KNOWLE FC 0-1 GORNAL ATHLETIC: THE LINK TO 10 MINUTES OF VIDEO ACTION WITH FULL COMMENTARY...

 PLEASE CLICK ON THIS MESSAGE TO GO TO THE 10 MINUTES OF VIDEO ACTION WITH FULL COMMENTARY...

GEORGE SEELEY'S UPPER BACK HAS TAKEN A THUMPING...

THE KNOWLE DEFENCE MANAGED PRETTY WELL FOR THE HUGE CHUNK OF THE GAME PLAYED WITH A MAN SHORT...

THE REF ATTEMPTS TO COACH A FORWARD ROLL, WITH LITTLE SUCCESS...

WHEN YOU'RE HURT AND NOT MANY FOLKS ARE BOTHERED...

WHEN FLOYD WAS DISMISSED, THE OTHER PLAYERS RECOVERED FROM THE SCUFFLE BY GOING FOR A DRINK...

GORNAL 'KEEPER FRANCIS WATCHES FLOYD LEAVE THE FIELD...

ABOVE & BELOW: THE SCUFFLE...

"NO REF, I'M NOT TIME WASTING, JUST NEEDED A BREATHER..."

CLEAR ON GOAL IN THE OPENING MOMENTS, BARNES' SCUFFED SHOT TRICKLED WIDE & HE ENDED UP COLLIDING WITH TWO OPPONENTS... 

WHERE THE WINNING PENALTY WAS SCORED...

THE FACILITIES...

THE BODGING & THE PYDOG LIKE THE ROBINS NEST, THOUGH THEY THOUGHT THE GAME WAS REALLY POOR ENTERTAINMENT, WRECKED BY TWO RED CARDS FOR KNOWLE AND THE LACK OF OFFENSIVE AMBITION ON DISPLAY...

NEAT KNOWLE SUNSET...

STAGE LIGHTING... (My poem about the sky over Mounts Bay, Cornwall, December 2018...)

 Stage Lighting…

(Mousehole, December 2018…)

In the limelight, the isle sparkled

Like a floodlit theatrical stage,

Upon which Mousehole’s story would imminently unfold.

A chorus of gleaming, shrieking gulls

And dreaming, flaunting cormorants

Awaited the curious tale to be told.

A sea of harsh blue, grey and turquoise cold

Formed a stormy backdrop to the featured gold... 

And a rainbow exited from stage left,

Arcing the restless hues of Mount’s Bay,

Bending towards somewhere east of Marazion,

And anchored by a vibrant pillar some miles away... 

Pete Ray…

The sun highlighting St Clement’s Island off Mousehole, reminding me of a stage in a theatre.

The rainbow simply set the whole scene…

AUTUMN STREETS IN MIST... (My new poem inspired by Maria Wigge's painting...)

 Autumn Streets In Mist…

(Inspired by Maria Wigge’s art…)

A protective arm merely reassures the smaller figure

As two warmly dressed pedestrians, each becoming a dark, shadowy wraith  

In the saturation of autumn mist permeating a dream-like coldness and silence 

Of a Nordic street. Its gossamer murk renders tall buildings blue-grey and their rigour

Reaches to close the shimmering, ethereal gap ahead and in a breath  

It will engulf the trespassers and dissipate their unwanted and despised presence…

Pete Ray…

15th March 2026…  

Unreal, dreamy and yet, despite the gloomy and invasive mist, the central streak of surviving white offers a glimmer of hope…

The thoughts of independent source, The Sand Martin...

'My initial thought was admiration for the artist who produced such a clever painting using only shades and tones of blue with white. The detail achieved is quite remarkable as one perceives walls, windows and faint roof top ledges that may be fascia and soffits.

Central to the scene is a misty white stretching the full length of the picture to draw the eye from top to bottom. Together with the perspective of the buildings at either side one can distinguish a narrow path, maybe a roadway, along which two figures are walking. 

They are perhaps a man and a woman as one is tall and broad shouldered, the other smaller and more petite. Both are painted in blue and cleverly detailed against the adjacent blue building with their upper bodies and outlines painted more distinctly.

Is this simply a stunningly beautiful painting of a very misty day or does the bright light ahead signify more? Many people who have survived near death experiences have reported similar visions. 

The gentle nature of a heavy mist together with the icy cold blue colours hint both of danger

and also a quiet peace...'

ALL IS STILL... (My new poem inspired by Rosanne Barr's fine painting...)

 All Is Still…

(Inspired by Rosanne Barr’s painting…)

The slim delicacy of masts from silhouetted boats prod like needles

At the sunrise, as if to inject ochre, yellow, or amber and invigorate

The horizon, which glows like a conflagration into a stunning blue

Sky, reflected in the shoreline shallows, in its attempt at containment.

Wraiths of cloud, like billowing smoke rise like the discontentment

Of unknown deities from the subtlety of the sky aglow and they glower

At the peace, the serenity and the lustrous theatre in an attempt to infiltrate

The glorious morning and its rich hues and the irrevocable stillness…

Pete Ray…

14th March 2026…

I wrote a poem about another of Rosanne Barr’s paintings, ‘End Of The Day, Brora…’ which I posted on my blog, 15th January 2024…

Maybe check it out… 

Go to the web version of my blog from the link at the bottom of the page on your iPhone version…

The thoughts of an independent source, The Sand Martin...

‘This painting of sky and sea is completely entrancing, calmly capturing so well the exquisite glorious beauty of the natural world. It evokes awe and wonder.

We see the sky ablaze with bright egg yolk golden hues that sweep upwards towards the grey-blue then clear blue sky and slight clouds, all fantastically reflected back into the sea. 

Both sea and sky appear to merge as if one. 

Just five small boats in the lower third section of the painting indicate areas of water. They are delicately depicted in dark brown forming a focus and contrast. Their huge masts reach up towards the heavens and with no sails set it is clearly the end of the day as they appear moored for the night.

One can imagine that similar scenes thousands of years ago would inspire the ancient Greeks to visualize the River Styx as both a goddess and a river. Then at the end of the day when all is still and life has left the corpse, the soul would cross over into the afterlife. 

Indeed millions of the faithful in this day and age believe that when this life on earth ends there is life still to come as the soul moves on. 

Whatever one believes, this splendid painting combines joy, hope and peace. It is simply beautiful and gracefully evokes the calm and peace that we would all hope to feel at the end of each day…’

COVENTRY COLLIERY 1-3 BIRMINGHAM UNITED: THE 28 IMAGE OUT-TAKES FROM HAWKESMILL...

 

RITSON (RIGHT) FINDS IT AMUSING TO GLUE THE BALL TO THE REF'S BOOT...

HARRISON (RIGHT) & REGAN (LEFT) ARE TOLD TO STAND ON ONE FOOT FOR THE TOSS.
YEAH, I THOUGHT THAT WAS ODD, TOO...

EVANS IS STILL NOT SURE ABOUT HIS LACES...

ROONEY IS ABOUT TO KICK OFF WITH EXPOSED SHINS...

I WONDER HOW MANY GOALS JAMES RITSON HAS SCORED WITH HIS LEFT BOOT...

EFFECTIVE WIDE PLAYER WOOTTEN GETS IN A HEADER FOR UNITED, WATCHED BY BRYAN BADU-WA-BADU...

REF: "I DON'T LIKE YOU. JUST GO AWAY."

LOOK BEHIND YOU, DAN, IT'S BRYAN AGAIN...

THE REF HAS WORDS WITH UNITED SKIPPER HARRISON, WHO CARES LITTLE IN TRUTH...

HAVING BLOCKED A COLLIERY SHOT WITH HIS BELLY, BLACKHALL IS REMINDED OF LAST NIGHT'S MEAL...

REGAN APPEARS TO BE RUNNING OFF WITH THE BALL...

THE DANGEROUS WOOTTEN HAS MADE THE SCORE 1-2 TO UNITED...

LOOKS LIKE THE PLAYERS ARE HOPING TO CATCH A BRIDE'S BOUQUET FROM A LOCAL COVENTRY CHURCH...

HAVING TROUBLE WITH HIS SOCK, KAVANAGH HEAD-BUTTS SHEPHERD'S ELBOW...

BRYAN BADU HASN'T QUITE GOT THE HANG OF THE CAN-CAN DANCE YET...

ALTHOUGH IN PAIN, SHEPHERD REALISES THAT THE CAMERA IS ON HIM & SO SHOWS GREAT BRAVERY, DESPITE A BAD KNOCK...

A FINE TIME FOR HARRISON TO NEED THE LOO...

HARRISON: "WHO'S THE GAME'S MVP, RITSON?"
RITSON: " ME. OBVIOUSLY..."

GOAL THREE BY SMITH HAS WON THE TIE FOR BIRMINGHAM...

WRIGHT, AS THEY USED TO SAY ABOUT SOME FOOTBALLERS, 'GOT STUCK IN'...

PALMER, RIGHT, WAS SENT ONTO THE PITCH AND HE WAS TALL.
LOW, LEFT, WAS THEN REPLACED...
HMM.

EFFECTIVE, YES?

REGAN'S FACE SAYS IT ALL, AS THE GAME IS OUT OF HIS TEAM'S GRASP, UNLESS HE'S JUST BEEN TOLD THAT THE BAR HAS RUN OUT OF BEER...

WOOTTEN DOESN'T LIKE THAT BALL MUCH...

RITSON PINS A BADGE ONTO GOALIE MUKWAMA'S JERSEY, WHICH READS,
'NOISY BUGGER OF THE DAY'...

RITSON, CENTRE, MUMBLES AT WRIGHT, LEFT,
"THAT MY GOOD FELLOW WAS RATHER A NAUGHTY LITTLE CHALLENGE ON BLACKHALL. DO BETTER..." 

THIS WAS BRILLIANT...
BLACKHALL LIES INJURED OFF THE PITCH NEAR THE END OF THE TIE BUT THE OFFICIALS STOPPED THE GAME TO ALLOW TREATMENT TO BE ADMINISTERED. 
THIS INFURIATED THE COLLIERY COACHES & ONE WAS DISMISSED BY A VERY ANGRY REFEREE.
HOWEVER, AS THE TREATMENT CONTINUED, THE GAME RESTARTED ANYWAY! 
ALL VERY SILLY...

COLLIERY ENJOY TIFF'S EQUALISER.
ONE MOMENT TO SAVOUR, I GUESS...