No.7 - Sat. 5th September 2009; Bedfordshire County Football League Premier Division               3.00pm at the Woburn Village Hall, Crawley Road, Woburn, Bucks.

 

Matchday images (21) >view>

  

Woburn (1) 1 Renhold United (1) 2

 Safari Boys ambushed!

Another terrific adventure! After passing the entrance to the local Safari Park near to Milton Keynes we made our way out of danger down the dusty track to the Woburn Village Hall car park in Crawley Road. Everything here seemed quiet and orderly. As the sun beat down we safely climbed out of the Wraymobile, gathered our supplies and found a shady place to sit pitch side. Being strangers we did not want to disturb the locals and our green and white striped chairs provided some ideal camouflage in the undergrowth. Our bush hats offered some protection from the sun beating down through the canopy, fauna and flora. We were here hoping to see the big game of the day with our hosts the Safari Boys locking horns with Renhold United who had travelled over from the neighbouring urban jungle of Bedford.  

 

We won't make a meal of it but the setting here is basic. Surrounded by trees and open terrain the site shares its facilities with locals coming to the village hall. Youngsters can climb like monkeys on the dedicated equipment in the play area. We decided to relax instead and enjoy fine view across the newly rolled, verdant plain. Even without binoculars we could make out the beautiful Abbey standing tall in the distance. The pitch was roped off no doubt to stop unwanted predators from getting too close. There's nowhere really to hide for cover here so plan your journey when the weather is good. As the pitch can easily waterlog like a swamp, avoid visiting after a monsoon of rainforest proportions if you can! 

 

You could feel the tension as the players emerged from their shelter, took to the field and prepared for battle. The visitors, wearing distinct blue markings, quickly leapt into action and entered home territory. Karl Anderson (7) pounced on a loose ball and aimed towards goal. He caught the keeper off his guard but sadly his strike was just wide of the target. Renhold were running wild when Mo Bander (wearing a resplendent bandana) laid the ball off to Anderson (25) who, finding space, turned and shot from the edge of the area giving his side the lead. His team mates went absolutely ape! The scorer, now roaming free, went close moments later when he climbed as tall as a giraffe to head the ball just over, following a corner.

 

Woburn came back in search of an equaliser as they stalked their opponents in the hunt for a goal. Nick Skolsky (36) moving like a young gazelle in midfield seized his chance and helped the Safari Boys to claw their way back into the match. His long range effort took a wicked deflection and motionless keeper Jack Rashin could only look  on, like a wounded animal struck by a tranquiliser dart, as the ball came to rest, trapped in the net. The spoils were shared as the score remained 1-1 at the interval. During the break Mrs W and I tuned in to Radio Five Live so that we could keep tabs on what was happening elsewhere...our attention was firmly focused on the Big Cats as the Three Lions were taking on Slovenia later today at Wembley in a friendly encounter...everyone wondered if they would slaughter their East European opponents. Sadly our beloved Tigers had been taken into captivity and were not in Premier League action today...oh deer!! 

 

Within ten minutes of the restart the boys from Bedford were back in front once again when another clever  one-two move on the edge of the box caused real carnage. Bander, a definite thorn in Woburn's side this afternoon, ran like a cheetah into box, beat his marker before passing the ball to Damien Quigley (56) who hit the ball first time to give home keeper Holt no chance. Unconfined joy for the boys in blue as they stampeded in celebration across the field like a herd of uncontrollable wilderbeast. The Safari Boys looked as if they had been well and truly mauled. To try and get back into the game their enthusiastic and motivated leader Andy Skolsky tried adding some new blood by drawing on his reserves. His young charges joined the fray and like a couple of unleashed beasts immediately caused panic in the Renhold defence. James Munro (72) went close as his vicious shot, fired with the speed of a rifle bullet, was parried over by Rashin.

 

With time running out the away fans could almost smell the scent of victory. Woburn came forward once more. Could they rescue a point at the death? The visitors stood firm and cleared the ball away yet again. It looked ominous for Woburn as the vultures were now circling overhead. Their chances of survival looked grim. The referee looked at his watch once more and blew for time. The boys from Bedford managed to hang on to win a cracking game taking all three points from their prey. For the travellers from racing HQ it had been a truly worthwhile expedition.

 

The game played on a flat well grassed pitch attracted almost thirty onlookers. Although programmes are not issued by the club, we were given the names of everyone involved from both species by a most helpful officer present. Despite the lack of provisions on site we thankfully used some of our own supplies that we had packed earlier before setting out. For omnivores this included a bit of tasty meat and vegetation. The natives here are really friendly bunch and always welcome travellers coming from further afield to their surroundings. We wish them well this season as they take their place in the top division.

 

The club run a fantastic site on the web (not the spider variety) which includes some tasty bits of info, statistics and photos for you to get your teeth into. Feast your eyes on the images from last week's victory over fellow Premier Division newcomers Southill Alexander and of course those courtesy of FGIF for this one. The link is shown below.

 

Enjoy your expedition to Woburn. The joys of hopping in unfamiliar terrain continures!

                              

 

FGIF Match Stats

Scorers: (H) Skolsky (36) and (A) Anderson (8); Quigley (56) 

Attendance: 27; Admission: N/A; Programme: None; Match rating: 5/5; Ground rating: 3/5.

Links - Club Website: http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/woburnathletic/ and - Map

edited 23/09/09