“Right men, today is going to be another ‘local derby’. This time the ‘match’ will be against our eastern neighbours ‘The Spotted Ducks’ at Fitling.” outlined ‘coach’ Raymond before adding “but we’ll take a different tack for this game”. After outlining our ‘tactics’ the ‘team’ set off.
The initial ‘phase of the game’ saw a lot of ‘duckin and divin’ as we made our way through the myriad of defences in the form of cars, traffic lights etc until reaching Weel Bridge. The ‘team’ then began to settle into their task maintaining a nice steady rhythm as we continued on to Tickton and Routh.
On the next ‘phase’ through Meaux, the pace picked up with the five strong “attack force” surging forward desperately seeking the first ‘goal’. On reaching the junction of Swine Road there was no let up in the pace as the ‘team’ sailed on towards Swine aided by a generally helpful wind. It felt like no time at all when we reached Coniston. “Shouldn’t we wait for the ‘midfield’ and ‘defence’ to catch up?” enquired one of the ‘attack force’. However, sensing ‘victory’ not far away they decided to keep ‘pressing forward’ to Sproatley.
Another burst of pace from Mark our ‘No.9’ for the ‘first half’ had Barry all flustered. “I only came out for a gentle ride” he said before racing onto the front as we approached Humbleton. As then Mark continued to set the pace, it later became apparent there may have been an ulterior motive. No… not to be first in the queue but as he explained later “I don’t eat breakfast if I’m only doing 50 miles”. No wonder he was in such a hurry for the ‘half time whistle’. I’m sure he could have eaten the whole duck not just a spot of it!
For the ‘second half’ the team mixed things up a bit with some of the ‘attackers’ dropping back to ‘midfield’ or ‘defence’ while others looking for ‘promotion’ spread their wings and headed up to the front. The new formation battled their way into the head wind as we passed Burton Constable and onwards to Old Ellerby.
By the time we’d reached Skirlaugh there was no sign of the “attack” force. Leading the “rear guard”, Matty side swerved the Skirlaugh defence leading us onto Cawood Drive before returning to Beningholme Lane. Still no sign of the attackers left us wondering if they were ahead of us or waiting at the end of Beningholme Lane. Fortunately the attackers had spotted the ruse and were able to bring the team together once more.
By this time the wind had “parked the bus” in front of the “goal” making progress difficult. Things were not helped when Pugwash began to feel a little “deflated” and realised his rear tyre had gone flat. Luckily the “stretcher” was not needed but with lots of teamwork and great assistance from team doctor Neil, we were soon back on the road once more. Buoyed by the brief interlude, the team set off along the Meaux Road to return to Routh. This time with the wind briefly at our backs, Matty raced to the front and hit a “screamer” in an effort to find the ‘opening goal’.
The “opposition” however was not giving up easily and as we turned back towards Beverley the “holding role” of the wind made progress difficult. When the “final whistle” blew, the crowds began heading for the exits to make their way home reflecting on what had been a “beautiful game” regardless of the “teams” having drawn a “duck”.