01 05 2010

No comment required :-)

19 03 2010

Source: Hubblesite.org
I couldn't resist this image ...... you might guess that it isn't mine? It is a shot of the three moons of Jupiter casting shadows on the planet. This image is from the hubble telescope as is the image below of a dust storm on Mars brewing in Hellas Basin and Northern Polar Cap - I just love this image.

Source: Hubblesite.org

On the local front, today was the day we said goodbye to a dear friend, Brian Tully of Gwent Hockey Club ( ex Cwmbran H C) - it was again one of those occasions when one meets up with hockey colleagues which is always great for chat and the mulling over of old times ( through somewhat rose tinted spectacles), even under sad circumstances.
Sport remains one of those intangible things which allows strong and enduring friendships to grow from intense on field rivalry.
Present this afternoon were 3/4 of the Cwmbran 2 XI team from around 1990(-ish!) plus umpires and opposition, however we appeared to be minus our goalkeeper! I am absolutely sure that he was with us in spirit - Butty Bach would have been more likely as it was and remains a favourite of us all - I raise a glass now and say,

' Cheers Brian the memory remains strong.'

Many thanks also to Keith Davies, Pal Lottay and Dave Maas for their sensitive handling of the arrangements.

13 02 2010

Following an early morning visit to 'The Cut Above' in Brynmawr for the best £4 haircut that money can buy, it was on to the hockey pitch for Abergavenny A against Bridgend ( note the new shorter if not less grey hair!)
Abergavenny took the field with 11 outfield players as our goalkeeper appeared to be AWOL! As centre half it was with a degree of deja-vu that we took to the astroturf expecting a busy defensive afternoon!!!! The result..... rather surprisingly was a 6-1 win with the Bridgend goal coming from a swiftly taken penalty corner. Abergavenny gained a well deserved 3 points and are safely in mid table in South Wales Division3 with one game to go against the team at the foot of the league next weekend.
Following the game and a trip to a local hostelry for the post match I left and looking up was able to see the following intricate pattern being woven in the sky above ( this was not alcohol fuelled!)




It was as you can see an amazing day with wall to wall sunshine again, and St Mary's Priory Church ( known as the Westminster Abbey of Wales) looking magnificent in the mid afternoon.

13 02 2010

With apologies to any sportsmen who may be viewing this blog post for the rather shocking image above. It is your truly following the first hockey match that I had played for almost 12 months, having gone into semi retirement following the conclusion of the 2009 season. I have been intending to make a gentle return to the hockey scene for some time. The match started at midday today in order to be over by the time of the Wales - Scotland Six Nations International.

I should have been more suspicious and asked more questions ahead of saying yes to playing - one question would have been, do we have a full team? The answer would have been well hopefully! We actually began with 8 players against the 11 man Swansea University side, having to take one player off to umpire. We actually offered the opposition a 5-0 walkover and 3 league points, however they preferred to play the game.To say that we were apprehensive in defence would be an understatement as the table topping team of young students took aggressively to the pitch as you will see above they are runaway leaders of the division by 10 points.
The game actually became an even tussle when we went to 9 players after 15 minutes and the final result:

Abergavenny A - 0 Swansea Unviersity B - 2 ( 1 goal scored in each half!!!)

As you can see from the picture taken following the game the rather overweight Abergavenny centre back did not look too tired at the end of the game, thanks to the commitment of the Abergavenny youth players - thank goodness for 17 years old legs!!!!

More next week........ Mmmm we will see, I did enjoy myself though, I have missed life on the pitch.

The next picture today I suspect was taken in the late 1980's ( the photo is black and white, plus the game was on a grass pitch!!!!) and shows a somewhat younger and slimmer me front left when I was actually a right winger.... oh! happy days.
The shot above was taken I believe at a mixed game in the 1990's and contains some long term Abergavenny Hockey members ( Trevor Scott back left, Adil Gatrad back right, Pat Harrison back third from left, Kevin Phillips front left, Nigel Sanchez to the left of me) - myself with novelty facial hair!!! - I know many of the other names however does anyone else recognise themselves?