I blame the Dutch for everything, good and bad.
Continue reading Chewed lips in Amsterdam – Holland 2 Wales 0
Holland fans 3 Wales fans 3
Welsh fans drew 3-3 in a 70-minute friendly in the shadow of the Amsterdam Arena this afternoon.
Wales 1 England 3
And still they don`t come.
Wales under-21 games have never been a crowd-puller – Aaron Ramsey was the only player ever to make it a night to relish.
And even the old enemy as opposition were unable to pull in the crowd in Swansea.
They missed a decent contest played with real passion and pace.
DinkyPooTwos v Croesyceiliog CC
Fitting that, in a week that saw the club’s oldest former player pass to the pavilion in the sky, aged 99 (more below), the PooTwos were rescued from a hole by the oldest current player.
Secretary Hiscocks first retired in 2009, after reaching his fifties, so far as I can recall, and has come back since several times.
Skittles skittled selection for this weekend as a horde of players went off to terrorise Minehead and the irregulars of Dads Army and ne’er do wells were roped in.
Penetration, The Globe, Cardiff
Amazing that nearly 35 years after their last gig in Cardiff, Penetration were back in town.
Amazing, too, that they’ve never really reaped the rewards for their three-minute punk singles – among the best of an era.
This was a band that took a Patti Smith song and improved it.
Wales 1 Ukraine 1
The Welsh women’s team wasted a wonderful chance to enhance their World Cup qualification hopes in this fitfully entertaining draw.
An equaliser in the 78th minute from the home side’s best player Natasha Harding clawed back a point after Wales showed a lack of wit and trickery.
A win would have opened up a headlong charge for the top spot, with group favourites England to be hosted in August and the result seemed like a missed opportunity.
Laugharne Festival
Did cosmic intergalactic forces divert David Icke from a key mission? And how did Ray Davies survive the curse of Neath to prosper?
Just some of the conundrums the 2014 Laugharne Festival failed to solve.
Icke did not attend and his entourage were reportedly uncontactable. The Kinks’ genius fortunately did appear and was full of bizarre, well-observed tales from an extraordinary career.
Aberdare 1 Bala 2
St David’s Day, so it had to be the Welsh Cup.
Aberdare. Off the beaten track, somewhere almost no one goes to unless they live nearby or over the other side of the valley.
Yellowman, Dillinger – Globe, Cardiff
Albino Jamaican reggae star should have a word with the Football Association of Wales.
His Adidas gear/kit put the national side’s recent deal into perspective – we’ve definitely come out with the short straw – why can’t we have what he’s got?
How come he’s got the decent threads – tidy daps, long socks, football shirt and bit-too-long shorts and we’re lumbered with a far less impressive kit? Hmmm.
Newport County 1 Wimbledon 2
What a difference a Wembley winner makes.
An eventful week has seen Wrexham part company with Andy Morrell eight months after his side – arguably the better team last May in the Conference play-off – lost out to Newport County.
And the Black and Ambers are now lumbering in the mud and playing every three or four days for two months with the star that day, Christian Jolley, barely able to get a shot on target.
The Yanukovych Palace and Berkut break-up
Wednesday, February 26 update from a pal
Just found out that Berkut have now been abolished – very pleased; I was giving out ‘abolish Berkut’ leaflets yesterday.
The remaining Maidan ‘Self-Defence Units’ have now taken on new roles – guarding public buildings, directing traffic and acting as tour guides in the Independence Square area.
Ukraine – what now?
Last Friday I did a sub-editing shift on a national newspaper in London.
A friend ‘subbed’ the Ukraine Kiev piece and admitted afterwards it was incredibly difficult to follow the sequence of events, get his head round what had happened, who was who and what all the trouble was about.
And why, indeed, they were fighting in the first place.
Welcome to Ukraine!
Then the guy proofing the page came over.
Miles from Nowhere 