Day 8 Coastal Thunder vs Norton & Stockton Ancients

Coastal Thunder 2 Norton & Stockton Ancients 2

This was our final game of the trip and, sadly, the 40th and final game of the 2007 season. It's hard to believe just how much the boys have accomplished this year. Just step back and try to remember all the indoor training sessions, the trip to Score at the Shore in Jacksonville, winning the Oakwood Tournament, the Region One league, winning the State Cup, the Coastal Summer Challenge, the Region One Tournament, all leading to this final game in England against a very good squad from Norton & Stockton. And enough ice cream was eaten along the way to feed a small country. How can we possibly thank Seth and Irl enough. We are now in downhill stage of the trip and in the coming days will enjoy a visit to Old Trafford Stadium, then on to London to be topped off by some sightseeing and Liverpool vs Aston Villa. Phew!

Today's match was a worthy conclusion to the year. Once again we played a competitive and well organized team. The local players demonstrated a high level of skill with and excellent touch on the ball and tough (yet fair) ball tackling ability. One of the boys from the Ancients is being looked at by the Middlesborough professional team. The game was played evenly for the first half with our boys having the better of possession but not breaking down the Ancient's defense for many threats on goal. We gave up a goal in the 40th minute against the run of play when the Ancient's top player stroked a left footed shot from the top of the box into the side panel of the net.

Following halftime, the Ancients took a 2-0 lead in the 50th minute on nice shot off a ball played forward into the box. Down 2-0 the boys seemed to rally and were unwilling to have the season end on a down note. In the 60th minute Ben blasted a shot from 25 yards out that was deflected into the goal. With the momentum solidly behind us, HoJo tied the game in the 70th minute, tucking the ball in the net off a cross from Gabe W. We continued to press hard for the remaining 10 minutes and had a few good chance to win the game. Final score 2-2.

It was a hard fought game. At the conclusion of the game the referee was overheard quipping that this was "not a very friendly, friendly match." But all was soon forgotten as the Norton & Stockton parents and coaches hosted a pizza party in the clubhouse.

Day 8 Visit to St James' Park

Howay the Lads.

Today was a very special day. After a late breakfast at 9:30, the boys toured Durham Castle before heading off to Newcastle to visit St. James' Park, home of Newcastle United, or the Magpies as they are known for their black and white jerseys. We met Gary, Newcastle United's head of public relations and an an acquaintance of Mark. Incredibly, Gary spent 90 minutes showing us around the stadium. We visited everything - ranging from the pitch to the dressing rooms for the referees, visiting team, and the home team (complete with game jerseys hanging in the lockers) to the press room. After leaving the stadium we visited the museum compliments of the club and finished off the tour with some heavy shopping at the team store. Gary photographed the team and will include the picture in an upcoming game program. It's very unusual for outside groups to get such an intimate view into a Premier League stadium. Imagine a 90 minute private tour of Fenway Park, including the clubhouse. Thank you Gary.

St James' Park is unique in English football because it's one of only a few stadiums located in the center of the city, almost as if the city itself grew outward from the stadium. In addition, Newcastle is one of the few major cities that only has one team, most other major cities have at least two. We were on hallowed football ground today.

So you are probably wondering what "Howay the Lads" means. You see it at the beginning of this post and you'll see it again in the side show in the tunnel leading to the pitch. Loosely interpreted, it is a Geordie (of or from the Newcastle area) expression meaning "Come on Lads".

Here is an example of one of the milder Newcastle United chants: "We are the Geordies. The Geordie Bootboys. Oh we are mental. Oh we are mad. We are the loyalist, football supporters the world has ever had."