Our usual Court Reporter has been called away for domestic duties and reprogramming - hopefully the Adult Education Diplomatic Writing course will prove beneficial. Meanwhile our first time scorer, Miles volunteered to put pen to paper...
The match saw the Gondoliers start with all their usual enthusiasm and despite several injuries being carried by a number of the team (and no reserves to be called on) there was a general confidence in the air.
Nick and Mark hobbled around with a mixture of Achilles and groin injuries.
Oxted started well and moved the ball rapidly around the pitch and it was not long before the Gondoliers defence found themselves battling to push the opposition out of their third of the pitch. This, unfortunately, was to become a bit of a theme for the match as the defence, supported by the midfield, stoically thwarted one Oxted sortie after another into the Guildford “D”. Almost inevitably it was not too long before the first goal was conceded by the Gondoliers, and this was followed by another and then by a third which would probably be one of the best goal’s we have seen scored this season.
The Gondoliers seem to struggle in the midfield, often just clearing the ball out of their half before it was trapped by the opposition for another attack on their goal; this was probably reflective of the injuries being carried by the Gondoliers. However there were occasions when the Gondoliers were able to drive the ball into the oppositions “D” with a few great balls being whipped close to the goal which the forwards weren’t quite able to convert into a goals.
As the second half progressed the Gondoliers continued to play valiantly before finally managing to scrap the ball into the opposition’s goal to prevent Oxted keeping a clean sheet. The game finished with a score of Oxted 6, Gondoliers 1.
With the final whistle the Gondoliers left the field feeling that there had been some good moments of play but in the main they had been outplayed. The team retired to the local British Legion and the hospitality of Oxted where Mike (feeling that we had all missed Jason’s insights into Tom’s extra-curricular activities) proceeded to quiz Tom on the state of his boxer shorts. Tom eventually bowed to the pressure of the questioning and admitted that his wife rarely saw him undress. With this closing thought, this match reporter was left wondering whether we should look forward to Jason’s return?
Miles | 
