Horsham Baptists European adventure started at 5.30am on a freezing Friday morning in February. Our chariot for the weekend was a fine van, the only down side was that it had a speed limit of 62mph, still it did have the ability to pick up Radio 5 Live in Germany so it would do us nicely.
No major incidents or stories going to Calais, although I thought I saw a Milk Float pass us on the A264. For any of you who have been on this trip before or who now the route between Calais – Antwerp- Eindhoven & Northern Germany you will know that this part of the world looks awfully dull through the window of a van. Trying not to get to depressed by the endless scenes of flat fields and farms plus going travelling on straight road for hours on end we looked forward to the half way house. As has become accustomed we stopped at the same café, because as a wise man once “I don’t like change”.
Question: Which is the only English League side that has the letters ABCDE is it name. The answer will appear somewhere is this article so that is your incentive to read on.
As Andy Swarbrick(Swarbs) battled with & lost to the technologies of a coffee machine we were thankful that we only spend one weekend with him a year. So we continued on our merry way through Belgium then over into the Holland. Before we got no more then ½ mile into Holland we were being chased down by the police, we couldn’t have been speeding the van wouldn’t let us and the only drugs we had on board were a couple of packs of Nurofen and Chris Darton Inhaler for his asthma. So as the policeman passed us then signalled in a manner that can only be described as somewhat over the top, we followed him into the lay by. Were we going to be asked to stretch our hamstrings and touch our toes and not for the reason of a pre-match warm up? Thankfully the answer was no and it was just a passport control check. Back on our way and sitting comfortable in our seats again the next stop was Duisburg and a meeting with the Lord Mayor.
As we pulled up at the Town Hall we were greeted by our French counterparts from Strasburg. The usual champagne reception and pleasantries followed in the Town Hall but the guys mind started to wonder towards the task in hand, making our mark on this International Tournament.
As we crossed the Rhine the famous Duisburg Green tower was starting to light up. This tower is part of a big industrial plant that sits just behind the church we stay at. We have no idea as to what rubbish it chucks out 24hours a day, but this tower will always be held in high esteem because it has guided many a Baptist player home in the early hours of the morning from all parts of Duisburg after a night out.
So to our accommodation, a room no bigger than your living room and 12 prison beds would be the home for the weekend. As we have done every year we quickly set about redesigning the room to gain maximum floor space and a designated area for the food table. Some of the lads decided that they didn’t want to feel like an extra from Porridge so declined the beds and made their beds up on the floor.
A welcome meal was provided by our hosts before we all decided that a training session at the stadium where the tournament would take place was a good idea. We were duly challenged to a friendly match by Nova-Sad (Serbia). What seemed like a good idea at 8.00pm didn’t seem like a good one 45 minutes later and we were given a right spanking. Food for thought as we headed of into the night for some liquid refreshments to think over tactics for the next day.
It is with great sadness that I write this section. The Irish Pub called Pogues which has been our German equivalent of the St Leonard’s Arms has wait for it…. been shut down. Where and what would we do now? Remember “I don’t like change” After some time wondering the streets and consoling each other we stumbled into a rather plush place called Ouchos. By the end of the evening and with help from the barmaids and the wide screen television Pogues started to become a distant memory, but never forgotten. A few late night/early morning games of scrabble & pool back at the church (Baptist really live on the edge! Scrabble wild!) We felt in good shape for the next day, well maybe not all of us as Ian Pinnock got the runs which is more that he got during the recent cricket season.
After a lazy morning we headed over to the stadium for our 3 group matches. Eamonn was still playing his cards close to his chest in not giving away the starting line up. Our group was the dreaded ‘Group of Death’ drawn against.
Duisburg-Mitta ( Defending Champions & host team)
Mulhiem-Stryum (Champions 2001)
Mainz (Previous Semi-Finalists)
Our first game was against Duisburg-Mitta. The ultimate challenge we had to be up for it. Eamonn gave out his final instructions which could just be heard above the home fans noise. This was it all our preparation (1 Training session at Tandbridge) would now be put into practice. As you can imagine Duisburg-Mitta had a lot of possession but in true HBFC style the defence stood firm blocking the ball with all parts of the body. With Mitta fans starting to get frustrated as their team kept on pressing forward but with no end result we had a couple of chances before Tom Webb with his right foot (yes I know what you are thinking his right foot I thought he only used that to keep him upright) struck a beautiful shot across the keeper into the roof of the night, could you believe it 1-0 up against the defending champions. More frantic defending and saves for Ady added by a few agricultural hoofs into the crowd kept Mitta at bay. As the seconds ticked down anywhere would do and as the ball got cleared for the final time the buzzer went. HBFC had got a famous win, as we left the pitch to cheers from the other teams and a sense of disbelief from the home fans as this was the first time their team had been beaten in 2 years we warmly congratulated each other as we couldn’t quite believe what we had achieved. Some of us even started to think the impossible could we win this tournament. Eamonn then ordered us to try and take stock ordering us to all shower and focus on our next game which he expected to be tougher and prove crucial in deciding the group.
We were now watching the other games with a keen interest, trying to see which team would be the major players in the tournament. Our friends from Serbia also won their first game and looked strong. We decided to start the next game with the same side that had started against Mitta. Ady Davey (GK), Chris Darton (D), Ian Pinnock (D), Andy Flack (D), Matt Swarbick (M) & Tom Webb (M). You will notice that our tactics were to defend in the first instance and then counter attack at pace.
As Mainz (Ger) had won their first game the winners of this game would be guaranteed to progress from the group. I’m unsure about what to say about this next game so I will keep it short. We got stuffed 5-0 and played completely paints with no shape or discipline. From being in the best position possible after the first game we had gone to one that was almost impossible to get out of. We were now relying on other results to assist us in the final round of matches in the group. If Mainz could beat Mitta that would leave us only to draw our last game. However as above Mainz were already through and came out in their final game and didn’t bother playing giving Mitta the victory so both those teams finished on 6 points. So we needed to win to also finish on 6 points, it would then be decided on goal difference and this is where are previous 5-0 defeat proved costly as for us to progress we had to win our final game 7-0.
Our final game was against Mulheim-Stryum the 2001 champions. With the boys knowing only a big win will do we were forced to play a more attacking game but unfortunately the early goals didn’t come and we never looked like getting the result we needed. In the end we lost 3-2, with our goals coming from Eamonn and Swarbs. Swarbs is now HBFC leading goal scorer in Europe with 10 goals.
As we left the stadium we were all disappointed having not qualified especially as we had such an amazing start. The highs and lows of football have never been as apparent as witnessed on this Saturday afternoon in Germany.
Eamonn was desperate to lift the moral of the squad and decided the only way to achieve this was to go on a moonlight tour of Duisburg. So off we went with Eamonn heading the party map in hand and confident he would not get us lost. Our proposed destination was the Marina as we had been informed that this was the place to be on a Saturday night in Duisburg. As we walked alongside the Rhine in what must be have been temperatures well below freezing we started to curse Eamonn with every step. We finally reached the Marina but did we go in the first 4 bars we came across No. Just stood out side looking in the window like tourists feeling that if we entered we would look completely out of place, so off we went again to the other side of the river. Finally we found somewhere that would accommodate us. After a drink in there we found our way to a previous nights bar Ouches and the inquest started about the afternoon football. We decided on our traditional early morning Pizza, remember “I don’t like Change” to finish the night off.
As we dragged ourselves from our room that by now was starting to smell like an aborigine’s jockstrap we arrived just in time for the Service on Sunday.
This disappointment of not progressing on the Saturday became even more apparent when we entered the hall where the B Tournament was to be played. Close your eyes and imagine your run down School Hall and you will come close to picturing this hall, quite a contrast to the main arena.
With the squad no down to 7 because of reoccurrence of old injuries to Ady and Ian some changes had to be made. Eamonn pulled on the gloves which meant he had played in every position in the tournament. The B Tournament consists of 12 teams split onto 4 groups of 3 with the winner of each group going through to the semi-final. Our first game was against Essen-Schonnebeck (Ger). A sound performance produced a 1-0 victory with the goal being scored by Tom with his right foot again. This set us up nicely lets not blow this again. Our next game was against Mulhiem-Dumpton. A scrappy game took place we saw Andy Stack sent to the sin bin for 2 minutes which keeps up the Baptist traditional of having someone sin binned every year. With a man down we battled well and Arveend managed to bobble the ball across the line for the winner. We had progressed to the semi-final of the B Tournament where we would be up against Duisburg-Meiderich winners of the overall tournament in 2003. Meiderich have a reputation for playing a very physical game so the guys needed to be on the ball. Matty Swarbrick struck after a couple of minutes to set the game up. Meiderich then put the pressure on but the Chris Darton marshalled the team well until Meiderich scored 2 quick goals. Despite late pressure including Eamonn playing rush goalie we couldn’t force the game into penalties.
In the end we finished the tournament 16th out of 24. All agreed that this was a bit disappointing as at the started of the weekend had hoped for a top 10 finish. Never the less we had left our mark on the tournament with an unforgettable victory over Duisburg-Mitta.
So there was nothing else to do other than go on our traditional last night meal. And I will say it again “I don’t like Change” so we ended up in the Mediterranean restaurant. We had been thinking of inviting our Serbian friends out with us but when we remembered that the restaurant was run by Croatians we decided that rather than start another regional conflict we decided against it. A very pleasant meal for the team although I did feel sorry for the couple at the next table who had come out for a romantic meal.
So our trip back began early on the Monday morning amidst the snow. No police stopping us between the European borders this time. So in the tunnel and I think that HBFC set a world first, a game of scrabble on top of a minibus whilst under the English Channel. And just to round the weekend off we got stuck in the tunnel as some nutter was spotted in the tunnel.
We arrived home aching & tired but all agreed it had been a fun and enjoyable trip and would recommend it to anyone linked to HBFC.
A huge thanks goes to Eamonn for organising the trip. Thanks mate and to Ted who shared the driving with Eamonn. |
