SWA & Sarah - Screen Stars!

Enjoy the Field Music video for House is not a Home staring the H-ton Hawks very own SWA and the lovely Sarah

Pro Evo 8-2 H-ton Hawks

In a well battled game the Hawks were made to pay for simple mistakes
Despite an impressive first period, the Hawks were punished in the second half, leaving them still in the hunt for their first points of the season.

With the game goalless after 7 minutes, the Hawks played some excellent, if defensive, football. Closing down the opposition and chasing down every ball. Unfortunately the deadlock was broke by Pro Evo. Shortly after the first goal, a second was added. This was a controversial goal. A skyward bound shot from Pro Evo hit Lawrence in the face and deflected into the Hawks net. Despite protests that this shouldn't count as it was over head height, the referee said it would stand. The Hawks were soon to respond to this with a Lawrence strike to cancel out the previous goal.

At half time the Hawks trailed 3-1. The first half performance was solid and could have been their best performance in the league to date. The second half started well for the Hawks with Houghton crossing to Wilson from the right to make the score 3-2. However, just as things were looking promising, the Hawks threw it away with a catalogue of rookie mistakes. Lack of movement from the throw-outs and bad keeper throw-outs gifted the ball to the opposition allowing them to score. All 5 goals in the second half probably could have been prevented. That said, Pro Evo did play well.

The next game will be after the Christmas break against Three Counties, 7.00pm 5th January 2007 on Court 2. Let’s hope the New Year brings a change of fortunes to the Hawks before they disrupted by the many first quarter holidays planned by most of the members.

H-ton Hawks MANY-FEW Whitfield's United (friendly)

In a friendly game played on Wednesday, the Hawks showed they could play as an efficent, goal scoring team, as the put in an excellent, well rounded team performance and trounced Whitfield's United.

This fixture had to be moved from Hetton Sports Complex to Houghton Sport Cente due to dangerously high winds. This also caused the game to be pushed back an hour to 9pm. Despite the late kick-off, the Hawks were far from asleep. In a blinding opening 10 minutes, the Hawks dominated with slick passing and solid defending. This saw them take a comprensive early lead. This continue for the rest of the game, even though some goals were conceded.

The Hawks hopefully can use this match as a springboard for Friday's game against Pro Evo in the league.

Aparell Master 14-1 H-ton Hawks

A Hawks team with temporary members suffered a compressive defeat to the hands of Aparell Master.
With only three original members of team H-ton available to play, two replacements had to be drafted in to cover. The combined effects of the new players plus the gulf in footballing ability between the Hawks and Aparell Master proved too much and the Hawks found themselves out of the game from the start.

The two new players, Day and Garrity, did not come with the Hawks ethic - don't forget the club motto "Hawks Fly Together". They played for themselves. Garity played like he was the only member on the team and had the inability to pass. He was interested in the glory of scoring and not the team. The two newest members were also defence shy, so Lawrence and Houghton found themselves playing from the back for the majority of the game. Houghton also might as well have been invisible going forward as the Garity non-passing meant that every run into space was met with nothing.

Silly goals were also given away as the newbies were not playing to the whistle. A penalty from a backpass and a pass of the ball to the opposition standing on the edge of the box, letting them score, after just stopping when an appeal for handball was lodged were among some of the lowlights of this dreadful and unenjoyable game.

The new members were not the sole cause of the defeat. Aparell Master were actually very good with some excellent individual players.

So the next match is against Prov Evo, 7.30pm 15th December on Court 1. Sorry Day and Garrity.... don't call us... we'll call you.

Make the Hawks a Household Name

The following has appeared on the bbc web site. Get your thinking caps on for what we can write. Help make the H-ton Hawks famous by coming up with something that will get us chosen by the BBC. Just imagine the progress we can make if we have a team of professional coaches to help us..... and also the revenue we can get from advertising, this blog site and sales of official H-ton Hawks club strips and other memorabilia (I somehow don't think so - this is a joke if anyone from the BBC reads this). So get you thinking caps on and we'll try to win it for the Hawks (well it would be the first time the Hawks have won anything)

"Football team wanted

Is your team ready to line up?
Do you play football for a team in dire need of a helping hand?

Your defence has more holes than Swiss cheese, your club shower is piped in from the Arctic and your boss is a clown.

Our amazing competition can change all of that, fire you up the league table and make you stars on the BBC.

We want to take a team under our wing and follow them for the rest of the season, documenting every high and low along the way.

The story of your season will appear on BBC Sport Academy and 606 each week showing your results, match reports and who the crazy characters are in your team. Plus we'd love to feature you on BBC radio and TV.

Our aim is to improve your team and we are willing to recruit a full range of sporting experts to help out.

Whether it's a top manager, player, psychologist, or even a nutritionist, we'll send them to your club if you think it will help.

We want to show your team to the world and prove why the blood, sweat and tears at amateur level is the real deal.

All you have to do is tell us in no more than 250 words why we should pick YOUR team.

Please email your entries to us using the form below by Friday 22 December.

A shortlist will be drawn up before choosing the winning team. Please note that we can only accept entries from teams with players aged 16 and over.

Make sure you have read our competition rules before submitting your entry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/get_involved/6191552.stm "

Mr Sprout - Blogger Upgrade

Apologies to all.
Blogger has been upgraded to a new version (out of my control).
While this offers access to some brand new features, some of the old stuff will need adapting... which will take time that I don't have at the moment. The posts will still be coming but may look a bit naff. Please stick with me over the coming weeks and I'll sort it all out.
Mr Sprout should be back better than ever
(disclaimer: May not be better than before)

Lucombe 5-1 H-ton Hawks

The Hawks suffered a awful defeat against Lucombe in the league
As I wasn't there again, I cannot comment on the Hawks performance, but I'm told it was shocking.

The Hawks goal came from SWA.

However, it looks like the Hawks have registered their first win of the season due to an admin error. According to the league table they have won 1, lost 2. We'll see how long this lasts.

This week's game in against Aparell Master, 7.30pm 8th Dec on Court 1.
This fixture may end in disaster as at point of writing this entry, the Hawks have only 3 players available for the game. If you are able to kick a ball, please contact us via the contact link at the side of the page or by clicking HERE and let us know if you can play in this Friday's match.

H-ton Hawks 5-8 D.P. Trophies

In a game of two vastly different halves, the Hawks threw away a comfortable lead to slump to another defeat.
After leading at half time by 5 goals to 2, thanks to a Wilson hat-trick, the Hawks game plan backfired and they found themselves on the end of a 8-2 kicking.

As I wasn't at the match I cannot comment on anything else, but a more comprehensive match report may follow if some cares to write me one.

Hawks goals came from Wilson(3), Cummings(1) and SWA(1). Man-of-the-match was awarded to Wilson for his first half display.

Next match is against Lucombe on 1st December at 6.30pm on Court 1.

Barmy Army 8-5 H-ton Hawks

In a well fought opening match in the second division, the Hawks continue their quest for their first win.
In a close game the Hawks battled throughout the match but found themselves on the losing side at the final whistle.

The first half started with the usual story. The Hawks found themselves 1-nil down after a few minutes. In previous weeks this had proved a problem, but their new found confidence in front goal mean that the score line at half-time was a respectable 3-2 to Barmy Army. The first half was not without incident. Borthwick, in goal whilst still taking it easy from his ankle injury, conceded a penalty when he slid across the box and toughed the ball outside of his area. To much relief, he tipped the resulting spot kick around the post. This was then followed by a freak goal for the Hawks. Lawrence took a powerful shot on the right side of goal. The shot was well saved by the keeper. The ball then hit off the side wall, came back toward the goal and crept into the net behind the keeper.

The second half started with even possession for both teams. As the half progressed the Hawks picked up more play and looked dangerous in front of goal. The Barmy Army had a switch around at half time, with the first half keeper taking up position in left defence. As the Hawks looked for goals to square-up the match, or even go ahead, their efforts were dashed by two long range efforts. With a packed defensive line, marking members of the Barmy Army, a couple of shots were able to find their way through to goal and into the net, past a blindsided keeper.

The Hawks were unlucky not to get pick up any points from their first match of the new season. Goals came from Lawrence(3), Watchman Atkinson(1) and Cummings(1). Man-of-the-Match went to Borthwick.

The next match is 6.30pm Friday 24th November, on Court 1, against D.P. Trophies.

Remmer & the Arg 8-8 H-ton Hawks (Pre-Season Friendly)

The H-ton Hawks are left disappointed after they fail to pick up their first win.
In a game they should have won the Hawks should they do have the ability to score goals.

This week the team was Borthwick (goalkeeper), Lawrence, Cummings, Houghton and Watchman Atkinson as Wilson and Aldridge were sidelined with man-flu. After a very scrappy first 5 minutes in which the Hawks were all over the place, they found themselves 1-nil down, but managed to turn things around with by applying pressure to the opposition and pulling off excellent passing manoeuvres. It wasn't long before the Hawks were in control. For the remainder of the first half they dominated the play. This resulted in some in-fighting between the Remmer & the Arg team-mates. This spurred the Hawks on and they took a 6-2 lead.

With the Hawks in a commanding position the game looked theirs. Unfortunately in the world of H-ton Hawks, things never go to plan. The lack of fitness kicked in and the Hawks started to struggle. The runs down the flanks that had proven so decisive in the first half dried up. The play from the back was flat. The running machine that is Houghton descended into a canter after a knock in the chest winded him.

The Hawks momentum had ceased. Remmer & the Arg pulled it back to 6 all, then it went to 7-6. The Hawks found themselves behind for the first time since the opening goal. They dug deep to find an equaliser but then fell behind again. With minutes to go, Houghton let rip with a long range power shot which caught a slight deflection and went sailing into the goal. 8-8 was the score with only a couple of minutes remaining. This was to be the end of the match. A member of the opposition turned their ankle straight after the restart resulting in the rest of the game being abandoned due to the time the first aid treatment took.

This was a very entertaining game for the spectator. Dave the referee commented that it was on of the best games he'd seen. Hawks goals came from Houghton(3), Lawrence(3) and SWA(2). All the goals were well taken in their own right. The unselfish play by SWA in passing to Law to calmly slot the ball past the keeper, the individual skill of SWA to talk on players and power home the goal, and the shear persistence of Houghton to intercept the goal keeper's throw-out and knock it into the back of the net. Cummings played a solid performance in defence and Borthwick played another blinder in goal. The Hawks will be disappointed not to take a win from this fixture.

Next week sees the first week of the new season with the Hawks in division 2. The game is on Court 1 at 7.30pm, 18th November against Barmy Army.

Mr Sprout goes MySpace

For some strange reason, I've started up a MySpace page.
It will generally be a duplicate of this site.

The web address is www.myspace.com/htonia

If your signed up to MySpace, you can sign up as a friend (that sounds so desperate and lonely - I'm not a Billy-no-mates - Honest!)

Remmer & the Arg 5-4 H-ton Hawks (Pre-Season Friendly)

The Hawks came so close to their first victory in a pre-season friendly against division 2 opposition Remmer & the Arg
Again this week the Hawks were thin on the ground in terms of team members. Cummings and SWA were missing due to prior engagements, Wison was still been a big girl with his bad thumb, and the resident emergency ringer Neil Houghton was also on the injured list. Therefore another Houghton brother, Craig, stepped up for the challenge.

The Hawks started badly conceding a couple of weak goals, but as the game progressed, the game evened out. After half time the Hawks were the better team but the inability to finish was the overriding factor. The frustration of failing to find the goal caused the Hawks to drift up the pitch, exposing them at the back. Some excellent goal keeping by Borthwick in his first game back from his ankle injury kept Remmer & the Arg from increasing their lead further, but this wasn't enough to prevent another Hawks loss, albeit only a friendly.

Once again inconsistent refereeing saw the match become very scrappy at points. The Hawks can be pleased with their passing display throughout the game which opened up the opposition and lead to all of their goals. Goals came from Lawrence(2), C Houghton(1) and G Houghton(1).

The next game is another pre-season friendly against Remmer & the Arg, 7.30pm Friday 10th November on Court 3.

Competition: Design The H-ton Hawks Badge

With the Hawks about to embark on their first full season in the Washington-5-A-Side Friday League, it is about time that they adopted a badge.

Your challenge is to design a badge/logo for H-ton Hawks football team.

Send your entry by clicking here or by emailing it to sproutnet(at)googlemail.com (at=@ - the change is to avoid me getting spam from web crawl programs)

Entries will be displayed on this post below this text.
Please give you view on the entries via the comments button. Don't forget to say which entry you're commenting on.

Entry 1


By Lee Borthwick

H-ton Hawks Results and Fixtures

This post will be updated weekly with all the H-ton Hawks results and fixtures. Each result will have a link to the match report.

This post will have its own permanent link on the Blog side bar.

All games are in the Washington 5-a-Side League unless stated.

Albany vs. H-ton Hawks 7.30pm 25/5/07 (Court 3)

H-ton Hawks 3-2 Nee-Gud 23/5/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

H-ton Hawks 6-6 Usworth 19/5/07

Seaham FC 4-2 H-ton Hawks 16/5/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

H-ton Hawks 1-13 Pro Evo 11/5/07

Alan's Allstars 2-2 H-ton Hawks 9/5/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

H-ton Hawks 1-12 Aparell Master 4/5/07

H-ton Hawks 2-1 Nee-Gud 25/4/07 (Friendly - Hetton Soccer-6)

H-ton Hawks 0-4 Npower 6s 25/4/07 (Friendly - Hetton Soccer-6)

H-ton Hawks 3-0 Legends 2/5/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

Lucombe 5-7 H-ton Hawks 27/4/07

H-ton Hawks 5-0 Npower 6s 25/4/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

H-ton Hawks 0-4 Hetton Scaffolders 25/4/07 (Friendly - Hetton Soccer-6)

H-ton Hawks 4-7 D.P. Trophies 20/4/07

The Club 4-3 H-ton Hawks 18/4/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

Barmy Army 8-6 H-ton Hawks 13/4/07

H-ton Hawks 1-5 The Club 11/4/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

H-ton Hawks vs. Hetton Collery 4/4/07 - H-ton Hawks forfeit due no team

Fatfield FC 7-4 H-ton Hawks 30/3/07

Alan's Allstars 3-2 H-ton Hawks 28/3/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

Inter Ya Mam 3-5 H-ton Hawks 23/3/07

H-ton Hawks 4-0 Npower 6s 21/3/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

Albany vs. H-ton Hawks 16/3/07

H-ton Hawks 1-2 Lyons Lads 14/3/07 (Hetton Soccer-6)

H-ton Hawks 8-8 Three Counties 9/3/07

Pro Evo 7-2 H-ton Hawks 2/3/07

Aparell Master 13-1 H-ton Hawks 23/2/07

Lucombe 9-8 H-ton Hawks 16/2/07

H-ton Hawks 7-6 D.P. Trophies 9/2/07

Barmy Army 7-4 H-ton Hawks 2/2/07

H-ton Hawks 5-11 Fatfield FC 26/1/07

Inta Ya Mam 7-4 H-ton Hawks 19/1/07

H-ton Hawks 3-4 Albany 12/1/07

H-ton Hawks 4-9 Three Counties 5/1/07

Prov Evo 8-2 H-ton Hawks 15/12/06

Aparell Master 14-1 H-ton Hawks 8/12/06

H-ton Hawks MANY-FEW Whitfield's United (friendly)

H-ton Hawks 1-5 Lucombe 1/12/06

H-ton Hawks 5-8 D.P. Trophies 24/11/06

Barmy Army 8-5 H-ton Hawks 17/11/06

-^-^-^-^-^- 2006/07 Season - League 2 -^-^-^-^-^-

Remmer & the Arg 8-8 H-ton Hawks (Friendly) 10/11/06

Remmer & the Arg 5-4 H-ton Hawks (Friendly) 3/11/06

H-ton Hawks 10-0 Entertainers 27/10/06

Bathroom Unit 10-3 H-ton Hawks 20/10/06

Houghton Feast 5-A-Side Tournament 15/10/06

Victoria 22-0 H-ton Hawks 13/10/06

Entertainers 14-4 H-ton Hawks (Assoc. Cup) 6/10/06

Roof Truss 15-1 H-ton Hawks 29/9/06

Bathroom Unit 12-0 H-ton Hawks (Sub Cup) 22/9/06

New Team 8-0 H-ton Hawks (Sub Cup) 15/9/06

Roof Truss 0-10 H-ton Hawks 8/9/06

Bathroom Unit 18-2 H-ton Hawks (Sub Cup) 1/9/06

Coach & Horses 24-2 H-ton Hawks (Sub Cup) 25/8/06

-^-^-^-^-^- 2005/06 Season - League 1 -^-^-^-^-^-

H-ton Hawks 10 - 0 Entertainers

The Hawks picked up a default 10-nil win in the Friday League this week when the Entertainers failed to show
With Lawrence away, Borthwick still on his road to recovery and Wilson being a big girl just because he's hurt his thumb, Neil Houghton was again drafted in and SWA had to overcome his fitness problems and play a full game.


H-ton Hawks 6 - 10 Davie's Youngins (Friendly Match)

As a replacement for the Entertainers no-show, Davie's Youngins took on the Hawks in a Friendly match. Unfortunately, with this being a friendly game, the effort level was low, resulting in goals being conceded that shouldn't have been. Despite this, the Hawks used this game (well, the second half) to show that they could score goals and create chances going forward. Goals for the Hawks came from N Houghton(3), SWA(2) and G Houghton(1).

The new season starts next week with the Hawks division 2 opener seeing them make their debut on Court 3 at 7.30pm against Remmer & the Arg.

Fury at Footbal Fees

A shocking price increase for games in the Washington 5-a-side League has been imposed for the new season
Despite claiming to be one of the cheapest leagues in the area, the increased costs have prompted H-ton Hawks to re-examine their membership in the league.

A letter was issued to all teams. It reads as follows;

Washington 5-a-side
Leagues Association
10a Victoria Rd. Concord. Washington.
(0191) 4187204
20-10-06


Dear Manager,
It is with regret that unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control. the cost of the games (indoor) w ill increase by £5 per game. per team as from the 1st January 07. We have always tried to keep the cost of football reasonable to team members. However due to a big increase in court fees at venues and referee fees increasing also spiralling costs and loss of funding £50,000, we have no alternative but to increase the cost of football in the new seasons.

The court fees for the Friday league will increase in the new season November 06.

At present we are trying to raise more funding to reduce this cost back down and you will be informed if we are successful in doing so. We pride ourselves on been the only league trying to keep the cost down for individual members.

As from November 06, for the new season in the Friday league and 1" January 07, for the new season in the Sunday leagues increases in football will be as follows:

Riverside 7-A-Side League cost per game £22.00
Northumbria Centre 5-A-Side Leagues per game (indoor) £22.00
Northumbria Centre Men's Work 5-side League per game (indoor) £22.00

The Cost per member 7-a-side no subs =£3.14 per person
With 3 subs (outside) =£2.20 per person
The cost per member 5-a-side no subs =£4.40 per person
With 3 subs (indoor) =£2.75 per person

Annual registration fees will remain the same £25.00 per team, per season and fines will remain the same. This includes all cup games and your Durham Affiliation Fee is included in this amount.

Finally the committee have decided to come down hard on teams not finishing the season and will charge teams full costs until the end season if they leave without the secretary's approval, also shin pads and the right footwear must be worn or players will not be allowed to play.

I am really sorry about the increases but we are still one of the cheapest leagues in the area according to Durham Football Association and the research we've done.
May I take this opportunity to thank you for you're continued support and I hope you can understand why we have had no alternative but to increase the cost.

Yours in Sport

D.A.Munneke
On behalf of the management committee

Bathroom Unit 10 - 3 H-ton Hawks

With Borthwick injured, Wilson on judo duty and SWA's fitness proving a problem, the Hawks drafted in Neil Houghton to try and bring skill and stability to the game. This might have been the case but the referee prevented this from happening. In a game dominated by the referee's ineptitude, the Hawks slumped to another defeat to the hands of the old enemy of Bathroom Unit. Goals for the Hawks were provided by Lawrence(1) and N Houghton(2).

H-ton Hawks: Name Poll

I've added a poll to the site on the bar at the side.

Cast your vote and give your view using the comments button below this post.

Injury Blow for the Hawks

The H-ton Hawks suffered a setback this weekend when the ankle injury sustained by Lee Borthwick in the Houghton Feast 5-A-Side Tournament turned out to be more serious than thought. After visiting hospital, it the injury has been confirmed as a break. Part of the ankle bone has been snapped off and could require surgery. Borthwick is to visit a specialist on Monday to advise if an operation is needed. He is expected to be out of action for at least 6 weeks. Updates on the situation will be posted when available.

Update: The break is not a serious as first feared. However, Borthwick will be unable to play for the Hawks for 6 weeks.

Houghton Feast 5-A-Side Tournament

The Hawk's debut in the Annual Houghton Feast 5-A-Side Tournament ended in disappointment as they failed to make it to the semi-finals.
With only 5 members of the squad available to play, the Hawks had a tough task to play 8 games without substitutes.

Game 1: Purely Belta 1 - 0 H-ton Hawks
In a poor opening game the Hawks suffered a defeat against a team they should have beaten. Conceding a poor goal, the Hawks didn't convert their possession and chances into goals.

Game 2: H-ton Hawks 1 - 2 FC Nostradamus
In a well fought game, the Hawks suffered their second defeat. With further improvement showing they were unlucky. The Hawks goal was a corker from Aldridge. On the receiving end of Houghton's short pass from a free kick on the edge of the opposition's area, he skilfully curled the ball into the far top corner of the goal.

Game 3: Alan's All-Stars 3 - 1 H-ton Hawks
Game 3 was another defeat for the Hawks, this time conceding 3 goals. With the performances improving, the Hawks still couldn't catch a break. The Hawk's goal in this match came from an open play shot from Houghton which hit the post and was deflected into his own net by the keeper.

Game 4: H-ton Hawks 1 - 3 Bare-arsed Monkeys
In another game that the Hawks should have won, they conceded 3 unnecessary goals. One from a penalty kick due to the ball crossing the halfway line from the keeper's throw without bouncing. Borthwick finally managed to break his goal drought with the Hawk's only goal of the game.

Game 5: H-ton Hawks 1 - 0 Purely Belta
This game saw the Hawks first win of the tournament. In a controlled performance, Lawrence was able to put away the goal that won them the game. This win was overshadowed by an ankle injury suffered by Borthwick in the second half. This resulted in the Hawks playing the last two minutes with only 4 men. Cummings pulled off a brilliant last minute save to secure full points for the Hawks.

Game 6: FC Nostradamus 2 - 0 H-ton Hawks
Despite receiving treatment for his ankle injury, the Hawks were forced to rearrange their line-up at half time. Borthwick took position in goal and Cummings slotted into defence. This change also meant Lawrence assumed a more forward role in the hunt for goals. Unfortunately, even though the changes did not change the dynamics of the team, the Hawks conceded two goals and another defeat.

Game 7: Bare-arsed Monkeys 0 - 0 H-ton Hawks
With Bothwick continuing in goal, the other players couldn't make their chances count in this physical bottom of the table clash. With both sides ruing missed chances, the match ended in a stalemate.

Game 8: H-ton Hawks 1 - 2 Alan's All-Stars
Requiring only a draw from the game to secure a semi-final place, the Hawks still had everything to play for. The All-Stars went in at half time with a 2 goal advantage. The second half saw better play from the Hawks, with them making use of space they were finding. Cummings managed to pull one back with a well taken goal from the right-hand side. Unfortunately time was against them and the Hawks couldn't find the goal they desperately needed and were to be knocked out of the tournament.

The Hawks can take a lot from this tournament; all players scored and the performances showed the team is much improved.

Victoria 22 - 0 H-ton Hawks

The Hawks suffered a deserved heavy defeat at the hands of Victoria in the Friday League
In a game that had no positives for the Hawks, Victoria, who are the best opponents played to date, hammered home chance after chance. Despite the large lead, Victoria never let up. They were chasing every ball up until the final whistle. The Hawks were never in the game. With no individual performance warranting a mention, we won't.

The Hawks must improve this week against Bathroom Unit, 7.00pm Friday 20th October (court TBC).

Entertainers 14 - 4 H-ton Hawks (Association Cup)

The Hawks improvement continues but they once again lose to an unflatering margin
Despite an impressive opening to the game, the Hawks could not capitalise and sunk to a defeat in the quarter final match of the Association Cup. This week the squad was missing Wilson who was busy perfecting his ninja skills, and Borthwick started on from the bench. The Hawks had a promising opening first 5 minutes, closing the ball down well and keeping possession. This was capitalised on with a great left wing move, with SWA finally crossing to the goal scorer Lawrence.

The lead, however, was short lived with the Entertainers coming scoring goals in quick succession to go ahead. After missing training for 2 weeks and last weeks game, SWA's fitness was suffering. This resulted in a forced substitution. With Borthwick adopting a forward position, the defence was left exposed, resulting in further goals being conceded. Houghton managed to pull one back with his first of the season. This came from battling open play on the right hand side. The Entertainers claimed that Houghton had encroached on the box, but the referee dismissed this.

Starting the second half 5-2 down, the Hawks were in a not out of the game yet. Unfortunately, the Entertainers seemed to have their lucky shooting boots on. Even though Cummings put in a brave display in goal, their shots seemed to find the bottom corner, out of the reach of the keeper's fingertips. The Hawks managed to pull two further goals back, Borthwick this time supplying the assist from the left to give Lawrence his second, and a one-two by Houghton and Aldridge from a restart game Houghton the space to take on the defence before coolly slotting home his second of the match. This was all to be in vain as the Hawks conceded more goals, resulting in the final score being 14-4.

The next match is Friday 13th October at 7.00pm on Court 1. Friday the 13th lives up to its reputation for the Hawks as they face tough game against top of the table Victoria.

Great North Run 2006

Congratulations and well done to Robert who completed this year's Great North Run in around 2 hours 20 mins. He also managed to raise around £200 for Barnardo's.

Roof Truss 15 - 1 H-ton Hawks

In what was undoubtedly the best Hawks team performance of the season so far, they lost by a unjustified scoreline against Roof Truss in a league game
It a high tempo and well fought match, the Hawks suffered a heavy defeat against Roof Truss. With Lawrence sidelined due to his Great North Run preparation and SWA unable to make the match due to musical commitments, it meant that the five remaining team members would be forced to play the full 28 minutes.

The Hawks were 5-1 down at half time, with the goal coming from a well taken chance by Wilson, however they crumbled to a 15-1 defeat by full time. This was mostly down to fatigue. Despite the scoreline, the Hawks are still upbeat due to the performance and effort they put in against vastly superior opponents.

The next game is at 7.30pm Friday 6th October against Entertainers in the quarter finals of the Association Cup

Bathroom Unit 12 - 0 H-ton Hawks (Friday Subsidiary Cup 2006)

The Hawks again suffered a heavy defeat in the Subsidiary Cup.

Despite a strong start, it was the same old story. With the Hawks continuing to draw a blank up front and leak goals at the back, the same old excuse of lack of skill and fitness maybe true, but this is starting to wear slightly thin. With the Sub Cup over and the final few league games of the season left, the Hawks need to get a few more matches under their belts before starting afresh in the Second Division. Hopefully the drop in division should provide a more realistic challenge.

Next match is 7.00pm Friday 29th September on Court 1 against Roof Truss in the League. This team provided the Hawks with their best result to date - they didn't turn up and the Hawks were awarded a 10 nil victory.

New Team 8 - 0 H-ton Hawks (Friday Subsidiary Cup 2006)

Despite a much better performance, the Hawks were still unable to get a winning result in the Friday Subsidiary Cup
Even though they were beaten 8-0, H'ton Hawks were upbeat about the result. Playing a much younger and skilful team (I know this seems to be the excuse every week), the Hawks battled throughout the match showing the determination that they have not joined the league just to make up the numbers. The game started with Borthwick switch to goal Cummings switched to defence and due to the squad rotational system, Lawrence and Aldridge were on the bench.
The Hawks started well, soaking up the pressure from the opposition even though the game was destined to become a farce when the organisers were unable to supply coloured bibs for one team to wear, as both teams were dressed in white (England home shirts). Unfortunately the conceding of goals was inevitable as the Hawks, despite their fitness, began to tire. Even though the fatigue was kicking in, the Hawks continued to battle in a rough, physical game. Houghton was penalised on numerous occasions against the wall for reaching around the opposing players in an attempt to force the ball into open play. The referee seemed slightly one-sided on this and was failing to notice the shirt pulling and holding by the opposition.
The second half saw much of the same style of play by both teams. We saw a straight swap with Lawrence and Aldridge replacing Cummings and Watchman-Atkinson. The Hawks did come close with a few long range shots from Lawrence and Houghton, but the team were unable to find the back of the net. New Team did not have this problem. They found the net a total of 8 times throughout the match. It could have been a cricket score if it wasn't for numerous good saves from Borthwick and the tireless defensive work by the rest of the team who were tracking back and covering at every opportunity.

Next match is 7.00pm Friday 22nd September on Court 2 against Bathroom Unit. This is the final group game in the Subsidiary Cup 2006.

Roof Truss 0 - 10 H-ton Hawks (Friday Subsidiary Cup 2006)

With the opposition failing to turn up, the Hawks enjoyed a default 10-nil win.
Despite the fact Roof Truss were AWOL, H'ton Hawks managed to play in a hastily arranged friendly match against unknown opponents.

H-ton Hawks 9 - 9 Unknown Opposition (Friendly Match)

The Hawks were able to field a strengthened squad, as 7 members turned out for this week's game. With a squad rotational system being implemented by the Hawks' management, Houghton and Aldridge found themselves on the bench for the start of the game.
The first half saw the lead switch backwards and forwards with some good possession, skill and passing from the Hawks. At half time the Hawks went in 6-5 up and a double substitution saw Houghton and Aldridge replace Wilson and Watchman-Atkinson. The second half saw more of the same style of play. The Hawks should have taken the win but a few unforced errors allowed the opposition to take advantage and force the draw.
The performance was much improved on previous weeks. The benefit of weekly training sessions showed and the the players' adaptation to the pace of competitive games are starting to prove that they can compete at this level. This should allow for an interesting next match against a team they were beaten 24-2 by only a few weeks ago.

The next game in Friday 15th September at 6.30pm on Court 1 against the Coach & Horses.

Leeds Festival 2006 - Bramham Park

Pictures from the Leeds Festival 2006 at Braham Park are now online. You can view them by either clicking here or on the picture below.

Bathroom Unit 18 - 2 H-ton Hawks (Friday Subsidiary Cup 2006)

H-ton Hawks suffered another heavy defeat despite fielding a revised and strengthened team. The change of line-up and position shuffle did not provide enough to prevent the Hawks slumping to a 18-2 defeat to Bathroom Unit.
Even with captain Robert Lawrence missing, the addition of Borthwick and Houghton (returned from festival duty), and the switch of Cummings to goalkeeper had promise to overcome last week's beating. This, however, was to be the case.
Bathroom Unit, a team mainly consisting of younger, fitter and more skilful players, used all three of these attributes to tear apart the Hawks defence and score goal after goal. Closing down the Hawks and not letting them play the ball, Bathroom Unit showed to all how big the gulf between skill and fitness levels was.
Despite a better second half performance, great goalkeeping from Cummings and a couple of consolatory goals from Borthwick, nothing could stop the 18-2 rout from taking place.
The Hawks can use this game as the route to gain further experience and match fitness.

Next match is a Subsidiary Cup group game on Friday 8st September 7.00pm, Court 1 against Roof Truss.

Coach & Horses 24 - 2 H-ton Hawks (Friday Subsidiary Cup 2006)

Fielding a weakened side, H-ton Hawks suffered a heavy defeat in their debut game. Missing several key players on festival duty, the under-strenth Hawks slumped to a 24-2 defeat to the hands of the Coach & Horses in the Friday Subsidiary Cup.
A combination of the high standard of opposition versus the poor standard of the Hawks caused them to be 3 nil down within five minutes. A goal by Cummings, coolly slotted through the legs of opposition keeper, only seemed to annoy th opposition into stepping up their onslaught. The Coach & Horses soon realised the that the Hawks' goal keeping was not up to par and started shooting on sight, resulting in around 14 goals in a 10 minute period.
The second half saw a slight Hawks improvement, a goal from Lawrence placed into far corner and a few saved shots from Wilson and Aldridge. With goalkeeper Simpson vastly improved, he saved several shots limiting further embarrassment, however the tempo was still too fast. Credit to the Hawks as heads did not drop even with the scoreline ending 24-2.
Team captain Robert Lawrence said, in the post match interview, "I couldn't fault the effort but the tam were found wanting in fitness and quality. Special mention must go last minute replacement goalkeeper Tree who did well to keep the score below 30".
Lee Borthwick, Chairman/Manager, who was absent for the match, commented "It was a disappointing result but things will improve. The squad has the potential to succeed once all players return from festival duty".

Next match is a Subsidiary Cup group game on Friday 1st September 7.00pm, Court 2 against Bathroom Unit, a team currently 5th in the league.

Link: Washington 5-A-Side League

V Festival 2006 - Weston Park

Photos of the V Festival 2006 at Weston Park, Staffordshire, are now online at my flickr.com site. They can be viewed by clicking here or on the photo below.

The Great Benicàssim Adventure 2006

Well they said we'd never make it but we did. Okay it wasn't in the VW Campervan, instead a year old VW Golf, but we did get there none the less.

Anyway this is the journal of 4 plucky explorers (Me, Nick, Anna & Kerry) who decided it would be a good idea to drive to the XII Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in Benicàssim, just north of Valencia.
If you wish to skip the journey and go straight to the festival stuff, click here

Day 1 - Saturday 15th July 2006

With the Campervan out of action, we set off in the VW Golf, complete with hired roof box (it was supposed be only a large roofbox but we were upgraded to extra large for free as the had no large left... and boy did we need it) bound for Dover, to catch our ferry across La Manche. Setting off around 11am and arriving by 4pm with only 1 stop isn't bad for 350 miles. Shame our ferry wasn't until 8.30pm. However we still went straight to check in and they allowed us onto the 4.30pm ferry for the small fee of £7.50. The fact that we checked in at 4.20pm didn't phase them and will pulled straight onto the Sea France ferry and we were away.



The crossing itself wasn't too bad but the sea was still a bit choppy. It gave you the feeling of being a bit tipsy without the hangover. However I did nearly injure myself a few times in the Duty-Free shop as I was unsteady on my feet. After the short journey across the Channel, it was down the car hold to make our vehicle legal for the impending journey through the Europe by attaching my GB sticker and headlight reflectors.

Setting of from Calais port on the french side of the road was a bit daunting as the first thing you hit is a roundabout. I'm sure they just put it there to be awkward. Straight to fill up with the lovely cheap petrol on the continent.... except it isn't cheap (well in France anyway). It's about the same price as England.

Anyway, its still early so we set off to try and cover as much ground as possible. After going the wrong way for 15 mins, we turn around and head towards Paris on the A26. The Autoroute's are great apart from the tolls. 130km/h in the dry. It's like speeding but legally (drops to 110km/h in the wet though). Not that the French adhere to the speed limits. They easily were doing 90mph+. Not that we could catch them in a car with 4 people, full boot and roofbox.

After about 90mins on the road we stop at a service station only to bump into a convoy of 3 english cars going to Benicassim. They didn't seem to be taking my as their cars did not have full boots. They told us that their plan was to take turns driving and reach the north coast of Spain without stopping. They claim that there was a campsite with a large pool and waterslide that they were going to stay at until the Benicassim camping opened. Fools.... This was around 1000 miles they were going to do non-stop. After doing around 400 miles already that day I knew they were going to regret it. Plus, there was no need to rush. They could have taken their time and enjoyed a bit of France.

So we left the services and powered along the Autoroute while Anna and Kerry search through some camping books for somewhere to stay. (These books were a godsend. We where going to travel without any sort of guide but were given these at the last minute, and boy did they come in handy. There's no way we would have found any campsites without them). The only one we could see was at least 100km away so we stopped at the next services, grabbed a sandwich (cheese & ham - the only food in existance in mainland Europe), and asked the madamoiselle in the petrol station if there was anywhere to camp nearby. After receiving a "je ne sais pas", we ate our sandwiches quick and headed towards the nearest campsite in our book - a place near Saint-Quentin.

Stick my foot down, as it was getting late, we soon reach our exit junction. We pull off the Autoroute, pay our toll at the booth, and head towards the campsite. After a few wrong turns we head along a windy road into the contryside, through some small villages and past some huge wind turbines. We finally arrive at Camping Caravaning Vivier aux Carpes in Seraucourt-le-Grand, only to find it is shut. I look does look okay from the outside, with the river Somme running beside it. We try to call the number in the camping guide but the number diverts to an answerphone. How dare it be shut at 10.30pm?

It was looking likely that we would be sleeping in the car tonight as we were in the middle of nowhere with no clue where to go to stay for the night. On only hope was a travelodge style hotel we had passed 20mins ago. Balladins Express St-Quentin - Gauchy. (Warning: The official website makes the place look good. Read on for the truth)

With Anna and myself the only ones able to speak any french at all, we go to investigate. Since its nearly 11pm, the reception is shut, and bookings are made through a ATM style machine in the foyer. As we are muddling our was through, the non-english speaking receptionist comes to view what we are doing and stands over us while we book 2 rooms with en-suite showers. As we receive our receipt, he informs us, in french, that the hotel does not operate with key's, instead with codes that are input on a small console by the bedroom door (I know you're think this is a classy place).

We get our bags from the car and head to our rooms looking forward to a relaxing night before we hit the roads again. We type in the code for our first room, open the door, and find that there are someone's bags left on the bed. We go to the second room and more luggage. What would have happened if someone was in these rooms? Somehow, I am voted to go and try to resolve this. I head downstairs to the reception area and try to explain to the recption guy that the rooms are occupied. After a few minutes of failure with my rubbish french, he recognises that there is "bagages dans les chambres". He open's his office and starts to sort out new rooms for us. At this point 2 frenchmen, wearing nothing but tight skimpy underpants, come bounding into reception from outside. They head straight to the dining are shouting that they want champagne. The (also creepy) reception guy tells them to wait their turn while he sorts out my problem. So its 11.30pm and I'm standing in a queue in a remote french hotel with 2 men in just tight pants. Slightly surreal. I finally get sorted and head up to see the other 3 and tell them that we are sorted for new rooms. As I am explaining what had happened, the nearly naked men appear along the corridor , clutching a bottle of Champagne, and knock on a bedroom door. They are joined, from the room, by another tight panted man. At this point we make a beeline for our first room. We are relieved to find it does not contain any luggage or naked french men.

As you can see from the picture above, the room contains many amenities, including a state-of-the-art clothes hanging facility. Me and Nick decide to leave the girls to settle in while we check out our room on the ground floor (le rez-de-chaussée ... my french is getting better). We open our room to find it consists of a double bed, a TV and a toilet. However the toilet is separated from the room by a shower curtain (see picture below)

The girls soon join us and we decide to pool all of our change to get as much beer out of the vending machine as possible to numb the thought of the gay brothel we appeared to be staying in. We all sat down with our cold beers, turned on the TV only to find that was on was either french chatshows or badly dubbed (from english to french) hardcore porn. So the TV was turned off, we quickly finished our beers and attempted to get some sleep.

Day 2 - Sunday 16th July 2006

After getting up early-ish, we leave the wonderful Balladin's hotel (now forever known as Bang-it-in's), and head out to continue our journey to Benicassim. Heading through the French countryside towards Paris we are on continual watch for somewhere to grab a spot of breakfast. This is harder than you think as France appears to shut down on a Sunday. Keeping of the Autoroute we wind through small villages until we reach the cathedral town of Laon. Driving in the town centre we are on the hunt for a food place that is actually open. We pass plenty of closed hairdressers (how many does a small town need?). We finally stumble upon a small row of shops with a pâtisserie/boulangerie that is actually open. Hence we go in and buy the only two items of food that we can remember the french for - croissant and pan au chocolat. As delicious as they were, I could see our breakfasts becoming boring quickly. Not to worry, back on the road towards Paris.

From Laon we head on the N2 to Paris via Soissons. The road is great for a minor road. 2 lanes travelling at 110km/h. Hardly any traffic on the roads. We were making great progress. This came to an abrupt halt when the wonderful dual carriageway ends without warning. It turns out that the road isn't built yet. We are forced onto the old N2 which winds through the hills, fields and villages towards the french capital. It's not long before the road widens again and we are passing Charles de Gaulle Airport, the traffic is increasing, the area is becoming more built up and we can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

The easy driving in France was about to end as the car pulled onto the Peripherique. This was a tad scary. Driving on the wrong side of the road with a car that's not designed for it. Thousands of cars packed bumper to bumper, doing speeds of 90km/h plus. There are many exits all seeming to be signposted with the same place names. Cars pulling in and out of the lanes, on and off the slip roads. It was all becoming a bit much considering we weren't quite sure exactly which way to go. We just knew we had to head clockwise, looking for the A10 and signposts for Orleans. After switching lanes more times that I care to think about, we somehow see a sign for our turn off and take it. This is some sort of miracle as Nick's somewhat dodgy map reading skills were put to the test.

South of Paris, the road is straight and simple. Onto the Toll and stick your foot down. We stop off for some food at a service station (ham and cheese baguette - what a surprise), and I finally give in and let Nick drive the next stint despite every bone in my body telling me I shouldn't. My fears were found to be mostly unjustified as he drives the 300+km to our campsite for the night (I did keep having to remind him that his foot wasn't made of lead and could be taken off the accelerator) The journey is quite a pleasant one, passing many orchards, vineyards and huge fields of sunflowers.

It passes without incident and we are soon approaching our exit junction (NB: The toll road ended north of Clermont Ferrand... came to a whopping €38. That will teach us to travel all that way on the Autoroute). For tonight's stopover we had chosen the village of Murol.

Murol is a small village (around 700 people live there) in the heart of le Parc des Volcans (Park of the Volcanoes) overlooking lake Chambon. It's main business appeared to be tourism. To be precise, camping.... french camping. We were the only English probably within a 50 mile radius. After pulling off the Autoroute, we made our way along a windy stretch of road into the Parc des Volcans, through many small villages and towns to get Murol. This was the next village along from the very touristy looking Saint Nectaire. After arriving in Murol we pull up at a campsite, inspect the rates, decide it's good enough. Camping L'€urope is a 4 star campsite popular with families. It has a pool with a slide and a bar area.

So we (Me & Anna) sort out a pitch for the night and we set about getting the tent set up. As the tent nears completion, the heavens open and the rain pours down. We hurry to finish the tent despite a french woman beckoning us into her chalet for shelter. Its only a few minutes before we have a perfectly erected tent. We maybe a ted wet, but this doesn't matter due to the temperatures of the day. Since our bed for the night is set up, we head of for some supplies to the local Spar. Once again, shopping in france show's that it is not cheaper on the continent. All we buy are some extra tent pegs, some crisps and some booze (Heinekin stubbies for me, boxes of wine for everyone else). From the Spar, we head across the carpark to a local bar. Once again, no-one can speak english, so a few choice french words and some pointing later, 3 of us are enjoying a large glass of lager while Nick has a whisky. While we drink, we are entertained by watching a game of boule played by some other patrons.

From the bar we jump into the car and head to the nearby town of Saint Nectaire. This is much more touristy, if not a bit tacky. We park up and head into what appears to be the only restaurant in town. It seemed to be an italian style restaurant (well the menu had pizza and pasta on it). Sat down, we order some beer and rose wine, 3 of us order steak while Kerry has a veggie option. Nick, opting for his steak well done is in for a fright when it arrives. The waiter, who spoke some english, totally misunderstood and Nick's steak is served virtually still mooing at him on the plate, blood squirting out with every slice with his knife. Anyway, my steak was nice and tender (had it medium).



After our meal, it was back to the campsite for a few drinks, french Monster Munch crisps(Pommeheads), banter and then bed. Onto the South of France tomorrow.




Day 3 - Monday 17th July 2006

After a reasonable nights sleep at Camping L'€urope, our first campsite of the trip, we have a cup of coffee made on the camping stove, a shower and start to pack up.

Feeling peckish we head up to the bar area in a hunt for food. Unfortunately, the only food we can see on the menu is either pizza or hamburgers. After a failed attempt of asking for breakfast(in french), we all have a glass of orange juice and sit watching the other campers in and around the pool. When I say watching, this involved the Anna and Kerry pointing out and commenting on/complaining about all of the men around the pool in tight swimming trunks. This doesn't last long (neither did our drinks). We head back to the car, finish packing up, and head on our way. We still have a lot of travelling to do.

We pull out the village but after only a few miles we stop and allow Kerry and Anna to visit La Ferme Saint-Nectaire. This is a farm/breeding centre for kangaroos, llamas and other furry rat type creatures. For 40 minutes they looked around the farm while Nick read his Dave Courtney book and I paced back and forth a lot, and went for a 3 minute run (not sure why... just felt a bit energetic).


We left the farm in the hunt for some food as we were still hungry. First we stop at a supermarket. This contains only some ignorant french people who will not give way to us in the ailse and allow us past. After 5 minutes getting lost, we finally find the exit and get on our way again. The next stop is a bit more successful. We pull over a the village of Champeix, where I do some of my worst parking ever and take up two parking bays and half of the pavement. However when I say successful, I mean for the second day running we get croissants and pan au chocolat from the local pâtisserie/boulangerie. We were starting to get the feeling that this may be our diet for the rest of the time we were going to spend in France.

We finch our pastries and get back onto the road, stopping at a local garage to fill up, and then onto the A75 towards the south coast of France. The scenery on the A75 is beautiful. The road travels through le Parc National des Cévennes, up and down the hills and mountains. At one pont the road is over 1170m above see level. The views across the valleys are spectacular. As the road climb and descend steeply I break Nick's coasting record by doing 4 miles in neutral at speeds of 70mph. I could have gone further but my nerves got the better of me and decided it was better if I had full control of the car. We also see our first rain of the day. High in the mountains the car and road gets drenched. This does not deter the french drivers though. They happily power on at 80+mph (sorry 130+kmph, I forgot France is metric). In the distance we see some impressive forked lightning and wonder if this was going to be set in for the day. However we are proven wrong as the sun comes out and the temperatures start to rise swiftly and we enjoy the eerie sight of the water evaporating from the trees in the valleys to produce rising clouds of steam.

As we travel further the south, the bridges start to become longer and more impressive until we reach the big one... Millau. For a mere €6.80 you can drive across the newly constructed Viaduc de Millau(View the real-time webcam of the bridge here). Before crossing we stopped in the service area. The service area, still under construction, consisted of a stopping point to get a view of the bridge and of the town of Millau, a tourist information office, and couple of blocks of toilets. These toilets were unlike the toilets of good old GB. There were some sort of mutant toilet that appear to involve squatting. We were luck that the disabled toilets had the type of bowl we were used to.



While Nick and Anna have a rest, me and Kerry feel energetic and we climb to the top of a huge steep hill to the view point. The path up to the view point isn't finished and gravel on a hill isn't a good idea. More than once we nearly fell flat of our backs. The steps they have built out of railway sleepers are very steep with no hand rails. Very dangerous. We make it to the top, take a couple of pictures, see an eagle (or what looks like an eagle) and head back down to ground level, and set off across the bridge towards the southern coast.

Heading down through the mountains, we play a game of "Holding Your Breath While Travelling Through A Tunnel", which is immense fun unless you're driving and going dizzy through lack of oxygen. We leave the M75 near Montpellier and park up on a retail park outside of a DIY store in order to consult the camping books for a place to stay the night. As we sit, we get a few funny looks from people who we assume are wondering why a car fully of englishmen (and englishwomen) are sitting in a DIY store carpark in southern France. Just as one of comments that there are probably no other British people anywhere near this place, a car with the GB stick pulls past in the carpark and gives us a wave. We decide that tonight we will stay in the seaside resort of Valras-Plage and head off in that direction.

The map informs us that to get to Valras Plage we should head towards the town of Béziers and then head south to the coast. We get back onto the A75 and subsequently onto the N9, which takes along side hundreds of vinyards and through some small quaint villages. Once again, things do not run smoothly and before long we find ourselfs lost in the town centre of Béziers. As we entre the town centre we notice a sign pointing out tha Béziers is twinned with Stockport in England. For some reason we find this fact very funny. After 15 or so minutes of going round in circles we backtrack and head toward the A9 Autoroute. This causes a problem as we get stuck in rushhour traffic. As we crawl our way through the melee of cars, we notice a sign for Valras-Plage and head straight for it. This is a relief for Anna, who had been sitting cross legged in the back of the car for the best part of 30 mins. Once onto the Valras-Plage road the traffic eases and we pull into a McDonalds so that Anna can use the faclities. After much debate, we decide not to follow her inside the restaurant for something to eat, instead we choose to plough on to our destination.

The camping guide book we have suggests we go to the Camping Club Lou Village(check out the Aquatic Park section of the site... the animations are scary). The book's direction informed us to head into the town centre and follow signs for the Casino. Once again we get lost and end up on the beach front, surrounded by thousands of cars parked almost completely on the pavement. Heading along the sea front, we finally see a sign for the Casino and head in it's direction. After another 5 mins heading through local housing estates we finally stumble across it. It is situated in an area which contains nothing but campsites. We head to the entrance of Lou Village and check out the tarrif. This place appears around twices the price we paid last night, so we try a different place, Campling le Mediterranee. The prices are reasonable so we agree to stay here. To stay on the campsite we all were fitted with a festival style wristband and the car had a ugly sticker slapped onto the windscreen. We pitched our tent and headed off to explore and have something to eat.


We head down to the sea front and walk along the beach. Everyone except me takes their shoes of and walk in the water, while I keep mine on and have fun dodging the waves. As we walk along Nick decides to count the number of women with no bikini tops on. This keeps him amused all along the beach.


We head up to the prominade in search of restaurants and notice a car rammed with inflatable creatures(see below).

After stopping to look, we continue our hike to the town centre. We arrive and are spoilled for choice as there are hundreds of restaurants, but they all seem to have the same things to offer, and no vegitarian option. We finally choose a restaurant overlooking the sea, even if it has a rather racist and stereotypical statue of a black boy. I order a steak, Nick has turkey, Kerry has something veggie (can't remeber what) and Anna opts for a bucket of mussels. Of course, this is all washed down with some rosé wine.



After a delicious meal we go for a wander around the busy streets and along the sea front. Kerry buys some postcard in a shop (but never sends them home), and Nick is tempted by a large steel Jack Daniels sign. It's then on to the fun-fair where the is a car covered in fridge magnets, some dodgy looking rides, some arcade machines (including a punch bag game flanked by some muscley looking guys just dying to be challenged by someone, just to show how strong they were) and some grabber machines. We have a couple of goes on the grabbers and we head off looking for somewhere to get drunk.

Do the French not drink? We wander for ages in persuit of a bar without luck. We eventually find one opposite the Casino and another fun-fair. It is run by a man who, once again, cannot speak english. We manage to order some large beers and some rosé for Anna and settle in for night of drinking. Anna asks where the toilet is and leaves to use the facilities. On her return, the guy ushers her behind the bar to use the sink to wash her hands. She informs us that the toilet looks like a walk in freezer complete with bizzar fride style handles on the door.

Anna and Kerry decide they're a bit board, so cross the road and try their luck at the grabber machines again. This timethey are successful (because they cheated and nudged the machine), and win a cuddly toy of Spongebob Squarepants. They are a bit overwelmed by the round of applause they recieve from a group of french people standing at the machine beside them.

As we continue drinking and put the world to rights about who would be the members of our ultimate British band, we are soon shocked to find that the guy that running the bar's 8 or 9 year old daughter is helping out in the bar, pouring and serving alcoholic drinks. Around 2am she begins to pack up all of the chairs and tables from the outside seating area. Feeling sorry for her, Anna and Kerry set about helping her pack up, which receives looks of disgust from the other people in the bar. When it comes to leaving, we request our bill and receive a discount for Kerry and Anna's efforts. We pay, leaving a tip for the girl, and make our way on our marathon journey back to the campsite. On our journey home, Nick keeps us entertained with his impersonations of the Kings of Leon, which were amusing, if not rubbish. We arrive back at the tent around 3.30am, have a couple of drinks and then head to bed, as tomorrow is the final push to Benicassim.

Day 4 - Tuesday 18th July 2006

We wake up on day 4, get washed and pack up our stuff. Nick offers to drive as I'm feeling rough (nothing to do with the drink consumed last night - I blame lack of a propper night's sleep) and we head into the centre of town to grab some breakfast. We all opt for omlettes, either plain, cheese, ham or cheese and ham (cheese and ham... haven't had that before this holiday). The food's not bad, we finish up and hit the road. Next stop, Spain.

We head along the coast on the A9, down through Perpignan, up through the hills and mountains towards the border. As with our passage into France, we are once again shocked to be waved through without being asked to produce our passports. If anyone from the Daily Mail is reading this, you may have been right all along (we actually you haven't but you'll have to wait until you read day 14 to find that out).

Driving in Spain is a lot like driving in France except the speed limits are lower and the petrol costs less. It's also a bit surreal on occasion when you suddenly realise that you are driving your car that a week ago was trundling around the centre of Sunderland is now driving in the Costa Brava and will be passing Salou later today.


The drive is pretty uneventful until we reach the outskirts of Barcelona. I've never been to Barcelona, but I have heard it's quite a picturesque city, but from the road, it appears to be an industrial dump with its skyline dominated my large ugly production/refining plants with large poluting chimneys. But many cities have industrial zones on their outskirts, so I cannot judge it on that merrit alone. I can however judge the roads that pass by the Catalan city. They are just crazy. Large lorrys travel at 70mph and switch from one lane to the next like it's going out of fashion. Their stability at those speeds was made worse with strong cross winds to dangerous levels. It got to the point where Nick had my blessing to put his big heavy lead foot onto the accerator and not stop until we were out of the mayhem. Even the 90+mph speeds that we were doing did not phase me as we hurtled past the wobbly wagons. After around 15 mins the traffic subsided and it was back to normal cruising speed toward Benicassim.

We make good time and its not long before we pass the turnings for Salou and the Port Advenure theme park, and decide to stop at the services for a fill-up... water for us, petrol for the car. On leaving the service station shop, me and Nick are approached by two young females who asked if we speak english. By their accents they sound like they are from Eastern Europe. They ask if we have room in our car to give them a lift to Alicante as their car has broken down. We can see a car a few rows away with the bonnet up and some largish men looking at the engine. We politely say we haven't as they start to get worried as the notice Kerry and Anna appear behind us and we hop into our car and head to the garage for petrol (NB: A good 35 cents cheaper than France). If they were worried about approaching us when they saw the girls, how whould their large "friends" have reacted if we had said "hop in baby"?

Back on the road we finally reach our turn off. We exit via the toll booths and turn onto the local roads. Suddenly all signs for Benicassim are gone. We have no idea where to head so we start to drive arround a sea-side resort that we think could be Benicassim. Its seems very nice (and posh... there were 5 star hotels) but not like it would host a festival. It turns out that we have been driving around Oropesa del Mar for the last 45 minutes. So we leave the town and spot a signpost for Benicassim. We follow the road and turn off at the next junction. This takes us down a steep winding road towards the sea. After what seems like an eternity, we finally round a corner and see Benicassim in all it's glory in front of us.

Our jubilation, however, was short lived. Where on earth was the campsite? Once again the lack of signposts began to frustrate us. For the next 3 HOURS we drive around the whole of Benicassim, search in vain for the elusive Bonet campsite. It all starts to get a bit much, so we decide that calling at the supermarket for our supplies would be the best option. Once in there we spot some festival types and ask them if they knew where Bonet was. Result! It turns out to be just along the road. We hurridly gather up our shopping, pile it on top of the girls in the back of the car and set off to find it.

Pulling up to the entrance of the campsite in the car we think our jouney is finally at an end - WRONG! The very rude security guard can only grunt the words "No coche" before moving a iron railing in the way to stop us from entering the campsite. This forces us to rejoin a major road and we have to travel another 5 miles back to Benicassim's main street. As we pull up on the main street, I jump out of the car and ask a policeman where to park. He's not very helpful but I say thank you anyway and go to rejoin the others. By this time Nick had pulled into the town centre car park which was blocked off by bollards, hence my asking the policemen where abouts to park. We decide to cut our losses and park here. We load ourselves up with tents and head off to the campsite.

At the campsite we get our wristband from the main desk and start to look for somewhere to pitch up. This becomes a prolem as there is nowhere to pitch a tent. We start to parade up and down the walkways, but there is simply no room. We ask a security guard if he knows if there is any room to which he replies that there is none. Then when asked if the other campsites (Camp Fib and Mercat) were open, he tells us that they wouldn't be open until later in the week.

This is a disater. We have travelled 1500 miles and we have nowhere to camp. Fortuately, by luck, we stumble across a small space next to the shower block. It's not big enough for the large tent but if we position correctly we can fit the two small tents. Within minutes our tents are erected. Not that we can relax just yet. We still have the mountains of stuff back at the car to bring to the campsite.

Sometime later we can finally relax. We break open the beer and apple schnapps and have a good old drink. After a beverage or two, Nick finds that he has ran out of cigarettes. This calls for a wander into town. En route we pass three naked english guys walking back to Bonet campsite. Very surreal at 3 in the morning. They did get a compliment from Nick. When I say compliment, I mean he said "nice length" as we passed by. We reach the main street but everywhere is closed (well it was 3 in the morning after all). We bump into some spanish girls as I get directions, in spanish, to a back street bar where we can buy the cigarettes from a vending machine to quench Nick's nicotine craving.

Loaded with cancer-sticks we head back to the campsite for more drink. Unfortuately my memory of what happened next is hazy as the strains of the day and the alcohol take hold. I fall asleep while drinking in my chair. Nick assures me I was trying to stay awake and proving it by still drinking with my eye shut, but as I say, it's all a bit of a blur.



Day 5 - Wednesday 19th July 2006

Wednesday starts with a unwelcome awakening. The sun had hit the side of the tent turning it into a sauna

Benicassim 2006 .... Blog coming soon (honest)

I'm currently working on my Blog for the roadtrip to Benicassim 2006.
It's taking far longer than I thought due to other commitments and the fact I'm writing far too much for each day's events. Oh well, I might have it published by the time Benicassim 2007 is on.

In the meantime, check out the photos by clicking here or the photo below.

Campervan Update

Well the VW Campervan is coming on leaps and bounds. Fingers crossed it should be ready within the next few days. Spain here we come!!!!


The fancy numberplate has been fitted.
It still requires the rear bumper to be attached though.


View from the front. Needs a bit of a clean.... and a front bumper.... and some windscreen wipers.


The comfy rear seat. Also a lovely looking sink.


We even have a fridge!!

H-tonia 8 - 10 Young Guns

H'tonia suffered a narrow defeat to the hands of a youthful opposition. Despite having an extra man and the inclusion of a player on loan from Bath, the excesses of the previous day took their toll. Despite some good individual performances, a mixture of heat and hangovers cost H'tonia the match and ended their unbeaten run. Dave Cummings, team bus driver said, "The lack of sleep and age of the players showed against a team of youngsters. With a strict diet and training schedule we'll be ready for the next game.

Next week's match has been postponed due to players being called up for festival duty.

Sunderland 3 - 10 H-Ton

Sunderland suffered a heavy defeat to the hands of a rampant team from H-tonia. An early period of stalemate with teams at 4-a-side was broken by a scrambled goal from Mr Sprout. SWA soon joined the game playing for the Sunderland team. More players turned up and we had ourselves a game - 7-a-side - Sunderland vs H-ton.
Early dominance by H-ton meant at the half time mark the score was 5-1 in their favour. Soon the weather changed and in some wet conditions H-ton extended their to 9-1 despite the best efforts of wonder keeper Gofton.
Sunderland then rallied themselves for a Teen-Wolf style comeback. They turned up their game and scored 2 well worked goals. However this was to no avail. A scramble in the Sunderland goal mouth resulted in a weak goal being scored and H-ton won the match.

A rematch is being scheduled for either Saturday 27th or Sunday 28th May.

Radio One's Big Weekend 2006 - Dundee

Well its been a week since I was there so I think its about time I posted something about it.

Anyway, I managed to get a pair of tickets for the Radio One's Big Weekend for the Saturday.
We set off at 7.30am for the 4 hour trip to Dundee.

Here's a pointless picture of the Forth Bridge to show we crossed it


So we got there about 12 and dumped our stuff at a very nice B&B - Invermark


After an ill fated bus journey around Dundee (the driver lied about the bus route), we ended up getting a taxi from the local hospital (it was one of the stops, not that we ended up in hospital) to Camperdown Park


We got the beers in

... and settled in to watch all the acts.

Muse, Snow Patrol, Boy Kill Boy, Razorlight and Dirty Pretty things were all very good. Everyone else play good sets (even Gnarls Barkley).

So the gig ended and we went for more beer around Broughty Ferry - The Post Office and Jolly's



We think we had a good night....

The next morning we were up bright and early and headed down to the beach where we took these lovely photos



Then we set off home

On the way back we did call via Duns to see the castle as it's the venue for Dave's planned nuptials. Its very nice as you can see.

Double Troutmaster

Well, he's done it again.
Troutmaster again.
Come on Paul... give someone else a chance

Harton Hotshots

Just a quick note that I'm helping out on another bog site.
Its for a local junior football team - Harton Hotshots.

If you're interested, you can check it out at www.hartonhotshots.blogspot.com

It will also have its own permanent space in the links menu.

Gourmet Pancakes

Here is a video clip of the very delicious gourmet held by our wonderful hosts Law & Helen. Enjoy the skillful pancake fliping by Law and the not-so skillful flipping by resident ninja Wilson.

Paul Moore - Troutmaster

Congratulations to H-tonia's own Mr Paul Moore who has caught something with a Black Zonker. That's not some sort of nasty disease but in fact a fish lure of some sort.
Anyway, a big Woo Yay to him.
Click on the picture or here for full article

Edit: He also has reached the heady heights of the local newspaper... here's the proof