Howe equalises as Sassco tighten up.

It only really happens to Sassco. A player refusing to be captain, then the team wandering around in circles around the sports complex, looking for the changing rooms. Simma’s Sat-Nav sent him to Chester-le-Street, but the actual venue was an excellent complex in Maiden Castle, on 3G surface.

Sassco, again, were missing key players. Dixon, McDermont and Greenwell were missing, while Nick Danks and Lee Ramsay were also missing. There were 13 players there in total, with Nicky Smith making a return as well as Dave Smith, Dave Oxley and Dan Young. Anth Langan didn’t even reply to any texts.

Wildcats were dominant to start with, but actually didn’t really create any clear cut chances. Sassco’s backline were massing in numbers and easily blotting out any dangers. Ironically, Sassco probably had the best chance when the crossbar was hit. We had Thomas Oladunjoye as referee and he had his own idiosyncratic way of officiating and infuriating at the same time. The strangest decision was forcing players to play the ball forward for an in-direct free-kick!

Second half, Muers (under heavy “advice” from his employer) moved to 4-5-1 with Tim dropping from left back to holding player. It worked because Sassco were obviously lacking in out and out attackers and concentrated on frustrating the opponents. Instantly, the team looked more comfortable, but still conceded a goal. Just as it was looking like a 1-0 defeat, Callum Howe, remained on his feet and dashed from the left hand side to the right before shooting across the ‘keeper to give Sassco a well-deserved equaliser.

After the game, Tim took us on a wild-goose chase to find a local pub where we had a deserved drink, and Muers demanded that Wayne Greenwell should be sacked again.

The post Wearside Wildcats 1 Sassco.co.uk 1. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.

Worrying times ahead.

I’m being a bit pessimistic; after all we were missing a fair few players from the previous game. Andy Turner, Chris Dixon, Mark Muers, Nick Smith, Dan Young, Nick Danks, Marc McDermont, Anth Langan and Dave Smith. In came debuts for Rhys Thoburn and Gary Heads. Tim also came back for his first game in months and Wayne Ramsay made a return.

Also worrying was Muers picking at the formation and doing the team-talk. After he fumbled his way through it, the game kicked off slightly late, as the referee was delayed. By the way, Emu had broken his wrist, after the youngsters had booted the ball at him on Tuesday.

We probably played the better football, but conceded from an excellent Andy Reay free-kick. Reay, who played for us in the past, caused no end of problems for Sassco and scored almost all of their goals. Despite this, we should have actually stopped him running everyone ragged. The worst thing was that we conceded again after everytime we scored.

Callum equalised in the second half and we looked well on top. They scored, then Lee Ramsay fired one in. They scored again, only to see Callum score again. Almost straightaway they scored and scored again before Lee Ramsay headed one in.

That was it. Even though the squad was not the normal one, I think we’d be struggling in the Premiership – which was expected anyhow. The plus points were excellent performances from Gary Heads, on the wing, and Rhys Thoburn, a player recommended by Nicky Smith. At least we seem to have plenty of decent, reliable players. It was also good to see Lee Ramsay and Callum Howe get on the scoresheet. We should have had more goals. Ramsay missed some opportunities and Anth Pearson had a cracking chance in the first half, despite playing at centre-half, which he excelled in.

The post Rutherford DFC 5 Sassco.co.uk 4. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.

Ramsay’s second half goal gives Sassco their first win.

Quite a few chances from last week’s game against Northern Alliance Chemfica. In came Nicky Smith, Nick Danks, Dan Young, Andy Turner and Simon Mulvaney. Sassco expected a win, and got it courtesy of Lee Ramsay’s heading goal, early in the second half.

The game was at Gateshead 3G, played at the same time as an athletics meeting, so every sound resembling a shot was the starting pistol, or some grunt in Gateshead firing at us. We all arrived in time, with only Andy Turner arriving late and just prior to kick off. The start of the game wasn’t too impressive as Houghton Bethany, featuring Tim Gillespie, took control at the start. Eventually we settled and it wasn’t too long before we had some good chances.

One of them came from Chris Dixon, who’s bicycle shot cannoned off the crossbar. I told him I’d write a paragraph on it.

In the second half, Greenwell and Mulvaney came on and eventually Sassco scored, when Langan’s cross was nodded in and over the goalkeeper to make it 1-0.

The red mist then took over. Firstly, Nick Danks was told to be “replaced” before he was sent off, then Simon threw a wobbler and had to be “replaced”. Warning: excessive arguments and threatening to “chin” someone means that players won’t be invited to come back into the squad. I’ve no time or interest in be called up before committees and regulatory bodies to explain actions.

Houghton had a glorious chance to equalise, but Marc Siddall tried to lob Dave Smith and then chance went.

The rest of the game was played out without any incidents.

The post Sassco.co.uk 1 Houghton Bethany 0. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.

Second defeat in pre-season.

Bit of a disaster again. Blanks up front, with shots wayward and not a Jabulani in sight. Any other shots were soft and usually direct at the ‘keeper.

Pearson failed to show due to a car failing to start and Scott Smith wasn’t there, which shows his unreliability, despite saying that he wants to come back as a regular player.

This meant that Dave Gourlay had to cobble together his starting line-up, which picked itself. McConville and McDermont were in central defence, while the whinging Muers was in attack, alongside Callum Howe.

The first half was quite balanced, but New Derby – in their first game – broke clear and scored the opener. Prior to this, Muers had a glorious chance, when clean through, to put Sassco 1-0 ahead.

Second half saw more chances for Sassco, but none were really on target. The ones that did reach the target didn’t trouble the replacement goalkeeper. Sassco conceded again, but then Muers squeezed one in to make it 2-1.

An unexpected error from Dave Smith saw New Derby lead 3-1, and no more goals after that.

The post Sassco.co.uk 1 New Derby 3. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.

David Smith and Mark Muers.

Dave Smith almost unanimously won the Player of the Season award, with around 99.99% of the vote. Muers won the Leading Goalscorer award. Both were presented with their trophies during the recent basketball game.

There was also a symbolic “handing over” of the goalscorer award, with McDermont handing Muers the award. It’s not surprising that Sassco have underachieved when the recipients of the award were McDermont and now Muers.

The post Top scorer and Player of the Season. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.

Another defeat for the “A” team.

Firstly, thanks to Dave Smith and Scott Smith for arranging the extra players: Simon Graney, Liam Murray, Nick Danks and Dan Young. Also, thanks to Greenwell for saying he’s going to turn up and actually turn up.

The so-called “B” team was as follows: Dave Simpson, Simon Graney, Liam Murray, Scott Smith, Chris Taylor, Nick Danks, Dan Young, Davinder Sangha (replaced by Wayne Greenwell), Michael Garrett, Wayne Ramsey, Stephen Conlin

Couldn’t really call them a “B” team as such, and more of a Sassco XI. The A team was as follows: Dave Smith, David Oxley, Mark Muers, Paul McConville, Chris Dixon, Dave Gourlay, Lee Ramsay, Callum Howe, Scott Hembrough, Dan Campbell, Anthony Pearson

We had various drop outs and a couple of no-shows. However, I was sort of prepared for this and made sure everyone attempted to bring one or two players.

Callum Howe opened the scoring as the “A” team were resplendent in the new shirts (sponsored by The Bunker), however it didn’t all go well. A resilient performance from the Sassco XI backline, with Scott Smith and Chris Taylor being outstanding, so them recover from the wind against them and the mini-onslaught. The first half remained at 1-0.

Second half saw a more sure performance from the XI, as they had several chances. Titch, having missed a first half sitter, clipped the crossbar and Greenwell hammered in the equaliser. More chances came and went, with Garrett and Wayne Ramsay having much improved second halves. Eventually the XI team went ahead when Simon Graney deftly chipped the ball over an advancing Dave Smith.

Somehow, the scoring ended there. XI were catching Sassco on the break, but at the other end, the team were camped in the XI penalty box. Shots were cleared off the line and Simpson made several spectacular saves to keep the second half scoresheet clean.

So, once again, the XI team defeated the first eleven. McDermont and Pearson were missing, but the “A” team had the advantage of having the prolific Scott Hembrough at the helm. Take him out of the equation and the XI team could have had a much more comfortable game.

The post Sassco.co.uk 1 Sassco XI 2. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.

Sangha puts Sassco 3 points ahead. That’s all that matters.

Well would you believe it? Expecting a hammering, the brave Sassco bunch: Dave Smith, Dave Simpson, Mark Muers, Marc McDermont, myself (Davinder Sangha), plus Scott Hembrough, Paul “Tyson” Stokoe and the ever-reliable Wayne Greenwell, were holding out at 0-0, until I was placed clear outside the area to spring in a three pointer. It’s rare you hear the words, “Sangha grabs three for Sassco…”

Playing basketball was madness against an amateur, but genuine team, and, for once, it wasn’t my idea, it was Alan Hoyle’s idea, who runs Sassco Knightflyers. We’re returning the favour with an 11-a-side game in mid-June as well. A lot of people were interested in the basketball game, but I was pissed off that we had drop outs and expected only six there. It’s rare we can set events like this up, so if someone says they are okay for it, I expect them to. Not half-hearted replies. But, lucky for us, Tyson and Greenwell managed to bundle themselves along. Greenwell turned up for the cheerleaders, but I didn’t tell the pervert that they were aged between five and eight years old. He was gutted and decided to get kitted for the game. We were actually wearing the tops we are due to wear in Spain in October. I hastily heat glued the badges on, but Tyson’s came off as he cannot show any loyalty to Sassco.

Back to the game: After the opener, Simpson managed to get two points, but Knightflyers broke clear and secured more points. In the meanwhile, Tyson, with his own running commentary, managed to get points. Emu got a couple of three pointers, while Greenwell also did the same. Scotty H’s two points were the best. A sort of “back heel” with his hands. Macca got points, but threw the ball like a girl. I don’t think Dave Smith did as he was firing blanks.

It was confusing a bit. Shouts of “Muers, get your f**king foot through it!” as well as “Back post! Back post!” but overall it was astonishingly enjoyable. Looks like we know what sport we’ll take up when we all get banned.

The final score was 49 to Knightflyers and 29 to Sassco. Very impressive.

The post Sassco Knightflyers 49 Sassco.co.uk 29. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.

Muers is substituted for Sangha.

Another depleted squad, but this time, a superb win. Sassco eventually ground Arms Citys down and scored two second half goals to make the 1-1 half-time scoreline and Arms City’s equaliser irrelevant.

The game was actually quite open. Both teams had plenty of chances and struck the crossbar and post on several occasions. Sassco opened the scoring, but Arms equalised when Macca decided to dally on the ball. The second goal came in the second half when Nicky Smith struck to give Sassco a 2-1 lead. Finally, Ramsay scrambled in the third goal from a corner kick and Sassco were clear.

Muers suffered some humiliation near the end when he was subbed for Sangha.

The post Arms City 1 Sassco.co.uk 3. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.

Same old, same old with Sassco.

A more than decent line up ended in a farcical performance and swathes of in-fighting including “you’re shitter than me” competitions amongst individual players; namely Nelly and Titch. The only bright spark was a brilliant performance by Nicky Smith resulting in two late goals, despite him being centre-half.

A fair few players were missing again, including Dave Smith, who’s lack of presence was keenly felt as Simma was attempting his best Iain Hesford impersonation. Langan returned for the first time in a while after dropping me in it for the last few weeks and started whinging that he was on the bench.

Me and Macca nearly had another falling out and I suggested we have a virtual fight on Facebook (there’s only going to be one winner there). In the end it was all hunky-dory as Tyson, Cambridge’s scout at the game, revealed that his team don’t want him. Macca re-pledged his loyalty to Sassco (again) by announcing he’s going to change his middle name to Sassco, even though I told him he’d probably spell it wrong.

Massive incriminations after the game. We lost a ball mainly because I was dying for a leak and had to return to the changing rooms, due to being forced to play at the horrible Thompson Park area full of charvers. A lot of people failed to help with nets after the game and generally it was a typical bad mid-week game.

The post Sassco.co.uk 2 Usworth FC 5. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.

Titch: The Miracle Midget.

The already bolstered missing list got even worse. Dave Smith was added to the list to those missing on Monday, and I expected this to be the first time we would present ten players.

However, resourcefulness and persuasion led to a total of twelve (including me) against the Times Inn. Stephen “Titch” Conlin’s last game for Sassco was back on the 5th September and he re-introduced himself to a crumbling squad with an emphatic hat-trick and performance.

Times Inn went 1-0 ahead after we had the better chances. The ex-Sassco trio of Mickey Donkin, Kevin and Paul McCluskey were more than pleased on taking the lead for their own team. After some dallying on the ball, Times Inn snatched it and their player hammered the ball into the roof of the net. But Sassco were soon back into it. A palmed save from McCluskey saw Titch easily nod the ball into the back of the net.

Second half saw Times Inn score from a poor offside decision from our back line. Instructions were clear that we go goal side, but Scott Smith, making his first return from injury, seemed to be in his own little world. Ironically, late on, he defended deep and Sassco looked comfortable. At this time, Sassco conceded and it was 2-1. Just when we thought it was going to be 2-2, Times Inn took a 3-1 lead, but Titch nodded another header in from a Scott Smith free-kick almost from kick off.

Finally, with around ten minutes remaining, the indomitable Titch rifled in a tight angle shot to make it 3-3. Another glorious chance was missed, but the resulting corner saw Anth Pearson’s face slap the ball into the back of the net.

A haphazard (some might say ‘shite’) performance from Sassco, but we cobbled together a team and managed to gain a result against a stronger Times Inn side than we faced on Wednesday a couple of weeks ago.

The good news is that the injuries seem to be clearing up and our ‘stand by’ players seem to be slotting in without any problems.

The post Times Inn 3 Sassco.co.uk 4. appeared first on Sassco.co.uk.