Warm greetings to all

Well well well…the Proteas have won a  match….but I am not sure how many more they will win…we just look flat and ill-prepared for the rigours of a World Cup…they seem to not be in a good mental place right now….their self belief is at a low and they don’t seem to be the world beaters that they appeared to be a few months ago…I think that my confidence in them upsetting a few of the top teams was completely unfounded…but I will still support them…albeit not as vigorously as I may have if we were playing positively…..

Our weather has also changed over the last little while and the grass that a few weeks ago had more tinges of green than not, now has more tinges of “vaal” than anything else and winter has truly set in…..we still haven’t had any frost …but that chilly wind that lurks is sufficient to tell all the plants and my old bones that winter is here in full force….

Roll on summer….quickly please…..as we approach the longest night of the year and the winter solstice….means that the days will get a longer from Saturday….yay!!

Our Joker is still alive for another week…as one of our campaigners, Aliaster Hamilton again had the luck of having his name drawn from the beeeeg black box…..but his card selection turned out to be the Queen of Spades…. the jackpot increasing to R56516 with 48 cards still face down….last week we had Eben serenading us in the Scimitar…with plenty of old favorites being applauded on….this week, we welcome Tryst back for the return of some rhythm and real bass…join us for another fabulous evening with these quality rockers…

Our runners are all back from their escapades at the Comrades and they will be celebrating with the “Aches and Pains” party at the North on Saturday night…I am sure that there will be plenty of chirps and quips at the festivities and there will be the odd amber nectar downed during the course of the evening to ensure that adequate hydration is maintained and liquiditiy levels are primed….I’m sure that everyone will have a fine evening with  some light hearted prizes and awards accompanied by plenty of raucous laughter…

The soccer boys again brought home 4 points out of a possible 6 this weekend…with the sides swopping around this week during the local derby…the reserves running out deserved 5-3 winners, being 5-1 ahead with about 10 minutes to go before taking their foot off the gas to allow the opposition back into the match with a couple of consolation goals….everyone was really chuffed with the win….their first win over the old enemy in many a year…so celebrations were the order of the day for this young side….the crowd had now warmed up an was awaiting a brilliant follow up to the curtain raiser….but the match really did not build up to the expectations and was a really dour affair…it appeared that the opposition were intent on a drawn result often with most of their team behind the ball…..we have not had a goalless draw in the derby in many moons and  hopefully this is not a sign of things to come in the future…. the reserves maintain their second place in the league, two points off the pace…whilst the premier side are still in 5^th place…seven points behind…but we still have to play all the teams above us in the league in the return matches…so a win against each of  them will erode into that lead and bring us closer to the top….this week we welcome Luso to the North…always a tough opposition that are never easy to beat…so we need our boys to bring their best game along this week…all the best boys…

Our rugger buggers also have a massive match across the road…as they host Nigel who we would love to put one over for a change…please shoot across the road to encourage them on, in their quest to overcome this difficult team….

The local mens hockey is having their Cup competition over the weekend on both Saturday and Sunday…so expect plenty of fines and hockey antics to be displayed over these two days in the analysis and post-mortems after the battles….

As I mentioned last week, the 100 Club draws will be held next Friday…so grab yourself a ticket soon….your chances to win are improved as we are well short of our original sales forecast and targets….

The Pizza take away is coming along nicely and I can see this being very popular in the future….planned opening date is July 1 so get yourselves ready…

Our mobile bar is almost complete….and apart from final painting….we are hoping to have it in operation by the weekend at the rugby home fixtures against Nigel….if nothing else….pop across there to see our roving “dop trok” and be one of the first to enjoy a cold one from our newest addition…..

With the long weekend there wasn’t too much other sports and activities to report on, so I will bid you all adieu….have a super week and hopefully I will see you all soon

Regards Rod

Benoni Northerns Naming Competition!

Something exciting and new is happening at Northerns and we want your help! Beady eyed members may have noticed a wee bit of construction going on in the Beer Garden lately, and come 01 July 2019, we will have a new pizza and coffee cafe up and running to serve our members as well as a new mobile drinks bar in the form of the caravan to alleviate some of the bar traffic.

We are running a competition to choose the names of both the pizza/ coffee cafe and the mobile drinks bar. Submit your entries by clicking the link! The winners will each be awarded a R250 Benoni Northerns voucher! You can enter as many times as you like! Winning names will be chosen by the committee and will be contacted directly!

ENTER HERE

Aliaster Hamilton (Social) once again missed out on the Joker Card and drew the Queen of Spades – Joker Draw a turnover at R56 516.00 for Friday 21st June. Be present to win it!! 

Cedz Tryst entertaining us from 18h30 on Friday 22nd June

To be drawn on Friday 28th June at 19h45 after the Joker Draw on the night

Junior Football weekend results:  U8(1) beat Edenvale 2-1; U7(4) drew – Edenvale 1-1; U6(4b) lost – Alberton 3-1

At Northern Areas Rugby Field
Kickoff times:
Under 21’s – 13:15
Seconds – 14:40 
First team – 16:00