Falcons Seen Offley

Hopperational details

Sunday 17 October 2010 in a 2.00pm kickoff at Harpenden Town FC.  Offley Moat 2 Royal Falcons 1 in the 1st round of the FA Sunday Cup.  I am here because Enfield Rangers did not need extra-time for their victory at London Maccabi Lions earlier today, allowing enough time for a short ‘hop up the A1.

This match in one sentence

Not a pretty game due to an uneven surface making control difficult, and Offley Moat needed a hotly-disputed penalty in each half. Falcons' defenders look round as the first is given and I hold up a 5.9 placard as the attacker makes the most of the challenge. To be fair, other neutrals nearer the incident said it was the correct call. 1-0 to Offley Moat The second and decisive penalty (for a disputed handball) hits the net

So what?

Offley Moat head into the next round on 21 November and a home tie against Britannia United from the Aylesbury area, who had a narrow 1-0 win over Houghton Town (Sunday).

Who caught the eye on the pitch?

Playing with or through injury was a theme of the afternoon.  Offley Moat’s ‘keeper clearly played with a leg or knee injury of some description.  Royal Falcons had used one substitute after 5 minutes and another before half-time, and one of their midfielders limped through the second half as a relative passenger.

This match had the same effect on my pulse rate as …

… a recording of dolphins working on an aquatic interpretation of the offside law and failing to agree both on the optimum moment for the raising of the flipper and at what point if any a limpet can be deemed to be “active”.

A snippet from the programme

Offley Moat FC was formed by the merger of two successful Sunday sides, Offley (Hertfordshire) and Moat (Bedfordshire), in 2009/10.  Royal Falcons was founded in 1993 to “give local boys from Beckton, Custom House, Canning Town, Plaistow and other local areas an interest to keep them off the streets”.

What Next?

The provisional plan for the first part of the week ahead is a night off on Monday, randomness (methodology tbc) on Tuesday, and Bedfont Town v Hitchin Town on Wednesday.