Altogether NowThe romance of the Cup drew us northbound, up past White Hart Lane for a morning game, a welcome change from afternoon kick offs in grubby south London. Still, Tottenham High Road does need a makeover and by all accounts will get it soon when Tottenham Hotspur begin to build their new super stadium - think the Emirates in blue. We drive onwards past The Pheonix public house (Kali's second home)
and across Silver Street to Pymmes Park, a beautiful oasis of green in the grey urban sprawl of Edmonton.It's a gorgeous sunny day, the Yavruvatan manager is putting up the nets and it all seems laid back, a fabulous morning to play a cup game. Despite mates telling us Yavruvatan are a
top side, tough Turkish League winners on numerous occassions - the first half saw Recreativo defend like our lives depended on it. James threw himself into everything, Jimmy Lloyd and Marcus blocked every through ball and Chris was
solid between the st
icks. A couple of minutes until half time and we were already thinking about the possibilities of penalties and another round of cup footb
all. Yavruvatan took the lead with a few minutes of the first half to go, but we kept our heads and got back out to attempt to level the score. As always fitness (or the lack of it) kicked in and the younger fitter opposition increased their advantage with another two goals. Marcus, never shy of a 50-50 ball, landed badly on his arm and the game came to halt as we realised it was a nasty break, his arm and wrist deforming like a scene from American Werewolf In London (when the American tourist collapses behind Jenny Agutter's settee and hands morph into elongated claws). It seems that all of us are on our phones calling for an ambulance, the management of Yavruvatan assisting our distraught player with a shin-pad keeping his arm straight. It's never nice to see a player suffer a horrendous injury, especially one of ours, a founding Recreativo member and popular player. All thoughts of finishing the game disappear as we wait in vain for the ambulance, more and more players from both sides offering comforting words and attempting to keep Marcus's spirits up. The game continues as the paramedics from the ambulance crew arrive and attend our injured player. The final two goals put past us seem pretty meaningless as we hear the final whistle and leave the pitch. A tough encounter today, but a match played in the true spirit of football. Good luck Yuvruvatan in the next round and get well soon Marcus from the entire Recreativo family!
Team : Chris Read, James Humphreys (John Megaughin),Jimmy Lloyd, Marcus du Sautoy, Lee Walsh, Russell Smith, Adam Bradbury, Kali Gregory-Hickling, Abdul Daewoo, Nick Candy.
