The people of Athens had to send seven youths and seven Maidens every year as a tribute to Minos, the king of Crete, to be eaten by the Minotaur, who was a terrible monster, half man and half bull
And so it was that Theseus, the son of Aegeus, king of Athens, and Aethra, princess of Troezen, traveled to Crete as one of the youths to be sacrificed to appease mad Kind Minos.
Theseus, the best of the Greeks, fell in love with Ariadne, daughter of Minos. And with her aid he slew the Minotaur and forever saved the youth of Athens. And to commemorate his achievements every year for ever more the ship of Theseus would sail to Delos to honour the great Apollo.
And over time the ship rotted. And Plutarch relates that old planks were taken away as they decayed, to be replaced by new. And over time every timber of the ship was so replaced. And the debate amongst the ancient philosophers moved from the heroism of Theseus to the question of whether the ship of Theseus, so changed, remained the same ship as the one that had traveled from Crete in days past.
Many centuries later Thomas Hobbes posited that an Athenian custodian may have collected the spent timbers from the old ship and used them to construct a second ship. And then posed the question, which was the true ship of Theseus? The first ship, each plank painstakingly replaced; or the second, composed entirely of the original timbers.
Three hundred and sixty-nine years later, consecutive weekends saw consecutive identical plays from the same player combinations. Grant transfers to Tim Trailor and Berkhamsted launch an attack down the left and Hin gets the ball, looks inside and slips it through to Ricky.
But tighten the focus and differences emerge. On the first weekend, Grant and Tim were playing for M3s against M4s; and Hin and Ricky on the other side. On the second, Grant and Tim were playing M4s; Hin and Ricky M3s.
Planks replaced by planks, reformed and rebuilt. Whither Pluarch and Hobbes, amidst these shifting sands?
The reconstituted M4s took on the mighty Bicester, the Crete of our age, runaway league winners last year and worthy adversaries for our 11 young(ish) Athenians. And barely was the match underway then a swathe of back-and-green cut down the right, the ball pinged inside, and a fine finish put the visitors one-up. Undaunted, our heroes began to get a foothold. The centre-back fulcrum of Tim and Grant held the black-and-green hoards at bay; the transfers to Chris Baker and Adam found space down the wings. A dart forward and a Berko short; a pacey injection from George, a smart stop from Larry and only a great save could deny Tim.
Bicester swarmed forwards again; another great finish and 2-0. And again, another short; again, a save; and when Paul found himself in space at the end a goal back was just inches away.
Turning round, Berko were in the depths of the labyrinth, but not lost. A third came; but heads stayed high and Benji and Elliot, finding good space in their new outside half positions., were a constant threat.
A whistle; a flick; and there was Chris Byham, our blue shirted colossus, saving with his feat. Andrew Whitaker, back in the team, battling hard down the right. Somehow another couple of goals flew in. But like the great Greek heroes we live to fight on.
A few short miles away the second ship, the replaced timbers, were sailing in calmer waters. And as the first ship heroes feasted after the game thoughts turned to their former comrades. They will meet in the Elysian Fields of Cow Roast; where ships are as meaningless as disputed touchline calls.