The Old Bordenian Association

One from not that long ago – November last year in fact!

The two Old Bordenian teams involved in the Sittingbourne Five-a-Side league have enjoyed a hiatus in the fixture programme following a succession of cancellations due to administrative problems suffered by the league. Thankfully those problems have been resolved and we are back into league action.

In Division 1 the Old Bordenians are progressing reasonably well. They have played two games less than the most of the rest of the division and are currently 4th out of 6th in a very finely balanced league. If points can be won from the two games missed (due to a wet floor – in an indoor venue!) it could move them into the top two. The division 1 fixtures resume on 29th November. Alex Bolden continues to organise the team.

In Division 2 the Old Bordenian Veterans are struggling in 6th place (yes, out of six) with two draws and six defeats from the opening 8 games. Until the 22nd November we had been selecting from only five outfield players all of whom are over 50, however we have now been joined by two younger players (Matt Norris and Simon Thompson) and in our 9th and 10th games we managed a creditable 6-2 win and a 1-1 draw. Indeed, Simon scored a first half hat-trick and so became our top scorer within 6 minutes of joining the team. So we are still in 6th place but now closing in on 5th. Even in those opening eight games we were buoyed by the fact that we were not being outclassed – just out run, so if we can secure the services of one or two more (fitter) Old Boys, we could yet climb to a respectable mid table position. (Contact Keith Shea on 07776 256526 if you are interested in joining the Veterans side).

Both teams now have a break from the league until mid January as the myriad of cup competitions gets underway. Wembley here we come*. With a bit of luck the two Old Bordenian teams will be drawn against each other so that we can all review, over a couple of beers, the walloping inflicted by the “Vets”.

In October we enjoyed playing a veterans (over 40s) 11-a- side match against a team from Faversham. We had played this fixture twice before with both games ending in a narrow victory for the opposition. The two sides are very well matched with the games being played in the right spirit and this time we emerged as 4-3 winners. We are hoping to play them again in the Spring. Our team that day was: Alan Snelling, John Kingsnorth, Paul Fletcher, Kevin Cope, Mick Pack, Dave Elmer, Alan Abury, Andy Bushell, Cliff Cork, Neil Redmond and Keith Shea. We were all walking normally again within a week.

There is also the possibility of an Old Bordenians v The Borden Grammar Teachers in the near future.

*Highly unlikely

Keith Shea

23rd November 2007

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