Homebase: "I'm gutted."

After a thorough examination from a trusted physiotherapist, I'm gutted. He thinks that I've partially torn one of my cruciate ligaments in my right knee and will be asking my GP to refer me to an NHS consultant for further examination/tests. If this is proved correct, then that will be the snapping noise that the people on the sideline heard. I should imagine that if the consultant agrees with my physio, then I'll be put on the waiting list for a scan, and then for keyhole surgery if it's required (worst case).

In case you didn't know.............
(http://healthguide.howstuffworks.com/anterior-cruciate-ligament-acl-injury-dictionary.htm)

The knee is essentially a modified hinge joint located where the end of the femur (thigh bone) meets the top of the tibia (shin bone). There are four main ligaments connecting these two bones:
Medial collateral ligament(MCL) -- runs along the inner part of the knee and prevents the knee from bending inward.
Lateral collateral ligament (LCL) -- runs along the outer part of the knee and prevents the knee from bending outward.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) -- lies in the middle of the knee. It prevents the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur, and provides rotational stability to the knee.
Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) -- works in concert with the ACL. It prevents the tibia from sliding backwards under the femur.

The ACL and PCL cross each other inside the knee forming an "X." This is why they are called the “cruciate” (cross-like) ligaments.
ACL injuries are often associated with other injuries. The "unhappy triad" is a classic example, in which the ACL is torn at the same time as the MCL and the medial meniscus (one of the shock-absorbing cartilages in the knee). This type of injury is most often seen in football players and skiers.

In cases of suspected ACL tear, an MRI may help to confirm the diagnosis, and to evaluate other injuries to the knee, such as to the other ligaments or cartilage.

ACL tears may be due to contact or non-contact injuries. A blow to the side of the knee, such as may occur during a football tackle, may result in an ACL tear.
Alternatively, coming to a quick stop, combined with a direction change while running, pivoting, landing from a jump, or overextending the knee joint, can cause injury to the ACL.
Basketball, football, soccer and skiing are common causes of ACL tears.

Early symptoms:
A "pop" sound at the time of injury
Severe pain
Knee swelling within 6 hours of injury

Oaks Athletic 2 Vs St Georges Corringham 2 (Away Win on Penalties)

I couldn't possibly comment on this yet, more details to follow.

I reckon that I'd have tucked a penalty away though!!!


Fixtures
(Looks like plenty of away-days for us, that means that Alex might arrive on time!)

Cup
SUN 09 DEC 2007 10:30
Busolona
Oaks Athletic
Belhus Park
League
SUN 16 DEC 2007 10:30
AFC Chadwell
Oaks Athletic
Chadwell Recreation Ground
League
SUN 23 DEC 2007 10:30
Kaktus
Oaks Athletic
Corringham Recreation Ground

Dean's Easy Three Step Guide to a Good Night Out

Step 1: Get as much booze as you can, then drink it all at once!

Step 2: Get your friends to support you while you pose for a photo, holding aloft yet another drink!

Step 3: Get carried/dragged away from the bar while trying to punch kind strangers who offer to help you get back to the hotel. At the hotel, empty your guts all over the bathroom, but still have time for a handshake celebrating a good night out.

Seriously though kids, doing the "Dentist's chair" is not big or clever and certainly no good for your body, as Parker found out during the nightwatch where he was scooping sick from Dean's mouth so that he didn't choke to death. Drink in moderation.

DEANO ! DEANO ! DEANO !

Busolona 2 Vs Oaks Athletic 5

We started this game in the same way as many of our previous matches, by going a goal down. Jacko got us back into the game with a decent free kick, which one of the Busolona players flicked into the net over his Keeper's head. At this point in the first half, I had to be carried off the pitch as my knee gave way under my weight and I have to say, initially the pain was intense and at that time I did ask for an ambulance. However, by the time they arrived, the pain had subsided a bit (provided I didn't move the knee) and I suppose that in hindsight, someone could have driven me to the hospital. But then on the other hand, I thought 'F*** it, I must have paid for that ride to the hospital a thousand times over." Anyway, I was watching from the sideline while I was waiting for the ambulance and we went 2-1 up. Only to concede another about a minute after. At 2-2 I limped over to the ambulance with the paramedics, and I got a text later saying that we won 5-2. Marvellous. I would be even more pissed off if we had lost that one!

Scorers:

OG (from Jacko's free kick)
Nathan
Jamie
Sharpy 2

Cup Match, Away in Romford somewhere next Sunday 18th Nov, Meet at the Oaks at 09.15am.

Good Luck Lads!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH !

That's right I'm injured again. Torn knee ligaments, again. Only this time the pain increased by a factor of ten and I can't f***ing walk.

I landed on my right foot after attempting to challenge for a header and it felt like my Femur (top leg bone) just rattled around on top of my Tib. + Fib. in my knee until something snapped. Of course, this all happened in a fraction of a second, but that was the single most painful second of my life.

It's kind of like my body had to go one better than Dean (Pulled Groin) and Alex (Two In-growing Big-Toe nails). That's failing to mention our long termers, Dan (metal leg) and Stuart (knee ligaments). All I can say to Stuart is, make sure that you are 100% ready to come back before you do.

Thank the Lord ! We're through to the next round !

All the devil-worshipping has finally paid off lads! Our opponents in the first round of the County Cup have withdrawn from the match allowing us to go through on a bye. To explain, we were drawn against a church team for Ilford which wouldn't play the game at 10.30am on a sunday. Milesy stated to me (when he'd finished laughing down the phone) that they "obviously haven't been praying enough!"

Now that's two cups that we're still in at the moment, and........it's November.

Le Deportivo Thurrock 2 Vs Oaks Athletic 4

This wasn't the best standard of football that we've seen from our team this season, but it was a result that gave us three points, and those are what count at the end of the day.
Deportivo went one-nil up after a number of cock-ups across the pitch let their forward in throught the back four. Jacko and Sharpy are working wonders at the moment by driving defences barmy and this game was no exception. They combined to score the first. Jacko crossed from the left and Sharpy headed the ball up and over the Keeper into the top corner. Sharpy went on to get another two and also unwittingly set Deano up for a simple finish (He'd been watching Gollum shoot in the first half). Deportivo got another one but it proved to be too late on in the game to make a real difference to their motivation.

Special Message to the lads: Well done for keeping up with the subs money, we'll have the pitch fees in the bank soon, and (assuming there is money leftover) we can spend the rest on beer! Woohoo!

Sunday 11th November: Belhus Park 09.45 meet / 10.30 k.o.

League Cup: Oaks Athletic 3 Vs Jack's Lads 0

This game was over two weeks ago now, so bare with me as I dig deep into my memory banks !!! As I recall, it was Robin who netted twice with headers and I can't remember who got the other goal (help us out lads and I'll correct it!). We managed our team well and were organised at the back. Sure, they had chances but nothing that gave Parker too much trouble. Parker did however receive quite a nasty knock in a 50/50 challenge AND SHOULD HAVE DEFINITELY GOT IT CHECKED OUT AT THE HOSPITAL. Those lumps on his leg are simply not normal and require some form of medical attention.

Gollum: That was a shot and not a cross to Robin, wasn't it?

Anyway, through to the next round of the cup !

Test Post

Checking to see if the site is working again.

Testing Testing

Seeing if the blog works.

If you can read this Jon, please feel free to spray forth your weekly load.

Cheers

Oaks Blog Person

Don't forget the clocks go back you fools!

Saturday night/sunday morning the clocks go back one hour. There's always one who forgets!!!

Oaks Athletic 1 Vs Garrison 3

Well now, I should start by saying that we lost three-nil last week. I couldn't possibly comment on last week's performance because I wasn't there.
I can however, comment on this week's game. Even after the first goal sailed in for Garrison, everyone in our team decided to blame each other and lose their concentration on the game. The team spirit and focused determination which we have seen in previous matches was well and truly missing from our game. This led to a of multitude of percentage passes, and some free kicks and shots which left a lot to be desired.

We need to keep our heads on the game and work as a team if we want to win matches. It is as simple as that.

This week, the aim for everyone is to be able to walk off of the pitch at the end of the game knowing that they have given absolutely 100% for the team.

Blackshots 09.30 meet.




EYE-BALL WATCH: Simply awesome.

Championship Of Women. Come on you Irons

erm yes

West Ham V Aston Villa Beamback

Oaks Athletic 2 Vs Rec Rovers 1

Many of our long throw-in's in the first half caused the Rec Rovers defence some problems and Nathan and Robin both weighed in with headers before half time. This gave us a two-nil lead to hold on to, and hold on to it we did through defending well as a team in the second half. Rec Rovers scored with just over 25 minutes to play and those last 25 minutes were closely contested. Milesy resorted to beefing up the defence late on, switching the formation to cope with the pressure. There were a lot of percentages balls played by our defenders in that part of the game too !!

EYE-BALL WATCH: Played a blinder and got really stuck in, didn't get injured either this week - bonus!

Top Scorers 2007/08

Robin Lawrence 2
Ian Pitney 2
James Jackson 2
Nathan Kerin 1
Aaron Bass 1

After just two matches and before October (just) we have six points, this is great after the start we had last season (just 3 points before Christmas last season). Well done lads !!!

Keep up the good work next Sunday at Blackshots 09.30 meet/10.30 k.o.

Milesy: Don't let Parker wash the kit again, his idea of washing it was to just leave it in the garden all week. It was still wet and it F***ing stank!
Parker: You are useless.

BREAKING NEWS: Milesy's back !

After Trevor's meetings with Jose Mourinho were sensationally revealed in this Thursday's Daily Star, leading to speculation that we might have a change of manager, Milesy returned to the table. Talks with the Oaks Ath hierarchy were on-going, until they made a breakthrough at around 17.15 this afternoon. The Captain received a text message stating that "I will be there Sunday, as Manager." There was widespread relief throughout the squad upon hearing this news and they are said to be looking forward to another season with Milesy in charge.

Asda 2 Vs Oaks Athletic 6

A very frustrating first half saw us concede two goals before half time, so at the break we were 2-1 down. The two goals were down to two mistakes by our defence (-yeah, sorry about that lads, nobody's perfect) and their forward did finish well. To be honest, if it was any of the other Asda players, I think we would have been one nil up at half time.
It proved to be an even more frustrating interval, as Milesy (the manager) decided that he'd had enough and walked off, leaving us without a manager. It was down to us, as a team, to get back out there and turn it around. I was very proud of all of them as they showed a lot of character second half, netting five good goals in the process, keeping a clean sheet and not making any more costly mistakes.
We need to go into this weeks game showing that we can play like we did second half last sunday, and if we do that, we'll do ourselves some justice out there and give ourselves a fighting chance of another three points.

Sunday 30th sept: Belhus Park 09.30 meet, 10.30 k.o.

PLEASE COME BACK MILESY - WE NEED YOU BACK IN THE HOTSEAT

First Game of The Season Called Off !

A representative from the Thurrock Sunday League called today's match off due to there being GLASS on the pitch. We're not talking about a couple of broken bottles here, this is a major problem that Thurrock District Council have on their hands. Council Chiefs have put the wheels in motion for each home-owner in Thurrock to have "Recycling Training." This will involve home-owners receiving training of how to put empty bottles or jars into their BLUE boxes, and then putting them out on the right day for collection. Or, on the other hand, STOP SMASHING UP GLASS ON THE FOOTBALL PITCHES YOU W***ERS! Then the council could spend the tax-payers money on something useful for once.
Anyway, we managed to find a small area on the heath that you could actually see the grass and held an impromptu training session. Which was nice.

There will be training on Thursday 20th sept at 18.30 at Blackshots.

The first game of the season will now be Sunday 23rd Sept at Torrels school - 09.30/09.45 meet. 10.30 k.o.

Deano mentioned sorting out some indoor training for the winter months. If he does sort this out for the team, I would like a better response than when I last hired a sports hall..........Everyone has to pay their way in order for this to work ok.

Win West Ham Tickets

If You Fill In This Survey....

Carling Pub Football

Yuo guys should register on here http://www.carling.com/pubfootball/

You can win beer and a new kit

England: Too Many Injuries

Pick your england team.....

By the way - Fantasy Football - Code 78382-19285 for you oaks players out there. Jon is rubbish

Charity Match: Oaks Ath. 2 Vs Other Team 2

Sorry, I must apologise for not finding out what the other team were called. That's not important anyway. It was a good opportunity for Milesy (The Manager) to try out some new players with 20 people turning up. We almost had an entirely different team out on the pitch in the second half - like Sven used to do with England. And it didn't work for us either!!! But like I have already said, the result was not important. It was the performance of each individual player that was under scrutiny and I assure you all that Milesy had his beady eyes fixed on the whole match yesterday.
One of the new lads (Kieran) scored a great solo effort after cutting in from the left past a few players before finishing at the near post, (Milesy, sign him up). And Jacko out-foxed the opposition with his outside-of-the -boot-inswinging-corners until one of them crept in. The opposition scored two, but could have had three had they not missed a penalty !!!

Training:

Thursday 16/08/07 - Blackshots - 6.30pm
Sunday 19/08/07 - Blackshots - 11.00am
Thursday 23/08/07 - Blackshots - 6.30pm

Friendly Match:

Sunday 26/08/07 - Archer Pub/Rugby club pitches (South Ockendon) - 09.30am meet, 10.30am ko

Photos of the Captain!

Jons Wedding Photos
Jons Stag Photos

Or look on facebook!

Charity Match This Sunday 12th August 2007

Meet at Blackshots at 10.15am in order to be ready for an 11am Kick Off. I don't know who the oppostion are on Sunday..... But on the other hand that won't matter to me, I'd just like to get started with a new season thankyou very much.

El Cappy-Tan's Pre-Season Rant

Everyone knows that the game of football is all about passing and moving. In order to be able to achieve good, accurate crisp passing you need the skill to do it. And in order to be able to make the play a tidy, flowing move you need fitness.
The skill part of the game can be worked on with practise, but obviously you have to be willing to listen, take advice(or criticism) on board and then learn from it. If you don't or can't do this because you think that you are the best player in the team (or the world), then you will never become a better player - alright. To quote many managers in the game: "No player is bigger than the club!"
The fitness part of the game is what I'd like everyone in our team to take more seriously this season. I think that concentration for the full duration of the matches also comes into this. I would like everyone in the team to work on controlling their anger/frustration and chanelling it into their game. This will increase their focus on winning matches and not on moaning, swearing or fighting.

New players Required !
If anyone has friends who would like to come over for trials, they are of course welcome.

Also, if there's anyone else reading this who would like to be poached from another team in the local area, it could be arranged - especially if you're a striker.....

Beckhams New LA Galaxy Shirt

Coolest Football Jersey to own this summer? Beckham's of course!

The old shirt is better in my opinion, and also a bit cheaper at £24.99



Or maybe for some reason you are a spurs supporter. Check out Dawson looking like a goon:
Spurs have a special 125yr anniversary this year. Lets hope they celebrate in style and get relegated!

Or maybe you need some new boots?
If you play Sunday league and wish you were Ronaldinho, why not splash the cash on these babies:

Get the look without the big goofy teef!

New Dicky Dirt Available

The away dicky dirt is out 26th July

Win a West Ham season Ticket

Fill in this form on the official site!

Debt Collection

I shall be at the match this weekend to collect deposits for Jon's Stag-weekend!

Where is the match anyways?

Happy Valentines Day X

Chelsea Team in Nightclub Shocker

A Ukranian woman bumps into the entrie Chelsea football squad in a night club.

She approaches John Terry and asks for his autograph. She duly drops out her left tit, which she signs.

She asks Drogba for the same. She drops out her right tit. he signs it.

She asks Mourino for his autograph, and drops her knickers, and shows her fanny to him.

To which he said, "Fuck off! The last time I signed a Ukranian cunt it cost me 30 million pounds and the premiership title!"

Jon's Summer StagFest 2007

Hello there dudes who know Jon,
If you do not know Jon, please disregard this Post.

I am posting you regarding Jonny H’s Stag Weekend!

I am Keef, his brother; I shall be arranging this with the help of Mr Bob Compton and several ex-KGB agents.
Be nice to Boris and Ivan, otherwise you might turn into radioactive man.

It will probably be 8th/9th/10th of June 2007
I will try to keep the Fee will be kept to a maximum of £250 for flights, accommodation + an activity and a nightclub entry.
Plus your spending money of course!

We have a number of destinations we are looking at in Europe.

I need to get an idea of numbers so I can get some quotes.
So if you are up for it, add yourself to my list and get back to me. #

1. STAG – Jon Horwood
2. BM – Keith Horwood
3. Bob Compton
4. YOU

Please reply ASAP so this can get sorted.
Please spread the word at football as its unlikely I will be there this week but I am sure someone will read this before then. I just need to get an idea of numbers!

Open Yer Diaries

Please Pencil in 9/10th June Weekend as it shall be Jon's Stag Weekend at an undisclosed euro destination! Pass it on to all Oaks Players who are interested.

Friday Night Mayhem !!!

As another year passes for the inspirational captain of the Oaks, he would like to celebrate reaching the supposed 'prime' of his football career by inviting the team to Mayhem.

I will be meeting in the last post in the evening time for a pint or two. Everyone's welcome of course, even milesy. They'll probably have a side door that they can sneak you inside !!!

08/01/07: Sockett's Heath 1 Vs Oaks Athletic 2

It wasn't the prettiest game of football, but we we got our first three points of the season and thats what matters I suppose. We have Sockett's Heath again in a couple of weeks, and I'd like think that we can raise our game to how good a lot of our players think they are...
The resilience and battling on the pitch is important when defending, but the best form of defence is attack. Therefore, players need to create space for themselves to receive the ball under control and make decisive passes. The other team gave us a game, but if we can sort out our passing, their salad-dodgers will have no chance.
Jacko set up our first goal with a goal-kick that was launched into the 18 yard box at the other end, this allowed Nathan to make a monkey out of their keeper. The second was just as comical with Gollum playing a one-two with the crossbar to slot in his first goal of the season! We were caught cold in the second half, giving away a soft goal following a couple of mistakes. We managed to hold on to our lead, just. Sockett's Heath hit the bar and had many other attempts cleared of the line by eye-ball and myself (I know I kicked two off the line, one in each half), so it was a narrow victory that's not really worth shouting about.

No game next week, at blackshots the week after ok (21st).

Top Scorers

Nathan 2
Robin 2
Jon 1
Ken 1
Dean 1
Ian 1
James 1
Dave 1
John 1
Paul 1 (Thought we were going kayaking instead of playing a footie match, then I realised that Gollum had new boots that were stupendously huge!)

Sunday's game build up...

Tensions are running high as Oaks Athletic look to secure their first win of the season this Sunday against Sockett's Heath. With Milesy's inspired tactical changes implemented, the starting line up could be something like this:

1. Parker (GK)
2. Dolly Gray (RB)
3. Eye-Ball (LB)
4. Deano (CB)
5. (c)Homebase (CB)
6. Robo-Rob (CM)
7. O'Kerin (RW)
8. Jackooooooooo (LW)
9. Curns (CM)
10. Daniel Allen (ST)
11. Gollum (ST)

(Of course this is just a possible team, and I haven't spoken to Milesy about this at all!)

Congratulations to Robo-Rob for becoming a Granddad just before Christmas !!!! -There's a nick-name there somewhere too.....

Let's get it sorted this year lads, COME ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!