Men's 3rd XI: The Nomads Will Rise Again

I would acknowledge that The North Will Rise Again is not one of The Fall’s more poppy or accessible tracks. If any of you made it to the end of it on the end of season souvenir soundtrack CD, then you have my undying admiration and respect. All I will say is that like most Fall fans, I have a deep and irrational love of songs which are nine and a half minutes long and feature only two riffs, the second of which is essentially a minor variation on the first and neither of which stretches to a third chord. I never can get enough of that sort of thing, there needs to be more of it in this world.

However, in order to satisfy the twin goals of keeping the musical theme going and meeting the CD pressing deadline of the club dinner at 6:30 on the same day as when this final match finally got to happen, I had to decide on the theme tune for this week some way in advance of any actual hockey being played. I went therefore for something which might conceivably work whatever the result, something that could either be a celebratory “we beat the champions” sort of a vibe, or could equally well work as a defiant call that we will be back next season ready to repeat and indeed exceed what we have achieved this time out. So, substitute “Nomads” for “North” and I think you have it.

The good news is that I did manage to get it all done and to meet the release deadline, and those of you who made it to the dinner will have all received your souvenir copies. Those of you who didn’t, I will see how short of things to do I am over the Summer and will see if I can run off a few more. No promises, but I will see what I can do. It’s been the most enjoyable and successful season for years this one, so it seems worth marking somehow.

And so to the hockey. Not a lot to say really and not too many incidents I can recall at this distance. I can state categorically that our keeper was completely blameless for the two goals which South scored, and I also remember Rob dribbling out of our 23 and getting dangerously close to the halfway line from open play. Neither history nor my memory records whether or not he got as far as crossing his own personal Rubicon, though I suspect not or else mighty portents would doubtless have rent the heavens and I think I would have remembered that.

Other than that, we played some pretty good stuff over pretty much all of the pitch, defended solidly, and produced the same sort of hockey going forward which has been good enough to bring success against most other sides we have come up against this season. We were once again though unable to find a way through the resolute South defence, and that now makes 140 minutes of hammering on the South door without ever finding a way through. Meanwhile we have put away three in a match against every other side in the league, and more than anything else it is that statistic which makes our local rivals worthy champions this season. Congratulations to them, and that is what we have to step up to next season.

So, can the Nomads rise again? I see no reason why not. It’s tough as the bottom team, with the strength and shape of our side largely determined by whatever is going on higher up the club, but if we keep bringing the spirit, enthusiasm and positivity which every member of the squad has brought to the team this season, then I see no compelling reason why we cannot do even better next time out. For now though, a big thank you from a very proud skipper to everyone who has played even one game for us, thank you for being a great bunch to captain, and thank you for everything you have done to make this season such an enjoyable one. As Ray Winstone continually advises me, when the fun stops I will stop playing, but no sign of that any time soon. Bring on September!