CRICKET PRACTICE FACILITY

We have two work parties for the practice facility planned on Saturday 15th and Sunday 23rd, both 10am starts - the task is to break up the existing concrete for hardcore. All help will be much appreciated. If you have got your own sledgehammer then please bring it along!

VETS CUP GAME

The Vets had an easy journey through to the next round of the Vets Cup when Oxford Hawkes scratched the game. The Vets now progress to the next round where they will face Purley Walcountians at home on November 13th.

Thank you to the following that umpired for us last weekend:

CHALFONT PARK RUNNING CLUB

The Chalfont Park Running Club came into being on Wednesday 21st September 2005 with an enthusiastically supported 5km run around the local roads and footpaths starting and finishing at Chalfont Park Sports Club.

The Club meets at Chalfont Park each Wednesday evening at 7pm for a 30-40 minute group run for all abilities.
All new members are welcome on the night or contact Dave Smith on 07717 752503 or at djrb@dsmith89.freeserve.co.uk.

ENGLAND -V- POLAND

The club and bar will be open this evening (Wednesday) for England's final World Cup qualifying game against Poland. Qualification has been secured so it's hoped that the players can improve on their recent performances without some of the pressure.

Can England beat Poland to finish top of the group? Find out at the club from 7.45pm.

PREDICTION COMPETITION

Over the last couple of weeks a new competition has been developing on the website forum. The game is simple, you have to correctly predict the results of six randomly chosen games each weekend. Results are done weekly and totals are running throughout the season (your 10 best weeks count so there's no excuse for not joining in from now). The current scores for the season are:

13 - Watsy
9 - Simon, Neil, Kitty
8 - Justin, HJ, Clare
7 - Heathy
6 - Davey, Darryl, Warren
5 - Woody, Geoff
4 - Colin, Rowie, Emma, Wardy, Gobby
3 - Fay
2 - Andy S

Rules and this weeks competition thread can be found at: http://www.chalfontsports.org.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=602&PN=1

As the sun came up we slowly set out into the country to find a distant place called Oxford. Making good time (even though some do not drive very fast) we located the pitch (or sandy beach as some might say) to find it surrounded by a building site and no apparent entrance. We searched and searched and eventually twenty five minutes before our start time found a small opening which we scurried through onto the sandy beach. Lucky for us some of our ladies had brought buckets and spades instead of hockey sticks and someone had even brought a SINDY doll.

The warm up was good and we decided that running with the ball was not a good option as it was possible to lose it under a pile of sand. The game started and both teams pushed forward testing each others skills with cries of 'hey who kicked sand in my face' being heard above the laughter of Gill and Helen who had decided to build castles with Vicki in the D.

However, bang on 16 minutes with a break down the left by Pippa and a screaming run into the D by Erika who slotted the ball (plus loads of sand) past the keeper to make it 1-0 to the away side. City then started to find their form and A&C had to do some frantic defending. Jenna Kirby was playing the game of her life and Rachel Dunning was settling in on the right like a super star.

Deep into the second half, City then equalised through a short corner. Yet our heads did not drop. Even after they scored 5 minutes from the end to take the game 2-1 our heads still did not drop. And this is why this is such a great team. They never give up and always fight to the end showing exactly what team spirit is all about.

My thanks also to Tim Wainright who travelled the distance to oversee the game.

Team: Vicki Williams, Val Cremin, Jenna Kirby. Gillian Brewer, Helen Johnston, Rachel Dunning, Louise Stockdale, Elaine Hunter, Pippa Brettle, Sally Maxted, Gabby Bugg. Erika Biggadike.

The Ladies 2s went into this weeks game against Maidenhead as the firm underdogs - Maidenhead having put 13 goals on the board for none against in their first two games this season! The first half of the match certainly bore this out with Maidenhead camped in A&Cs defensive half for the duration and A&C's defence, led strongly by Helen Marsden and Janet Carter, had to fight off wave after wave of attack. Maidenhead were rewarded after 5 minutes when a cross from a long corner found a forward lurking in front of the goal ready to knock the ball in. Undeterred, A&C carried on defending and managed to survive the rest of the half unscathed - much to the frustration of Maidenhead who by this point had already received 2 green cards for stick-tackling/barging/"gobbiness" and anything else you care to think of.

Half-time saw a reshuffle of the team due to a first-half injury and a quick chat along the lines of we're still in this (somehow), let's go out this half and show them what we're made of.' And so we did... the second half was far more evenly matched, much to the frustration of the Maidenhead centre back who managed to talk her way into a yellow card. A&C had several forays into Maidenhead's half, the most threatening being when Clare Winter beat her defender and then almost put Lorna Dunning through for a one on one with the keeper (sadly the pass didn't account for the fact that Lorna isn't an Olympic sprinter... there's still time though!). Maidenhead continued to stretch A&Cs defence in the final minutes of the half, but Helen Marsden pulled off several excellent saves to keep the damage to 1-0. A great result against a superior side, well done to all who played.

Team: Helen Marsden, Janet Carter, Fay Rider, Alice Wainwright, Lou Hagan, Alice Madden, Jo Peters, Lorna Dunning, Al Spicer, Sara Daughtrey, Emma Hewitt, Clare Winter.

On Saturday, the 5's played their first league game of the season away to Eastcote. In the long discussions prior to the game, it was being debated as to whether the game should be a league game or a friendly due to the fact that we only had seven players and an umpire (Colin) Eastcote were adamant that the game should be a whitewash because they felt we had no chance, however, we insisted that we played the match as a league game. They accepted and then reluctantly said that Colin could play for us and that their umpire would cover the whole pitch.

Once the game was underway we made a solid start and were comfortable in possession in midfield and at the back. However, Eastcote made a breakthrough after around ten minutes with a slightly fortuitous finish at the back post. A&C made a fantastic reply though, Dave playing through James Ball to score his first goal for the club, calmly slotting the ball through the goalkeeper's legs. Eastcote were held at 1-1 until five minutes from half time when the ball was tapped in after some poor marking. On the verge of half time, it was almost 2-2 with Bhavik drawing a good save from the Eastcote keeper. Walking past the opposition's captain at half time, you could hear that he was not happy!

In the second half, our fitness levels were really being tested and bodies were starting to tire. We went on to concede two more goals, one of which was debatable because of a high stick and the final score was 4-1 to Eastcote. However, it was fantastic to see the fighting spirit of our team and the performance was extremely encouraging for the matches to come!

I would like to thank Colin for playing for us under the difficult circumstances and also wish Nick Wolfe, who had a motorbike accident last week, all the best and a quick recovery!

TESCOS VOUCHERS

If you shop in Tesco or buy your petrol there, please save the green sports for schools and clubs vouchers that they offer you. We have registered the junior section of our club with Tesco and the more vouchers we collect, the more free kit we can get for our growing (100+) junior section.

Please pass on any vouchers that you have to any committee member or put in the collection box that is on the bar at the club.

The voucher count is now up to 158 and I haven't even counted the ones in the collection box.