Jonni's Team: 2
Brett's Team: Brett, Churchy, Rich, Little Dave, Shaun, Jason, Barry, Ed
Jonni's Team: Jonni, Matt, Kev, Big Dave, Tuvvy, Roy, Sam, Andy T
A good evening for a game of football, although an earlier downpour had left the pitch slightly slippery and a few players lost their footing during the game. Fortunately, apart from a tiny graze on Roy's arm there were no injuries. Speaking of injuries, I was saddened earlier in the day by a Tweet from Kerron that said: "The chances of me ever playing football again are remote. Even hobbling makes my ankle swell to the size of a grapefruit!" I thought that that was a real shame, until I ran his message through the Enigma machine and it read: "Wife watching! Can't wait to get back but proceeding with caution. Milking injury while I can. Wife smells a rat. Back soon. Mum's the word. Over". So that was better news.
Tuvvy, Big Dave, Roy, Kev and Ed all returned and there was a debut for Barry and a new haircut for Jonni.
So, on to the game, Matt picked the teams and Shaun picked the ends (so that Jonni's team were facing the sun) and we kicked off with Matt and Brett in goal. Tuvvy and Big Dave were extremely fired up and started the game at full throttle attacking Brett's team with support from Roy and Andy on the wings. Rich, Little Dave and Churchy looked pretty comfortable in defence though and there were no real chances early on. Rich chopped down Andy (I think) and Big Dave took the direct free kick and (egged on by Matt in goal) had a shot, but the ball was high and wide.
Keeper change and almost immediately Matt nearly opened the scoring - a great cross from Tuvvy found him at the back post and Matt tried to direct his header in to the far corner, the keeper looked beaten but the ball went wide. It was one of those games where the defences were on top, Brett and both Riches and Sam and Jonni all mopping up any attacks that came their way. A great run from Jonni had Brett's team on the back foot and he slipped the ball to Matt whose shot cannoned off the post and went wide (Little Dave claimed he had it covered though). At the other end, Churchy was looking lively and turned Matt brilliantly and let fly with a great shot that seemed destined for the far corner but Kev got in a great block and the ball went out for a throw. Little Dave and Barry were playing well and showing some nice skills, Dave in particular was enjoying running at the defence, but clear cut chances were rare. Ed had a couple of sniffs at goal, but seemed to be having a battle to keep his hat on which was taking priority over the footy. Big Dave, Tuvvy and Roy were driving forward but the game was getting a bit scrappy in the middle and both teams seemed reluctant to keep the ball on the floor.
Then the breakthrough, a peach of a ball from Brett over the defence and Little Dave made a great run. Tuvvy, in goal, neglected to come out and catch the ball, instead deciding to wait for the ball to come to him to kick, but Dave nipped in a touched the ball past him. It was a good goal though and Tuvvy made amends a short time later pulling off a fantastic reflex save from a powerful shot.
Jonni's team were throwing all their efforts into getting an equaliser and leaving Sam and Jonni more and more exposed in defence. Kev was looking busy and was involved in most of the attacks, I was convinced he'd scored when the ball broke to him in the area and a lovely flick beat Rich in goal, but Rich somehow managed to reach back and pluck the ball out of the air - a great save. Matt went on a run and after beating a couple of players and faced a back pedalling Brett, Roy ran past on the overlap and screamed at Matt for the ball. Matt shot. The ball flew high and wide and Roy went mental - like a three year old who had just been told to turn off Toy Story because it was bedtime. I honestly thought he was either going to punch Matt or have some kind of cerebral aneurysm. It was like watching that Angry German Kid on YouTube, but directed by Tarantino. Matt was so scared he did a little sick in his mouth.
Andy had been playing well on the left wing and he had a nice run, beat the defender, but the angle was too tight and his shot hit the side netting. Then it was Sam's turn to go close. After a scramble in the area Sam won the ball and struck a lovely dipping shot which had the keeper well beaten but the ball went inches wide - so close! Would this goal ever come?
Committing most of their players to go in search of an equaliser had left Jonni's team pretty stretched at the back and with Shaun, Jason and Ed all lurking up front and Churchy and Little Dave relishing the chance to break quickly the chances did come and it was soon 2-0, then 3-0, with Dave grabbing another and I think Barry scored on his debut.
Then the goal that Jonni's team deserved finally came. After a good corner from Tuvvy the ball pinballed around in the area before falling to Kev who hit an unstoppable shot into the top corner. A goal Kev deserved after his hard work. However, a quick break from Brett's team found Ed who, having sort out all his hat woes, controlled the ball nicely and finished brilliantly from distance. A nice finish. Shortly afterwards Little Dave completed his hat-trick and somehow Jonni's team found themselves on the end of a thrashing.
Matt went on another run and, again, found Brett in his path. Having learnt from (and been mentally scarred by) his mistake last time, he knocked the ball through to Roy, who hit it first time and slotted the ball into the bottom corner. There's a lesson in there somewhere. Roy suddenly burst into song and started singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" - a noble stance but Brett ensured that there was no way Jonni's team would score again by letting absolutely nothing by him for the rest of the game. That song reminded me of the final scene in the Sopranos where Tony gets murdered, at least, I think he did, or did he? Yeah, he definitely did, well, probably.
There was still time for Kev to produce an outstanding goal line clearance from Little Dave, but Jonni's team had run out of time. At the end Jonny W turned up in his dad jeans, the ball rolled to him and he nearly tripped over it, declaring happily "I've still got it". He has, I'm just not sure exactly what "it" is.
Goal Of The Week: Kev Church's goal was nice as was Roy's, but Ed's finish was excellent and he wins this week's GOTW. Well done Ed.
Player Of The Week: Not that many outstanding performances this week. For Jonni's team, Jonni stood out, he had a great game in defence and was involved in most of the attacks too and never gave up. Kev also played really well. For Brett's team, Churchy and Little Dave were both great. Churchy is still one of our best tacklers and he can also run with the ball and was unlucky with a couple of shots. Can't really separate the Church brothers this week, but Kev did score. Little Dave was full of energy and it is a nightmare to get the ball off him. Some of his runs were sublime and you can't really argue with a hat-trick. However, once again, Brett put in an outstanding performance in defence. He was just impossible to get past for the whole game. He cut out any long balls and won the ball every time he went in for it. He's so fast and strong in the tackle that when he takes the ball off you it like being hit by a drag racing monster truck. His pass to Dave for the opening goal was superb and even when his team fashioned a decent lead he kept his discipline and stayed back in defence to ensure Jonni's team had no way back. He looks like Michael Keaton as batman to me, but probably prefers the blue & white of Sheffield Wednesday to the batsuit, he's probably quicker than Batman too. Like a more ruthless and less grumpy version of his drinking buddy (Phil McBride), Brett leads his team well and shows no mercy to the oppositions attackers. A great game Brett, well done.
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