First outing for my vuvuzela*

Ooh, Curzon Ashton v Manchester United XI. Or as they’re better known, Manchester United Reserves. This was the first of Curzon’s friendly matches and it was a joy to watch. The Man United squad showed why they play for Man United. Technically brilliant and fantastic to watch, I’m sure we’ll be seeing many of them in the Manchester United first team in the very near future.

As a first outing for the new Curzon squad they were quite impressive. They played like a team, which I suppose they should considering all but two of them used to play together at Mossley.  Unfortunately, the only other player from last season, Chris McDonagh, was unable to play as he'd picked up an injury in training. It was great to see so many children being brought to the match by their parents. It's a pity they don't continue to come and watch their local team when there isn't a big name to draw them in.

I’m not sure anyone would have been expecting Curzon to win this match. And of course they didn’t. They were beaten by four goals to one in what was, I suppose, a bit of a David and Goliath match. Except Goliath won. But it was still a very entertaining match and it provided a glimpse of what is possible for the season for the Curzon players.

The award for the most irritating person of the night went to the PA announcer. His inability to speak properly makes me think that possibly he’s not the right person for the job. He constantly gets his words jumbled up and is unable to say more than four or five words without an ‘err’. His problems pronouncing the Curzon players names even after they’ve been playing all season mean that visiting team players don’t stand a chance. As for the club sponsors, PP Plasma, well, how difficult is that to say? Apparently, it’s very difficult. They were repeatedly referred to as PP Plasna all evening.

So the positives for the next season - the pitch is looking very nice and springy, the squad is looking like they will settle in quite nicely and the ticket prices are the same as last season. The negatives – well, let’s just see what happens, shall we.

*Not really

And we're back

Saturday was the first outing to a match in ages.  Well, several weeks at least. Abbey Hey FC v New Mills AFC was the first of a few friendlies lined up in the next few weeks. And it didn't disappoint.

Abbey Hey have a nice ground and a very pleasant clubhouse. The pies were particularly popular.  The match began with a minutes silence for Abbey Hey’s kit manager who had tragically died a few days earlier. What should have been a poignant moment was reduced to farce as the announcement was made in a spectacularly dreadful fashion through the club’s terrible PA system which rendered it undecipherable.

Your ball.....

However, what followed was an entertaining, fast moving game, with both sets of players eager to display their talents, presumably with the hope of securing a place in the first team at the start of the new season. The crowd was quite interesting too with a disturbing number of spectators enthusiastically snapping away at the action.  There were more cameras on display than in a Jessop’s shop window. Some of these photos can be seen on the Abbey Hey website if you are at all interested.

The mystery of the day was trying to figure out why Abbey Hey’s ‘Killer’ was so named. A club official told us it was because of his surname.  Not quite sure how you get 'Killer' from Martin Pilkington. The mystery continues.

Rushing home to catch the start of the England v France game in the Women’s World Cup (shouldn’t have bothered), I missed the end of the match but later learnt that newly promoted New Mills had beat Abbey Hey in a five goals to three scoreline.  I would have been looking forward to see Curzon Ashton playing against New Mills this season. Unfortunately, New Mills have been placed in the Evostik Division One South League. Obviously.