Pigasus

Dave H, Manuel D, Rob H, John M. Phil C, Ollie S, Jon H, Stuart B. A depleted Calne squad of six finally made it to Vilamoura last week - Stuart B, Phil C, Jon H, Dave H, Rob H and Ollie S.  Our first morning there saw us take on three sides at the regular Browns sessions. It was hot, the pitches were BIG, and we were facing many players who were still in their fifties. We also faced new rules such as the first individual running offence meant one minute in the bin, the second one two minutes etc etc. It was no surprise therefore, that this session was a big learning for us, and we lost 2 games by 1 v 0, and drew the third game 0 v 0. A not too unusual result for Calne Town, being quite mean in defence, but profligate in attack. It was also no surprise when Ollie became the first (but not our only) player to be binned for running! On Thursday, we provided some useful opposition to the Browns ladies team who needed an opponent to give them some practice before they compete in an up...

It was always going to be difficult to match last year’s performance following the loss of two key players leaving us with just five Calne players for the tournament.   Some last-minute transfer activity in the Algarve market and a lot of administration however saw us secure the services of two players from local side Ferreiras for the first day. We were also drawn in a tough group with Portsmouth, Odiaxere  (winners of the May Tournament)  and another local side, Tavira.    Joao B , Charlie N, Graham N,  Manuel C . Jon H, Ollie S,  Dave H. Charlie N, Graham N, Dave H. Andreas A, Jon H, Ollie S. Unfortunately, we lost our first game 1 v 0 to Portsmouth and a last-minute strike, and then were beaten 2 v 0 by a very good Odiaxere side  (the eventual tournament winners... again!).   We did however manage to secure a 0 v 0 draw with Tavira in our final game. Though as a result, we finished bottom of our group. This meant we needed ...

 Perry K, Dave H, Charlie N, Phil C. Jon H, Mark K, Graham N. Place: Browns Sports Resort, Vilamoura, Portugal.  Time: 29 & 30 September. Dia Um On day one, in temperatures reaching 28 ˚ C (that's 82 ˚F for the older folk amongst us!)  t his group of lads topped ' the group of death'. 0-0 v Firenze 1-0 v  Billericay (Dave; Graham assist) 1-0 v Grimsby (Perry; penalty) Including the pre tournament warm-up games, the squad hadn't conceded in 7 games and were set up nicely for the knock-out stage on day two. Dia Dois We edged into the quarter finals, after winning 2 v 0 on penalties following a goalless draw against Charlebury. In an eventful QF game against Ayr, Perry was sent off early and following a stoic 15 minutes the 4 men of Calne conceded a questionable goal - our opponents even acknowledged their goal should not have stood. C'est la vie (or whatever the Portuguese equivalent is) .  Finishing 5th out of the 24 international teams was a g...