"Men Behaving Badly" Squad:
Sammi Jordan (GK)
John Verrall
Ben Curtis
Simon Renton
Matt Robertson
Raj Nandha (Captain)
Finn Cain
Jordon Parkinson


Friday 6th April 2012

Men Behaving Badly (Ramsey) 2 v 2 Captain Birdseye (Formby) (Last year’s winners)
- Simon Renton’s cross lead to an own goal
- Finn Cain

Men Behaving Badly (Ramsey) 3 v 9 Robbo’s Squad (West Derby)
- Simon Renton
- Finn Cain
- Raj Nandha

Men Behaving Badly (Ramsey) 4 v 2 Cherry Pickers (Formby)
- Matt Robertson
- Finn Cain
- Raj Nandha
- Simon Renton

Saturday 7th April 2012

Men Behaving Badly (Ramsey) 1 v 2 Formby 1st Team – (played on the grass pitch)
- Matt Robertson

Men Behaving Badly (Ramsey) 3 v 4 PM (Formby) – (played on the grass pitch)
- Matt Robertson
- John Verrall
- John Verrall

Men Behaving Badly (Ramsey) 2 v 10 Southport
- Matt Robertson
- Matt Robertson

Sunday 8th April 2012

Men Behaving Badly (Ramsey) 1 v 2 Clucking Bell (Formby)
- Simon Renton

Men Behaving Badly (Ramsey) 2 v 5 The Fog (Formby) – (played on the grass pitch)
- John Verrall
- Finn Cain


Summary

The “Men Behaving Badly” (MBB) team were greeted by the Formby contingent with open arms, with a few familiar Formby faces starting the early friendly banter with those Ramsey members who attended the tournament last year.

Unlike last year, the Ramsey squad did not need to borrow any Formby players for any of the games as the MBB team had sufficient numbers for the 7-a-side tournament, even with a few players carrying injuries.

Luck would have it that the MBB first match would be against the reigning champions “Captain Birdseye”, whom we borrowed two players from in the early part of last year’s tournament. The Formby outfit started quick and were thirsty for hockey blood from the off. If it wasn’t for Sammi’s heroics in goal and some poor finishing by Formby the scoreline could have been a lot different. That aside, MBB fought back bravely to get their first points on the board with a score draw. Great effort everybody, especially Sammi who made her mark on the tournament and turned heads with superb goalkeeping.

The game against Robbo’s Squad (West Derby) was disappointing, with MBB defending poorly and shifting 6-7 goals within the space of 10-15mins, and it could have been double figures had it not been for Sammi’s goalkeeping. The positive point was that we scored 3 goals against a strong team.

The final game on Friday was against the “Cherry Pickers” from Formby, who were there for the taking and MBB duly beat them after being 2-1 down to win 4-2.

MBB were on 5 points after 3 games and unfortunately these would be the only points that the Ramsey team would get from the tournament.

Sammi’s goalkeeping qualities were being discussed all around the tournament with many commenting on her quality keeping, presence and skills. Formby ladies even asked to borrow Sammi for a few games around the MBB games on Saturday, which she duly obliged.

On Saturday the team had 2 matches on the grass, with this being the first time that the majority of the squad had ever played a competitive match on grass.

The first match was against the Formby 1st team. Again, Sammi’s heroics keep us in the game and it could have ended in a score draw, but it was not meant to be so MBB lost 2-1.

The second match was against “PM” from Formby, which was a team of 18 years old and under. The quality of these Formby players was clear from the start with the first 2 shots being clinical finishes to take a 2-nil lead after a few minutes. However, the Formby team’s immaturities lead to them being complacent and MBB started to get a few opportunities in front of goal. With about 10 mins left the scoreline was 3-3, but Formby’s quality came out again and they scored with a few minutes left to make it 4-3. The MBB team continued to cause a threat upfront and were awarded a short corner with less than a minute to go. The ball was injected in, initially missed by Matt at the top of the D only for Simon to pick the ball up on the halfway line and fire it towards the goal. At this point Matt was in the D and managed to get the slightest touch to direct it on course for the inside corner of the goal. Both teams watched as the ball ran into the back of the goal. Ramsey cheered with this equaliser only for the umpire to give a 16 to Formby, stating that the ball wasn’t touched. To the annoyance of the MBB team the final whistle went and they lost 4-3. The Formby team admitted after the game it was a goal!

The final match on Saturday was back on the astro, and like the game against West Derby on Friday, MBB were slow out of the blocks and lost 10-2. Again the positive points were that we scored 2 goals against a strong team.

The final day of the tournament, being Easter Sunday, saw the tournament atmosphere a little subdued due to the heavy Saturday drinking for the majority of the players from all teams.

Just before the first MBB game of the final day of the tournament the captain (Raj) locked his car keys in the boot of he’s car, so the distracted captain decided not to start and try deal with the car matter.

The game against “Clucking Bell” (Formby) was very slow and poor with both sides not really awake for the game. Given this, though MBB lost 2-1 - it should have been a draw.

The last game for MBB was against “The Fog” (Formby Vets) on grass, so guess which team has played a lot of games on grass. The 5-2 scoreline was flattering for MBB due to numerous missed chances by the Formby Vets and super saves by Sammi again. On a positive note the game was played with good spirit, especially as 2 of their players had played for the Ramsey team in last year’s tournament.

The MBB team ended the tournament at the bottom of the table but gained a great deal of experience and friendships, further strengthening the Ramsey ties with Formby.

To conclude, I would like to give a huge thank you to the MBB squad for their effort, fighting spirit, persistence, and sometimes quality hockey play throughout the tournament, especially against teams who were clearly better than us.

I would also like to thank the MBB squad for putting up, for the majority of the tournament, with my over-ambitious captaincy and expectancy of what we could achieve. However, in my defence, apart from the 2 games where we clearly didn’t turn up, being against non Formby opposition (not sure if this was just coincidence), I believe we could have came away with 2 points for a score draw or even all three points, and therefore possibly reach the knock-out stage, but in the end (as I was reminded by the team on many occasions) it’s a tour for fun – just the footballer in me coming out.

I would also just like to thank Simon Renton for organising a lot of the finer parts for the preparation of the tournament including the tour t-shirts, the meal organised for the first night, and any other duties he undertook off the pitch.

On a side note well done to the Ab Fab (or as the t-shirts read “Ad Fab”) team for getting through to the quarter-final knock-out stage. It was a pity the MBB team was unable to support their female compatriots as the majority of our games were played at the same times.

I am sure the Ab Fab captain will have more to say about her team in due course.


Awards

The following “awards” (well announcements) need to be made for the MBB squad:

- MBB Player of the Tournament = Sammi Jordan
- MBB Most Improved Player of the Tournament = Jordon Parkinson
- MBB Top Goalscorer of the Tournament = Matt Robertson
- MBB Positive Attitude of the Tournament = John Verrall