Charity Fundraiser Match Report
Thursday, 2nd June saw a team of grizzled ESM veterans take on a team from Smart AV, our trusted Audio Visual supplier, in a match organised by Project Manager Ross Emerick at Maidstone Utd’s Gallagher Stadium, to raise money for our colleague Lee Smith who continues to battle - and indeed is becoming something of a legend in the cancer community because of his ability to do so - the Acute-Lymphoblastic Leukemia that he was diagnosed with back in December 2015. Lee is a skilled joiner and project leader here at ESM and has been missed a great deal during his absence. We hope to welcome him back to work after his recovery is complete, with luck later in the year.
A great crowd of friends, family and supporters, together with Lee himself, who was strong enough in between treatments to attend, watched ESM’s side battle back from conceding 2 early goals, firstly through Ben Brown and then Karl Emerick. The first half continued to excite, with the teams trading goals to finish 4-4 at the break.
The second half saw ESM take control, perhaps as fatigue began to nag at the visiting squad of 13 from Essex, who were coached by player/manager and Smart AV CEO, Darren Poultney. Rolling substitutions enabled ESM to rotate their squad of 22, often through necessity as cramps and niggles began to set in, and go on to score 5 unanswered - and in some cases unstoppable - goals in the second half through Rob Mitchell and Rob Brackstone amongst others. A couple of late consolation goals for Smart, one being a scorcher of a shot, saw the score finish 10-6 to ESM.
More important than the win was the occasion. Our thanks go out to Smart AV who not only made the trek over from Essex but also donated to our cause and provided a great raffle prize. We have not yet tallied up the takings from both the just giving page:
and the gate/raffle and ESM collection but we believe we may be pushing well over our target of £2000, and much closer to £3000.00. Thanks so much to everyone who has donated thus far.
Thanks also to everyone who came out for the night. It is nights like this that make you realise a company is much more than just a name, a bank account or a list of valued clients and suppliers. It is a group of people, families, friends, old colleagues, new ones, and clients who rally round and support each other through good times and bad. It is also today a group of very stiff, aching, weary men looking forward to a weekend at various venues around the UK, building at a number of different events, and fulfilling these projects - thanks to last night - as more of a team than ever!