Monday 14 December 2009

Last Friday night saw a 2-2 draw with a dramatic finale!

Spizz made a welcome return from Italia, which he said was 110 pct on the enjoyment scale. Again, we had an eight-a-side game with space at a premium. Spizz was thwarted with a couple of saves by Sheffield Andy but we could not break down their defence. Then, Geoff got a first goal for them when a big hole opened up in the middle of our defence. This was followed by Steve making it two nil with a fine shot. We were making no headway so Gashead Simon changed the sides with Steve joining us for Simon Gooner.
This made the sides for us: Spizz, Will, Steve, Alan Morg., the Guvnor, Ian, Danny and Tone. Danny was making a welcome return from being based in Qatar for the Diplomatic Corp for a few years and he is a Liverpool fan.
For them were Simon Ink, Simon Gashead, Simon Gooner, Big Dave, Mick K., Sheffield Andy, Geoff and Ross.
We got back into it with a disputed penalty, which was slotted home by Steve and so he scored for both sides. I tried to push up and was linking up with Will on the right. The minutes were ticking way when Alan Morg. got free on the left and put over a precision cross. I was moving backwards to avoid being in the D and I had to admit that I was visualizing the goal before I passed the ball into the net. Simon Ink. was unable to get across in time and Mick K. said afterwards that commemorative stamps and coins might have to be issued. Spizz commented that over the years he has only seen me score three goals!!
To milk the moment I did a Charlie George style FA Cup final celebration on the
ground and the team piled in. This made it 2-2 with just minutes to go. I thought we were going to nick it at the end but the next game clanged the gate to come on and that was it. I feel sorry for regulars Ian Goughie and Big Sam, who missed the match and perhaps the goal of the season. Tone and Alan Morg. kept us in the game while Steve was man of the match playing for both teams. Mick K. and Big Dave were very organised for them while Ross was a handful. Gashead Simon had a solid game on the left but might have been more effective if he switched with Geoff to the other wing.

Tuesday 8 December 2009

Big Dave marshalls a 3-0 shut-out for us.

With an unprecendented eight-a-side, Big Dave marshalled a 3-0 shut-out for us. There were reappearances from Will for us and from Phil B. for them. Ever-present Spizz was absent last Friday as he was to warble in Bologna (Italy) on the Saturday night.
Their side had pacey players in Ross, Alex and Henry but they were kept being pushed back by our well-organised defence. Will got our first goal followed by Tone and Big Sam. The Tone shot seemed to fly past a despairing dive by Gashead in goal. Big Sam played a "Mascherano" role in front of our defence while Alan Morg. had a good game for us.
On their team confidence seemed to ebb away following the first goal. Ian Goughie sacrificed his natural attacking inclinations to play back while Phil B. showed some rare pieces of skill with his sweet left foot.
In the pub Sheffield Andy got talking about a football tour of Sheffield. It is early days yet and it is not as glamorous as France or Germany but we could be going as long as the opposition is not too intimidating.