Yellow (6): Oz, Ahmet, Colin, Jim M, Gerald, Richard P
Red (6): Steve, Daniel, JP, Jeremy, Jim N, Darren
A veritable New Year Bru hah hah! Brisk and hard work and a lot of puffing after the cancelled Christmas game and glutinous holiday. It started on a small pitch which increased in size after a couple of minutes. It wasn’t magic, we moved the markers. The extra space was gratefully exploited by Red who played some nice one touch stuff, starting at the back with Darren, Jeremy and Steve the combining well. The first came from a speculative cross from Daniel which found JP in the six yard box. They pulled away to a three goal lead but a slack cross field pass from Daniel let in Ahmet to pull one back. The tide wasn’t stopped though and Red kept at it. A generous lay-off to Jim N just to the right of the yellow goal embarrassingly went between his standing leg and swinging one. The proverbial hole appeared and he jumped in but not before gobbling down a large portion of humble pie. He made amends later with a strange bundle over the line. Steve was very effective on the right wing, finding plenty of space and the right pass on most occasions. One man clearly found a pot at the end of a rainbow on the way to the pitch and had contracted the midas touch for good measure – JP had a stormer! Two from a tight angel being particularly notable. The only thing he touched that wasn’t gold was the silver platter he presented to Ahmet to gift a goal to Yellow. Red 6-3 up at the break.
Yellow must have had a gritty half time talk as they had a much more steely second half. Their defense was more solid, Richard P getting stuck in and Jim M limiting activity on the wings with some good tussles and with Ahmet coming through the middle and a pacy Colin on the left wing, they were a different force to reckon with and put away more than Red in the second half. Oz also distributed well but had a very rare off day with his strikes. Colin and Gerald also contributed to their rearguard saving a couple of late efforts. Not to have the attention taken away from him however, JP popped a chip back heal past his own keeper to help their cause. He also fumbled a tricky save to let Jim M poke in the loose ball. A double hatrick but a significant contribution to the Yellow score as well. He must have felt very confused walking home.
Final score: Red 8 – 6 Yellow
Also, while we weren’t looking, a bib imp helped himself to three. I turned up with 11 and went home with 8. I clearly have lost my influence in my unofficial capacity as bib monitor/washer and am therefore tendering my resignation, effective after the awards.