News
If the Cowfolk are doing it, this is where it’s at…
Can Di Canio – Big Smile
Dear Cowfolk
Swindon Town FC have just confirmed the appointment of Paolo Di Canio as their new manager. Di Canio has publicly declared himself a supporter of fascism and is infamous for having given the fascist salute to the notoriously far-right fans of Lazio.
Andy Newman, the GMB’s Swindon branch secretary, told Sportsmail: “We have decided to end our sponsorship deal with Swindon Town, we will not be renewing our agreement with them. Because we are a trade union we could not be seen to have a financial relationship with a club that has fascist manager. We have no choice. It’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is.” (The Daily Mail)
I’m asking you all to take a couple of minutes to contact the sponsors of Swindon Town to persuade them to reconsider their sponsorship in light of STFC’s decision. The club and its sponsors need to be made aware that the presence of a fascist in our game is not welcome by decent fans and will have consequences for them. (more…)
Final Fatasy
In the end it went right down to the wire.
The KipTik Cup went to Zoey
| Los Zapatos | 23 | vs | 18 | Ashley Sands |
Leaving Kev, Zoey and Ash to battle out the league. At the last day of the season Ash was clear at the top, but the final meeting of the Down’s league which Ali Dale was due to attend – but had to pull out (due to not knowing about it – speak to the secretary about that one), leaving Ian to cycle 40 mins and complain severely – but crucially adding ten points to Kev’s score – even more frustrating given that Ash had Ali Dale in his team. And so the KipTik house, take all the prizes. An investigation will follow. (more…)
Awards Update
Kim says:
There have been changes to our line up for Friday…
we now have the amazing Los Mercenarios playing (live heavyweight latin, funk and dub)at 10.30pm (John E boy couldn’t make it after all…)
so here’s the running order…. remember – its a bigger venue than normal, we can fit everyone in – so tell your mates, it’s going to be a crackin’ night!!!! (more…)
Batting, Batting, Bowling, Bowling
14/05/2011
The Saturday Cricket Team beat Stratton-on-the-Foss 2nds by 5 wickets. TT reports thus:
E.C.C.C. v Stratton on the Fosse C.C.
The Easton Cowboys Saturday XI gathered at a blustery Frenchay for their encounter with Stratton on the Fosse and in so doing completed an alphabetical hat-trick of meetings with opposition sides beginning with an ‘S’.
Skipper Joe broke another emerging pattern by winning the toss and elected to bowl on a dry, worn wicket and the fielders, sharing a common border with the adjacent Frenchay match, assumed their positions amongst the randomly scattered rabbit droppings.
Both Joe and Rich produced tight, miserly opening spells as the opposition batsmen barely troubled the scorers, culminating in an attempted stolen run, excellently curtailed by a direct run out from the arm of Ben P – the original BP1?
The next wicket was a while in coming, until, like buses and bailiffs, two turned up at once and the fielders crowded the bat for Ev’s hat-trick ball. As it was, he had to wait a while longer for his third wicket, when some uneven bounce and straight bowling saw the ball roll into the base of the stumps.
The score accelerated a bit as SotF tried to push on, aided by a short boundary and lightening fast outfield but despite a few slip ups in the field the Cowboys continued to apply pressure, triggering another run out. Kahlu bowled particularly well under pressure and was unfortunate not to bag any scalps as your correspondent took the long view, scuttling from deep mid-wicket to deep mid-wicket.
Angelo, wearing the gloves, executed an inspired run out by parrying a high return throw directly onto the stumps, earning him a few if not the majority of the Cider Moment nominations and destroying the opposition’s base for a late assault.
Good return spells from Joe and Ev and half a dozen shuffling straight overs from the bottom end helped to restrict the score to a slightly below par 161-9 from the 40 overs.
Ev and his hired help provided the tea and an opportunity to play ‘what / where’s the contents of the roll’ topped off with a melon / strawberry melange, while those batting lower down the order took full advantage of the plethora of scones, jam and cream.
With DB absent injured, Angelo and Paul took the brunt of the SotF opening attack which fully exploited the variable bounce and saw the unfortunate Paul back in the hutch early. Incoming batsman Ben, from the outset more correct than a proofreader with a case of Tipp-Ex, helped Angelo to negate the opening venom until the latter was caught on the attack.
Ev played a watchful innings as the sky darkened and the score crept up and was unlucky to be stumped from the rebound off a fumbling keeper, bringing Kahlu to the crease. Earlier, a thunderstorm had been forecast for 7pm and as rainfall radars were consulted there was some mention of needing to be ahead of the run rate. Ever the man for this type of situation, despite claiming to have learned a new word, ‘patience’, Kahlu soon dispersed the opposition fielders as Ben raised the tempo too and reached his fifty.
However, when Kahlu was dismissed the Cowboys were still seventy runs off their target, reliant on Steve’s steadying presence while Ben continued with immaculate drives and pulls, riding his luck when spilt on a couple of occasions. Before long the end was in sight and for a time it looked like it might coincide with a century, but eventually Man of the Match Ben was caught for the Antipodean devil’s number, leaving the new blood (surely?) BP2 to join Steve in carrying the Cowboys over the line to the warm fuzzy glow of a five wicket victory.
This report originally appeared on Green Lung.
15/05/2011
The Sunday 1st Team beat Blagdon by 8 wickets. Dunc reports thus:
On the drive to Blagdon, a few spots and spits of rain on the windscreen were bringing out the time honoured Cricketers Weather Paranoia in me. That paranoia proved to be unfounded, but the conditions overhead were heavily clouded throughout the game, the brisk and cold wind bringing little from the west to change the outlook.
Bolts won the toss and elected to field as the wicket looked invitingly verdant though hard underfoot. The pitch also has quite a slope which is across the strip, making bowlers choose ends carefully.
The Blades openers set about the task of attempting to emulate their huge total of last week by swinging and swishing violently at any ball not aimed directly at the timbers. Some good quick bowling from Omar and Sadat fizzed past the outside edges. There were occasional connections to good effect but the batsmen never took charge of this part of their innings and wickets fell to Omar, one bowled, one caught and bowled.
The precision rapier wind in the outfield began to cut with increasing Zorro-like effect through the vast variety of Cowboy woollies, at one point blowing a rather weather-beaten sightscreen to the ground. Martin came on to warm our hearts with a display of medium paced bowling which kept the run rate low. His variations eventually paid dividend with a very full pitched floater bowling their number one blade. Interspersing at the other end, Hidayat looked to improve his season tally. More swishing, more missing, an even slower run rate and then what looked like the prized wicket of the big middle order thumper.
Belief and confidence among the Cowboys was tangible, and the introduction of “Wizard Wilki” began to tighten the metaphorical screws. Every time any batsman looked to get to grips with the bowling, a wicket fell and the youngsters of Blagdon, despite guidance via a sagely word or two from their elders didn’t trouble the scorers too greatly. A couple of great catches from Sadat prowling at deepish mid off during the innings helped with this. He and Omar returned to the attack, resulting in a regulation smartly held effort by Jeff at keeper and a cleaning up job by Sadat for the last wicket at the end of the 39th over. This fair sharing of wickets however denied Mark his chance at a fifth scalp and us of a potential double jug, as his last two deliveries had resulted in additions to the ‘W’ column
Though there was no swagger, all the Cowboys chipped in to a much improved and energetic fielding performance, Dave F and yours truly scuttling about up and down the slope towards the lower boundary. Justin and Dean applied pressure, staring out the batters at close range. Jeff had such confidence behind the sticks that he did away with use of the gloves from time to time, preferring a resolute patella or essential box as a block for some fielders returns. Oh how we chuckled.
Then it was tea, all neat and tidy, and above all out of that blasted gale. Whilst helping to clear up a bit, a task involving stuffing ones crop with a selection of left-over patisseries, your author was subjected to the sight of Omar displaying his muscled arms to the bewildered tea lady. I ask you reader, does the surrealism never end?
After the break, Justin and Bolts made a solid start to our reply, Justin producing the shot of the day square cutting the quick opener up a steep slope all along the ground for a boundary in front of the pavilion. Despite his own sound advice, Neil succumbed to another wide ball, skying into the grateful hands of mid-off for a good fourteen runs. Justin fell to a keepers catch soon after for twenty six which meant that my cakes had barely enough time to reach the initial stages of digestion before being jiggled about on the pitch.
However, with an asking rate of around three per over, the Cowboys could relax and just bat. The only real threats to an impending simple four points were panic, brilliant bowling or the deepening cloud cover. Despite the best efforts of The Blades and their youthful openers returning to the bowling attack, no panics ensued and Mark and Stocky 4 navigated calm waters under a grim assembly of assorted cumulus to steer Easton to the safe port of victory. The final runs came rather anti-climactically from a great delivery which beat Mark, the keeper and short fine leg in very quick succession, shooting to the boundary for four byes.
Another game played in jovial and fair spirit, overlooked in the classic English village style by a stout church tower. An eight wicket win in thirty one overs looks good on the website, pushes E.C.Sun 1ST XI up into the top half of Division 3, and will go a long way towards building the confidence of all the participant Cowboys .
Important News
Nige has rearranged the the Men’s football AGM for 7.30 at Hawks Gym on the 25th May. (I was not at the last one but…) It was rescheduled cause not enough cowfolk were there to make any decisions that were important.
If I understand it, this means they will be no football next year, unless we vote to scrap the management structure and run team cooperatively with everyone taking part in decisions on when to sub themselves off, and deciding on their best position etc. Except we can’t even do that, because you need enough people to turn up at a meeting to decide that… Does’nt this club have an auto-pilot mode? No? Oh well.. best pop along to a meeting, where we talk things that matter to the club and mens footie… c’mon when was the last time you abstained?
As someone who was not at the last meeting, and can’t make this one either, I have to repeat how important it is that you attend. Us people who don’t go to these meetings, make the few that do – feel like they are the only people investing in the club. So c’mon, if you one of those people that thinks the world goes on without you – if you always have something better to do – just put two hours aside for taking part… hat-tricks don’t come for free you’know.
Kim says:
Hey everyone…
Awards do creeps ever closer !!!
We need volunteers on the night – about 10 people or so to be on the door, help with food etc – just to do an hour stint on one or the other
if you can contribute can you give Rosie a call and let her know – 07773 043524
many hands make light work!
cheers – see you all there – with all your mates too
The Sweet Smell Of Something
03/05/2011
The Suburbans beat top of the table Little Stoke 4-0
07/05/2011
Netball repost thus:
We won we won we won we won!!!!!! Promotional clincher against team Bath ended in victory and promotion to Division 6!!!! Score:34-28 to us. Mandie got player from them and Miss tickle from us. WE RULE. The evening post covered the game with a photographer/reporter so if you can bare to part with your money (or nick it) we should be in that.
The Suburbans beat Lockleaze 4-1. They finish the season in 3rd place only one point below 2nd. Played 26, Won 19, Drew 3, Lost 4, For 83, Against 31, GD 52, Points 60.
The Saturday Cricket Team’s game against Stanton Drew was abandoned at tea. Maybe the sandwiches were off, or perhaps it was the rain. TT reports thus:
Following a long-awaited deluge that left gardening cricketers with a split personality, the wicket at Frys in Keynsham was a bit soggy for the Cowboys’ home match against Stanton Drew. Clearly, the only sane option was to bowl first and use the unpredictability of the wicket to get the opposition out, but for the second week running the benevolent Saturday skipper refused to deny the late-arriving opposition captain the chance to toss and when the coin landed in the mud, it was the Cowboys’ opening batsmen who padded up. (more…)
Tour Opportunity
Jack Kelly reports:
I am being asked if we are entering a team for the Kampfende Herzen Tournament in Freiburg. It’s an 11-a-side tournament on the 15th-17th July and not too far from the Mondiali in Italy. A soon as I get at least 8 people to confirm they’re coming I will tell Herzen we are in. Having gone in the past i’d say it’s definitely one to do!
I am making a list of people coming to either the Mondiali in Italy, the tournament in Freiburg or both. Please let me know if you will be coming to either so I can sort out numbers and register teams.
Get in contact with Jack of you want to go on either. kelly_27_db@hotmail.com
Netball Fixtures
The netball 1st team play their last game of the season on Saturday 7th May against Team Bath Tigers. 11.30 am at the Grange School in Warmley. This is a big game, if we win we will get promoted to the next division, if they win then they will be the team promoted. Its a clincher!
Support welcome. Last time we played them they beat us by 10 goals. They are all in their early 20’s and look like willowy supermodels and no, that is not a good reason to come and watch! Lets ave em this time!!!!!
Cricket Is Here
28/04/2011
The Suburbans drew 1-1 with 2nd in the league Lawrence Weston.
30/04/2011
The Suburbans beat Ridings High 3-2. With two games left the Cowboys are chasing second place but it will be tough because one of those games is against division champions Little Stoke.
The Saturday A Team lost to Torpedo 0-2. The As finish the season in 6th place played 26 won 11, drew 2, lost 13, GD 12, pts 35.
The Saturday B Team Beat Portland Old Boys 2-1. The Bs finish the season in 11th place played 26, won 8, drew 5, lost 13, GD-26, pts 29.
The Saturday Cricket Team got hammered by Shepton Mallet by 7 wickets. Congratulations to Dave B who scored a century on debut. This being his debut nobody knew who he was. TT reports thus: (more…)