Jovial Monk's boss Shaun Smith and myself had plenty in common this weekend. Some of the problems faced by a Sunday league Coach/Manager and girl's Saturday league team are remarkably similar. It's not the football that causes the sleepless nights, early mornings, and last minute changes of plan. It's the players. Whether it's injury, oversleeping or just plain throwing toys out of the pram, it's always the coach that is left to sort out the mess.
I had a private message on Twitter at 7:50 Sunday morning that plainly outlined the joys of Sunday league. No referee, so Shaun was set to take up the whistle. No regular centre-backs available, top striker out injured. These are the sort of things that many don't see. Don't forget, this is more than two and a half hours before kick-off on a Sunday morning, but the coach is already up and trying to sort out the details of the game.
The good news, as it happened, Shaun did not have to referee the game. The bad news was, that was the highlight of the day. Monk had a total of eleven players unavailable for one reason or another. One player wanted to be subbed off after 15 minutes and the only recognised defender also had to be replaced in the first half. During that time, Monk switched off at the back twice and conceded two goals, the only two chances Borough made.
HT Gorsehill Borough 2 Jovial Monk 0
The second half was an improvement with Monk starting to look a bit more like themselves. However, they couldn't find the net and, as Shaun said, they could have been playing until next Sunday and not scored.
FT Gorsehill Borough 2 Jovial Monk 0. Another thing that we had in common. My team lost 2-0 as well.
Borough jump to second in the table, two points behind AFC Stratton. Monk are now 5 points off the top, down in fifth place. Next weekend they face sixth placed Mario's FC who are level on points with Monk. This could be a pivotal game. A win puts either team back in contention at the top. A defeat would leave quite a gap to the leaders, although two of the teams above, Gorsehill and DPR, go face to face. A draw would be little use to either team.
I had a private message on Twitter at 7:50 Sunday morning that plainly outlined the joys of Sunday league. No referee, so Shaun was set to take up the whistle. No regular centre-backs available, top striker out injured. These are the sort of things that many don't see. Don't forget, this is more than two and a half hours before kick-off on a Sunday morning, but the coach is already up and trying to sort out the details of the game.
The good news, as it happened, Shaun did not have to referee the game. The bad news was, that was the highlight of the day. Monk had a total of eleven players unavailable for one reason or another. One player wanted to be subbed off after 15 minutes and the only recognised defender also had to be replaced in the first half. During that time, Monk switched off at the back twice and conceded two goals, the only two chances Borough made.
HT Gorsehill Borough 2 Jovial Monk 0
The second half was an improvement with Monk starting to look a bit more like themselves. However, they couldn't find the net and, as Shaun said, they could have been playing until next Sunday and not scored.
FT Gorsehill Borough 2 Jovial Monk 0. Another thing that we had in common. My team lost 2-0 as well.
Borough jump to second in the table, two points behind AFC Stratton. Monk are now 5 points off the top, down in fifth place. Next weekend they face sixth placed Mario's FC who are level on points with Monk. This could be a pivotal game. A win puts either team back in contention at the top. A defeat would leave quite a gap to the leaders, although two of the teams above, Gorsehill and DPR, go face to face. A draw would be little use to either team.
RSS Feed