Our next match this coming Sunday is Away to Division One leaders Enfield Crusaders at Enfield Playing Fields.

We will be fielding a depleted team again as goalkeeper Simon Jackson will be serving his one-match suspension for his sending-off against Middlesbrough Supporters, while Terry Moore will still be out with his rib injury and Alan Barnard is away for Gavin Mardell's Stag Weekend.
We will therefore have to hope Younes Jouied & Krishan Singh can play this week after they both missed the Asco game, but we badly need some defenders from somewhere. Ali 'TJ' Sowe, Martin Loveday, Martin Cruickshank, Ivan Bass, Tony King and even Martin Worthington are all registered and all can play in defence, but whether we can get hold of any of them is another matter. If we can't, then it's even more forwards and midfielders having to play at the back I'm afraid...and a possible bare eleven or less.
Garry Cover will definitely be in goal again as apparently Loveday is not interested/doing other things and Tim Beeden is also away at Gavin's Stag Do.

Although Enfield Crusaders have only lost once in their last 10 League & Cup matches, every game we play seems to be close no matter who our opponents are, so we might just spring a surprise against one of these top teams sooner or later. There is therefore no reason to cry off from this match thinking we are going to get thrashed !

As for training at the SHC this Wednesday night, we are now going to scrap the 8.30.p.m. warm-up idea as most of our players are seemingly too lazy and can't be arsed !
We will therefore get there at about 8.50.p.m. ready to start on the pitch at 9.00.p.m. We had a good turnout last week, and with Man United v. Real Madrid on Tuesday night instead of Wednesday, hopefully that will mean players will attend this week as well.

Daniel Cascoe is now also unavailable for this Sunday as he is going to Liverpool to watch Spurs. Thankfully though, TJ, Younes and Krishan were all at training last night and have made themselves available. We still only have a squad of 13 though as follows:
Garry Cover (GK)
Danny Hagan
Lexton Harrison
George Stahlmann
Ali 'TJ' Sowe
Younes Jouied
Ben Keating
Riaz Daniels
Krishan Singh
Rafiel Johnson
Jack Bangs
Daniel Daley
John Scouller

Obviously in the unlikely event that any of our other registered players do not have (Mothers Day) family commitments this Sunday, we would be grateful if they could come along and go sub so that we have a squad of 14.
As far as I know, both Terry Moore (injured) and Jacko (suspended) will be there on Sunday to help Trevor out, and I'm sure one of them will run the line if necessary.

We had another good training session last night with 16 there including Trevor & Jacko. Unfortunately though, Jacko injured his back again so we only did a couple of minutes of shooting practice before playing two-touch 7-a-side with no keepers for the rest of the session...in which myself and John were the 'star players' of course !

Don't forget we are changing at the Donkey Lane end on Sunday. That's the new changing rooms in the Queen Elizabeth Stadium where Enfield Town play, not the Central Pavilion in the middle of the Playing Fields. We need everybody there at 9.45.a.m....not 10.25.a.m. !

Regarding getting to the venue, I would guess that George is the only one who might be a bit stuck ? He can get either the 9:08 from Seven Sisters which arrives at Southbury at 9:16 or the 9:38 which arrives at Southbury at 9:46.
To be on the safe side, I would suggest he gets the 9:08 in case the 9:38 gets cancelled. It is about a 15-minute walk from Southbury Station to the Donkey Lane end changing rooms.
Alternatively, if he gets off at Edmonton Green, I can pick him up from there at 9.15.

Seriously !!!!!

It's Mothers Day and I have two young kids, if I'm suspended are you sure I'm going to be there..... If it was a normal day, yes, without doubt, but fuck me, what a chance to earn the brownie points!!!!!

Woke up fine this morning with the back, so hopefully it was just a little trapped nerve or something like that....

Fair comment. Presumably you didn't realise it was Mothers' Day when a few days ago you asked me if you would be allowed (by the League/the FA) to be 'Assistant Manager'/Lino/bollock the Ref from the touchline when you are suspended then !?

Think I asked that before we knew the date.....

Anyway....dunna worry Lol, we'll be fine.......

i don't think i can play something has come up , i will let you know for definite later

In addition to Jack, we now have Krishan who is very doubtful for tomorrow because his relatives have arranged a surprise party for him tonight which he has only just found out about. I presume that will also mean that Younes won't be playing if Krishan isn't ?...although if Younes gets the same train that I have told George to get (which arrives at Southbury at 9:16...or Edmonton Green at 9:12), then hopefully he will still play. That train departs from Hackney Downs at 9:02.

If Jack, Krishan & Younes all drop out, we will definitely only have 10 men (including John Scouller)...unless I play...or somebody phones Frazer John, Frankie Karemo and/or Martin Cruickshank and gets one of them to play, but we can't do that until the morning when we know if Jack, Krishan and Younes are playing...and by then, Frazer, Frankie & Martin will either be asleep or will have already arranged to do something else.

Also, I have no idea what Terry Moore is doing. I think he said before last week's match that he would try and play through the pain barrier if we only had 10 men ?
Loveday and Ivan Bass are other registered players who could play, but I suspect they would need to know tonight ?

might have 9 if i keep getting mugged off

...and now we are down to 9 as George has dropped out.

If more drop out and we end up conceding (non-fulfilling) the match, then Jacko's one-match suspension will be next Sunday for our Cup Quarter-Final against Enfield Rangers instead of today. The same applies if we start today's match then players like myself have to go off injured, forcing an abandonment because we do not have enough players on the pitch.

Really sorry I had to drop out today lads. I was aware that I might of had to drop out late last night but I tried to hold on as long as I could in a slight hope I could play but unfortunately I couldn't due to a serious family related issue. Unlucky with the result by the way.

To all those that turned up today well done the defensive strategy worked well. From what I saw the two touch passing was the best this season considering Terry being injured and Lol playing out of position. Everyone seem to listen today and it showed in the performance. So much so oraldo got subbed. Lets make sure the performance was not in vain. We need to listen and keep up the short passing in future.

I was quite pleased with how I played at right-back today considering I am 54 years old and even too old for Vets' football ! It was good to receive compliments from my team-mates and I thank everybody for that.
However, I really didn't enjoy playing and I hope some of our players who were missing today can get out of other commitments to play next week and for the rest of the season, as I would much rather be back behind the camera. I am not including Hagan in any criticism by the way, as having spoken to his Mum this morning, I know full well the situation his family are in at the moment. In fact, I am not 'annoyed' with anybody for dropping out late last night/this morning, although I might be if this happens every week from now on.

For those who are wondering, including this morning, I have now had to play in four Rovers 11-a-side matches during the last 8 years (since we folded up the Reserve Team) and we did not get heavily beaten in any of them !
The last game I played in was three years ago in the first match of a Double-Header against a Cheshunt Corinthians side that included Billy Wingrove, Michael Deane, Andy Porter (ex-Braintree) and numerous other top Semi-Pros. I played in a free role behind a lone striker and we only lost 2-1. I didn't play in the second match (because other players had turned up by then) and we lost 8-1 ! We also lost 7-1 to Cheshunt Corinthians in a Cup match that season...in which I did not play !
The previous game I played in before that was two years earlier when I played at right-back in a Pre-Season Friendly against Old Town Athletic. They were the top team in the Harlow Sunday League Premier Division at the time, but we beat them 4-3 !
...and the other time I have had to play was back in 2005 in another Pre-Season Friendly, this time against Ventega Sports, another top side from the Harlow Sunday League. I played right midfield and we drew 1-1 !

Some of our players were suggesting after today's match that I should play against Enfield Rangers next week because of the above stats (one win, one draw and two narrow one-goal defeats), but sorry. No way !

A massive "well done" to the 10 that played - sounds like we were unlucky not to get anything from the game, which is a great effort when you look at our lineup, and their league position.

See you all Wednesday / next Sunday.
Cheers
Barney