Instead of scouting future opponents, I like to get a feel of the towns our rivals hail from, to understand the dynamics of the places. In this vein, I awarded myself a trip to Pannal, home of the 'Pann al Chocolate' (groan - Food Ed). While walking through Pannal High Street, I noticed the buildings were dressed in bright bunting and advertisements were out in force for, 'An Evening With David Copperfield'. I anticipated a night of lavish illusion and wonder, in which anything might happen, up to and including the disappearance of Pannal Town Hall. I bought a ticket to the show in high anticipation. Excitement soon turned to disappointment upon the realisation that the Copperfield in question was not the 'most commercially successful magician in history' but David Copperfield, ex-member of comedy trio Three of A Kind and now a staple on the cruise ship circuit. After a couple of low-key impersonations (Arthur Askey, Gore Vidal) and a ribald story involving an exotic dancer and a chimpanzee from Flamingoland Zoo, Copperfield emulated his namesake by making his audience disappear, though not by design. Avoid at all costs!
The sun shone and a brisk wind blew over St Mary's artificial surface as the match kicked off late Sunday afternoon. After a fallow week, Menston were hoping to get into some rhythm ahead of a County Cup fixture two weeks hence. The home team soon began to enjoy the expansive pitch and had the opposition camped in their half through the opening stages. Macauley finished off a lovely team move to open the scoring and minutes later, he scored from range to double the advantage. With Holliday-Gomes impressively settling into a new right-back role and Jefferson orchestrating things at left-back, Menston looked dominant. However, the concession of a sloppy goal reduced the deficit and those of a nervous disposition looked away. Jefferson calmed things by adding a third and Rangers were supremely dominant for the remainder of the half without being able to increase the advantage.
The second half told a different story. Lovely flowing football was rewarded with a sextet of goals, shared equally between Macauley, who finished with five, and Imran, who delighted his many followers with a first ever hat-trick for Menston Rangers. There were many notable performances but words must go out to a controlled and composed Boughan and to Hutchinson, for his trademark 'Kai Charge'.
As another David Copperfield, the Dickensian character, said, 'trifles make the sum of life'. If those trifles are such as today, eat on!