400? 7 Short! And We Go DownApologies for the long delay in an update, however I have had more important things to do with my life over the last few weeks. Back in November we went to Bath knowing we were relegated and with Simon making the audacious claim that he needed 6 goals to score 400 just in National League for Solihull (over 9 seasons) - and he has the cheek to call me an accountant! On both accounts the weekend started well as we picked up our third, yes third, victory of the season against Birkenhead 11 - 8 with Simon scoring 4 of the goals he needed. After a heavy night on the streets of Bath we then lost to Otter but with Simon scoring his second goal of the game towards the end and celebrating his 400th goal in National League for Solihull. Well done mate, or so we thought. With our official statitician checking the numbers it appears that Simon is 7 goals short of the 400 mark for Solihull in National League using the National League website (or 9 according to your official source). Looks like Simon will have to play in division 3 next year and score the goals he needs (sorry Hollie). Either way this is an awesome feat with the highlight being 67 goals back in 2002 and I'm sure he has scored well over 500 goals if you take in to account his goals for Coventry and Birmingham in prior years. Interestingly (!) the stats show that low goal Pete used to be not only Solihull's top scorer but indeed the league's top scorer!
The final stats for the National League 2008 season are now available: you will see that Simon has topped both the Midland League and National League scoring for Solihull with Ed (or Trigger!) following up last season's good return with a second place finish. On the major front Pete has reclaimed his title after giving it up last season making him the Major King for three years in the last four but given the amount of time Pete plays around the back then this is a little harsh and more than expected given the role he plays.
I will end with a thanks to every single person involved in the club, and particularly the mens team for me, for all the dedication they have shown this year in turning up to games when called upon at the last minute, remaining positive and happy and having fun (oh and the occassional night out...) despite everything that has been thrown at us. Also a thanks must go to Simon for the amount of effort he has put in in re-arranging all of the mens' fixtures whilst also having an increase in his goal scoring - thanks mate. See you all at the Polo Dinner on 23rd Dec and then the Sports Day on 29th Dec. Merry Christmas.
Down, Down, Deeper and DownThank you. Thank you Solihull Council. Thank you for the lack of a training pool and thank you for being a part of our relegation from National League Division 2. Yep, that's right after two seasons of challenging for a 1st Division place we now find ourselves relegated to Division 3 (which a a league is a bit like the Midland league featuring Warley, Bham and Derby) following defeats to Sheffield, Tyldesley and Invicta in Lancaster. Despite the results we played some decent polo and Bob, deputising in goal for the Invicta match following an eye injury to Marc, turned the clock back with some wonder saves. Other highlights of the weekend saw us meet Jesus and Pete breaking his scoring duck with 4 goals all in one game! The latest stats are available for the National League. Soon I will have a video of Solihull's Lancaster experiment featuring things you can buy in your local newsagent.
As a reminder please make sure that you get you money and entry in to Mike Beard for the Polo Dinner 2008 asap. If I see you soon it won't be soon enough. Chris
Rach's Hen Night Part ILadies and gentlemen I am pleased to bring you this video exclusive of the Sugarlumps and The Shite Girls in a recording studio in Liverpool. At least there is one thing to smile about this season!!
I have the latest National League Results and National League Stats. See most of you next weekend in Charlie Chester.
Lazarus?A better second weekend of National League saw Solihull get two wins out of three matches (11 - 8 vs Birkenhead and 7 - 3 vs Sheffield) which has still left us bottom of the league table but only 2 points off second place in a very tight table. The weekend was rememberable for a number of reasons and not just for the polo - Ambulance anyone? As ever the latest National League Results and National League Stats are now available.
Elsewhere both the A team and B team's Midland League seasons came to an end with both disappointingly finishing second from bottom in the 1st and 2nd divisions respectively after a tough old season without a pool or place to train. Both teams are subject to a challenge for the right to remain in their division - as soon as I get the details I'll let you know. The end of season Midland stats are now available and Simon has dominated both the goal scoring and majors - a superb good 42 goals and 15 majors in 11 games - well done mate. It is also worth noting the dedication of the club to put out a team for each game, and also the commitment of the juniors, B team and everyone else turning up to games when called upon at the last minute, meaning we fielded a total of 23 different players over the 14 games for the A team; the club should be very proud. A special note should be made for Steve who was fourth top major king despite only playing 3 games!! See you at the weekend for National League.
Stat-tasticApologies for the lack of entries and match summaries over the summer but I've been busy with a thing or two... I have now added / updated the following to the website:
This week sees the last Midland League match of the season (away at Gratham on Thursday night) and a weekend of National League in Sheffield where we welcome back Pete, Ed and Phil J. See you then.Just a QuickieJust a quick entry to provide the latest results from the Midland League. The A team beat Nottingham quite comfortably 14 - 8 with Simon G once again deputising in goal (Simon P scored 4, Powelly 3 and Stu on his return 3) and then a week later we went down to South Derby by one goal despite being in control of the game. It should be noted that against Derby we again did not have a keeper but Justin actually did a good job, flying elbows 'n all, and was everyone's man-of-the-match ;-). The stats are up to date and it's nice to see Fulford Snr getting off the mark but Simon is surging ahead in goal stakes (come on Powelly!). I have also added the Midland and National fixtures for 2008 to the site.
Back In The GameAfter what seems like an eternity Solihull has been able to play some 'home' games (albeit at Stetchford) and so the Midland League season has now started properly. Back at the end of May we had an away trip at Hucknall and despite a poor last quarter (losing it 5 - 1) we played farily well given the lack of any training and lost 11 - 6. A few days later we picked up our first win in dramatic style coming back from 11 - 8 down to win 12 - 11 thanks to a Phil and Phil goal fest (Powelly was my man of the match) and a Simon G penalty save after Matt had been wrapped. A week later we then lost to Hucknall for a second time (18 - 7) with Simon G doing a great job in goal (most of the goals, 7 of them, were conceded in one 'special' Justin quarter in goal); Jenko was my man-of-the-match for his continual efforts and work rate in the pit. We then beat 9 - 6 Walsall away in what some people called 'the relegation battle'. Finally, just last Thursday we lost 12 - 5 to Parogon playing off just 7 players (man-of-the-match was Justin) until Simon P arrived at the end of the 3rd quarter after a nightmare of a journey... Simon got the train to Stoke and then got a taxi to the pool, however it was the wrong pool. He then picked up another taxi which broke down and then to cap it all was locked out of Parogon's pool!! That's dedication for you.
The stats have been updated which seem to contain more majors than goals! I'll end with a thanks to Simon P for all efforts in re-arranging games due to Solihull Council continuing to let us down re a pool (finalised fixtures will be on the website in the next few days) and also a reminder of our up coming games; Tuesday 1st July home to Nottingham and Tuesday 8th July home to South Derby.
Ketter-outAnother entry and another cup over. This time it was the handicap cup and an away tie at Kettering. Needing to win by 7 goals we lost by 4 (17 - 13) and 10 with the handicaps (27 - 17). Starting with only 8 players and no goalie to talk of (sorry JP and Steve but I heard you were crap) Solihull started ok but things went from bad to worse; Phil doing a Hollow Man during the second half and Simon getting wrapped for, in his words, "a free willy whale dive" (it feels like I type the same thing every month...). Goal scorers were Simon 8, Phil P 2, Phil J 1, Steve 1, Nick P 1. I'm not sure when the next game is so stay tuned. That's all folks.
It's Been A WhileIt's been over a month since the last update and in that time we have lost the Warwickshire Cup for the first time in 8 years, lost in the semis of the Midland Championships and lost our first game of the Midland League season; Solihull Council have a lot to answer to (and a real lack of players!)... After three wins in the Warwickshire Cup March saw two defeats and one draw. Against Boldmere we went down 13 - 11 despite a penalty and man-up to draw the game (goal scorers: Simon 6, Chris 2, Phil J 1, Phil P 2), a low scoring loss to Warwick 6 - 5 (goal scorers: Simon 3, Dan 2) and a 9 - 9 draw against Handsworth after 2 goals by Simon in the last min (goal scorers: Simon 2, Chris 1, Phil P 1, Stuart Baxter 3). Cup over.
In the Midland Championships semis it was 5 - 5 with Hucknall but our opposition took charge with 2 mins left and won 8 - 5. The 3rd / 4th place playoff was a bit of a random game with Simon being wrapped putting us down to 8 players and the opposition (Nottingham) also losing a player to be down to 6. Shortly after Jim got injured and so we were down to 7, however with the constant man-up we powered to a victory. Cup over.
The handicap cup saw us start 18 goals down to Aston and much to our surprise we pulled of a massive 24 - 3 win. Phil J returning from a self imposed absence scored 10, Justin 3, Simon 2, Chris 4, Phil P 2, Pete 1, Simon G 2. The next game in the handicap cup is an exiting trip to Kettering on Thursday 17th April. Cup on.
Finally, just this week we started the Midland League with our traditional away game at Nottingham to jump around in the worst pool in the country with Nick F playing doing a stirling job in defence blocking as much as was possible. Some very dodgy reffing (and ff-ing from some of our players) allowed Nottingham to get a 13 - 5 win and equal their points score from last year. Goal scorers: Simon 3, Chris 1, Matt Y 1. The stats have been created as usual.
Due to the lack of nets at Tudor Grange I have not updated the fixtures yet since they are subject to change; once we have them all firmed up expect them on the web. Chorls.
Busy Week AheadLast weekend saw Solihull qualify for the semi-finals of the Midland Championship, but only just! After beating Boldmere and Walsall and losing out to Warley a draw was all that was needed against Parogon. However at 5 - 0 down just in to the second half things didn't look good and with some determined defending and attacking play we crept back in to the game with File scoring the equaliser with 1 minute left. The semi-finals (and final) are next Saturday (8th March) at 14:45 at Walsall - we play Hucknall; Warley and Nottingham make up the other semi.
In a busy week we also have Warwickshire Cup games against Boldmere on Wednesday and Warwick on Thursday - please check out the message board for details and confirm your availability (the team for Walsall will appear at the start of next week - please confirm if you can play for this as well). Catch you soon.
Warwickshire La La LaSolihull started our bid for an eighth straight Warwickshire Cup title with a 13 - 5 victory over Warwick Uni. After an impressive 6 - 0 first quarter start with Phil J, Triple, Simon and Chorley on the scoresheet we then got a bit too trigger happy as we limped to victory. Goal scorers: Simon 3, Phil J 3, Nick F 1, Chris 2, Phil P 2, Matt Y 1, Dan King 1 (Phil J goal-to-shot ratio: 31%). This was followed by a win against Camp Hill (in a home game played away - blame Solihull Council...) in which we played a little better. The game saw Peanut claim a hat-trick and a Phil J wonder dummy (or was it Matt Vincent-esque juggling?) in a 11 - 7 win. Goal scorers: Pete 3, Simon 1, Phil J 4, Phil P 2, Matt Y 1 (Phil J goal-to-shot ratio: 60%). Finally we played Coventry last night and beat them 20 - 6 despite some very interesting refereeing; goal scorers: Simon 7, Phip J 4, Chris T 1, Phil P 5, Nick F 1, Justin 2 (Phil J goal-to-shot ratio: 55%).
Elsewhere a campaign has been launched in the local papers about our lack of polo nets (good work Dave, Mike, et al). Here is the photo showing how sad we all are... Given the home match situation (i.e. the lack of them) the fixtures are changing fairly often and so I will update these on the web when they become more stable - in the mean time keep an eye on the message board for upcoming games.
Tudor CrapThe baths that were prematurely named "the pool to extend the polo career of many an ageing player" opened today and it was with great anticipation and trepidation that I turned up at training only 2 hours ago. First impressions were that the building was nice, changing rooms were nice, showers looked good but then it went downhill faster than Alberta Tomba in the Winter Olympics. I jumped in the deep end only for my feet to hit the floor with my hair bone dry - I looked back to see Triple jump in, his feet hit the floor and his hair also staying dry. Hmmmmm, I'm sure he's 6 inches shorter than me. The shallow end was shallower than Homer Simpson and so the goals will need to be 3m tall; the floor was slippier than Del Boy. We then started swimming and the lanes were narrower than they should be and so butterfly turned in to single-arm. Finally to rub salt in the wounds, Triple then tells me that the cafe/bar does not even sell beer. £3 million absolutely wasted. I am close to stopping my fees. Walsall anyone?
Goodbye vi95!!!Happy New Year. It is with great sadness that I begin this entry, the trusty www.vi95.dial.pipex.com is soon to be no more. Luckily though it is not the end of this website but just a change in URL - the new URL is as equally as catchy as the old one: http://www.rachris.plus.com - please click this link to set this as your homepage. I will keep the two websites running in parallel for about 1 month but please start using the new URL now. Please send it on to family / friends / anyone else...
When we move to the new site properly I will put on the various photos from Sports Day 2006, New Year 2006 (yes that is 2006), Belgium 2007 and also the photos from a great Sports Day 2007 which saw joint champions of Simon & Steve Cooke and Pete & myself. I'll also hopefully dig out some of the old videos from Simon's stag do and get these posted for our amusement. I do have some photos for you now - these are from the Men vs U21s match at the end of last year.
As an almost stop press entry for this update, I found out yesterday morning that Simon and Hollie had another addition to the family in the early hours - Alfie, weighing in at 8lb 7oz - I'm sure you will all join me in passing on our congratulations to the Pemberton family.
Finally, from our new Midland match secreatary, Mr Simon Pemberton, we have the cup fixtures for 2008 - please take note of these. That's all for now and start using the new URL.
Please note that previous entries can be accessed via the navigation (Home → Old Blog).
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