Looking forward 5 weeks...

In little over a month, my club can realise their long-held ambition of lifting a coveted cup. The week commencing 15th March is the earliest opportunity that my beloved Liverpool can lift the English Premier League trophy - nearly a month earlier than any other club has ever managed. It has been a season of superlatives for the men in red. A squad tinkered with, new practices put in place and marginal gains made on & off the field to take a step to something few would have imagined.

Liverpool's performance in 2019/20 has been record-breaking on so many levels, a culmination of 4 years development under Klopp, on a budget of £30m net per season. Swap L4 for CM6 and there are few comparisons but also some similarities over and above the first paragraph in this entry... with an enhanced post-match hospitality budget of £30. The players of White Roding 45s have already hit heights that a pre-season of squabbling gave no clue to... having won 3 times as many matches as last year and attracting admirers from copious corners. The Essex Vets 45s League Cup Final also takes place that week, on the 18th March at Aveley Football Club... where, after a semi-final with numerous twists and turns resulted in a victory against May & Baker on Saturday, White Roding Vets have a date with destiny... the first cup final in their history.

The day started with Sausage Sandwiches and a team talk at the club house in the morning. The boys already give up a huge amount of their time with yoga, training, matches and now early arrivals that needed to organised around childcare, medical appointments and better half's birthdays. And even when we arrived at the ground, all was not as it seems as a result of such ham-fisted scretarial work last seen by Maggie Gyllenhaal & James Spader resulted in a clash of kits, facilitating an emergency dash for a change strip for the home team. 25 mins late the game got underway, but Roding did not cover themselves in glory with nervous passing and poor control in bright sunshine. The high point being the peerless Paul Evitt's 35 thunderbolt against the post. The Gaffer made changes within 25 mins bring on Holly whose impact from the bench did not end up with his name on the score sheet but that of Sonic's after Splinters missed an easy header. The second half continued in similar fashion but fitness and injury resulted in further substitutions, which broke up what little flow there was to the game. With under 15mins on the clock, May & Baker squeezed a shot in against the unsighted (Clean) Sheets. Nervousness spread and on 90 mins the home team broke the offside trap and beat Steptoe for pace to win the tie... or so they thought.

13 mins of added time for injury, discipline and substitutions meant a last gasp assault and Splinters' goal-bound header beat the keeper this time but an outstretched defender's arm tipped the ball over the bar. Penalty! Up steps Lucy who seals the draw with the last kick of 90. Into extra time and the deadlock could not be broken so to penalties we went. Lofty slotted home his and the opposition then blasted high and wide. Lux scores again and Sheets acts like a cat to make it 2-0. Ev' powered home and then Sheets made amends for an uncharacteristic nervy moment or 2 earlier on with a another fine save to make it 3-0.

A sterling effort by everyone involved today in every capacity.