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| This week's 'One for the Ladies'. |
Other than the result it was a good evening all round with the performance of Thomas Dodds being the clear highlight. Making his competitive debut for GFC a neutral would have been forgiven for thinking he was our most experienced player. OK, a visually impaired neutral but bearing in mind his position on the pitch it was a seriously impressive performance.
Thamesmead's ground is a fairly typical municipal facility but tidy, functional and more up to date than most. Importantly, no running track around the pitch so everyone's close to the 'action'.
The moment of the match was Simon Geall putting in a peach of a ball for our goal. He enjoyed the moment so much that he revealed a face that only Mrs Geall had previously witnessed (just the once on the beach at Port Soif a few years ago).After the game someone mentioned that Tony Vance had been quoted in the media along the lines of taking a reduced squad to away games due to cost reasons. If that's the case the club needs to sort its priorities out, fewer blazers and more tracksuits on the plane in other words.
A draw against Greenwich Borough was, on balance, not a bad result. Big strong team, the sort we have always struggled against, against our notoriously porous defence. There are signs that work is in progress to address that notoriety though so the lack of a win so far this season is not, yet, a reason for concern.
Tomorrow we head to South Park, always a good day out with a nice clubhouse, decent tea/burger bar, friendly natives and 'bants' with the keeper.
If you're going by road allow plenty of time each way as huge tailbacks are predicted on the M25 tomorrow. If you're going by public transport I suggest you don't get a train to Reigate as you'll then need a taxi. Take it from me, the taxi drivers of Reigate are next to useless, if they knew their way around town it would help.
Instead get off at Redhill take a 435 bus to the Prior Road stop along Park Lane East. Walk in the direction of travel of the bus, turn left into Sandcross Lane then right into Whitehall Lane. Should take you just over 5 minutes walk after a 13 minute bus ride. Coming back do the same in reverse but you'll be catching a 430 bus. Google Metrobus Redhill for precise times but the buses tend to leave Redhill 5-10 mins after the train arrives and so on.
An alternative walking route is to turn left into Eastnor Road and toddle down to the Barley Mow, a watering hole would you believe. After an hour or so there cross the road and walk down North Road. At the end turn left and Whitehall Lane is a hop and a step on the right.
Like you may have have been I was shocked to learn of the Dear Chairman's resignation. Shocked as I wasn't expecting it until Wednesday.
The power struggle could be interesting unless the club achieves its vision of being democratic. One or two of the existing directors would make excellent DCs but if the club appoints a replacement director in respect of the original DC I hope they go for someone 'left of field' who can provide a different perspective whilst having sound ideas of their own and being separate from the day to day commercial/playing side of the club.
As for the original DC, I join in the several others that have thanked him for his undoubtedly hard work in getting GFC up, running and where it is today. I can't help thinking that if it wasn't for the time spent on GFC other things may have turned out slightly differently.
Keep it Green
Allez les Verts!!
