Powerade Fives' tournament to offer teams the chance to train like a pro

Regional heats taking place at Goals Soccer Centre, Eltham, on Sunday June 2nd.

Goals Soccer Centres are to host a nationwide 5-a-side football tournament, giving 5-a-side teams up and down the country the chance to win a training session with a player from their favourite football league club.

The tournament is being run by Powerade in association with Goals, and is called the 'Powerade Fives'. The winners of the tournament will get the chance to train with a football league player of their choice and they will also benefit from specialist hydration advice from the Powerade sports science team.

Not only will the entire team experience dedicated and focused coaching from a professional Football League player, they'll also receive Powerade training kit and a year's supply of Powerade!

Nationwide qualifying heats for the tournament kick off on May 19th 2013 with the Eltham, heat taking place on Sunday June 2nd at the Goals Soccer Centre in Eltham Palace Roadfrom 2:30pm. The winning teams from each heat will then progress to a regional final. From there, 16 teams will make it through to the national finals, which will take place in Gillette Corner on Sunday 21st July 2013.

General Manager for Goals in Eltham Omar Elim said: "This is a chance for 5-a-side football players all over the country to prove they are the best and for the winners it's a great chance for them to experience what it is like to train like a pro with their favorite football league player.

He added: "We look forward to seeing as many teams as possible at the Eltham centre for the heat."

You can register for the tournament now by contacting Goals Eltham on 0208 912 0600or by visiting www.goalsfootball.co.uk. Entry costs £25 per team and every player who enters the Powerade Fives 2013 tournament will receive a FREE personalised Powerade Sports Bottle.

PROTESTERS are being urged to turn out in force when Sutton councillors take a second look on Wednesday (May 15) at plans to build an incinerator in Beddington Lane.

Despite planning officers recommending approval at the first meeting on April 24, the decision was deferred to address particular concerns about air quality and traffic raised by both councillors and members of the public.

But the report being presented on Wednesday reiterates the recommendation for approval of the scheme. It also says that Viridor has agreed to establish a forum to monitor the concerns.

Opponents of the scheme believe the fact that more than 80 people turned out for the April meeting played an important part in getting a deferral. Shasha Khan, of Croydon Green Party, said: "We are asking everybody who came along to the April meeting to bring a friend to Wednesday's meeting. We feel the protest and the weight of our arguments put pressure on the committee."

The meeting is at the Europa Gallery at the Central Library, St Nicholas Way, Sutton at 8pm.

TRAVELLERS who drove around 20 caravans onto South Croydon Recreation Ground at the weekend were moved on by the council - only to set up camp elsewhere.

The group - believed to have been involved in another illegal camp in Lion Green Road, Coulsdon, last week - left the South Croydon site but, by yesterday (Thursday) they had split between Waddon Marsh Road and Lloyd Park.

Croydon Council said it had a court order for the Waddon group and would be seeking to evict them, with the same action taken at Lloyd Park by Friday.

The camps have led council leader Mike Fisher to reiterate the importance of the council's new efforts to rid the borough of illegal sites using injunctions against named families.

Legal advisers are finalising proposals for an injunction which would be put before the High Court. If granted, any breach would be an arrestable offence.

Cllr Fisher said this week: "This cat-and-mouse game we have to play when travellers move from one illegal camp to another down the road is not helpful to anybody.

"It means that once we have gone through the process of moving them, we have to go through the whole rigmarole again a few days later when they turn up somewhere else."

PALACE striker Kevin Phillips says the win over Peterborough has given the squad confidence heading into Friday's play-off first-leg match against Brighton.

The veteran scored the Eagles' second equaliser last weekend after coming off the bench but had sympathy for Darren Ferguson's side, who were relegated.

"You saw what it meant to the team and the supporters at the end, and unfortunately for Peterborough, that meant they went down, which is sad to see," said Phillips.

"I've grown to learn that's just football. Winning against them was a huge lift for us. We'll go into Friday's game with Brighton full of confidence with a packed house for a local derby."

And he was delighted to get back on the scoresheet after another impact display.

"I just wanted to try and get a shot away," he said. "Obviously, losing the game at that point, I wanted to get any kind of contact on it, hit the target.

"Lucky for me and the players, it came off sweet and into the top corner. That gave us a huge lift but we didn't rest there, we went on and tried for the winner."

In what has been a strange season in the Championship, especially at the bottom of the table, Phillips says the division always produces shocks

GLENN MURRAY says he would love the chance to play in the Premier League with Crystal Palace, but insists he is not thinking any further than the double-header with Brighton.

The former Seagulls striker has enjoyed the best season of his career in SE25, scoring his 30th league goal of the season in the 3-2 victory against Peterborough on Saturday that clinched the Eagles a play-off spot and two dates with their fierce rivals.

But while a Wembley showdown for a place in the Premier League is on offer for the winner, Murray is not allowing himself to think any further ahead than the semi-finals.

He said: "Obviously, it would mean a lot to me to play in the Premier League as I have never had the chance to play at that level.

"But we have got to keep our focus, as that is a long way off. We have two very difficult games to start with before we can even think about Wembley or anything else."

The 29-year-old says it will be tough for the Eagles against his former team-mates, who he admits go into the play-offs in good form following a nine-match unbeaten run, which started with their 3-0 victory against the Eagles at the Amex Stadium in March.

He said: "We have been pretty even as the season has gone on," he said. "You could argue that because they finished above us, Brighton have the upper hand, but I think we have been much of a muchness."

And the striker, who finished as the league's top scorer, said that Palace can take confidence into the games from the manner of the final day victory against the Posh. "It was a topsy-turvy game and I think it was excellent for the neutrals to watch, even if wasn't for us," he said.

"We would rather be going into the play-offs with a bit more form, but we have guys who have play-off experience. They're a bit more relaxed about it as they have been there and done it."

Murray himself has been through a successful play-off campaign with Carlisle United in the Conference in 2005, but he is hopeful of adding the gloss to what he says has been a fantastic season.

"We started off being touted as potential relegation candidates and then we lost the first three games, but the turnaround since then has been fantastic," he said.

"I've enjoyed it and it's already a fantastic achievement to get to the play-offs – now we want to go and win them."

CLOSING vital services at Croydon University Hospital is the "least preferred" option among the latest proposals put forward by a review of local healthcare.

A new report into services in south-west London includes the potential for Croydon to be downgraded from a major to a local hospital, losing its A&E, maternity and children's units.

However, two of the three options being considered by the controversial Better Services, Better Value (BSBV) review include Croydon retaining these departments.

The favoured option is for Croydon to remain as a major acute hospital, alongside St George's and Kingston, in which case Epsom and St Helier hospitals will lose out.

John Goulston, chief executive of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust – which runs the hospital – welcomed the announcement.

He said: "It is extremely good news for Croydon that the hospital is included in two options as a major site, with A&E, children and maternity services.

"By keeping Croydon's major acute hospital, more patients will receive treatment at the places where they are currently seen, while getting a more consistent standard of care."

The three options are the latest proposals from a stuttering healthcare review that was first launched in 2011.

Under the previous plans only St Helier, in Carshalton, would have lost its A&E, maternity and children's services, which would have been centralised and expanded at three other hospitals in the region, including Croydon.

However, the review ground to a halt in November last year following the collapse of a hospital merger in Surrey, which raised questions of the clinical and financial evidence it was based on.

This meant Epsom also had to be included in the review.

BSBV's new preferred option would mean St George's, in Tooting, remaining a major acute teaching hospital, with an A&E, maternity and specialist children's unit and ward.

Two major acute hospitals, at Kingston and Croydon, would provide emergency and urgent care, as well as maternity services, an attached midwife-led unit and children's inpatient wards.

Epsom would become a local hospital with a planned care centre, and St Helier would retain local services only.

It is estimated that restricting services in this way would save £40 million, and mean 82 per cent of patients will continue to attend the same hospitals they do now.

The alternative option is identical to the first but would mean the planned care centre is at St Helier instead of Epsom.

Only the least preferred choice would see Croydon downgraded instead of St Helier, saving more money in the long term.

More than 100 doctors, nurses, health professionals and patients were involved in drawing up the proposals.

A 12 to 14-week public consultation is due to start in the summer.

This will include 14 public events, two in each borough, and a roadshow at supermarkets and railway stations.

Croydon University Hospital treated 120,000 patients in its A&E department last year.

Steve Reed's View from Westminster – page 22.

A BUILDER who was about to be savaged by a pack of foxes was saved by an overweight pet Labrador.

Joe Curling, 28, was working at a home in Woodlands Grove, Coulsdon, on Friday when he was set upon by the foxes.

He told the Advertiser: "I had to bring some wood up to the top of the garden for a bonfire we were making.

"The garden is very long, about 160 feet. When I got to the bonfire, two large foxes came out from behind a wooden panel.

"They were growling at me, and I just froze. I knew they were coming for me, it was very intimidating."

Just as Joe thought the foxes were going to spring, he suddenly saw the family dog, Honey, leap through the garden.

"Honey was asleep just before I'd gone out into the garden," said Joe, from Coulsdon.

"She must have heard the foxes growling and rearing up at me, because she flew down the garden. I couldn't believe how quick she was. She jumped over the rockery and I was sure she would fall but she didn't.

"She placed herself in between me and the foxes and started growling at them. At that moment I knew I had to run and that this was my chance."

Joe ran down the garden and into the safety of the house, but Honey the Labrador remained in the garden; guarding the doorway for another 15 minutes.

"I was very shaken," said Joe. "I was on the phone to my brother when it happened and he said I screamed like a girl.

"I don't want to think of how it would have ended if Honey hadn't saved me.

"I gave her loads of treats to say thank you. She saved the day."

Croydon's answer to Lassie wasn't always such a wonderdog, however.

She was adopted by the Jones family three and a half years ago, and weighed a whopping 48kg.

Owner Linda Jones, 40, said: "I had two Labradors but then lost one, and my chocolate Labrador Blue was very lonely, so we got a rescue dog.

"Honey was so fat, we had to really get her weight down, and she did enjoy ripping the recycling bags open at first, but she is an absolute angel.

"She is very protective of her territory, which is why I think she ran to save Joe. I think it's the bitch in her.

"I have two kids and she has never been a problem, she is a lovely dog. We are very proud of her bravery."

HERE we go, two tense matches against arch-rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in the space of 72 hours to reach the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

To some supporters, it may not have come as a surprise the clubs would meet having been inside the top six in recent months, and there was also the possibility of facing Dougie Freedman's Bolton Wanderers.

Palace will certainly be going into tonight's game in buoyant form on the back of last Saturday's win over Peterborough United and the successful end-of-season awards night on Tuesday.

Now it's time to hit fifth gear, and with Watford or Leicester City waiting in the wings for the final, this will not be an easy route to the Premier League.

Having said that, out of all four play-off sides, Brighton are the form team and will come to Selhurst believing they can win.

However, it's important Palace do not lose tonight. And even though the Eagles can win down at the Amex Stadium on Monday in the second leg, the recent 3-0 defeat on the south coast will still be fresh in the memory.

We could see an unchanged starting XI from Ian Holloway, while Stephen Dobbie will not be allowed to face his parent club.

Jonny Williams, probably Palace's best player on the pitch at the Amex before coming off at half-time in March, should start in place of Kagisho Dikgacoi, who has not been the same player in recent weeks compared to the first third of the season.

In defence, it looks like Danny Gabbidon is set to continue alongside Damien Delaney, and the Welshman has experience in these big games, whereas Peter Ramage made a mistake for Brighton's third goal back in March.

Wilfried Zaha, Yannick Bolasie and Glenn Murray are set to lead the line going forward, while newly-crowned player of the year Mile Jedinak will be firing the players up ahead of the two games.

Expect Kevin Phillips to feature from the bench as well, and the veteran forward would love to reach his fourth career play-off final.

Palace co-chairman Steve Parish believes Brighton go into the two games as favourites but thinks the Eagles can get a result at the Amex on Monday.

"We don't want to get too cavalier about it getting carried away, so let's treat both games as one game and see what we can do," he said.

"We know it's going to be tough and Brighton will start as favourites, and so they should be with all the money they've spent.

"I think you could say it's important we don't lose the first leg at home, but it doesn't mean we can't get a result down at their place.

"You've just got to look at it as a 180-minute game, and whatever the result is at half-time, realistically you're in with a chance as long as you're not far adrift."

And Phillips, who has not won any of his three previous play-off finals, says it will be about the side who can keep their cool and come up with the goods on the night.

He said: "It will be tough. Brighton will come here Friday expecting to get a result.

"We were down at their place several weeks ago and were convincingly beaten by them.

"We'll go into the game and play the game, not the occasion. It's a cliche, but that simply is the way we have to approach it.

"I've been in the play-offs many times and it's the team that holds their nerve and produces on the night that generally goes through."

A "HILLSBOROUGH-STYLE" review of Croydon's most notorious unsolved murder was announced by the Home Office in a statement today.

South Norwood private investigator Daniel Morgan was found with an axe embedded in his head outside the Golden Lion pub, in Sydenham, in March 1987.

The case has been clouded by allegations of police corruption and the trial of four men charged with the 37-year-old's killing collapsed in 2011.

Now the Home Secretary Theresa May has confirmed details of a judge-led inquiry which will look at claims police corruption prevented a conviction despite six criminal investigations. She said she hoped it would "shine a light" on the handling of the case.

Mr Morgan, a father of two, was said to be close to revealing a catalogue of police corruption at the time of his death.

After the 2011 trial, Daniel's brother Alastair said he feared the killers would never be brought to justice.

He said: "It's not the end of the road, but as far as convictions are concerned it is."

An independent review of the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 people, uncovered serious police failures and deceit, and has led to a new criminal investigation.

Mr Morgan, of Warminster Road, ran his business Southern Investigations from Thornton Heath High Street.

Five police inquiries into his death have been conducted and four men were charged with his murder in 2008.

Morgan's former business partner Jonathan Rees, 56, Rees' brothers-in-law Glenn Vian, 52, Garry Vian, 50, and builder James Cook, 56, were at first due to stand trial in April 2009.

But after legal arguments caused delays, the charges were dropped before the case came to trial in 2011.

The Metropolitan Police Service sent a letter of apology to Mr Morgan's family in the wake of the collapse.

Tim Godwin, the Met's acting commissioner at the time, said: "I am deeply sorry that the Met has failed to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of Daniel.

"The Met has accepted that police corruption in the original investigation was a significant factor in this failure." Judge Sir Stanley Burnton will chair the independent panel which will examine the police's involvement in the murder as well as allegations of police corruption in their investigations. The connections between private investigators, police officers and journalists will also be looked at. The panel will present its discoveries to the family before releasing a report within a year.

When contacted by the Advertiser this week, Alastair Morgan was unwilling to comment because the family were still in negotiations with the Home Office.

CROYDON University Hospital is under threat again. The latest NHS consultation includes, as an option, closing the hospital's A&E and maternity units. Although this is not the NHS's preferred option, it's important that the entire community in Croydon makes it clear that we will not accept the closure of these vital services.

Croydon has the biggest population of any borough in London. We need a hospital in our area that delivers the full range of services. By their very nature, A&E units need to be close to where people live, so that ambulance journey times are as short as possible when dealing with emergency medical situations. Maternity units also need to be close to the population they serve – expectant mothers and their partners should not be expected to travel long distances to access services that will ensure their child enters the world as healthily as possible.

Before the General Election, David Cameron said there would be no more top-down reorganisations of the NHS if he became Prime Minister. Not only did he impose the biggest top-down reorganisation in the history of the health service, but he has now sanctioned a major upheaval in hospital services that puts Croydon at risk again.

AN UNEXPLODED First World War hand grenade was found hidden underneath a flowerpot – at a home that used to belong to a Nazi sympathiser.

Police were called to Sanderstead Hill on Sunday morning by a frightened homeowner, who discovered the device just a month after moving into the property.

A 100m exclusion zone was set up around the house and a church was forced to interrupt its Sunday service while the emergency services dealt with the century-old explosive.

The resident, who asked not to be named, said: "I was digging around in the garden at the back when I saw this dark green object with a yellow line round it.

"I immediately recognised it from the movies but couldn't believe what I was seeing – it even had the pin in it.

"I just thought, 'Oh, this is not happening – there are children running around the garden and I have no option but to call the police'.

"I was on hold to them for 20 minutes while they worked out what to do and then they said I had to get everyone inside – the grenade had a 30 metre killing range and a 100 metre shrapnel range."

Three fire engines from Croydon and one from Purley arrived at around 11am, just in case the grenade detonated and started a fire among the cluster of houses around the garden.

Purley watch manager Paul Barnett said: "The police were in charge of evacuating people from their houses and the bomb unit were called to deal with the grenade, but we were on call because no one knew if it was going to be a dangerous situation.

"It was from World War One and was still intact – we have not seen this kind of thing for years."

The grenade's discoverer explained how the police cordoned off the entire area around the house and then called in "Croydon's version of The Hurt Locker".

"Actually, it was just one man – it was all very quiet and efficient," said the homeowner. "He came in, went up to the grenade and defused it.

"I have no idea how it got there. I think someone, just like me, had no idea what to do with it and just hid it at the back of the garden."

However, the family's neighbour, who knew the previous occupants, had other ideas – giving the story a more sinister turn.

The neighbour told the Advertiser: "An old couple used to live there. The man died around ten years ago and he once told me he bought the Jewish Chronicle because he 'wanted to know what the enemy were saying'.

"He had Nazi memorabilia in the house. I know the grenade was from the First World War but maybe he collected that too."

The neighbour described the scene as "exceptionally surreal," adding: "Most of the firefighters and police officers look pretty bewildered and the evacuation was quite haphazard – people were just milling about."

The United Reformed Church, in Sanderstead Hill, had its Sunday service interrupted, with the 100 people present advised to go home by a police officer, but they decided to carry on with proceedings despite the scare.

Police say they are not conducting any criminal investigations and do not intend to probe how and why the grenade was found in a residential garden.

THERE was triumph again for the borough's manufacturing industries as specialist joinery and fit-out firm, Martek Contracts, was last week named as Croydon's business of the year.

The New Addington-based company had a double reason to celebrate at the presentation evening held at Fairfield last Wednesday, as it also picked up the award for the Best Green Business.

Martek's success comes on the heels of the overall business win last year by SLE Ltd, of South Croydon, which manufactures specialised neonatal ventilation equipment for premature babies.

SLE continued its own success by picking up this year's award for the best medium-sized business.

Martek has been in business for 31 years, moving to its New Addington base in King Henry's Drive in 2004 and now employs around 70 people on the site.

Its work extends across health services, education, commercial catering and the cinema industry.

The firm's specialised skills have seen it manufacture reception areas, science laboratories in the education sector and restaurants for commercial catering - with clients including Costa Coffee and Virgin Atlantic.

It also fits out the vending areas for food and drink at Odeon cinemas in the UK and for other cinema chains worldwide.

Derek Galloway, the company's managing director, said as part of the changing markets, there were growing pressures from customers for improved environmental credentials.

He said he believed the company's drive to improve these standards had played the key role in it picking up the best green business award.

Mr Galloway said: "We have increased the amount of recycling we undertake and we also work to ensure our products are made out of as much recycled material as possible."

Working will large amounts of wood and chipboard leaves Martek with a mountain of cut-offs which Mr Galloway said he was anxious did not go to waste.

He said: "Rather than put it in the skip, we burn it to generate our own heat for the factory."

Other "green" initiatives have included the replacement of conventional lighting with LED lights, which greatly reduce energy consumption.

Mr Galloway said he was delighted that manufacturing had again be successful.

He added: "The reality is that these are difficult times for everybody in the UK.

"Winning the awards puts manufacturing in the forefront of people's minds which is quite exciting and makes us feel very proud."

Mr Galloway added: "It's an acknowledgement for all our staff and everyone who has worked hard to get there were are."