Changes

It wasn't until I looked back on what had happened today that I realised how things have changed, albeit in a small way. I had made plans to cook another roast, after my innocuous midweek effort; roast rib of beef, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, broccoli and Yorkshire puddings the order of the day. I've attempted roast dinners before but always with a helping hand in some way or another. This time I dealt with the lot from buying the fresh ingredients to cooking and serving the meal. As with all things in life there was room for improvement, unless you like your roast beef medium-rare that is. It may seem like small beer in the grand scheme of things but this was a point made to myself and a very tasty one at that :)

Changes were rife in the team today too. With injuries and missing players we were forced to field a rather different line-up to most weeks. I reverted to my old stomping ground at centre-back while my brother T vacated the penalty area for a stint in the centre of the park thanks to damaged tendons in his wrist (we won't ask what caused it)! With a team sheet of crocks and ill-positioned players, no changing room, no qualified ref and a road to cross to get to the pitch one would have been forgiven for packing their bags and heading for the hills. We didn't though and I'm much the better for it. The game was well matched and the 1 - 1 draw on reflection was probably the fairest result. We took the lead through T when he headed home a superb cross from the right but the opposition capitalised on a lapse at the back to equalise at the near post. A missed penalty soon after and a disallowed goal against saw the luck level itself too. This was the first game in months that I have genuinely enjoyed and my hearty thanks go to the stand-in ref from the opposition. Without his perfect application of the rules this game could have been a nightmare but to his credit, I believe that was the best refereeing performance I have seen all year!

The final change to note was cheese on toast which Mum made me for lunch. She coated the cheddar in dried Parmesan before putting it under the grill. It really was good, not one for always but certainly one for a change.