Last updated 11:25, Monday, 10 November 2008

Never one to shy away from a good pun, or even a bad one, Reiver has been relishing Cumbrian footballer Rory Delap’s rise to prominence.

Rory Delap

Rory is back in the Premier League with Stoke City and his long throw-ins, which whizz up to 40 yards into opposition penalty areas, have inspired several notable victories.

Following last week’s win over Arsenal, in which both Stoke goals came from Delap throw-ins, Gary Lineker on Match of the Day referred to “Delap of the gods”.

This has been used in several newspaper headlines, along with “Delap of honour”.

Reiver feels that the man from Great Corby, who began his career with Carlisle United, deserves a wider range of puns to avoid the risk of these ones losing their sparkle. Perhaps Rory will celebrate a goal by dong some kind of silly dance: “Delap dancer”. Maybe one of Rory’s long throws will reach the Arctic Circle: “Delapland”.

Or perhaps he will celebrate a goal with a nice cup of Chinese tea: “Delapsang souchong”.

Very well. “Delap of honour” it is.