Hook Norton FC activity in the last 10 days
In the absence of any league games until 29th January, the 1st team has been playing friendlies to fill the gap.
The first of these was last Tuesday night when we paid a visit to Banbury Utd. Such contests should always go to the senior club by a large margin (especially given that BUFC are three layers higher up the system), but not this time. The Hooky boys played out of their skins and deserved to come away with 1-0 win, which should have been 2-0 if they had managed to put away the penalty they were awarded in the first half.
As a nameless BUFC supporter said after the game “if you hadn`t known the teams, you would have said that the boys in blue were in the Zamaretto Premier, and not the boys in red”.
Last Saturday was the 11th anniversary of the death on the pitch of Ian Willoughby, an occasion that all connected with Hooky FC (and especially those, like the writer, who were there at the time) remember with great sadness. Dickie Knight who was playing on that day organised a commemorative match against today`s 1st team which was played on the back pitch. Dickie`s team consisted largely of players who played on that fateful day, who, while older and less fit that they used to be but making up for lack of agility with guile and cunning, gave no quarter against the youngsters in the 1st team. In an entertaining game, played in the presence of Ian`s partner Kaye and their daughter, youth overcame age eventually producing a 2-1scoreline.
Afterwards both teams repaired to the clubhouse for much needed refreshments, and a raffle was held for the benefit of Kaye and her daughter.
At the same time, the 2nd team visited Clanfield, and scored a resounding 4-2 win, with Josh Ibbotson putting 2 past the opposition, and Conor Devereux amd Harry Smith 1 apiece.
A friendly against Broughton and North Newington is planned for Tuesday night (KO 7.45), playing surface of the main pitch permitting.
Mike Barlow Chair