Magic wands

The options for Saturday afternoon were Argentina v Germany or Cray Wanderers v Crockenhill. I went for the historical over the hysterical, with the Cray club celebrating an incredible 150th anniversary this year. It means they’re even older than The FA!

I hadn’t seen any football for 34 days and the medication was starting to wear off. So ‘The Barber’ was delighted to find an accessible pre-season friendly as early as 3 July. Was it really a year since last season’s opener at Taplow? It seemed more like 12 months.

Workers involved in the construction of the London, Chatham & Dover railway line from 1858 to 1860 enjoyed kicking a ball around and that’s how Cray Wanderers FC came to be formed in the St Mary Cray village. Since 1998, the Wands have shared Bromley’s ground and before that they played in Sidcup. With Saturday’s game their first in the Crays for nearly 40 years, it was a real ‘back to their roots’ story.

When I turned up at St Mary Cray Recreation Ground, in Park Road off the High Street, they were putting the nets up for the 1pm kick-off. A crowd approaching 250 along the touchlines saw the Wands, now about to start their second season in the Isthmian Premier, beat Crockenhill, their friends and old local rivals, 3-0 on a baking hot afternoon.

The Crocks, who play well below Cray’s level in the Kent County League, produced some backs-to-the-wall defending to keep it goalless by the time of the first ‘drinks break’ on the half-hour. Cray looked impressively sharp for a team that must have only just begun pre-season training and they eventually took the lead on 40 minutes.

It was their No.11, Danny Phillips, who had the dubious honour of scoring the first goal of my 51st football season. He was a couple of yards outside the box on the right wing and curled a perfect left-footer over the ‘keeper’s head and into the far corner.

I was on the 3.17 back to Victoria and was buying a tub of ‘Chunky Monkey’ ice cream in Paddington when someone in the shop said Germany were 2-0 up. By the time I’d got back to my hotel room a few yards away, the Germans had added a third. Right said Friedrich.