Friday 25 March 2011

This weekend

When the fixtures came out in June, it was this weekend that held the promise of the best Charlton day-out of the season. Bournemouth on a Saturday in Spring. A match which we all hoped would see a maximum away following and three precious promotion points. All of that has been dashed by our calamitous collapse of form post the Powell hype. 

I have an Aberdonian mate arriving from Norway for the weekend and he was up for anything tomorrow. He hasn't seen us play before and, whilst he is now fully accustomed to disappointment as a Dons fan (and season ticket holder - he travels from Norway), I am not ruining his weekend by dragging him down to the South Coast. Instead, I will entertain him in London before other mates arrive ahead of Sunday's match at The Emirates.

A Scottish match against Brazil brings back fond memories for me of the World Cup opener in 1998 when "we near-ly beat Brazil" in Paris. It was a scorching hot day and I arrived with a dozen mates off the train from Bordeaux at 10am. We walked through the waking city to the sound of bagpipes, Scottish accents and Saltires slung from windows and balconies. As we crossed the Seine I saw one of the most astonishing sights I have ever seen. A fishing boat from my home town on the Moray Firth was motoring up the river with it's crew of Scots singing on the deck. It may sound daft but I didn't know you could sail to Paris and a round-trip of 2,000 miles on a small fishing boat just to be there summed it all up for me. 

Brazil have lost two friendlies in a row and the chances of that becoming a third look akin to our hopes at Dean Court. It won't matter. The sun should be shining and I will be in the company of good friends. There will be plenty of laughter as always. I am more than a little bit suspicious that there will be no water in the fountains at Trafalgar Square and suspect some of my countrymen will head to Putney for a dip instead ahead of the Boat Race.

5 comments:

  1. Dave,

    I hope you have a fantastic day out.

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  2. Thanks KHA - it's almost guaranteed!

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  3. Crowborough Addick25 March 2011 at 17:14

    Enjoy the game.

    Tomorrow will be the biggest day in the History of Crowborough RFC as they have a promotion decider from London SE3 against Heathfield RFC at home. Heathfield are 2 points ahead of CRFC with Charlton Park RFC a point behind us. With a possible 2 bonus points each (1 for 4 tries and one for not losing by more than 7 points) and only one more game this season. It is almost certainly winner takes all. Added to this Heathfield have won the last 5 encounters in closely fought local derbys.

    It should be a great weekend. I look forward to catching up with all my old teammates.

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  4. I see the match today is already being reported by the powers that be as a negative...no win in ten, but considering the recent matches and lamentable form, also that Bournemouth have been on the up and in the play off places still, it seems a 2-2 scoreline isn't bad...not good, but not a loss.

    So Dave...you know your transport for the next Scotland visit to Paris!

    I hope you're having a good day...

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  5. Hope you and your fellow jockneys enjoy the day. No idea where you will find deep fried mars bars in london though...
    ROTW

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Go on, you know you want to....