A SPORTING WEEKEND..

I suppose it all began last Friday when the Ryder Cup stuttered into life at Celtic Manor down in Wales. The default Welsh weather has meant the event has been carried over until today when hopefully the European team will bring the Cup back to these shores. I still wonder at the excitement that is generated by hitting a small ball with a long stick into a small hole about a quarter of a mile away but if it beats the Americans then there will be much dancing in the streets of Cymru.

The weekend`s football produced some `interesting` results. Liverpool losing again, this time at home to alleged no-hopers Blackpool, resulting in pressure being applied to `pool manager Roy Hodgson, who I used to watch playing left back for Maidstone United back in the `70s. I felt sorry for my neighbour, the newly dubbed Hurting More Than Ever of Leybourne, whose beloved Gills went down 7-4 at Accrington to extend their run of away games without a win to 32. (Hurting`s heartfelt comments can be viewed by clicking on the `comments` below the item `MIXED RESULTS` a few items down the page). On a slightly more positive note, I was pleased to see our street`s gay icon pacy flanker Scott (`Buzzin` Six Pack) Wagstaff score Charlton`s consolation goal with a stunning volley in a 2-1 reverse at Griffin Park.

On the Saints front, we managed a 2-0 win, thanks to two penalties by Rickie Lambert Southampton`s Goal Machine, in the first league encounter with Bournemouth for half a century. Sadly, a couple of `incidents` marred the victory. The first was when a contingent of Bournemouth fans, clearly overcome by the opulence of St. Mary`s, attempted to break through barriers and police cordons in their anxiety to `pit pat back to their egg in its cosy, their crisp toast-fingers, their homemade plum and butter pat` and return to the gentility of their Dylan Thomas-esque seaside resort.

The second was the disappointing news emerging today that one of the Saints` star players was allegedly involved in a fracas during the early hours of Sunday morning in a `nite-spot` in downtown Southampton. Details are sparse but it appears that a nightclubbing malcontent launched his jaw in the general direction of the Saints player`s defenceless hand, leaving him needing hospital treatment and an appointment with our boys in blue. We could really do without yet another `incident` in this trying season.

But there were things to cheer the spirit, notably Manchester United`s encouragingly dismal away form and the start of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi which promises to write a new chapter in the growing volumes of sporting indifference. Seems such a shame for all those highly tuned athletes who have trained for months in preparation, only to discover that no-one`s very interested. Time this anachronistic remnant from the days of `empire` was put out of its misery?