What do you guys think? I just tried to keep it simple if we’re going to have it on our shirts and i didn’t know what else to put on it to make it relevant.

If everyone’s okay with it then it’ll be on our shirts that we order. I think we shall be chosing the adidas one with the white arm. These shirts will be around £18 each + the extras for the badge, name and number(s).

So far the squad numbers that have been taken are;

1 –
2 –
3 – Fairhurst
4 – Goldberg
5 – Dowse
6 – Fearn
7 – Watkins
8 – Hodge
9 –
10 – Ostlere
11 – Phillips
19 – Merrell
23 – Hart
86 – Hutchinson

So state below in the comments what number you want if you’re not on that list, as we’re going to order these asap.

“It’s been a long process in sorting out what I was doing this year, but now it’s sorted I’m just looking forward to starting playing football again! We’re going to be miss a few good players from last season, but we’ve also got some good players coming back from season-long loans away from Lupton. I’m hoping for a more successful season then the last and hoping we can go on to push for the Division 1 Title this year and go on to win the Cup. Most things are in place for the coming year now, but i’m still looking for a accomodation and a job in Leeds. Hopefully both will be in place asap and I can get back onto playing football and sorting out the next social.”

Reminders;

- Message Ant for your Player of the Season vote, via text or facebook.

- Vote for your Goal of the Season, poll on the website.

I asked our keeper why he wasn’t launching counter attacks when he gathered the ball from set pieces, and he said the ref was always loitering around him and he was scared of being clotheslined if he shaped to throw the ball out. I mean, the amount of collusion between the ref and their players was unbelievable, like in the first half when their left back elbowed one of our players and the ref said it was a clash of heads, their player even went off 5 minutes later pretending to be concussed just to keep the act up!

Q: Are you already thinking about next season?
A: Definitely, we’ve got Special K and Gillette coming in to do some work with our players, so we’ll see how that pans out.

Q: Would you consider making a bid for Booth in the summer?
A: Are you kidding? He’s not even got a beard! We have no room for that kind of player on our team.

However, such a comprehensive scoreline could not have been envisaged after half an hour when Classic Lupton we’re struggling to get to grips with Royal Park. Although clear cut chances were not created by either side, the division two team were equipping themselves very well, and the flair players in blue found the ball hard to come by. Perhaps such a slow start on Lupton’s behalf could be put down to the fact it was their first game since March 21st. Or maybe only entering the changing rooms 10 minutes before kick off disrupted their usually ordered pre-match preparations. Such a gaffe on behalf of the organisers has become commonplace, but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating. There are unverified reports which have suggested that at a similar time somewhere in Yorkshire a piss up in a brewery wasn’t quite going to plan.

Nonetheless, after being forced into an early change, with Paul Shawcross coming on for Luke Fairhurst who had suffered a mild concussion in a clash of heads with an opponent, the Classico’s finally took the lead when skipper Craig Thorpe broke down the right wing at speed before delivering a delicate finish over the head of the onrushing, overweight keeper from a tight angle. When the ball hit the back of the net, Lupton breathed a huge sigh of relief. The game was beginning to get increasingly scrappy and there was a collective feeling that they were in for an arduous afternoon. However the goal settled the favourites, and a minute later James Phillips had an effort ruled out for a debatable offside. Shortly after though Booth forced his way through the defence, admirably stayed on his feet, and delivered a composed finish to give Lupton a two goal cushion. Just before half time Booth added his second and his teams third to send his troops in at half-time breathing rather more comfortably than they might have been.

Half-time saw the Royal Park manager come over to the Lupton camp in an attempt to settle the simmering relations between the two sides, but his accusation of cheating towards the very able referee Joe Byrne only fanned the flames. Thorpe took particular exception to the fat, ugly, smelly, appallingly tattooed, hypocrite excuse for a manger, and had to be restrained by his team mates who correctly just wanted to focus on the game. He promises he has learnt his lesson and acknowledges that as captain he should set a better example. Sorry.

The second half began with Booth claiming his hat-trick, and creating a deficit of four. Lupton took this opportunity to rest Thorpe and the ever industrious Johnny Lamb for gaffer Anthony Hart and first half ref Joe Byrne. The remaining 30 minutes were a stroll for the Classico’s. The newly introduced subs combined well with Tommy Fearn and Chris Hodges, who were running the show in midfield. Always wanting the ball, they provided Lupton with a quality outlet, and their passing was nothing short of exemplary.

It must be said that the last 4 goals were a blur. What is clear though is that in the process of Booth nonchalantly completing his double hat trick, and Phillips adding to his season’s tally of 6, all the goals we’re top quality. The common theme was a floated ball over the top for one of the blues attackers to run on to and finish by outpacing easily a defence that was carrying extra weight and holding a stupidly high line. The failure of their ugly manager to realise this was quite embarrassing.

Throughout the game Lupton could quite easily have thought they were playing Newcastle United, such was the lack of threat posed in their area, but when called upon Adam Johns was a commanding presence between the sticks. In defence Gareth Heald was his usual calm self, organising the back line with authority, and alongside him George Chilvers was a solid partner. A willing header of the ball, George also loves to play with ball at his feet, and he played a fantastic ball through for one of Ric’s many goals. Shawcross acquitted himself well at right back, and on the other side Matt Watkins returned to the fold with an accomplished, determined performance in an unfamiliar position.

When asked for who caught his eye, manager Anthony Hart was reluctant to single out anyone in such a well rounded team performance, instead turning his attention to Wednesday’s final against Sports Science, where he sought to emphasise the credentials of his own side. “Sports Science in the week will be a tough game but I don’t want to talk about them too much to be honest, I think that the talk should be about us. I know we can compete with any team now and especially on the run that we’re on at the moment, with the players we have, I don’t think any team has a more in form striker or a better striker for that matter. I just hope Booth and indeed the team can carry the momentum into the final”.

On the prospect of potentially two games in an afternoon, Hart was conscious not to get ahead of himself. “The first of the potential double header on Wednesday will be our priority – it is the only game that we shall worry about and think about. The fact that there’s a potential winners final an hour after playing 90 minutes is nothing short of ludicrous, but lets not dwell on that until after Sports Science and until we know whether or not we know it will affect us. The only thing I will say though is that it will be the same for both teams”.

And so here it is. CLFC face their moment of truth. A cup final. A chance for glory. A chance to be heroes. An opportunity to create a story they can retell for years. But lose and their dreams will be in tatters. Such is the fine line of football, and only Wednesday will reveal which side of the line the Classico’s take.

Lupton –Johns – Watkins Heald Chilvers Fairhurst (Shawcross 25m)- Lamb (Hart 62m) Thorpe © (Byrne 58m) Hodges – Phillips Fearn – Booth: Unused subs – None

Attendance – Shanice, Dowse

Yellow Cards (0)
Red Cards (0)
Deliberate Shoulder Barges From Referee (1) – * Apparently

So far there are a couple of suggested themes for the Otley Run such as;

- Ashes/Monty Panesar

- Referees

- Retro Footballers

If you could leave your own suggestions as a comment to this article then the best ones will put to a poll where the winner is the theme that we will be dressing up as for the Otley Run. (Also if you know when you’re leaving for the summer etc could you please add that, so we have a rough idea when to organise it for.)

- Saturday 18th April 5-7pm

-Monday 20th April 8-10pm

On both of these occasions the whole pitch has been booked on the 3G. We are hoping to arrange some sort of a friendly game on either of these occasions. Just to let everyone know that they should come back for the saturday before we start term. If everyone could say if they will be back by then or not would be good.

Well done to Jonny and all the lads who helped put out TFU…  We’re currently in the best form in the history of the club; picking a team next time out will cause me many a dilema no doubt…

Cheers to Watkins for 1) taking control and 2) referring

Our next opponents i dont know yet… most teams rearranged their fixtures from the last weekend of term… obvioulsy haven’t the strength in depth of the Classico’s

For those that are bothered… skiing was cracking; I just hope that captain Thorpe will be sober by the time our next fixture comes around – one cannot deny him of making the most of his holiday

Look out for up and coming posts:

1) opponents in the next round of the Cup and

2) An adventurous attempt by myself to extend our season beyond the Universities Intra Mural League

Hope you’re all enjoying the Easter break… don’t forget to drop me a text if you’re back in Leeds – we can get a knock about arranged

While the Classico’s had missed out on qualification to Saturday’s premier cup by an incredibly fine margin taking the race right down to the wire, statistically Lupton are the third best team in both of the two divisions.

While they might rue the Leagues poor organisational qualities and the bizarre format that sees two teams from the bottom ten clubs entering the premier cup as cannon fodder, Lupton have at least been given the opportunity to prove their worth in the Leagues second competition. The first round draw saw Lupton pitted against TFU, a team with varying form from the second division. While usually the Classico’s would go in as heavy favourites against a team from a lower division, Lupton had two factors against them, that the backlog of fixtures determined that the match was to be played during university ski season meaning Lupton were shorn of five members of their squad, and that TFU hold the record for Lupton’s worst defeat a 9-1 thumping that took place over a year and a half ago.While a month ago half of the Lupton squad could have travelled to their nearest hill to ski, Saturday saw the beginning of spring and with it a clear sky and a very dry pitch. The game kicked off with both teams playing heart fully, but after 10 minutes it became clear that the game would be played out with the ball in the air much more often than it would be on the ground. The unevenness of the pitch meant that neither teams defence would take a chance with the ball on the ground, and subsequently many bouts of head-tennis ensued. As usual with games at Boddington, there was also a significant slope to contend with. In the first half the slope was in Lupton’s favour, however TFU put up a very stern resistance. Lupton had a handful of chances, mostly from corners, but were unable to convert. Phillips and Booth linked up well at the front, with Phillips drifting in from the left and confusing the defenders. It was Phillips who broke the deadlock around the thirty minute mark, and he himself admitted to being slightly confused as to quite how he did it after the match. Phillips collected the ball just outside the penalty and on the left close to the by-line. Cutting inside, the TFU full back tried to shepherd him away from goal, but with a step over and a flick Phillips nut-megged the player, and when everyone was expecting a cross managed to squeeze the ball in the inside of the goalkeepers post from a very tight angle. The TFU keeper looked bemused for some time as to how the ball had crept in, and is probably still pondering the incident now. TFU did not let their heads drop after this, and continued to fight up until half time and after it.
The second half continued in much the same way as the first, the aerial battle the most prominent aspect. Byrne was the tallest of the three midfielders, and while his weakness at challenging for headers was exposed Lamb and Fearn more than made up for him. Johnny Lamb played like an angry bulldog in midfield, always challenging and never letting up. Fearn ran the show alongside him. When the ball was eventually on the floor his passing was magnificent, always picking out Phillips or Booth. Fearn seemed to be everywhere, and it was apt that it was he who saved Lupton during their hairiest moment. As the TFU pressure mounted, Lupton looked to play on the counter and close the game out. This led to a lot of set pieces in the Lupton half. One of these resulted in a goalmouth scramble in which the ball trickled across the goal line. While the rest of Classic Lupton looked on, shitting themselves like George Chilvers on a night out, Fearn sprang to life and cleared the ball away to safety. Lupton responded with the move of the game, winning the ball just over the half way line, Booth and Phillips played a one two that covered 30 yards and split TFU wide open, and Phillips’ sweetly struck shot rebounded of the outside of the near post.
TFU’s two centre forwards had been their best players throughout the game, tricky as they were Chilvers and Heald handled them well, ably assisted by Shawcross and Fairhurst. However when their number nine and captain broke through with less than ten minutes to go Shawcross unintentionally ran across his heels. The number 9 subsequently went down inside the area. The referee, stylishly decked out in orange boots and a headband judged that as the contact was committed outside a freekick should be awarded. This seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for TFU, who continued to push right up until the final whistle; however with their powerhouse midfielder (nicknamed ‘Guti’ for having a similar appearance if not playing style) injured Lupton were able to see out the rest of the game and were glad to hear the final whistle.
It was a tough game for Lupton but considering the players missing one they can be proud of winning. Booth and Phillips held the ball up extremely well at the top of the pitch, and the rest of the team put the effort in that was needed to see out the victory. This can be summed up by the performance of Marc Scarisbrick on the right of midfield who although he was playing on the right for the first time this season made sure he was never out of the action, got about the pitch and never let a TFU player have any time on the ball. The Classico’s Mr versatile will be missed as he heads off to Spain for a loan spell pre-arranged when his contract was signed, but as was proved on Saturday they have the squad to deal with almost anything thrown their way.
Stand in manager Matt Watkins said ‘Im happy with the performance as the conditions didn’t make things easy for either team, the ball bobbling everywhere, the sun baking down and the slant on the pitch. But I definitely though we were the better team on the day and fully deserved to go through.’ Asked about the opposition he commented ‘they are a decent team and were very dangerous on the break, without Adam Johns in net today I feel as though we could’ve let in a few, but with his presence there sweeping and collecting the balls in the air this cut off their main supply. But I do think if we had got an early goal then this would have killed off their belief that they had of winning the game, as they always felt as though they were in it.’
Lupton progress to the next round and will feel re-invigorated after the Easter break. Not all of the first round ties were played on Saturday so Lupton are clueless as to who and when they will be playing next, unlike the organisers of the League who are just plain clueless. However they can go in to the next tie confident that they are not only a side who can play very neat football, but also a side who when needed can grind out a win against very capable opposition.

Classic Lupton 1-0 TFU

Classic Lupton (4-5-1) Johns-Shawcross, Chilvers, Heald, Fairhurst- Scarisbrick, Lamb, Byrne, Fearn, Phillips- Booth

Goals-
Classic Lupton- Phillips (30 mins) Attendance- Shanice