Day 166 - Moreton Rangers

We're having another bout of Canadian winter here in the U.K., and today we find ourselves staring outside at snow covering everything! It's pretty on the yellow Cotswold stone, but the accompanying wind makes you want to stay inside under a blanket and watch old movies on the telly. 

Yesterday though, with the cold wind blowing but the snow having yet started, I ventured out to the local football grounds to watch the Moreton Rangers play, leaving Ange to stay warm at home. I think the team's name comes from the reference to the Lord of the Rings for which Moreton-in-Marsh is claimed to be Tolkein's inspiration for the village of Bree, and the Prancing Pony Inn where the hobbits meet Strider (Aragorn) who is one of the Rangers of the North.

The 2017-18 Squad - The best player today was the young
lad in the front row, third from the right.

The Moreton Rangers are the local football club that plays in the Hellenic League Division Two West. To put that in perspective, the Premier League, with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, is the top division in the U.K. The Hellenic League Division Two is 10 divisions lower than that! Today, the game was a Hellenic League Bluefin Sport Challenge Cup game (it is like the FA Cup in its format, with teams playing against each other in single knockout games throughout the season, but it would appear limited to the three divisions within the Hellenic League) against Division One West team, Easington Sports. Easington is an area just outside Banbury in Oxfordshire, about 20 miles to the northeast, and their team was one division higher in status.

Before they put in the new clubhouse under the left end.

The Rangers play at the London Road field on the east side of Moreton in Marsh. It's about a 15-minute walk from where we live. I wasn't certain as to whether one pays to watch football at this level or not. As I walked into the parking lot, it became apparent that I would not. The pitch (that is what they refer to as the field) was in pretty good shape considering the weather we're having and the stand was a simple cinder block structure that had long since lost its wooden bench seats.  However, the club had built into the one half of the structure a club house with chairs, a large flat screen TV which was showing the Six Nations rugby match between England and Ireland when I arrived, and a snack bar (so quite civilized I must say). A tunnel runs into the back of the stand and that is the location of the change rooms. 

Of course, I had to stand outside to watch the game as it's the Canadian thing to do. I mean, the sun was still shining when the match started with temperatures hovering around 1 or 2 degrees, and even though the wind gusts out of the northeast were hitting 40 miles an hour, the windchill didn't seem too bad. The wind did wreak havoc on some of the longer kicks and passes. An early goal was scored by Easington and that turned out to be the match winner.  I lasted until half time, when suddenly it began to snow. Fortunately the wind was to my back as I headed home for a cup of tea, a biscuit, and...oh yeah, that old black and white movie on the telly!

Ale of the Day: Foundation Best Bitter, East London Brewing Co., London