Well what can I say, what a great day!. Over 400 supporters turned up to watch the match, the weather was not on our side but this did not put people off.
Anna turned up in her own Tiger Vets shirt (she wanted to wear it in bed that night), she keep on telling us "This is my football match".
The day started off with a photo shoot in the bar, from there it was onto the match. Steve's burger van was doing a roaring trade, Travis was on the PA system organising the children's penalty shoot out competition. Kicking off just after 2.30 the game was end to end stuff with the Vets applying most of the pressure which resulted in an early goal, within ten minutes the Vets were 2-0 up. As the first half progressed Arsenal slowly came back into the game resulting in a draw at half time.
As the Vets left the field they all went for the drinks and then lit up the fags, what a fine bunch of guys. During half time the final of the children's penalty shoot out took place, congratulations to the two winners they each received medals from Arsenal. Dave Terry (The Vets Manager, known as Stroller) came up to me and said I'll put you on for the last 15 minutes, I was just hoping I would not show my self up, especially in front of my kids and the other players.
The second half kicked off with the game play much like the first half, the Vets again took an early lead. Arsenal began applying the pressure with each goal by the Vets being answered by Arsenal. Each team was passing the ball with great skill, all the supporters witnessed a very enjoyable and very close game. With 13 minutes left on the clock the super sub came on....me!!, Stroller told me to stay on the wing!, where's that!, I only know Defender, Midfield and Striker positions, so I just ran around like a blue arsed fly all over the pitch. I managed to kick the ball once (luckily it went to one of our players), went for a few tackles and even had a chance on goal.

WADHAMS TAKES A DIVE: In a fine act of showmanship Dave Wadhams took a most spectacular dive in the box, he later admitted "I was trying to get a penalty so Gary could take it". With the game still end to end stuff even the inclusion of the super sub could not stop Arsenal claiming the final and winning goal. A very close game to the last, which saw Arsenal beat the Tiger Vets 7-6. Hopefully I did not make a fool of myself, as they say, Football...It's a funny old game.

Back in the bar Travis was again doing his stuff calling out the raffle prize winners, congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who donated prizes and to everyone who sold the tickets. Then came the Auction, three of the items had reserve prices on them having been on Anna's web site two weeks before the match, these prices were soon passed and all the items went for an extraordinary amount. The auction alone raised well over £1000, thank you to everyone for taking part.

Anna and her family would like to express our deepest thanks to everyone who made this day possible, especially everyone associated with the Tiger Vets who have been so dedicated in making the day so special for Anna. We hope everyone had a really enjoyable day, It ment so much to all of us.

Gary Hogben

Read the newspaper article CLICK HERE for one article and CLICK HERE for another