View from the Bar – v Shaftesbury 02-03-19

The View from the Bar

I think I may have cursed myself on this page last week when I wrote (on Friday) bemoaning the terrors of following a match via the updates on Facebook. Twenty-four hours later and an unexpected bout of ill health had me on my back at 3pm Saturday, and I was reduced to trying to keep track of the mayhem in the Bashley match in just such fashion. Given my new ability for reverse-psychology soothsaying I’m today going to focus on how awful it must be to win the lottery, or at the very least, the golden goal competition…
But seriously (ish), I didn’t half pick the wrong match to miss. By all accounts it was a cracker (you don’t get many dull 4-3 victories, it has to be said), and all played out before another excellent crowd of 154 too. After the massive roar that greeted the final whistle a friend of mine who was pottering about in the garden down the bottom end of Park road texted me to say “I hope that was confirmation of a Cowes win…” The Facebook update hadn’t arrived yet, so all I could say by reply was “me too…”
I was gutted to miss it, but hey, a fantastic win in many ways, and vital given that just about every other team in the bottom half of the table have been picking up points at a frightening rate too. The way things are going, come the end of the season Sholing will win the league by about fifty points, while second to 20th will be separated only on goal difference…
Of course, the 90 minutes on the pitch wasn’t the only big event I missed last week, what with it being John’s charity head-shave in the clubhouse after. Many thanks to all of you that supported it (I massively enjoyed the video that found its way onto Facebook), and in case you hadn’t heard, he smashed his target of £250 to raise over £375 for the Make-A-Wish foundation. The fundraising will continue through to next year when he’ll be taking on the challenge of a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, so visit his Just Giving page if you haven’t done so already. I have to say though, I am just a little bit concerned in case there’s some kind of Samson-like loss of power as a result of the haircut. Or maybe a drop off in attendances as his hordes of adoring female fans go off in pursuit of something more hirsute…
Now I know I keep banging on about this, but if you can find an hour or two to help out the club here and there – either on a match day or through the week – don’t be shy in stepping forward. Top marks to the lads who recently volunteered to sort out the Perspex in the clubhouse end of the stand (if not done yet it should be soon), but there’s a plethora of other jobs that need doing too – don’t forget, everyone you see doing bits and bobs (and the countless ones you don’t see) all do it on a volunteer basis for the love of the club. So why not get involved? (We’re still looking for someone who can spare an hour every three to four weeks dropping posters round Cowes and/or Gurnard, by the way. Volunteers form an orderly queue please…)
But now to the matter in hand, and hopefully another exciting ninety minutes on the pitch. This is why we’re all here, after all, so get behind the boys, and with a bit of luck maybe we can startle my mate down Park Road again come 4.45.
Enjoy the game.
Toby.