Well, the bad news first:
1. We lost.
2. We are out of the Cup we all wanted to win.
3. I got MOM in our first loss for god knows how long.
4. Blore wasn’t there so I have to write this bloody thing (I will leave the jokes to him, plus we lost which is not in the least bit funny!)
The good news
We are still unbeaten in the league.
- We are still in the other cup
- My horse (looking suspiciously like a dog) won at the race night!
The day started as always with Bert getting us in the zone. George you are unfit, Max you were shit last week etc etc, always uplifting and on the mark. By the time we got ready to start without a ref in sight there seemed a determination to make sure Bert’s comments about complacency were wide of the mark. Obby chipped in by telling Lusky his mate said he was nothing special and we were an average team. Cannot wait for the Wisdom away game!
As the game got started, it seemed like we were going to have a good day. Max was getting on the ball well, MDB and Chezzer were finding lots of space out wide to deliver good balls, Noles was chasing them down and to be honest they did not look like they were going to cause us too much trouble...
The first half was well fought and they turned out to be a competent and combative bunch of lads and it was obvious we would need to work hard for a place in the next round. Neither team had too many clear cut chances apart from the odd long range effort and a good free kick from Max that Joe McEldery did well to save. Whatever we tried didn’t seem to be coming off. I cannot really remember too much other than we had a load of corners, Shorty has a head like a Sheriff’s badge and I smacked the ball up Lusky's a-hole instead of into the back of the net.
Half time. Bert decided we had proved him wrong and set about trying to make us feel complacent by saying how good we were. To be fair we were the better team and just needed to repeat this in the second 45 and we should take the victory. We got stuck in with Shorty (does he ever play crap) and Willy (looking more and more like Obby as the game went on) keeping it solid at the back and Dairy not really been too pressed to make a contribution. Lusky and Will were full of their usual energy and Jody was doing his best to spur us on getting stuck in. Then came the breakthrough. The ball came over from Will, (I think) and the next thing I knew Jody came running towards me with the same face he pulled when he found his XS Adidas Lendl shorts on EBay. He had got the final touch on the cross. Sorry, but again I cannot recall exactly what happened but we were one up and generally on top.
The game went back and forth and then they got the equaliser. The ball came over, Dairy punched the cross vertically, possibly off the back of Jody and a few others and their guy nodded it into an empty net. Shit goal but I still fancied our chances. We kept pressing and MDB was knocking in some decent balls, as he seems to most evenings according to Chezzer before I then copied Shorty by heading over. Jody offered to lend me his heels, which was a nice touch.
The game was going to extra time and we were looking a little tired. Quick chat and off we went more than ready for the battle, only to let their number 8 score after about 10 seconds having failed to clear the ball. Now he was probably their best player but Jesus did he moan. He made ‘How many more times’ Dairy look like Claire Raynor and made me ashamed to be of Paddy stock.
Just as we seemed to be turning the screw again I missed another header, they nicked a third and we were in the shit. After this we seemed determined to prevent ourselves from scoring. Max blocked the ball on the line where it seemed to stay for an eternity before it came out to me and I smacked the ball straight back at Will's bollocks. I think we hit the post and Ben was working hard to get us back in it, having replaced Noles, but nothing was coming off. Franko came on in centre midfield and Fish up front as we tried all we could before they got another goal and it was clearly not going to be our day.
To be fair, no one had a shocker. Chezzer played well having been away due to injury and not in his preferred position at left back. Willy was going strong until the end, even if he must have had a bet on 5-1!! Dairy was solid as always and his kicking superb with Max having his best game since he saw the light and moved to a club not named after a shop.
Next week we have a Quarter Final, I am confident this result will not be repeated and I will have a wager we will look back on this result as the one which made us more determined to bring home some gongs this season. 4-1 flattered them even if they were a hardworking side. The game was actually a decent one to play in with very little venom on display.
Let’s make sure we get back to winning ways boys. At my age the likelihood of many more Cup Finals is as slim a chance as your horse winning by a record margin.......
Come on the WHITEBELLIES. |
