Jeff Stein

Knights, Sea Eagles, Panthers, Dragons, Cowboys,Broncos, Eels, Bulldogs 360 2 Raiders v Broncos

The top of the Isthmian North clash at Brentwood today was possibly the weirdest game I have ever seen. It was nil nil at halftime with Brentwood dominating. A three goal lead would not have been out of keeping with the number of chances created, but it took a very soft penalty to take the lead. Felixstowe then almost immediately equalised before taking the lead through an even softer penalty. The referee hadn't finished there and almost on full-time gave a third penalty again to Brentwood. On another day with another referee I am not sure any of them would have been given. Brentwood then retook the lead with a scrambled goal in injury time. But still it hadn't ended as Felixstowe also put the ball in the back of the net in another goal mouth scramble with virtually the last kick of the game. This one, however, was disallowed for offside despite it looking like there being a couple of Brentwood players on the goal line. The 3-2 win sees Brentwood go top for the first time with eight games to go. Crowd was 746, almost three times what we normally get

First versus second in Isthmian North today as Brentwood Town take on perpetual bogey team Felixstowe and Walton United

Excellent and very touching programme

Oops missed part 1 but Broncos, Tigers, Dolphins, Dragons, Sea Eagles, Storm 350 7 Dolphins v. Rabbitohs

Still releasing albums too - had one out on Joe Bonamassa's label last year

Writer Hunter Davies, 89

It is being brewed again by its original brewer Allsopp's. It is only available in their own pubs (mainly in the Midlands - only 1 in London: The Blue Stoops, which opened last year and is yards from one of the capital's best pubs, the wonderful Churchill Arms)

Oman seems to trundle along quite happily without anyone paying it much attention

Listening to a Radio 6 Soul and Funk Show on BBC Sounds where Stuart Maconie was sitting in. After a news bulletin he thanked the news reader for describing rugby union as rugby union rather than rugby "because that infuriates rugby league fans as there is more than one form of rugby".

Listened to one from 1979 recently that was all 2 Tone. Excellent (and the presenting style is very refreshing as opposed to the love the show email reading style of most DJs nowadays)

A lot of Lancaster IPA in Spoons in London and the south east at the moment.

Henry Kelly. Strangely Going for Gold was mentioned on the 4020 podcast this week and I wondered what had happened to him.

Or perhaps Cornwall are sending them players

Whatever the rights or wrongs, this and the news of internecine warfare breaking out over the control of the RFL (and predictably in the week before the first league games) just makes one want to weep

Mrs Stein and I enjoyed North Shore, but were a bit non-plussed by the ending. We have noticed this trend on a lot of series on Netflix (albeit mainly Thai) that there is no resolution at all at the end of a series, but no second series ever emerges. It feels then like watching it has then been a complete waste of time.

Roberta Flack is apparently 88 today

Went to see this lot at the Town & Country in the late 80s. When they split due to musical differences, the resulting two bands sounded identical.

Off to see my lot play a team I have never seen before: Sporting Bengal United. They play out of Mile End in East London and were promoted from the Essex Senior League last season

Normally I avoid anything with celebrity in the title, but Celebrity Bear Hunt on Netflix is great fun. The celebrities are good value, generally come across well and often funny. The challenges appear tough, but I think not as tough as keeping a straight face when dealing with Bear Grylls. I have never seen any of his other shows, but he does appear to be pompous, humourless and given to making pronouncements, which, if one gives them even one second of thought, turn out to be utterly empty. It is strange for such an entertaining show to have such a vapid central character

Disappointing to see the demise of By the Horns, whose tap is at the Cherry Red Stadium. They seem to have had a perfect storm of bad luck. The tap is staying open for a bit longer, but may close at the end of the football season. As I've never been there, I am not sure of it operates during Broncos' games.

Nice to see Brew York as a shirt sponsor for York

Had a can of Jubel Mango today. Not always a fan of fruit flavoured beers, but this was really refreshing.

Since Saga Noren in The Bridge, detectives on the spectrum seem to have become two a penny, but I have really enjoyed the series of novels of Tim Sullivan featuring DS George Cross, an autistic detective in Bristol. I have just rattled through the latest The Bookseller. The books are well paced, the killers often difficult to spot and the main characters have their own storylines from one book to the next. I could see a TV series in it, which is perhaps no surprise as I believe the author used to be a TV scriptwriter.

No surprise given the teams put out. London pick a lot of players who have previously been poor in league 1 and get a substandard league 1 performance. They lost any momentum when their starting props went off and never regathered it. Unless players are brought in, they will be fighting it out for bottom spot in the Championship