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4 Nov 07: Pembury 0:4 Grasshoppers November 5, 2007

Posted by editor in : Uncategorized , trackback

The team obviously felt my absence this week, missing my motivational skills on the touchline, which took the edge off the performance, as we scored four fewer than we did against the same opposition last week!  But we also conceded four fewer, and Keith and Phil afterwards called this the best team performance they have seen from this team- which is high praise indeed.

 

Michael bounced back from his CRAP award last week and, after cleaning Cian’s boots, he put in a much better performance.  Well done Mike.  That is exactly what is needed from every member of the team- you are all in it together.

  

It was nice to have Danny back, but quite honestly he didn’t have much to do, which is a great compliment to the four in front of him, who made sure that nothing too dangerous got through.  Although Keith did make some changes to the personnel, the normal back four of Max, Thomas, Nick and Harrison were solid, although apparently Kent Police have launched a missing persons inquiry to find the left back.  He is described as a boisterous blond chappy, prone to unauthorised absences and normally eventually tracked down in the opposing penalty area.  If you find him, please do not put hands or arms near his mouth, but please do ask him to return home to the left hand side of the defence, where his teammates miss him terribly and there is a big hole.

 

After last week’s 8 goals, the Pembury manager boasted before this game that he was going to make it impossible for us to break them down.  It quickly became clear that what he had in mind was the 9-1 formation made famous by the

Leeds side of the 1970s.  Sadly, with players of the quality of Harry, Tom, Robert and Cian, it doesn’t really matter how many defenders you play.  Pembury were also prepared to be physical, as evidenced by the nasty stud mark left by their captain on Cian’s upper thigh, which looked horrible in the bath last night- as of course did the rest of Cian. 

 

Tom scored the opener with a good finish, and the first half ended 1-0.  Though there was only one goal in it, there was no concern or panic and the guys played with commendable patience as they prodded and pressed in the second half. 

Taylor had his most impressive game for Grasshoppers, playing with his back to goal and laying off a number of intelligent and well judged balls into the path of the oncoming midfielders.

 

Cian scored the second goal.  As he puts it, he controlled the ball instantly on his chest and then as it dropped he hit it with the outside of his right foot on the volley, just giving it enough spin to swerve over and round the keeper before dipping and nestling in the far corner or the net.  Goal of the season candidate.  Or as Keith puts it, he tried to cross it and the wind took it in.  We’ll never know the truth, but I’m with Keith.  Looking on the bright side, he didn’t hit the bar or post this week, though the bug seems to have spread to Connor.

 

Oskar then popped up with 2 goals, including one brilliant finish after excellent build up play involving one touch football which had Goggy and the Parsons family singing “It’s just like watching ”.  Of course we all know about Goggy’s drink problem, but he was right- the football played by the whole team was exactly what Keith and Phil have been coaching and it’s lovely when it goes right.  Wait a minute.  We didn’t have training last week.  Hmm- are you thinking what I’m thinking?  Phil Aldred put it very well- God gave us grass to play football on and we played, leaving the birds untroubled by flying footballs.

 

As a Man United fan, Oskar probably hadn’t seen football that good before, so he was so surprised that he forgot to miss it, or get injured during the game.  His goals made the scoreline a much more accurate reflection of the way the game had been played though.  2-0 would not have done us justice.  Pembury’s goalkeeper and their skipper both played well in a losing cause and both deserve credit for sticking to their task well. 

 

Goals for Tom, Cian and two for the jammy United fan when the opposition was too tired to stop him.  Honourable mentions for Taylor and Cian, but MoM this week, as voted by the parents, with a great performance was Tom.  The CRAP award this week goes to Connor, who has managed to get being offside down to an art and missed an open goal after doing all the hard work by taking the ball round the keeper.  We expect Tom’s boots to be gleaming before the next game Connor.  That just goes to show what a fickle game it is.  In the frame for MoM with a hat-trick one week to CRAP the following week!

 

The result leaves us 3rd in the league, and we haven’t played either of the two teams ahead of us yet.  If we beat both of them we will be top.  But we mustn’t get carried away.  We have done very well so far, but there will be some tough games coming up and we will need to be at our best and most disciplined to win through.  That means that we must keep our shape and formation and listen to the coaches during the game. 

 

Well done guys- I definitely won’t be missing the next game and I think we should start charging entrance money for people to watch.  I think Keith’s thinking of changing the shorts and socks from black to blue and white!  Bring on that samba football!  Ole!!

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