Hi Tom, Hope you're keeping well.

When I was around 10 or 11 one of my Subbuteo teams was Shamrock Rovers and the players were not even !

Ah Ralph, good to hear from you! All good here, hope you’re doing well too.

On the subbeteo, I was a player myself, I had dozens of teams. They were the 3 D versions though! If you’re a fan of the Undertones, they’re from Derry and the cover art on their single, “My perfect cousin” had Derry subbeteo players on it and subbeteo is mentioned in the song.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J9fTMRftrXc

My team is Bohemians (we won’t be bothering the top of the table) and Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians are sworn enemies!

I'm good too thanks Tom.

Love that tune. Teenage flicks?

Hi Tom, Hope you're keeping well.

When I was around 10 or 11 one of my Subbuteo teams was Shamrock Rovers and the players were not even !

Snap!

I think you might be surprised at how low your eclectic score will be Tony, especially considering how frequently you play that moorland course.

Just keep a spare card/eraser at home and mark the good scores in pencil and update every evening unless you find an app.

I'm betting you get very close to par over the year.

I'll second The Alabama Three suggestion.

Exile on Coldharbour Lane has been one of my favourite albums for ages.

The first album I bought of theirs because of Woke up. Saw them the 1st time touring the Power in the Blood album. You have great taste Ralph.

I used to take The Observer every Sunday until around 10 years ago Kev, and they had a really good music section where they reviewed new releases, and I bought quite a few CD's on the strength of some rave reviews. Exile on Coldharbour Lane was one of those.

Mark Carney the ex-chief of the Bank of England and now Canada's Prime Minister made a similar comment recently about world trade.

He said: "If you're not at the table you're on the menu".

I'll second The Alabama Three suggestion.

Exile on Coldharbour Lane has been one of my favourite albums for ages.

David is 100% correct - I'll be watching this one from behind the sofa!

re shepherds pie - I've never found a ready meal that has ground meat in it to be at all edible. I can buy standard mince and cook it well enough, but ready meal manufacturers seem to find it impossible and the result is almost always gritty, gristly yuk.

After I broke my right wrist three years ago I could only eat ready meals for a couple of months and I agree with you about the ground meat - it's dire.

I'm lucky to have a local butcher half a mile away who I've known for twenty years or more and I get really nice minced beef or lamb which I used for the batch of mince in the shepherd's pie. He's a golfer too so we put up with each other's golfing bad beat stories during our transactions.

I had Michelin star cheese on toast for dinner yesterday and having Michelin star shepherd's pie this evening.

I don't own a microwave or an air-fryer, struggle with ready-meals as I'm a bit fussy about my food, so just make do the old fashioned way the best I can.

Only another three years to go. It's been an eventful first year.

I'm genuinely worried Ralph. I think we are very close to the shit hitting the fan.

The trouble is Tom, nobody is standing up to him apart from some demonstrations about ICE, so he keeps doing more and more outrageous stuff.

Has it ever been clearer what a huge misstep brexit was?

Only another three years to go. It's been an eventful first year.

Not a bad start from young Michael 

Higgins v Xintong.

Great match so far, and not a shot-clock or flash of lycra in sight.

Will any player win 3 consecutive frames? I've backed NO at 11/4.

Weighed in

Ooooops

Lol. How did I lose that?

That fluke in frame ten was diabolical

Higgins v Xintong.

Great match so far, and not a shot-clock or flash of lycra in sight.

Will any player win 3 consecutive frames? I've backed NO at 11/4.

Weighed in

Ooooops