Thursday 26 July 2012

Olympic football

I missed last night's Brakes game against Coventry City as I went to the City of Coventry Stadium to see Japan play Canada and Sweden play South Africa in the women's football. There was a real sense of occasion and perhaps much of the negativty surrounding the Olympics has at last been overcome, although the stadium was far from full with an attendance of 15,210.

The pitch announcer appeared to be the guy from the ice hockey and some of the tactics that work in a rink ('can I hear you Block 3'?) did not work in a far from full stadium where many people had a poor command of English. Goal announcements were very delayed and used the 'Goal scored Player No.8' formula.

We were surrounded by Japanese fans chanting 'Nippon'. Some women were in traditional dress, while one man had his face painted white and was wearing what looked like a clown outfit. Clearly there was a cultural meaning here that was lost on me.

When the Japanese team ran on to the pitch they were so diminutive that at first I thought they were mascots. The Canadians were so massive that they could have played for Sheffield Wednesday, but the authoritative Finnish referee made it clear that she would stand for no nonsense in the sauna like conditions.

The Japanese were compared into the programme to Barcelona. Whilst this was something of an exaggeration, they passed and kept possession very well and were also good at finding one of their players with long balls. Not surprisingly, they were 2-0 up at half time, although one of these goals involved a mix up in the Canadian defence. The Canadians stepped up a gear and got a goal back in the second half but Japan were deserved 2-1 winners.

The City of Coventry stadium excelled itself in the break between the two matches. When I arrived I was told there was no water, only coca cola (this week's Private Eye covers shows two armed policemen saying 'Put that can of pepsi down and you won't be harmed'). The nearest outlet had no pies and the next one had no vegetarian option for my wife.

We were surrounded by Swedish flags and blondes for the next game. It was soon evident that the Swedes combined athleticism and skill and the South Africans were no match for them. They were 3-0 down in 20 minutes, the last goal coming after a defensive mix up. The South Africans pulled one back with an outrageous chip over the goalkeeper who was off her line, but the final score was 4-1. As the Swedish lady next to me commented, though she was pleased to see her team win, the first game had been more interesting as it was less one sided.

Men's football, Belarus versus New Zealand, tonight.

Sunday 15 July 2012

Brakes Get Good Workout

Leamington got a good work out against Conference side Mansfield Town at the New Windmill Ground yesterday as they went down 0-1 through a second half penalty.

Brakes started brightly with one wag commenting that he had seen more football in the first ten minutes than he had in the whole of last season. Alex Taylor posed a number of questions to Mansfield early on through penetrating runs down the right. Long range shots from Adkins and Taylor tested Stags keeper Shane Redmond. Jamie Hood nodded the ball in the net, but was judged to be offside. The Brakes back line held their discipline and the linesman was raising his flag as often as the guard on a preserved railway.

Stags introduced a completely different eleven in the second half and they posed more of a threat after a somewhat disjointed first half performance from the visitors. Brakes lost their shape after they made some substitutions, some of them players unknown to me and those around me. As Brakes tired, the inevitable happened and Liam Daly conceded a penalty with Matt Green sending Vaughan the wrong way.

If it hadn't been a number of fine saves by the on form Vaughan, Mansfield could have gone away with a bigger scoreline. However, it was an encouraging start to the season.