As Big Eric Once said, 
"When The Seagulls Follow The Trawler It Is Because They Expect Sardines To Be Thrown Into The Sea" 
Now I'm not sure about Seagulls and Sardines but what I do know is that when you follow the messy 3s it is because you expect GOALS GOALS GOALS! And that's exactly what you do get!
Cup Fever had hit Norsemen and Grocers Far was about to witness a hum dinger of a cup quarter final!
Mercurial Magic Midfield Man Lee was running late, so Welsh Wizard Ricky 'Boyo' Williams got the nod to start.

On a cold bright day the toss was vital as the sun was glaring and would cause the team who attacked the Church Street End to have temporary sun blindness. 

Even though Danny is a great tosser he lost the toss.....this was to prove pivotal (not sure why, but I just wanted to use the word pivotal)
The Norsemen 3s were attacking the Church Street end up the hill with the sun in their eyes in the first half and Porky was hobbling around like a one legged Pale Bale. To say we didn't start too well is a bit of an understatement. In fact I'd go so far as to say we were derisory. 
After the early exchanges saw Old Sals come out on top it wasn't long before they took the lead with a controversial opening goal. 

As the ball was played down the right flank the Old Sals forward was offside however,  the ball did not come to him at first, the Old Sals winger tore down the right and the Old Sals forward remained offside as the ball was squared to him on the edge of the area. 

The Norsemen defence called for offside but the ref waved play on as the Old Sals forward expertly slotted home.
0-1 

The first half saw Norsemen get a bit more of a grip of the half although Porky had to make way as his foot buckled with the injury he had been carrying.
Then came the equaliser from Norsemen. A great header by Dan Howard that finished a good move by Norsemen.
1-1 

Norsemen were now well back in the ascendancy and the boys were buoyed by such a turnaround in fortunes. Game On!!

Moments later an inocuous ball into the area with a clear call from JJ the Norsemen keeper caused Bevers to calmly slot the ball past his own keeper! ! A well taken o.g. which led to Old Sals taking the lead again! The Norsemen boys couldn't hide their disappointment but this wasn't a time to blame anyone it was a time to regroup and get back into the game!! 
1-2

It wasn't long before the next incident in this action packed bumper cup tie! 
Norsemen were awarded a penalty! ! A way back in was on a plate for them and the trusty penalty king Danny G was the man to slot the ball past the keeper. That's exactly what he did, slotting it past the keeper and past the post the Green machine had missed the penalty to get his boys back on level terms.
The half time whistle soon came and the lads regrouped with talk of how to regroup and how the next 45 minutes would make or break our season. This was 45 minutes to save the match. 
The Welsh Wizard had to depart the field and so entered Lee. 

The second half was a different story. Old Sals had to play up the hill in this half and Norsemen began to boss the possession. Old Sals were still super dangerous and played their ace often on the counter attack with lightning fast breaks.

But still Norsemen pressed and pressed. Luigi began to get more and more into the game as he popped up on the left and the right snd began to cause Old Sals some problems "Mamma Mia!!"
Lee was also bossing the middle with Mr Chips and this was the story of  the 2nd half BUT still no equaliser! !

Chances came and chances went.....
Great moves were hatched but nothing came of them.....
Old Sals had a great chance that just went past the far post after a bit of a Norsemen mix up.....
But still it remained 1-2

Then finally it came. ...
It was around the 80th minute when Danny G made up for the pen miss and popped up with an equaliser that was surely set to to take this tie and Pett's tired legs into extra time! (Or was it?)
2-2
89mins on the clock
Bevers gets the ball about 40yards out
Bevers pumps the ball high and mighty into the Old Sals box.
Lee gets a flick on.
There's confusion snd panic in the Old Sals box as they look more like Aunt Sally....
The rest is a blur but all I know is that Danny G puts the ball into the back of the Old Sals net to bury the spectre of Bevers own goal and to well and truly confine that penalty miss to the dustbin of time.....
3-2......

Queue the massive rugby ruck celebration accompanied by shouts of "CELEBRATE CELEBRATE! !!" and the shouts of "Get Off My Toes!!" 

The final whistle blows and Norsemen 3s have booked their place in the SAL SEMI FINAL! !
It's days like these that will be remembered forever and the reason we play SAL football. .
The 3s celebrated in time honoured fashion by singing Wet Wet Wet and the Men Behaving Badly theme tune followed by plenty of Tuborg in the Bar.....

Walk Tall You Blue Giants! 

Next Game: vs. Merton (H) League

Match day 11 brought the arrival of Division 1 Nottsborough in the 1/4 finals of the AFA Junior Cup. With both teams going strong in their respective leagues they could both be forgiven for being in confident moods ahead of kick off. With 6 or 7 players missing Captain Green had to reshuffle his pack, a notable absentee being Bry Keye who with Scott Jenkins and later on Shirley spent the weekend up in Scotland.

The line up was as follows:  

Robery
Pett
Amico
Howard
Green
Williams
Beveridge
Brockhouse
Lever
Hunt
Bartup R
SUB: Lyte

And so the whistle blew for the first half and it was time do that Norsemen shirt proud. It was the home side who were dealt an early blow. After some neat work on the right by the diminutive little italian playmaker Paul Amico, he was what can only be described as being mamed by the left back of Nottsborough.The noise that followed can only be described as a Whale crying. Amicos game was over. And so with Amico lying on the side like an wounded mammal , it was in 15 first half minutes that Nottsborough took advantage of the home sides inability to keep the ball,  scoring 3 quick fire goals to put themselves in the assendency. Middway through the first half the home side seemed to spark into life enjoying their best spell of the half and this was rewarded when Green who was played in by Lee kept his cool and finished off with a chip into the corner of the net. Norsemen now had their tails up and should of been awarded a penalty. With his back to goal and the ball under control at his feet the Nottsborough defender went straight through the back of captain Green. 'Surely a penalty' no the ref waved play on 'shocking decision ' and so it proved a pivotal moment in the game with the away side going up the other end and making it 4-1 at half time.

Half Time 1-4

The second half was all about playing for pride and with no inhibitions, but after 20 even second half minutes it was Nottsborough who scored the 6th goal of the game some good work down the right flank resulted in a cross into the home teams box and despite his best effort Richard Pett could only direct the ball into his own net. Ever the professional Pett continued to give 100% this was epitomised midway through the second half with yet another tackle on the Nottsborough striker. With the ball lodged in between his legs,  Pett did his best not to disappoint by performing a backwood roley poley the likes of which 'Louis Smith' would of been proud of. This however according to a Nottsborough player ' was not in the rule book'. Another slick move resulted in a 6th goal for the away team followed by a consolation goal for Leonard. There was still time for some late drama with Nottsborough awarded a penalty however Robery was more than a match for the penalty with a great save down to his right.

All in all 'it is what it is or ' it was what it is was' a day to forget for the Norsemen 3's, time to bounce  back next week with an away game at Old Actonians in the league.

After the cup heroics of the previous week it was back to the beauty of the SAL Junior Division 2 
A nice trip to Ewell was in store for the 3's and some of the team opted to take advantage of the trip by using the 3's Party Train. 

When I say some of the team I mean 4 of the team. And when I say 4 I actually mean 3! 
Brye "Unbryliable" Keye managed to miss the party train from Waterloo and ended up travelling alone in the style of the Norsemen German Legend that is Yusef "Useless" Khan.
Are the days of the Messy 3's Away days numbered? 

Or are they saving themselves for the "Mega Lord" to HSBC ….. ONLY TIME WILL TELL! 
Any way, back to the important stuff…..THE KIT! The kit was in lovely shape when it arrived on the Danny bus and as always it was a pleasure to pull on the famous blue strip for the mighty Norsemen.
Once suitably attired the boys took to the lovely pitches of Salesians. The pitches were in marvellous condition and the dowsing of rain seemed to make it even better to play as we zipped the ball about in the warm up.

The boys knew that a win was essential in order to really stake a claim for league contenders but knew that Old Salesians are always a great attacking team and generally there are goals goals goals in this fixture (apart from last seasons battling 1-1)

The ref was ready for kick off and so were the teams so away we went! 
The initial part of the match saw each team really vying for supremacy with Salesians edging it early on as individual errors from Norsemen started to mount up and Salesians were really turning the screw.
The first goal came from Norsemen though after around 20mins. 

A great team move ended up in a square ball into "Little Dan" who slotted home nicely from 12 yards out….. 1-0 to Norsemen.

After this goal the mistakes from Norsemen kept coming and with a couple of quickfire goals from Salesians Norse found themselves 2-1 down heading into half time.

The last 10 mins of the 1st half did improve and the boys really took heart from this into the team talk. Norse were really confident of being able to get the win even though the score was a 2-1 reverse.

1-2 HT

Suitably fired up the boys took to the pitch in the 2nd half and started like a steam train! (CHOO-CHOO!) 
Before long it was 2-2 with "Little Dan" getting his second goal after some good work by "Big Dan" 
Norsemen were well on top now and 3-2 wasn't far off as "Little Dan" rattled in his third goal after finishing a bouncing ball from out wide on a tight angle, great finish and 3-2 to the Norsemen!
Things were looking great as Porky was able to beat the Salesians full back at will as the ball inside the Full Back was being used on a regular.

Then the moment that changed the game happened, Porky beat his man for pace again and the full back took a lunge to win the ball back and in doing so brought Porky down in a heap. Immediately it was clear that Porky could not continue as it was left to Physio Pett to administer the Rest Ice Compression Elevation for our Pale Bale. A wonky chair, a crumbling rotten old bench and pile of cones was utilised to good effect in order to give Porky the comfort he needed.

Meanwhile on the pitch, Little Dan lined up a free kick from out wide and attempted to whip up a storm in the box by putting in a vicious delivery, so vicious in fact it went straight into the top corner! 4-2 to the Norse! 4 Goals to little Dan……GAME OVER….!!??

Well, you would have thought it was Game Over, but there was still more to this game……(remember what I said about goals goals goals earlier)

With Porky off the pitch the out ball was no longer really there and Norse seemed to lose shape and sat back too deep….as Salesians now committed waves of players forward on a regular basis.
The Salesians barrage had started and it didn't stop until the final whistle!! 

Soon Salesians got one back …. 4-3 to Norse ….. 

Then they bagged another 4-4 ……. 

Porky & Physio Pett watched this nightmare unfold in front of them from the sideline. At 4-2 the talk was of League Titles, Jugs Of Beer and Kung Fu Movies, now at 4-4 there was a stoney silence as Porky rested his throbbing ankle and Pett sat on his haunches as the horror played out before their eyes……at 4-4 we knew it was coming and it did….

5-4 to Old Salesians with only seconds remaining……cue the wild celebrations from the Salesians followed by the long trudge back to changing rooms by the Norsemen boys….
A truly dismal end to the match for Norsemen with only themselves to blame. 

FINAL SCORE: 
Salesians 5-4 Norsemen - Green (4) 

NEXT GAME: 
SAT 16 NOV 2013 13:30 
HOME : AFA CUP - Norsemen 3rd v Nottsborough 3rd

Pitch Rating: 8 * *NEW* * 
A new feature for the Away match reports will be the Pitch Rating. The pitch we played on was great. A Good sized pitch with plenty of width for the wide man and a great surface cut to just the right length for zipping the ball about. Suited both teams.

Showers: 7 
Nice warm showers, that did help ease the pain of a 5-4 last minute reverse. (still no heated towel rail or Hot Tub) 

Food: 5 (Pett 7) 
Sausages in rolls, chips, sausage rolls and mini pasties. The team was divided on this rating (when I say divided I mean that Pett liked the rolls with sausages but the rest of team hated them)
Comments made were "There's no meat in those sausages" "They're rock hard" "We Only want the chips" However, Pett applied Tomato Sauce liberally and was able to make a nice hearty post match meal out of the rolls.

Beer Jug: 7 
The beer jug was a Fosters 6 pinter. Porky, Bevers and Pett sampled the delights of the beer and there were no complaints. Although big enough it was no West Wickham monster jug (5000ml)!
At the £16 mark it was decent value and eased the pain of defeat considerably as we supped and watched some unknown mug on BBC Final Score deliver the news of a last minute Chelski Penalty

A big cup game for Norsemen FC as they looked to continue their impressive start to season. Everyone was very aware however, that our only defeat of the season did come at the hands of Ally Pally and so everyone knew it wasn't going to be an easy passage to the next round.

The game was played on the 1st team pitch, the larger surface probably helpful for 2 teams who like to get the ball down and stretch play. Norsemen had a couple of notable absentees, but were still able to loan out a few regular players to the 6th team to help out and give them some match practice, in a game which ended 0-0.

Both teams started the game fairly nervously, all too aware that a quarter final place was at stake. Chances were few and far between, and the ball spent a lot of time being passed around, lost and won back in the midfield. The conditions didn't help, with the driving rain becoming heavier and heavier as the half went on. Ally Pally tried to use the wings to cause problems and won a few free-kicks in our half, but the resulting balls didn't cause too many problems.  We improved as the half went on, without playing to our best. A couple of corners were forced at either end, but there were no real chances to note and the half-time whistle was a welcome relief as both teams headed back into the changing rooms. The bald brave battler Halpin was removed feeling very under the weather, replaced by Beveridge at LB.

HT 0 - 0

The HT team talk was fairly positive, but it was clear there was room for improvement, and also a need to keep our concentration as it was obvious one goal may well be enough. A few of the more composed members of the team (Keye, Clark, Bevvers) were heard confidently discussing the possibility of a penalty shoot-out settling the game. But that was still a long way off, and the second half started off with more pace and bite than the first half and things started to liven up a bit. The rain had stopped and both teams started pressing and trying to create chances. The referee began to frustrate some Norsemen players due to some fairly baffling decisions, but thankfully these were trivial things (throw-ins, free-kicks in midfield) and they didn't affect the game significantly. By 75 minutes, Norsemen should probably have been ahead. Some neat attacking football saw Porky ghost into the box, and his deflected shot fell to Green whose goalward effort was expertly headed over by their centre-half for a corner. From the resulting corner, Keye powered a header off the crossbar with the keeper stranded. A mere couple of inches costing Keye badly, not for the first time.

We all feared these would be the chances we would regret, but Ally Pally could not break through and punish us and when the freshly-introduced White curled in an absolute peach off the post from the right touchline about 30 yards out with 5 minutes remaining, it was no more than Norsemen's efforts deserved. An early goal of the season contender, such a beautiful goal at such an important time of the match.
The last 5 minutes and injury time were comfortably seen out and Norsemen progressed to the quarter finals.

An excellent victory which every player earned through hard work and persarverance in what were horrific conditions in parts. Also finally the first clean sheet of the season, which we need to build on.
Back to league duty this weekend with a trip to Salesians, where Norsemen will hope to match last season's gritty performance down there, and keep our great early start going.
It must be added that as it was Halloween weekend, strange mystical and weird happenings were always to be expected. But no-one could quite believe their eyes when Danny and Nigel  bought a jug. I still think it was just a post-match hallucination. As far as I'm aware, no-one managed to capture this freak (apparent) event on camera and so it's mystery will continue to intrigue us for years. Also another strange occurrence was the fact Keye managed to get through 90 minutes of football without forgetting he can’t actually play football. Sticking to Greens clear orders of head, and attempt to kick.