England made me late

Andy rung me on Friday to pursuade me to umpire his match against City of Oxford, prior to my match in Staines at the end of the day.  After promising to buy me a beer, I acquiesced, thinking that I could just nip down the M40 after the Oxford match.  At 11.00, however England were 3-1 up against Holland in the World Cup, which doesn't happen often.  I printed out the directions and worked out that I'd have to leave at 11.15 to be ready for the start in Oxford, so I could at least watch 15 minutes.  Holland came back to 3-2, then equalised with an 'own goal'.  It seemed unpatriotic to abandon England at that point so I rechecked the directions and thought that with a fair wind I could just fit in the end of the England match.  Alas, Holland scored again and I rushed out of the house.  Unfortunately the traffic was bad, and I didn't quite make it in time, but a spectator deputised for the first 5 minutes until I got on pitch.  The pitch was a little bouncy to say the least, certainly not the pristine water-based pitch that Germany were playing on at the same time in the final against Australia, a match I had been hoping to watch.  After a small beer, I drove down to Staines for the 5th XI match, which ended 2-2, but could have been 8-8, with shots saved off the line, disallowed, off the crossbar, and inches wide, with both sides pushing frantically for the winner in a match which, although it would only decide a mid-table position in the bottom division of the MBBO, you would think was the world cup final.  Unfortuately, having scored both our goals, Avtar was hit by a lifted ball with just 5 minutes to go, and had to go to hospital with a shattered finger.  A fluke accident, with no one to blame, just one of those things that occasionally happens. We wish him a speedy recovery.  Into the clubhouse after a feisty match, and an excellent chilli and an entertaining debate on which of the boys most merited a lift home with Thomas in his Ferrari, which given it was a lovely day, he had taken to the match for a spin.
This morning, I saw the next generation of England players at our Junior Training, with Jamie (aged 3) expertly dribbling round a line of cones and then whacking the ball at his Dad (who could learn a thing or two I would say).   Later, after getting back home, my eldest said that he had noticed the World Cup Final was on the BBC, so he had recorded it for me (well the second half anyway), so thanking him for his thoughfulness, I sat back to watch the last 35 minutes, with Australia 1-0 up.  A fast game with some moments of fabulous skill, particularly the German short corner goal, which however proved insufficient as Australia won with a well taken short corner of their own and jubilation.
In relative terms though, a 3 year old running round his Dad was also a super piece of skill, and in the last 5 minutes of our 5th XI match on a Staines afternoon, it certainly felt like we matched the passion!