AA2 Match Report v Sydney Uni 14/06/10

Barnstoneworth United AA2 Match Report

Barnstoneworth Vs Sydney Uni

Sunday 13th June

Blue sky shone through, not a cloud in the sky, a perfect day for the goals to flow or tanning on the sideline!

The warm up was dominated by working out how to erect regulation nets with limited tools. As we are about to head to the woods to carve pegs, Garnesy showed wiseness beyond his years (pay me later mate) and suggested we sacrifice the ever-so- useful crowd control barrier stakes in a horizontal manner to weigh down the net, RESULT! After eyeing up the opposition crowd, Sean decided they weren’t violent so the strategy was approved. In fact, quite the opposite, it seemed he found them rather attractive and was so overcome by this emotion he decided to stay on the sideline all game, Dan Taylor soon fell into the sordid trap as well.

Moving on, both sides looked a little jaded as they warmed up and plodded on to the playing surface as a result of World Cup and the double header fatigue no doubt. Ian’s initial motivational words of “I can’t feckin run, me feckin blisters are feckin killin” validated the decision of his central midfield partner to double normal Saturday night sleep hours to 4 the previous night ….. the other key highlight of the warm up was Abdul attempting to lodge a football as high as possible into the trees which, strangely enough, was in fact achieved during the match. Well done whoever that was!

So on to the game which kicked off at a furious pace, Barnstoneworth, looking full of goals buoyed by the fact the opposing team had thought it was 6 a side, the rest of team rocked up shortly ….Abdul is put through, skins a couple of players, puts the tree game behind him and coolly slots it into the net, just as team mates are about berate him, quality GOAL 1-0! Barnstoneworth h continued to pass the ball round pretty well without finding the killer ball and killer finish which has been lacking all season ….until a quality delivery from a set piece out left, one bounce, accidently on purpose ricochet off the left nipple (yes chest ref) and into the net NOT GOAL, not 2-0 defied by a ‘bottle out’ referee shout and under exuberant celebrations from Barnstoneworth …should av took me top off!! This injustice led to being caught napping, a neat counter attack from the estudentes culminates in some slightly calamitous defending GOAL 1-1. Whilst there continued to be some good play, Barnstoneworth were looking increasingly shaky at the back and beginning to rush passes …after committing a lot of men forward, they are again caught napping a quick diagonal ball to wide right, hit and hope cross, Adam believing he is 2 foot taller than he actually is and a neat finish GOAL 1-2! Now was a time for North Korean style character (football not war mongering dictatorship) and Barnstoneworth dragged themselves back into the game, prolonged spells of pressure, the ball bouncing around the box and HANDBALL REF! Yes GOAL 2-2, coolly slotted home by Barry under intense pressure, half time all square.

The gaffer quickly rewrote his half time script and a new vibe of belief, winning and free flowing football was buzzing about the team. The only change the boss was threatening was “if you keep defending like that I will have to put Potter back in the team” ….we knew this was serious and things had to improve there (only messing Potter he loves you really x). The vibrant mood was hampered temporarily when news reverberated around the ground that the Tool Shed had gone into receivership and would have to close, reason cited was key clients going overseas, allegedly for the World Cup causing drastic reductions in revenue (standard weekly joke) ….concerns were eased when it was confirmed the arrival of a white knight named “Eddie” had fronted up with the required cash to keep it afloat …believed to be proceeds of a ‘football card’ business, the show could go on….

To the second half, Barnstoneworth came out with purpose and began to turn the screw chance after chance went by headers over, shots wide, saves on the line ….the doubts began to creep in again until (and I may have this the wrong way round!) BAM, Barry is taken out in no certain terms in the area, PENALTY, smashed home by Barry, GOAL 3-2, then BAM, ball falls to Ian 25 yards out on the angle. Many scream for a cross, he powers through the pain barrier and smashes home his second “blister-ing” drive in as many days, GOAL 4-2! A new confidence is about the team for the rest of the game. More relaxed passing to feet with several more chances created which bodes well for the rest of the season. Abdul manages to nick another with great pace and a cool finish, GOAL 5-2. Then, not wanting to make it too simple, Chris tried to get too intimate with the opposition striker resulting in a penalty, GOAL 5-3. A sour note to end the day but all in all a satisfying win with flashes of some of the best team football of the season mixed with individual brilliance, RESULT!

(Author – Jonesy)

MoM – Jonesy