Well for everyone apart from England this is now off and running. The club will be open for the big games as and when they happen in the coming weeks (more details will follow soon).

Obviously this weekend the cricket will be on as well as the rugby on Saturday. However the club is also being opened specially on Sunday from 10.30am by Matt Stevenson for anyone who wants to watch the India -v- Namibia clash.

So, how's your golf these days? Time to put your money where your mouth is?

Or do you just fancy a nice, sociable day out, a bit of golf, a few beers, and a nice meal?

Or do you just want to help CPSA raise some money in one of our most important annual fund raising events?

This year we have a superb venue for the annual CPSA Golf Society Day: Mentmore Golf and Country Club, near Tring, on Friday, 2nd May, 2003. Everybody is welcome, CPSA members, friends, family etc. The cost is £35 per person for 18 holes of golf, a three course meal afterwards and lots of prizes. Anyone who wants to come along for the meal only will be most welcome. Tee off times will be staggered between 1.00pm and 3.00pm.

To reserve your place, please send a cheque, made payable to CPSA, to Matthew Stevenson, at 4, Stuarts Court, Little Marlow Road, Marlow, Bucks, SL7 1GL. Or, alternatively, email me at matthew@stevenson103.fsnet.co.uk, or call me on 01628 487516.

Mens 1st 0-4 Sutton Valence (EHA Vase)

Still smarting from the loss on Saturday A&C were strengthened by the return of two key players. They were still missing three of their regular first team players and were up against a strong Sutton Valence side. The exertion of the previous day could be seen as Budd had to leave the pitch after five minutes having exacerbated an injury picked up on Saturday. A reshuffle of the players saw the introduction of Steve Jacks in the middle. Sutton Valence are second in their league and their skill began to show through. Quick interpassing across the middle saw their midfield able to exploit a gap in the defence and Lovelace was forced to make a sharp save. Amersham and Chalfont found it difficult to get going and despite some strong work on the right by Rutherford were unable to create an opening. A sustained period of pressure from Amersham and Chalfont and some quick passing from Van Eestreen saw Cartledge able to create some space in the D. He sped past his marker but was closed down quickly before he could get a shot off. Good work by Van Duyenvenbode and Crossman meant that A&C were able to spend considerable time in Sutton's half but despite all this pressure they were unable to convert this into a goal. A quick break in the 25th minute by the Sutton sweeper found them with an extra man in the D and Back was able to beat Lovelace at the near post with a low drive into the corner. Sutton then began to press and forced A&C further back. As half time approached Sutton again exploited their superior pace and forced a short corner. Tom Moran was able to convert a loose ball from the corner and put Sutton 2-0 up as the half time whistle went.

The second half started at a high pace as A&C fought to come back into the game. A slight change in formation saw Watts move to a more traditional centre forward role and he was able, with Cartledge to put some pressure on the Sutton centre back and exploit the strong running of Rutherford on the right. Some good stick work in the D saw the ball run lose to Cartledge who was able to beat the Sutton Keeper only to see the ball stopped on the line by Sutton. Again A&C pressed and a further opportunity for Cartledge saw another goal line clearance. As A&C committed more men forward space began to appear at the back. Strong defending and outstanding tackling by Wooler and Wardman saw them able to keep Sutton at bay. When they did manage to break free Lovelace was in fine form and stopped two one on ones with the keeper. The fitness of Sutton started to tell as A&C tired. A series of quick passes saw Posnette and Morgan both score for Sutton to put an end to any realistic hopes A&C had of coming back. In a last throw of the die A&C committed to a four-man attack with Ward and Cremin coming on to replace the midfield. There was still time for Cartledge to again see a shot pulled off the line but by then it was clear it was not to be A&C's day.

Team: Lovelace, Wooler, Wardman, Heath, Van de Duyvenbode, Budd, Van Eestreen, Crossman, Rutherford, Cartledge, Watts, Ward, Cremin, Jack

Here are a few facts regarding last weeks newsletter.

Format
The newsletter is sent out in two formats, one is a plain text version and the other is an HTML version that is laid out like a web page. It depends on what software (and network) you read the email with as to what version you see. Here is a breakdown of what I measured last week:

Who read it first
I started to send out last weeks newsletter at 8:15pm, and it took about 15 minutes for my software to send the 308 copies out. Here is a list of the first 5 members that read the HTML version of the email.

Cocktails from 7pm - 10pm
This Saturday night (15th February)
Impress the one you love!

Mens Vets 8-0 Leighton Buzzard

Amersham and Chalfonts Vets had a resounding victory 8-0 over Leighton Buzzard Vets on Saturday, made all the sweeter in the knowledge that this team had beaten Cambridge Vets 3-1 the week before!! Some skulduggery here methinks. Nevertheless the Vets raced to a 3-0 lead at half-time, with goals by Sniffer Richman (from one metre) Fermor and Lambourne. The home side dominated the second half allowing Cremin, Baker and Lambourne to score and Fermor to complete his hat-trick. We must have played well because Malcolm gave everyone a positive half-time team talk, which took us all by surprise and lifted us to greater heights. Thank you to Tony Eaude for umpiring, having just played - much appreciated.

The Men's 4s had a potentially tricky match against a 3rd placed Tring this week. The previous away fixture (admittedly on an early morning start) had seen the 4s struggle to a typically Man Utd 2-1 win, i.e. the opposition equalised, then outplayed us for the whole of the second half until we scored a break away winner in the last 90 seconds to steal the game!

This home fixture saw A&C get an early lead swiftly cancelled out by a lively opposition. The scorer had apparently got three hat-tricks in the last three games and looked dangerous. However, it soon became apparent that Tring were a weakened side due to unavailability and any trouble A & C had in breaking them down was self inflicted. Once the home team realised they had superior pace and width, if they'd just use it, the 6:1 half time score line looked easy. Particularly good work from Etchegoyen and Stevenson finding space in the channels from Centre Forward and Right Wing. These two scoring 2 and 3 respectively. C Lander became positively rampant on the Left, his work rate increasing with his thirst for more goals as the match progressed. Chris must be named man of the match with a final tally of seven. A first goal for Will Garrett was well taken from a short and Iain McCurry worked the ball into the top of the D and scored with a solid long range strike in the first half.

The home scoring was completed by the captain with a lovely back heel into his own net while "defending" a short at 12:1. The consensus is "The ball was going wide!"......well how can you concentrate at 12:1!???!!! It must not go unmentioned that there were 2 solid clearances in the same position from the same player at 1:1 and 2:1 ( just for the record...focus when it counts you see?!?!?!?!), but the OG was a shocker.

The backbone of this easy victory was J Lander who continues to go from strength to strength this season as he makes the central midfield role his own. Great positional play and solid tackling are now being coupled with incisive runs and efficient stick work to give A&C offensives extra penetration.

At this stage I would like to thank all the players for their commitment, which helps keep stability in the side. The opposition commented on Saturday how obvious it was that the team played together every week. We need to keep this up. An away win against Rover Oxford 4s on Saturday will effectively close the season out. Lets get the job done.