We got a Black Hawk down!

Aylsham Blackboys 3 - 1 Norwich Hotspur
09/11/2008

I think we were very unlucky not to come away with at least a point from a hard fought match against Aylsham Blackboys last Sunday. They are clearly a good side and are deservedly top of the league. However, I think we competed really well despite losing top scorer Guz early on when one of his telescopic legs got twisted in a figure of eight and messed up his knee, in fact for the first ten minutes we were all over them like the proverbial cheap fur coat.

The pitch was more Old Macdonalds Farm than Wembley and a strong cross wind made conditions tricky - too tricky in fact for some, but more on that later!

Defensively the new look line up looked pretty solid with Coxy rolling back the years and putting in a fine performance between the sticks as an emergency fill in for Ian, the laid back gazelle that is Chris Manley and I enjoyed plodding around in the mud hoofing it as hard as we could at every opportunity and both fullbacks Tim and Kitty looked comfortable and controlled on the ball, although Kitty did have a phase slicing it out into touch rugby style, until he got his boots on the right feet and then all was well.

Cushy and Steve battled hard in central midfield against both the conditions and opposition and came away with a lot of credit. The wind in the first half made it difficult for Gazza D and he did his best work when he came inside off the wing very nearly breaking through a couple of times. Robinho Baylis also had some success on the left particularly early on, less so later.

At this point I must mention the highlight of the game, a moment of pure entertainment that transcended mere sporting achievement and can only be described as, priceless. Robinho Baylis found himself in a tight situation, surrounded by Aylsham players, a bouncing ball, the crowd looking on expectantly. A good first touch, he didn't have too many during the game, but this was a good one, moved the ball away from the opposing players into space. From there we all expected him to hit the turbo and see him gracefully glide away like Thiery Henry off on one of those maisy runs we know he can produce. However, as the engine started to rev and he slipped into gear, the wheels began to spin but he wasn't moving. The world seemed to stop for a moment, the legs were pumping but he wasn't going anywhere - what was happening? Then the problems started. In that brief split second between sending a message from his brain to his legs to start running and realising that all was not well, he forgot to tell his top half to stop. From here onwards things got bad. He was in what is technically described as a 'flat spin', he was going down and going down hard. It wouldn't have been so bad, if he had remembered to tell his arms to break his fall, but as they lay limply by his side poor Baylis slammed face and chest first into the mud with a resounding thud.

For the benefit of those not present, at this point I refer to the excellent film directed by Ridley Scott called Black Hawk Down and the crash scene as the Delta Force Apache attack helicopter goes down in Mogadishu - it was brutal!

At this point both the home and away spectators, players and even the ref burst into raucous laughter and applause, this was a special moment and we all appreciated it, however this applause and gaiety only seemed to encourage Mr Baylis to continue the show. Most people would probably have cut their losses at this stage and conceded the moment to one of life's unfortunate mishaps. Not so for our Chris, he's a pro. I suppose the fact that he actually fell on or at least very close to the ball meant that something deep inside him suggested that he might be able to recover the situation. However, he no longer had the use of his arms or legs, so using only his head and body he started to, well um, writhe I suppose towards the ball. I don't really know how to describe it to be honest but a sort of primal 1980's body popping break dance isn't far off the mark. Thank goodness that at this point, the ref realised that enough was enough and put an end to his suffering by blowing the whistle for obstruction. As I said - PRICELESS.

Anyway back to the game. Jason Priest and Jason Pilbrow worked extremely hard up front and were rightly rewarded with a goal after 15 mins. A searing laser like 40 yard pass forward from the boy Walters at the back dropped onto the rampaging Priests foot as he burst into the box, cut inside and placed a pinpoint cross onto the head of the flying Pilbrow who buried a bullet of a header into the net via the right hand post (well that's how I remember it), 1-0 to the Hotspurs - back o' the net! After that we came under a bit of pressure but were looking reasonably comfortable, Coxy pulling off a couple of great saves. However, 5 mins before half time it was 1-1 after a good finish from their right winger who managed to nip in between the Chris and Kitty.

We slugged it out in the 2nd half and were unfortunate to find ourselves 2-1 down with about 20 mins to go, when Aylsham scored with a mishit shot and then hit us on the break close to the end as we were committing players forward chasing an equaliser. Final score 3-1. Once again this game highlighted the value of having a full match day squad as injuries and old bones kicked in during the game with good contributions from Glenn, Big Kev and Paul Tink in the 2nd half.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable game, with some memories I shall have for a long time (thanks Baylis) and I can't wait until the next chapter of the Norwich Hotspur story, which will be the friendly on the 23rd Nov as previously advised.



Come on you Spurs!


Jem
Head Coach Director of Football Manager
NHFC