in sport - Again!

The unsavoury topic of drugs in sports is a talking point once again after Martina Hingis sensationally retired from tennis after revealing firstly, she tested positive for cocaine this year at Wimbledon, and secondly, despite maintaining her innocence, is not prepared to take on the doping committee following the test results.

The cynic would say that she is covering her own back if indeed she is guilty.


However, this is no ordinary drugs in sport case. Even if Hingis did take cocaine, the only charge she should have to face is that from a legal perspective. While taking cocaine is morally reprehensible, it must be acknowledged that it is NOT a performance-enhancer. Athletes and sports stars who take drugs such as Cocaine or Cannabis in their spare time are not doing so to gain any advantage in their field and should not be tarnished with the same brush as the likes of Ben Johnson or more recently, Marion Jones.

Every sports star found to have taken drugs is immediately labelled a drug cheat. Yes, there is the moral aspect and the whole 'role-model ideology'(another rant for another day). There needs to be more of a distinction between those who abuse drugs to gain an advantage over the competition and those who do so in their own time.

If Hingis did take cocaine, then yes, she should be reprimanded. However, why should she face the same sanctions as someone on steroids and the like? What difference between the recreational drug user and the footballer who likes a drink? It's a shame that Hingis would rather retire than attempt to clear her name for she knows that in the eyes of many, failure to do so would see her forever branded a cheat.