The final whistle

So a fairly sporty week draws to a close.

I was talked into attending the England v Ireland rugby at Twickenham last weekend, as my S Club chums had finally agreed that Twickenham was not an experience targetted at 70 year old rugby follower, and that we should all have one last hurrah! To be fair, we could not have gone out in a more majestic way as England turned up for once and grabbed a famous victory right at the end.

I travelled to London and back in the day which worked well. It is still a bit of a lottery when one has no idea whether Avanti will cancel the trains or not. Our new strategy to follow the England U20 team and some of the Champions Cup rugby next season should see us in charge of our travel arrangements a little bit more.

During this week I travelled to Scotland to play in a 'Hole in One' competition at Turnberry Hotel. While the complex is owned by the Trump organisation, it is interesting that none of the merchandise is endorsed with the Trump name or logo as it was seen as a put off to people buying!!

I have just had to do a zero star rating on  Trip Advisor for the golf however, as they refused to close the course, which was waterlogged, and forced us to go out and play in conditions which were totally unreasonable. Clearly the did not want to give refunds or rain cheques and consequently lose revenue. For us it spoilt the trip and left a bad taste in the mouth. I am unlikely to return while it remains in its current ownership.

The week concluded with some disappointing football results, and another spirited display by England who had another late victory snatched from them by a marginal penalty decision from the same referee who did not exactly cover himself in glory at the rugby World Cup earlier in the year.

Hey ho, at least the England management team have brought themselves some  more time to try and produce a team who can consistently compete at the top level of the game. Every cloud has a silver lining, and the improvement of the Italian team who consigned the Welsh to the wooden spoon is something to behold. 

One down

So a Bank Holiday full of sporting activities comes to an end. Rory McIlroy won a cool $15m for winning the Fed Ex golf championship in Atlanta, Ben Stokes re-ignited the Ashes cricket with an unbelievable rear guard action in the test match at Headingley and Newcastle United parked the bus and snatched three points from Tottenham yesterday in a game I suspect Match of the Day struggled to find any highlights.

So guess which one I went to? Yes , with SWMBO playing Shirley Valentine in Greece, I thought I would just pop down to London and explore the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium for the day. The train down was fine, and then came the 35 minute slog from Seven Sisters tube station in 34 degree heat, a walk I have done many times in the past but not for a few years. I got to the stadium praying I would have a seat in the shade. Luck was going my way as, yes I did, on the fifth tier of the North stand. Looking around at the amazing auditorium it was clear they had reserved the sunny seats for the Georgie boys so they could get their kit off and fry. I bet there were some very sore bellies this morning.

The game was so dull that the lady sitting next to me left at half time, and her husband did the Express crossword through out the second half. I left early to ensure the walk back to the tube was not rushed as was the case.

The new stadium is huge. There are bag checks and security checks everywhere, and even when it was as hot as yesterday you could not take water bottles inside. The bars and food stalls were doing a roaring trade, and the sensible thing if you are local is to wait around afterwards , have a few beers and then head home. White Hart Lane station has been completely refurbished with Club money but I am unsure whether there are extra trains to get people away form the ground quicker.

The Club were sensible enough to have the cricket on the TV screens which made for a very different match day experience than would normally be the case, but I was delighted to watch the highlights again when I got home. I was disappointed with Virgin rains that the first class lounge now charges for alcohol. This I was informed is due to too many people getting drunk for free before their train leaves. Never mind that its all free on the train anyway!!  So I had a pint of Pride in the pub next door. If you are going to pay may as well have something you like.

On Saturday I played golf at 07:15, a time I was unaware was part of Saturday morning!! I was pleased how I played, and there were three 1's in our group. I got an 11 at hole 13 and one of my partners got a hole in 1 at the 5th. Drinks all round!!

Today I played again and was 5 under par after 6 holes, slipped to 4 under after 10 and finished 2 over, very much a nearly round, hey ho! Tomorrow is a day of rest which will probably involve cosmetic cleaning and ironing just to show willing, before the golf starts all over again, weather permitting.