From highs to lows...

There have been some dazzling performances in the past 15 months... some ground-out gritty performances... some rarely-before-witnessed wins... and then there was Saturday. A result and a performance that was the norm the season before I took over. it was a shocker in all aspects.

Never have I been so disappointed, so angry, so frustrated with so many for so much. I’d debated about writing a match report, started one (titled “8 Ball Clearance” - sorry Mark King that’s been deleted) and then was interrupted by the immortal words “I’m low,” Whatever I was feeling, it bore no comparison to what my 14year old felt. He has T1 diabetes and needed a midnight JellyBaby to get him back to normality.

Diabetes is one of the reasons why I try to offer healthier hospitality after home games... for most involved in Vets’ Football it is the largely-lifestyle T2 condition that is prevalent, but T1 that is more likely to impact our little ones. They share a name, differ in causes but subtle similar changes in what and how we look after ourselves can have long-lasting impacts in the future... fresh food being one of them. Feet, Fitness and Focus being others.

Type 1 Diabetes is not a barrier to being good at sport... Nacho of Real Madrid, local lad Ben Coker and Tottenham legend Gary Mabbutt have all excelled at Soccer. Then there’s the Novo Nordisk Cycling Team... who are sponsored by the suppliers of the life-giving insulin and whose riders & support team live with the condition. Cycling has undergone a revolution (pardon the pun) in the past 3 decades, from food to formations - I will be using this as inspiration and expectation in the coming weeks. Changes have to implemented after the highs of Aveley a fortnight ago.

Positive reactions are demanded to the 8-0 drubbing, in the same way a Jelly Baby did last night to reading of “2.9”