Weather hits Storm

It was a free weekend for mpad united as the weather prevented the home match against Storm.

When I confirmed the pitch with Penryn last Wednesday I was told to call back Saturday night due to the cold weather and potential frozen pitch.

After finding out from Pigeon that all Saturday games in Penryn had been called off our game became a victim. At 5pm, when I called the groundsman, I was told the pitch was still frozen and that Penryn were unable to guarantee it would be playable by Sunday morning. The decision was taken to postpone and save people time from turning up only to be told the game was off.

So I spent much of early evening Saturday contacting the mpad united players, the referee, the referee coordinator, the league secretary and Storm's secretary to ensure everyone got the message.

I think a lot of people were disappointed (although they could go out and have some beer), especially after last week's emphatic victory against Shortlanesend, and in the end the game probably could have gone ahead as it warmed up over night. But I had to make a decision based on what information I had at the time.

The joys of being a player, manager, chairman and now temporary secretary!

Will's shins strike cup gold

After receiving news of another injury during West Brom's dismal F.A. Cup game with Peterborough on Saturday I was starting to worry that mpad united would struggle to field a full side.

But Mike Cudlipp came up trumps pulling in another new January signing, Steve Shepherd, you cam into defence to make his debut alongside the returning Ian Carter.

I'm still waiting for full details, but we won 5 - 0 with Will Clarke getting his second hat-trick of the season and Darren Griffiths weighing in with two. Apparently at 4 - 0 both strikers were on a brace each, but when Will got his third Darren shouted "Noooooooooooooooooo!"

I should imagine Will also got a bit of ribbing as a couple of his goals this season seemed to have come off his shin, so he may have another couple to add to the list. I'm thinking about spraying a shinpad in gold paint and mounting it on a plinth to give him at the end of the season.

So for the fifth season running mpad united have made it in to the semi-finals of the Peter Hickey Cup. We're now awaiting the draw to see if we can once again progress to the final.

11th hour player boost

With mpad united's defence of the Peter Hickey Cup tomorrow seemingly set to be undermined by player illness, absence or injury - Chris Shepherd joined the ranks of the walking wounded by a trapped nerve in his back - we have experienced a belated Christmas miracle.

Two players, who made appearances earlier in the season - James Bush and Ian Carter - but who got fed up with losing have come out of exile to help us out in the game with Shortlanesend.

Added to that the signing of Ashley Holmes (now the January transfer window has opened) we go into the game with a strong squad of 13 and a great chance of reaching the semi-finals (even though this is the first game, it's the quarter-final!).

So thanks to the efforts of captain Mike Cudlipp I'm free to enjoy my trip to the Midlands and this afternoon's FA Cup match for West Brom.

Maybe I'll do a spot of scouting and see who else I can sign up for mpad united

Defence of the cup

Eventually the mystery of the Halsetown no-show has been solved. There had been a mix up with one of the phone numbers and Halsetown were unaware the game was on, even though the fixtures has been published.

This latest incident has seen Pigeon step down as secretary of mpad united to be replaced by my Dad. It was a tough decision but its been hard for Pidge being out of the team and its difficult to expect him to carry on fully in the role.

Anyway, the game has been rescheduled for February.

But on to the defence of the Peter Hickey Cup this Sunday, and it could be a tough game. Shortlanesend will be up for it after we beat them in both league games this season, with the last one down to goals in the 86th and 87th minutes.

We also seem to have a shortage of players this weekend.

I'm away for a family birthday in the Midlands (and watching West Brom in the FA Cup), Matt Hawke and Chris Taylor have started their annual panto rehearsals, Glen Jeffery has got to work, his brother Lee is taking his girlfriend back to uni, Andy Mitchell is injured, while Peter Ash is laid up with man flu.

At the moment we're down to 11, so captain Mike Cudlipp and myself have been frantically texting and calling all our other signed on players to find out whose available, as this is once again our best chance of picking up some silverware this season.

I'm feeling a bit nervous so fingers crossed!

Halsetown no show

Well after all the stress of booking a referee and chasing up fringe players for mpad united's last game of 2008, Halsetown failed to show.

With the game moved from Penryn to Dracaena I went to Penryn Football Club to wait in case Pigeon had been too ill to contact them. And so I waited until 10.28 for the supposed 10.30 kick off, whilst back in Falmouth there was still no sign of them.

Captain Mike Cudlipp gave Sunday League Secretary, Dave James, a quick call but he'd not heard anything from Halsetown either. Dave then attempted to make another four calls to Halsetown, but drew a blank, so with all 12 us of changed, the pitch paid for and ref gone home (after we had to paid £20 for him too), we decided to finish off 2008 with a six-a-side training session.

Despite the frustration of being £50 out of pocket, once the pitch fee is taken into account, we had a good laugh and it was a good way to build up some team spirit before we start the defence of the Peter Hickey Cup in January.

Now all I have to do is find out what's happening with Pigeon, and see if we can claim the points for today's game.

Adding to the list

With just under two hours until mpad united's last game of 2008 against Halsetown and we've managed to get a squad of 12 players together - hopefully.

Already without Mark Jeffery (knee), Andy Mitchell (knee) and Glen Jeffery (work), the list grew overnight with Pigeon, who was going to get his first start since the 5 - 3 defeat to Truro United, being out ill, whilst Matt Hawke may have to work.

Having five of our normal squad out meant that I spent last night on the phone and text to fringe members, all of whom were unable to come forward! Peter Ash has work, Alex Clifton has a pre-Christmas family meal, Simon Carter has Christmas shopping, Stuart Westhead having family Christmas related stuff to do, whilst Ben Ambrose (a new signing) is the victim of a knee injury - the injury of choice for mpad united's players!

I was wondering if Manchester United have these issues before the Christmas period. Ronaldo: "Sorry boss, I can't play today as I've got to go to Morrisons and do my Christmas food shopping."

Oh well, when we're down to the bare bones with a scratch team, that's the time we normally put in our best performances. And we certainly need to do that today.

Injuries hit us in the run up to Christmas

Its the last game before Christmas tomorrow for mpad united , and its going to be one of the toughest of the season - Halsetown at home.

For regular readers you will know our first game of this season - the 2-2 draw away Halsetown saw Paul ''Hodgo" Hodgson end up in hospital and Halsetown down to 10 men with the offending player getting banned for the season.

This is a game when we need our strongest squad. So its slightly concerning that injuries and absentees have hit us at a time when we need everyone.

First we lost midfield battler Andy Mitchell to a knee injury before the Wendron cup game, now we're lost Mark Jeffery with torn knee ligaments. It happened in training on Monday night after a tackle with Matt Hawke. Who needs to play Halsetown when your own players can do the damage!

We've also lost Mark's brother Glen, who has to work tomorrow. Glen has been an absolute star since he came into the side at centre back and we're going to miss him.

But where others miss out, opportunities are presented to other members of the squad. Goalkeeper Pigeon who has been particularly unhappy after being left out of the team now has a chance to re-establish himself in the starting line-up as we will move Graham Griffiths to centre back to make up for the loss of Mark and Glen.

We're down to a squad of 14, but I know when the odds are against us, its the time we're at our most dangerous.