Singapore 2

Team meeting at 09:30 beside the Carlton Hotel pool .  Prof, the other keeper (Webby was already with us), flew in yesterday, so we were at full strength.  A good opportunity to talk team formations and build-up.  Trish gave us a quick chat on managing liquids etc.  I need 15 minutes on my own, as do others, to do a full set of stretching and this is now built in to the squad pre-match programme.  A quiet day doing a bit of editing and email catch-up.  Went across the road to get lunch and a mango and banana pressed fruit drink.  Strolled to the Fort Canning park, but there were a few drops of rain and got back to the hotel ahead of a deluge.  Others were not so lucky and got soaked.  Met at 16:30 changed, dry by now, for the coach organised by Kaka and Irish, en route for our 18:30 game against Scotland.  The coach has made transport easy for all of us and helps in the build-up.  At the ground, we changed and had a team talk.  Ibuprofen on the ankle, strapped my toes and then the ankle support, and then did our own stretching for a while.  We came together for Vanessa to do a Pilates set, stretching muscle groups and we were nearly ready for the off.  With a tight match programme – O40s to O60s – there is very little pitch time to knock up, but we got on, hardly noticing the pitch watering – sweating freely. 

Ken and Prof were off the pitch for this match – we can only name 16 players per game – so Webby was in goal.  I was off for the first 15, along with Bill, Andrew, Bruce and Kaka.  About 10 minutes in, Tim scored with a good follow-up and we were able to settle.  On at left wing after 15 and we made chances, Skins feeding through some good ball.  1-0 at half time and we were substituting regularly.  Came on at left midfield after 15 mins and we played out a mixed period, though did a lot of running. Took a right slip at a corner and was promptly tripped as I moved to get a shot. Scotland won a corner with 6 minutes left – a bit of pressure, but not converted.  Then up the other end, Bill got off a lovely pass to Kaka who scored well.  Result: England 2 – Scotland 0. 
Back on the bus for a very late supper at a small restaurant near Raffles – to be the team Clubhouse – beers $7, which is cheap for Singapore! Then bed, if not to sleep, and preparations for Australia tomorrow evening.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don’t be a colonial tourist, or why we should review our travel expectations

Image
Have you noticed the heavy advertising for travel and tourism?   It seems to be in every medium. just as lockdown is easing.   Have you ever thought: Why do we expect to travel the globe and be tourists everywhere?   What is this sense of entitlement?   What does travel do to climate, to local communities, wildlife etc.?   What should we be doing? Fairly recently, I heard the following: “Everybody has the right to travel to wherever they wish”.   Pre-coronavirus, that was probably a very widely held opinion.   However, at the very simplest level, this is patently now not the case.   I am not able to visit my grandchildren in Scotland.   If we were to follow our inclination to go where we like, when we like, in fairly short order we would likely be subject to state intervention and sanctions – and in my opinion, under current coronavirus conditions, rightly too, including Mr Cummings.   So, how does this sit with our apparently insatiab...
Read more

Agricultural machinery is now too big for rural roads

Image
We have a problem that is specific to life in the countryside – ever larger tractors and associated machinery on country lanes.  I appreciate that living in the country brings privileges, especially under Covid-19 lockdown, when we have been able to walk out of our garden and not meet many, if any, people.   However, when we, our dogs, the verges and roadside walls are threatened by high speed tractors and trailers weighing tons, there is a time to speak out.   Our lane was built for traffic that consisted of a horse and cart and many rural roads across the UK are just the same.   The mechanisation revolution in agriculture that started around the Second World War still continues.   With ever fewer people working on farms, the technological answer has been to develop larger and larger and ever more powerful machinery.   The larger the tractor, the less time it takes to work a field.   This brings time efficiency, but at what cost?   More and mor...
Read more

Ecosystem services – a bit of a mess

Image
Ecosystem function, ecosystem processes, ecosystem services, final ecosystem services, ecosystem goods, natural capital and biodiversity – all these terms are currently very popular in ecological and related circles, reflecting the improved links between science and policy.   These are important, as society considers its options for increased food production, the threats of climate change and the needs of species, habitat and landscape conservation.   A recent paper by Mace, Norris and Fitter (TREE, January 2012; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534711002424 , for those with academic access) gives a comprehensive review of the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem services. Reading this paper and a series of in-depth research proposals on the subject over recent weeks confirms my suspicions that the area is complex and conceptually messy.   As scientists, we need to have our concepts sorted, preferably elegantly, before we can make headway ...
Read more