Welcome to another promising review of the weekend's football from EBOG FC.

This weekend, all the home pitches were judged playable at 9am but at 11am the heavens opened in Barnet and an hour’s heavy rain after a wet week meant that there was lying water on all 3 pitches. With the prospect of more showers, even if it stopped, the games at Alan Drive were called off but sod’s law dictated that it was dry until dusk! In the long term I think we will reflect in this as a good decision because it is easy to dig up the grass roots on days like this leaving lots of bare bobbly patches for the spring. At the moment we still have an excellent grass cover.

Finchleians only had one pitch considered fit but might wish they’d called it off when they let the rampant EBOG tigers into their backyard and got severely mauled. Their own title hopes were all but crushed whilst EBOG are now looking a good bet for promotion. They certainly need to win their remaining match against Norsemen who look like the main current threat for 2nd place. We also need Carshalton to slip up in their 5 remaining games if we are going to pinch the title. Gary Haycock came in as a stopgap goalie on 8th February and is now widely regarded as a priceless asset. Since then they have won 4 out of 4, disposed of 3 close rivals, with 3 shut outs and 21 goals scored.

The 2nds on the other hand seem to have lost the knack of winning. Once again they were well in the game but poor luck seemed to be the main factor. Looking at just 3 goals since Christmas maybe the problem is that they have lost the knack of scoring. When they have to rely on the fire power of James Bacon you know they’re in trouble! Apparently he was too tired to perform the famous ‘bacon roll’ in his celebration!

3bog created something of a record this week being the first team to take any points off Nottsborough. At the moment at which they were kicking off for the second game in their double-header on Saturday, Nottsborough had won all 10 of their League games this season and every Cup game putting them in the AFA Final and the SAL Cup Final (against us!). However, some tactical adjustments by Lee for the second game led to a comfortable looking win with another goal from in form George Mabey. The SAL Final (date yet to be decided) is a mouth watering prospect.

The Battle of Barnet was switched to Bethune and another enjoyable and close encounter was just pinched by the 8ths. The 7ths dominated the second half but just couldn’t get back on terms. One highlight was Nick Boyce, back for his first game since Christmas, who belly-flopped into a puddle near the touchline and soaked a passing dog-walker. Memories of the old days! Thank goodness the showers were back in action.

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