Bendemeer Sec, 1500 Hrs
YSOSRS FC 1 Team Intense 1
(Santosh x1)
A battle between 2 sides perched at the top of the division.
A battle of 2 sides that had been locked head to head in epic clashes in the past.
And best of all, a battle of 2 teams that harbored the same ambition to win the title.
Cue epic music for what was to be one helluva clash.... ;)
The equation going into the games was if either side won the game, that side would have built an insurmountable lead at the top which naturally means... Champions for the winners. With such high stakes surrounding the game, anxiety was the last thing that the gaffer of the jokers wanted to allow to manifest within the camp. And thus, hardly anything was said about the magnitude of it.
The situation in and around the jokers camp in the build up was one that was both relaxing and most definitely a cheery one. Just what the gaffer had ordered! Well game day came along and the lads streamed into Bendemeer Sec that would play host to the smashing tie, in trickles as I would describe. Yet as time ticked ever so gradually to the start of it all, it began to seem as if we were seemingly taking this game a little too lightly as loads of players were late.
True enough, we started the game with more than 11 players yet with men in unfamiliar positions all around the pitch. Our captain stood bravely between the posts while our young prodigal son and goalkeeping phenom found his way to the arena. The same could be said about the rest who were unfortunately not present at kick off time.
Whatever the case, Team Intense and YSOSRS FC. Championship decider as this was classed and both sides started the game as if it was a cup final. Tentative and edgy. Neither side allowed the other to really settle in possession and honestly speaking, it was somewhat of a bore down along the sidelines. Both keepers could have had a cuppa and perhaps the mass orgy that was created in the middle of the pitch would still never allow the ball to reach them.
That finally changed as the Intense keeper had a rush of blood to the... Head. By that I mean the one up top for all you ladies reading this. Heh.
1-0: Showing sleek composure to feint and side step Dinietov, the Intense keeper then proceeded to mess it all up as he ran out of his box and laid of a pass that was just short of reaching his fellow Orangey. Pouncing onto the loose pass 25 yards from goal was our Nepalese boy wonder who needed no 2nd invitation to calmly place the ball into the back of an unguarded net. The lads celebrated knowing what a priceless goal that was...
Despite the goals lead and orgyness in the middle, Intense continued to threaten via Mr Rory Delap aka Mr Lionel Wong (Hope any Intense players do not mind me naming your lethal weapon here). Throw ins anywhere in and around our half was hoisted deep into our box as players lined up time and again for the missile. Panic was never too far away with the size of the Intense players as their flick ons from these very missiles wrecked havoc. Thankfully, luck was on our side as our goal led a charmed life thus far. 1-0 it was at the half time, and the pinkies were daring to dream!
With a whole host of supporters (players past and present, on sabbaticals and in retirement) cheering by the touchline, the 2nd half kicked off as the jokers were only 40 minutes away from a history making result.
Alas as luck would have it, Intense equalized via rather controversial circumstances as our lads would put it.
1-1: Another missile of a throw that was hoisted in was flicked up into the air by an Intense head. The sequence of events that followed read something along the following line. Ball bouncing all over the place, Intense players desperate to get a hair on the ball whilst the Jokers were desperate to clear it away without smashing it into the back of the net. Well in the end, the mass of bodies in and around our goal proved to be the ultimate weapon for it apparently blocked the referee's view as an Intense player was able to scoop it over the line *reportedly with the use of a hand as the guys involved in the chaos would later claim*
Madness ensued as several of the jokers lost their heads in their pointless protests to the beleaguered referee. However, one took his argument too far and was unfortunately sent off in the heat of the moment by the man in black. Back all square and with a man down. The entire complexion of the game could not have changed anymore drastically in the space of a minute.
Cue balls jangling 30 minutes to come for the gaffer and those watching along the sidelines. Every Intense throw in came straight into the box and it was really a bag full of nerves just watching it unfold in front of me eyes.
Unluckily for the pinkies though, our sporadic moments into the Intense half failed to bear fruit. A throw in of our own *albeit with slightly less venom* saw Dineitov flick on a stunning header that had golazo written ALL OVER IT. Sadly it wasn't to be as it cannoned off the upright and bounced to safety. I swear to you, the supporters were going nuts at this moment.
Time for cliches yo: "The stakes could not be any... Higher"
There was to be another moment for the pinkies to seal the game and title as a 4 on 3 breakaway eventually saw our marksman, Mr cockroach took aim.... And fired. Sadly, it didn't provide us with the same joy as we have been so accustomed to all season. A splendid save by the Intense keeper saw them just about hang in the game whilst the pinkies rued a great opportunity missed. ARGHHH.
Ping ponging to the end, the final chance for Intense in "fergie time" trickled ever so slowly across the box through a mass of bodies and narrowly.....wide. The time it took for that ball to bounce its way happily across, was the time in which my own balls dropped to the ground and back up. Holy smokes.
In the end, 1 apiece it was as the Jokers leave the game knowing what is at stake in the final game against St undies and with it all to do. Whatever the case, what an epic clash it was at Bendemeer Sec. One that we hopefully would like to play a part more frequent part in, in the future.
Cheers to the Pink warriors who turned up and played. More cheers to the ones who didn't play yet wholeheartedly supported the team.
1 more game lads. Lets do this.
