Red: Ahmet, Daniel, Matt, & Alan, Phil, James, Chris (first half)
Yellow: Richard, Toby, Oz, Jim, & Prit, Stuart, Chris (second half)
Yellow: Richard, Toby, Oz, Jim, & Prit, Stuart, Chris (second half)
A bit nippy. El Capitano was brave to call the game. But he’s El Capitano for a reason and fortune favoured the seven who showed up who were joined by six of them. And after a dry week, the flat triangle was very firm indeed, no sticky mud in sight! Despite the cool breeze, we still managed to dillydally for a while. Chris was the latest to show up but it was 0-0 so he joined Red for the first half.
Soon after though, Red made the impact with some quick one touch stuff, Daniel running down the left wing, passing in to Alan, receiving it back and then pinging to Matt at the back post to touch in. They repeated the move soon after, Alan and Daniel again opening up the Yellow defence, almost a carbon copy down the left but this time Daniel squared for James to fire in. It settled down after that for a little while but then Richard gained possession inside his own half, and after a tackle that saw the ball rise up, he chested it, took a touch and on the half volley, fired at the goal. What a peach! It swerved gently to the right and rocketed inch-perfect into the top corner beyond the reach of the diving keeper. Saaahhhh-weeeeeeet! A collective murmur of gasps, whoops and cheers, appreciation from both teams and even the beaten keeper clapped. The gauntlet is down for goal of the season. And possibly personal retribution from a West Ham fan for that remarkably similar Daniel Agger goal against them in 2006. They got another too despite being the man down. Jim surged forward and although he took a heavy touch and the keeper got in tackle, the ball fell kindly out of the tangle for Jim to stroke into the empty net. Sadly the turnaround didn’t happen and Red’s numerical superiority paid off and they went into the break 3-2 up. No recollection at all who got the goal, sorry.
Chris swapped to Yellow for the second half, thank you sir.
Ahmet, as keeper, went on a mazey dribble right through the centre of the pitch evading numerous tackles only to see his eventual shot hit the post and roll back across the goal to safety. A high ball over top fell for Matt to perfectly control it…..into Oz’s path. I couldn’t quite see what happened next but what looked like a pass back to the keeper was under hit and either Matt or Alan latched on to the error to poke home. Phil, who’d had a mixed game ended up with the ball after a Red clearance and went one on one with Stuart who was guarding the Yellow goal. However he seemed to be unaware that he was poised significantly to the side of the target so Phil shot into the gaping hole. 5-2 up with 10 minutes to go. Red decided to tempt fate with several awkward backpasses to Daniel in goal….dangerous tactics given his reputation between the sticks but no errors! Come on, that deserves a mention. But Yellow weren’t beaten and they got a reply to give hope, once again, no memory of who or how. And after some scrappy play in the last few minutes, Toby lined up and hit the ball low and hard into the the far left corner. Nice finish but it was literally the last kick of the game, the clock beeping just after. A closely fought game and almost a late comeback.
Ahmet, as keeper, went on a mazey dribble right through the centre of the pitch evading numerous tackles only to see his eventual shot hit the post and roll back across the goal to safety. A high ball over top fell for Matt to perfectly control it…..into Oz’s path. I couldn’t quite see what happened next but what looked like a pass back to the keeper was under hit and either Matt or Alan latched on to the error to poke home. Phil, who’d had a mixed game ended up with the ball after a Red clearance and went one on one with Stuart who was guarding the Yellow goal. However he seemed to be unaware that he was poised significantly to the side of the target so Phil shot into the gaping hole. 5-2 up with 10 minutes to go. Red decided to tempt fate with several awkward backpasses to Daniel in goal….dangerous tactics given his reputation between the sticks but no errors! Come on, that deserves a mention. But Yellow weren’t beaten and they got a reply to give hope, once again, no memory of who or how. And after some scrappy play in the last few minutes, Toby lined up and hit the ball low and hard into the the far left corner. Nice finish but it was literally the last kick of the game, the clock beeping just after. A closely fought game and almost a late comeback.
Final score: Red 5 – 4 Yellow