Saints and the Saintly

I woke up this morning in Liverpool on Malcolm’s couch in his living room after a fitful night’s sleep which was punctuated throughout by the radiator banging and gurgling as though the heating was coming on for the first time in the morning. Thinking it was morning time, I got up several times to find that it was still the middle of the night. Eventually getting up at 6.45 a.m., Malcolm joined me for tea and toast before I set off for the trip down south. Leaving Liverpool at 8 a.m. I arrived in Chandler’s Ford at 12 noon where I met up with the family at the Asda hypermarket. Tom and I then went into Southampton to attend the Saints v. Swansea City match at St. Mary’s. Saints started lively enough and had more of the possession in the first half. Saganowski scored the first goal for Saints but Swansea equalised before half-time. Both sides came back out at half time and the pace was fast and furious with much attacking from both sides. Unfortunately Lee Molyneux was sent off in the 53rd minute and Saints had to play the rest of the match with just ten men. Swansea went ahead in the 65th minute and we all feared that Saints would become dejected and we were heading for another home defeat. Fortunately Saganowski struck again and equalised for the Saints in the 76th minute and both sides held on for a 2-2 draw. It was a thrilling match and Saints fared much better against Swansea than either Portsmouth (who were put out of the FA Cup by Swansea ) or Preston North End who were thrashed 3-0 on Tuesday. Indeed, Malcolm had said that we shouldn’t expect to get anything from this match.
Returning to Winterslow, the whole family attended a concert given by the Watoto (from Uganda ) Children’s Choir. This choir is made up of children who have been orphaned. It was a joyous and moving occasion and made us all realise how well off we are even in a the grips of the recession. We decided to sponsor a child living out in Gulu Province in northern Uganda both of whose parents had suffered in the civil war torn part of the world. I was truly impressed by the fantastic attendance, especially from non-church goings, and the generosity of those present in terms of money, time in coming and sponsorship. Returning home I started work on this blog, but was so tired after all my travelling and work during this last hectic week, that having completed it I somehow pressed the wrong key on my laptop and deleted the whole of the text. This, therefore, is the second attempt at writing the blog tonight. I am so tired – my eyes feel very heavy – that I am going up to bed immediately on completing this entry. Tomorrow is yet another packed day!