I always think the Northern League's Northern Ventures magazine is a good read, when that is it gets thrown over the fence, but for name dropping purposes the editor has surpassed himself this month. His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, The President of the Worldwide Methodist Conference and the MP for Guisborough. All in a few pages; a noble, holy and, almost certainly, honourable trio if ever I saw one. Counterbalanced of course by the usual stories, and sadly pictures, of blokes who look and sound demented in the extreme, and whose dress sense, if sense is the word, leaves quite a bit to be desired. Unless, in one spectacular and eye hurting case this month, you are about to mount a surf board in Hawaii. Which they weren't. I was once asked to leave the bar at Crook Golf Club because of my trousers, specifically the fact that I didn't have them on as it happens, but I won't bore you with sordid details. Much more importantly, there is no photographic evidence of the same, something some of the braver correspondents to Northern Ventures might care to ponder on. Still, makes for something to talk about during the boring bits. And were there boring bits in the 0-0 draw down at Bishops? Not really to judge by the reports, which either reckoned Bishops should have won comfy, or that RCA could have been five up by half time; funny how folks can see the same things different ways, no? And a quid for a cup of tea, no recession in the wild south west by the sounds of it.
And so to the glory of the Cup, another year, another attempt to win a Vase tie. And against visitors we have come to know well, three to play in ten days, win one, draw one ... Surely not, I can feel it in my water, this is the year when the Gods smile on us and we go all the way, and not just with Tracey down the Guide Post. Bring it on!
And finally back to Northern Ventures. Some cover shot this month, a centre forward making an honest woman of the chairman's daughter, who'd have thought it? And a very happy couple they look, and we wish them all the very best. But it makes you think. Chairmen are not noted for taking a tolerant view of footballers making suggestions to their daughters, or their sons for that matter, but this was obviously an exception, and why might that be? Well, I don't know I'm sure, except maybe, daughters are worth more than rubies we know, but then a good centre forward's worth twenty goals a season...