Some time has elapsed since my last entry into this blog. We have played a few games. I will post a summary of the lost weeks soon.
To make up for this please enjoy this quality 1980s football related track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WACF8ID-To
They don´t make them like that these days.
Would you rather see these jokers?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGyiaJKBciM
I think Hobson´s Choice is the precise phrase you are looking for.
Wednesday 15 January 2014
Sunday 27 October 2013
Madrid Reds give FC Twenty the Madrid Blues!
Oh, how it hurts! Yes, worse things have happened at sea but it is never nice to lose a match and the first loss of the season is something we don´t want to become accustomed to feeling. There is a buzz and a bounce in one´s step when your team is winning, a confidence that comes from each consecutive victory but when you suddenly lose you feel somewhat deflated. Today that happened, as FC Twenty capitulated for the first time this season. When you take the lead in a match, as we did, it gives you some kind of expectation that you can go on and be the eventual victors but when you lose your lead it is a mountain to get back up that hill and reach the summit.
The day started in a slightly uncertain manner because the clocks had just fallen back overnight, oh how we love daylight savings (better than the daylight robbery that happens in spring when you lose an hour!). In an Allardyce/Redknapp/Matínez(delete transfer-happy manager as you please)-esque effort to bolster our squad I had talked a colleague into joining the team. The meeting place was arranged and he knew the spot, he could even tell me that there was a "Cash Converters" not 50 yards from the spot. I got to the meeting place and was waiting for the potential debutant, then I waited and to top it off I waited some more. There was no hide nor hair of him. I needed to get myself along to the cracked concrete pitches to see if the others had turned up yet. On my way I got on my "dog and .." and tried to make contact, no response. The others arrived in dribs and drabs and about 12 minutes after scheduled kick off we had our 5 ready to play against another team, Madrid Reds, who also only had 5 players. The opposition were lacking a recognised goalkeeper, this would mean that the outfield players would take it in turns to "put the gloves on", this situation is usually to the advantage of the opposition. I eventually got through to the errant debutant to find he thought it was just after 11am, when in actual fact it was just after twelve. He had somehow managed to turn his clock back a full two hours instead of the regulation one, a combination of mobile phone automatically turning itself back plus human turning back an hour on top of that. Anyway, he was on his way and hopefully he could join in for the second half.
The game which ensued was a tight affair and other than slightly haphazard defending on the oppositions part for our second goal there was no clear evidence that they were at a disadvantage due to their lack of a regular keeper. They were aided and abetted by the sturdy posts which did a sterling job of keeping out a few of our efforts. The game went back and forth with neither team fully dominating but both teams creating chances and half-chances. Frustratingly for our team the opponents took 3 of their chances in comparison to our haul of 2 in the first half.
Half Time: Madrid Reds 3 - 2 FC Twenty
We were slightly despondent during the half time break but a one goal deficit was not unsurmountable (or is it insurmountable), the game was still open and anyone could win, or even a draw was a possibility. The second half went on at least 10 minutes with neither team adding to their tally. Clearly the opponents were dead set on defending their slender advantage and sat deep with bodies behind the ball and were looking to counter attack when they could. We had a lot of pressure on their goal area and wave after wave was rebutted and thwacked away. They did manage to fashion a few counters and they even managed to slot away 2 of these chances to give themselves a 3 goal cushion. The game did not seem beyond us but our task had just got harder. We pressed and pressed and eventually found our way through and cut their lead down to two goals. As we were chasing the game we all made a concerted effort to push up and push on. Alas, the ball fell to their lead striker plum in the centre of the park and he noticed the keeper was off his line and he lobbed the ball straight down the middle like a Jack Nicklaus iron shot and into the back of the net. This technically was the last play of the match but we had to restart and could technically win if we scored 4 goals without the ball leaving the field, unlikely but maybe possible!?! Well as was likely, this did not happen. We restarted passed it about a bit then it fell to the opposition who tried to build something and skewed the ball wide of our goal with a long pass and that was it. Oh and by the way our debutant did turn up at half time and came on, giving some of the tired legs a break.
Half Time: Madrid Reds 6 - 3 FC Twenty
Onwards and upwards, chin up, it´s all water under the bridge these clichés and more need to be applied before our next match in two weeks´ time. We really just need to retain possession, pass to feet, create opportunities and score them. Simple, isn´t it? Oh yes and not concede any goals would be good. A clean sheet that is something which would be a thing of beauty and enhance our chances of winning the next match. Let´s see what the future brings.
The day started in a slightly uncertain manner because the clocks had just fallen back overnight, oh how we love daylight savings (better than the daylight robbery that happens in spring when you lose an hour!). In an Allardyce/Redknapp/Matínez(delete transfer-happy manager as you please)-esque effort to bolster our squad I had talked a colleague into joining the team. The meeting place was arranged and he knew the spot, he could even tell me that there was a "Cash Converters" not 50 yards from the spot. I got to the meeting place and was waiting for the potential debutant, then I waited and to top it off I waited some more. There was no hide nor hair of him. I needed to get myself along to the cracked concrete pitches to see if the others had turned up yet. On my way I got on my "dog and .." and tried to make contact, no response. The others arrived in dribs and drabs and about 12 minutes after scheduled kick off we had our 5 ready to play against another team, Madrid Reds, who also only had 5 players. The opposition were lacking a recognised goalkeeper, this would mean that the outfield players would take it in turns to "put the gloves on", this situation is usually to the advantage of the opposition. I eventually got through to the errant debutant to find he thought it was just after 11am, when in actual fact it was just after twelve. He had somehow managed to turn his clock back a full two hours instead of the regulation one, a combination of mobile phone automatically turning itself back plus human turning back an hour on top of that. Anyway, he was on his way and hopefully he could join in for the second half.
The game which ensued was a tight affair and other than slightly haphazard defending on the oppositions part for our second goal there was no clear evidence that they were at a disadvantage due to their lack of a regular keeper. They were aided and abetted by the sturdy posts which did a sterling job of keeping out a few of our efforts. The game went back and forth with neither team fully dominating but both teams creating chances and half-chances. Frustratingly for our team the opponents took 3 of their chances in comparison to our haul of 2 in the first half.
Half Time: Madrid Reds 3 - 2 FC Twenty
We were slightly despondent during the half time break but a one goal deficit was not unsurmountable (or is it insurmountable), the game was still open and anyone could win, or even a draw was a possibility. The second half went on at least 10 minutes with neither team adding to their tally. Clearly the opponents were dead set on defending their slender advantage and sat deep with bodies behind the ball and were looking to counter attack when they could. We had a lot of pressure on their goal area and wave after wave was rebutted and thwacked away. They did manage to fashion a few counters and they even managed to slot away 2 of these chances to give themselves a 3 goal cushion. The game did not seem beyond us but our task had just got harder. We pressed and pressed and eventually found our way through and cut their lead down to two goals. As we were chasing the game we all made a concerted effort to push up and push on. Alas, the ball fell to their lead striker plum in the centre of the park and he noticed the keeper was off his line and he lobbed the ball straight down the middle like a Jack Nicklaus iron shot and into the back of the net. This technically was the last play of the match but we had to restart and could technically win if we scored 4 goals without the ball leaving the field, unlikely but maybe possible!?! Well as was likely, this did not happen. We restarted passed it about a bit then it fell to the opposition who tried to build something and skewed the ball wide of our goal with a long pass and that was it. Oh and by the way our debutant did turn up at half time and came on, giving some of the tired legs a break.
Half Time: Madrid Reds 6 - 3 FC Twenty
Onwards and upwards, chin up, it´s all water under the bridge these clichés and more need to be applied before our next match in two weeks´ time. We really just need to retain possession, pass to feet, create opportunities and score them. Simple, isn´t it? Oh yes and not concede any goals would be good. A clean sheet that is something which would be a thing of beauty and enhance our chances of winning the next match. Let´s see what the future brings.
Sunday 20 October 2013
A win´s a win for a´ that!
After scraping through last week´s match by the odd goal we were hoping not to have a groundhog day and see history repeating. The early signs were good, we had five bona fide players lined up and registered to play by Friday, no Saturday Scramble in store. (I don´t know why but that sentence brings to mind Saturday Superstore, the sequel to BBC kid´s TV Saturday programme morning Multi-Coloured Swapshop. Mike Read and Noel Edmunds eh?). We even drafted in a sixth player to make us feel comfortable.
The day arrived, a very wet morning was followed by sunshine. The odd puddle had been left as a reminder of the inclement night and morning but a combination of the sun and the cracks in the concrete would seen put paid to these water features. The oppostion started to assemble and no sign of my crew, hmm. Soon everyone started to come out of the woodwork and we had an almost workable four, time to take shots at the keeper to get us warmed up. Eventually the opposition had their full six but were wearing mostly white tops and that was our colour, they should be wearing blue. To my relief they were divied out there blue kits from their kit bag, but we still were short on players. We then had five, yes we can play and within a minute we were up to six. The past it parade evacuated our pitch and we could take our pick of goal area then place our kit their. Clocks checked, ball selected (somehow the opposition favoured their flatter version of the same ball we have - curious).
Game on! We wanted to make an early impact, as on previous weeks it had taken quite a wee while to break the deadlock. Low and behold we had an early opener, a speculative left footed drive was hit down the right channel which took a minor deflected and ended up in the back of the net. A good start but more goals would be needed to provide a cushion to win the match. The game was tight and tough and the opponents had a player who seemed to delight in knocking lumps out of anyone and everyone´s legs and had a running style not dissimilar to the Tasmanian Devil of Looney Tunes fame. This was going to be a hard game for the un-shin guarded i.e. everyone! Ding dong, ding dong the ball went back and forward and neither team bossed the game. The opponents lacked attacking flair but made up for it in lumpy defending, their keeper was agile too. Eventually we managed to nick another goal taking us up to two goals to the good. However they managed a break away run that saw a low drive squeeze in the the keeper´s right. The first half was beginning to fizzle out when somehow we managed to grab a third during the last two plays (i.e. after the 25 minutes was called but the ball had not left the field of play twice). Bang! Going into the half time break with a two goal cushion was great, given how tough the game had been thus far.
Half Time: Triskel´s Tavern 1 - 3 FC Twenty
There seemed to be some conflab going on in the half time break on the opposition´s part, we were keen to get the game underway as was their keeper. The second half followed a similar pattern of turgid football on each side and niggly, needly challenges being put in. We discovered the chief offender was more accustomed to Gaelic Football than 5 a side, it showed. It was not raining, that is something positive to report. The opposition managed another break away run, like in the first half, and squeezed a shot in which was to the goalkeeper´s left this time. Beaten at the nearpost, not great (btw it is the keeper´s hand that are typing). So we were sitting on a slim one goal lead, nervy stuff eh! We kept trying to attack and break through. As Robert the Bruce said "if at first you don´t succeed try, try and try again", and we obeyed the famous Scot´s maxim. Determination and perseverance paid off and the fourth was created and taken. A two goal lead and about ten minutes left, sufficient but still enough time for anything to happen. Time eked away and the opposition tried to catch us and a speculative lob was successfully launched from their right into the top corner of the net with a stranded keeper helpless to do owt about it. Three goal to four, edgy! Time ticked on and it was down to five minutes then the opposition clarified the last two minutes. Those two soon sloped away and time was called shortly before the opponents took a shot, it went out. Only one more dead ball left, or so I thought. The ball went out for a throw in, play continued, then another side ball - end of game? No! Finally the ball landed in the FC Twenty keeper´s hands, this time launch it out. Was the fourth time good enough to be the second dead ball? There was some debate but enough was enough. Victory was ours! My direct kick to touch was greeted with a comment from an opponent: "We don´t use to do that!". Ignorance is bliss.
Full Time: Triskel´s Tavern 3 - 4 FC Twenty
Next week another game again Madrid Reds. Let´s get a clear win!
NB: the title of this post is alluding to the Song/Poem written by the Bard of Scotland, Robbie/Robert/Rabbie Burns who penned "A man´s a man for a´ that" (a man is a man for all that).
The day arrived, a very wet morning was followed by sunshine. The odd puddle had been left as a reminder of the inclement night and morning but a combination of the sun and the cracks in the concrete would seen put paid to these water features. The oppostion started to assemble and no sign of my crew, hmm. Soon everyone started to come out of the woodwork and we had an almost workable four, time to take shots at the keeper to get us warmed up. Eventually the opposition had their full six but were wearing mostly white tops and that was our colour, they should be wearing blue. To my relief they were divied out there blue kits from their kit bag, but we still were short on players. We then had five, yes we can play and within a minute we were up to six. The past it parade evacuated our pitch and we could take our pick of goal area then place our kit their. Clocks checked, ball selected (somehow the opposition favoured their flatter version of the same ball we have - curious).
Game on! We wanted to make an early impact, as on previous weeks it had taken quite a wee while to break the deadlock. Low and behold we had an early opener, a speculative left footed drive was hit down the right channel which took a minor deflected and ended up in the back of the net. A good start but more goals would be needed to provide a cushion to win the match. The game was tight and tough and the opponents had a player who seemed to delight in knocking lumps out of anyone and everyone´s legs and had a running style not dissimilar to the Tasmanian Devil of Looney Tunes fame. This was going to be a hard game for the un-shin guarded i.e. everyone! Ding dong, ding dong the ball went back and forward and neither team bossed the game. The opponents lacked attacking flair but made up for it in lumpy defending, their keeper was agile too. Eventually we managed to nick another goal taking us up to two goals to the good. However they managed a break away run that saw a low drive squeeze in the the keeper´s right. The first half was beginning to fizzle out when somehow we managed to grab a third during the last two plays (i.e. after the 25 minutes was called but the ball had not left the field of play twice). Bang! Going into the half time break with a two goal cushion was great, given how tough the game had been thus far.
Half Time: Triskel´s Tavern 1 - 3 FC Twenty
There seemed to be some conflab going on in the half time break on the opposition´s part, we were keen to get the game underway as was their keeper. The second half followed a similar pattern of turgid football on each side and niggly, needly challenges being put in. We discovered the chief offender was more accustomed to Gaelic Football than 5 a side, it showed. It was not raining, that is something positive to report. The opposition managed another break away run, like in the first half, and squeezed a shot in which was to the goalkeeper´s left this time. Beaten at the nearpost, not great (btw it is the keeper´s hand that are typing). So we were sitting on a slim one goal lead, nervy stuff eh! We kept trying to attack and break through. As Robert the Bruce said "if at first you don´t succeed try, try and try again", and we obeyed the famous Scot´s maxim. Determination and perseverance paid off and the fourth was created and taken. A two goal lead and about ten minutes left, sufficient but still enough time for anything to happen. Time eked away and the opposition tried to catch us and a speculative lob was successfully launched from their right into the top corner of the net with a stranded keeper helpless to do owt about it. Three goal to four, edgy! Time ticked on and it was down to five minutes then the opposition clarified the last two minutes. Those two soon sloped away and time was called shortly before the opponents took a shot, it went out. Only one more dead ball left, or so I thought. The ball went out for a throw in, play continued, then another side ball - end of game? No! Finally the ball landed in the FC Twenty keeper´s hands, this time launch it out. Was the fourth time good enough to be the second dead ball? There was some debate but enough was enough. Victory was ours! My direct kick to touch was greeted with a comment from an opponent: "We don´t use to do that!". Ignorance is bliss.
Full Time: Triskel´s Tavern 3 - 4 FC Twenty
Next week another game again Madrid Reds. Let´s get a clear win!
NB: the title of this post is alluding to the Song/Poem written by the Bard of Scotland, Robbie/Robert/Rabbie Burns who penned "A man´s a man for a´ that" (a man is a man for all that).
Scraping a win! (Better late than never!)
The second game was one we were not anticipating well as we were to play our "bogey" team, who seemed to have a knack of placing a few banana skins under our trainers. They also seem to like contesting each decision and giving no benefit of the doubt to their opposition, they like to have their cake and eat it! Anyway the typical Saturday scramble preceded the match, what looked like a new five dropped to a insufficient three on Saturday afternoon. All efforts were made to get a few players in to make up the quorum of five to play. I even asked my wife to put out a Facebook SOS, alas nobody responded to that but it received one "Like"! With a few contacts here and there we got ourselves up to five and then an extra, giving us the luxury of a sub! Albeit one player would be coming to the match straight from a night shift and three would be coming direct from a 10 Kilometre city run.
The gameday arrived and we got to the "silky" surface of cracked concrete and our fluorescent yellow opposition gathered. The game was a tight one and to our surprise the frequency of complaints had reduced since our last meeting. A tight first-half ended us having the luxury of a narrow one goal lead, it was goal to nil in our favour. This was good but we could not let our guard down in the second half.
Half Time: Los Hombres de Paco* 0 - 1 FC Twenty
The second half started with a fllurry of yellow as the opposition hit us with two quick breaks and they went two goals to one up in the early stages of the half. We kept attacking and attacking and eventually broke down the resolute defence and regained parity with the opponents. The game looked like it was heading for an unprecedented draw, two seasons in existence and never a draw. As the end drew closer five minutes was called and no way through the defence. Eventually full time was called, but in this league there is an arcane rule where the ball must leave play twice after time is called before the match ends. When you are sitting on a narrow win all you normally want to do is get the ball out and take your three points, however this was not the case: we were staring a draw and dropping of two points squarely in the face. So time was called the ball went out for a kick in, in our favour, to the right of the opponents´ goal. The ball was played to our forward who took the ball in his stride two steps towards the edge of the penalty box then unleashed a powerful left footed drive that blasted over the keepers balding pate and rattled the back of the net. As Alan Partridge would say "he´s got a leg like a traction engine", or as James Richardson would say "Woof!". Goal it was and very little time left to hold on. The opposition were fired up and the game had to restart, as the game can not finish with a goal: the ball must be out of play to the side or behind the goal line. The opponents restarted and tried to fashion a chance, however an over enthusiastic pass was skewed to the right and the little jamon-esque legs of their furthest forward player could not reach it. Game over! Phew, I mean three points in the bag. To our surprise there was little for the opponents to moan about this week.
Full Time: Los Hombres de Paco* 2 - 3 FC Twenty
* The perculiarly monnikered opponents take their name from a now defunct Spanish TV series chronicling the life, crimes and times of a police force. They also boast a player named Paco, which is short for Francisco much the way that Frank or Frankie is short for Francis in the English speaking world. The name would fully translate as "The Men of Frankie".
The gameday arrived and we got to the "silky" surface of cracked concrete and our fluorescent yellow opposition gathered. The game was a tight one and to our surprise the frequency of complaints had reduced since our last meeting. A tight first-half ended us having the luxury of a narrow one goal lead, it was goal to nil in our favour. This was good but we could not let our guard down in the second half.
Half Time: Los Hombres de Paco* 0 - 1 FC Twenty
The second half started with a fllurry of yellow as the opposition hit us with two quick breaks and they went two goals to one up in the early stages of the half. We kept attacking and attacking and eventually broke down the resolute defence and regained parity with the opponents. The game looked like it was heading for an unprecedented draw, two seasons in existence and never a draw. As the end drew closer five minutes was called and no way through the defence. Eventually full time was called, but in this league there is an arcane rule where the ball must leave play twice after time is called before the match ends. When you are sitting on a narrow win all you normally want to do is get the ball out and take your three points, however this was not the case: we were staring a draw and dropping of two points squarely in the face. So time was called the ball went out for a kick in, in our favour, to the right of the opponents´ goal. The ball was played to our forward who took the ball in his stride two steps towards the edge of the penalty box then unleashed a powerful left footed drive that blasted over the keepers balding pate and rattled the back of the net. As Alan Partridge would say "he´s got a leg like a traction engine", or as James Richardson would say "Woof!". Goal it was and very little time left to hold on. The opposition were fired up and the game had to restart, as the game can not finish with a goal: the ball must be out of play to the side or behind the goal line. The opponents restarted and tried to fashion a chance, however an over enthusiastic pass was skewed to the right and the little jamon-esque legs of their furthest forward player could not reach it. Game over! Phew, I mean three points in the bag. To our surprise there was little for the opponents to moan about this week.
Full Time: Los Hombres de Paco* 2 - 3 FC Twenty
* The perculiarly monnikered opponents take their name from a now defunct Spanish TV series chronicling the life, crimes and times of a police force. They also boast a player named Paco, which is short for Francisco much the way that Frank or Frankie is short for Francis in the English speaking world. The name would fully translate as "The Men of Frankie".
Tuesday 8 October 2013
Nona-gone
We managed to get a crew together to set sail upon the voyage into the 2013-14 IFL league season and the merry men were able to raise the FC Twenty Jolly Roger aloft after plundering the newly formed FC Britanico. A micro objective of FC Twenty is to win each half (albeit secondary to the overarching aim of winning the match), as often we half put in a good first half performance but wilted in the second half. This was a grave possibility on this occasion as we only had FIVE players and no subs to bring in if scurvy was to set in on any of the crew. (Maybe one nautical reference too far?). Back to the game we did manage to win each half and not only that we outdid our first half performance in the second half. We set a good early tempo and attacked the opponents and soon found our reward with a quick fire two goal lead. We kept pressing and creating opportunities and took a three goal lead. Sadly, we gave the ball away and the opponents managed to hit a shot from the edge of the area into the extreme right of the goal. Fortunately we were able to combat this minor affliction and get another to make it Four goals to one as we approached half time. The oppononents had the bit between their teeth and they were pressing and were challenging each ball and they picked up a loose ball and hit a shot which was saved then they buried the rebound in the top corner.
HALF TIME:
FC BRITANICO 2 - 4 FC TWENTY
We were quite pleased to be leading considering we had no substitutes and the other team seemed to have press ganged the population of a provincial town to join their ranks. They were rolling their subs on and off at five minute intervals. This gave them freshness and youth, as their squad looked considerably less grizzled and world weary than ours.
The second half continued in much the same vein as the first half with FC Twenty controlling the game but the other team won several corners and had a fair few shots on and off target. In an impressive second half FC Twenty managed to add Five more goals to the four in the first half. Wallop! FC Twenty did however concede two goals in slightly unfortunate but different fashions. The FC Britanico had decided to come out of goal a bit as they were chasing the game, he wanted a bit of the action and so he managed to get in on it. He hit a speculative effort goalwards and it looked to be going out tamely for a goal kick but however an FC Twenty defender thought it had some danger and tried to clear it but managed to send it goalwards and into the back of the net. The other FC Britanico goal was more conventional where they passed into a goal scoring opportunity in the centre of the goal area and hit a shot goalward which the FC Twenty blocked with one leg but it unfortunately hit his other leg and it had enough power remained to crawl over the line. Hmm. The upside was FC Twenty had scored 5 screamers which were results of good passing, counter attacking or accurate shooting. Overall a cracking performance and a good start to the latest league campaign.
FULL TIME:
FC BRITANICO 4 - 9 FC TWENTY
Three points in the bag.
HALF TIME:
FC BRITANICO 2 - 4 FC TWENTY
We were quite pleased to be leading considering we had no substitutes and the other team seemed to have press ganged the population of a provincial town to join their ranks. They were rolling their subs on and off at five minute intervals. This gave them freshness and youth, as their squad looked considerably less grizzled and world weary than ours.
The second half continued in much the same vein as the first half with FC Twenty controlling the game but the other team won several corners and had a fair few shots on and off target. In an impressive second half FC Twenty managed to add Five more goals to the four in the first half. Wallop! FC Twenty did however concede two goals in slightly unfortunate but different fashions. The FC Britanico had decided to come out of goal a bit as they were chasing the game, he wanted a bit of the action and so he managed to get in on it. He hit a speculative effort goalwards and it looked to be going out tamely for a goal kick but however an FC Twenty defender thought it had some danger and tried to clear it but managed to send it goalwards and into the back of the net. The other FC Britanico goal was more conventional where they passed into a goal scoring opportunity in the centre of the goal area and hit a shot goalward which the FC Twenty blocked with one leg but it unfortunately hit his other leg and it had enough power remained to crawl over the line. Hmm. The upside was FC Twenty had scored 5 screamers which were results of good passing, counter attacking or accurate shooting. Overall a cracking performance and a good start to the latest league campaign.
FULL TIME:
FC BRITANICO 4 - 9 FC TWENTY
Three points in the bag.
Friday 4 October 2013
Fixtures announced, let´s scramble a team together!
We now know that our first fixture is going to be against an outfit called FC Britanico, who were a quite solid team in the past but have apparently had an almost ecclesiastical split into two teams: one bearing the original name and another going for the more gregarious Los Galacticos (in a nod to the legendary Zidane, Beckham, Roberto Carlos et al filled Real Madrid team of yesteryear). We are not sure how the game will go, as it is difficult to compare the opposition with the team we played last year for the reason mentioned above and due to the fact that last season we secured one of our most memorable victories against the original incarnation of this team. Here is what happened: we were playing with a complement of five players and we had no substitutes available, whereas the other team had two or three subs "on the bench" (no benches here, hanging behind the goal really). We were doing well and started to boss the game early in the first half and managed to take a two goal lead. Then suddenly one of our stalwarts, Stevo, was going to the right with nobody near him and he suddenly pulled up in pain. He was in great pain and had pulled a muscle or ligament. We had to stop the game for a while to help him as we could. It was clear he could not play on. We had to try to play on but we had no subs! So our remaining four players played out the first half and had to keep digging in. In the second half we had to employ rugby line clearing tactics at times and playing very unsilky football. The other team had an advantage but they appeared to self-implode too, as I remember their captain for the day having a strop and storming off. They had the luxury of substitutes to replace their errant leader. We managed to repel wave after wave of attacks and some hard running and well placed tackles helped us to see out the fifty minutes with the three points in the bag. We dedicated our victory to our valiant injured soldier, who unfortunately has never been able to kick a ball for us since. He has recovered after sporting crutches for a time, going through treatment and operations. Alas the risk of a recurring injury has prevented him from continuing in the team.
What will happen this Sunday? Watch this space to find out.
Our biggest concern is getting a team together as over the summer break we have lost four players from our squad from last season, thus leaving us down to the bare bones of three players. Recruitment is in progress and hopefully over the next few weeks we can get a team together which can fight for honours again this season (after finishing a creditable second last season).
What will happen this Sunday? Watch this space to find out.
Our biggest concern is getting a team together as over the summer break we have lost four players from our squad from last season, thus leaving us down to the bare bones of three players. Recruitment is in progress and hopefully over the next few weeks we can get a team together which can fight for honours again this season (after finishing a creditable second last season).
Sunday 29 September 2013
The 2012-13 Season reviewed (not by me)
"IFL MADRID 2012/2013 SEASON REVIEW
The IFL Madrid raised their glasses to Atlético Cero, who made theirs a treble as they won the first division championship, the Nuez Web Solutions league cup and the Nuez Web Solutions Madrid Cup (the one-day open summer tournament) in the same season for the first time.
The mostly Peruvian outfit outclassed the rest of the field with a probing, attacking brand of possession football, in which the attitude was ‘score one if you want, we’ll score three”. Their final goal difference backed that up almost exactly. Star striker Dani Espadín hit 85 league goals, a ratio of ‘only’ 4.5 goals per game played (he managed a record ratio of over 5 per game last term), which gained him his third consecutive Pichichi top scorer award.
The game that epitomised Cero’s commitment to goalscoring was the titanic cup semi final between the team with the best attack and the one with the best defence, where O’Neill’s United led 4-2 five minutes into the second half and Cero substituted their goalkeeper for an attacker. The daring gamble paid off: Atlético Cero won the tie 7-6 and went on to claim the cup against Santana in a repeat of the 2012 final.
Eight-times league winners Santana had come back from a poor start to the season to be the team who pushed Cero the hardest, beating them in both their league meetings before succumbing in that cup clash.
Yet it was the year’s revelation team, FC Twenty, who snatched the first division runner up spot from Santana and in doing so capped off a meteoric rise from being the fourth-placed side in the second division in 2011/2012 to becoming one of the league’s heavyweights.
FC Británico also made a notable transition to the league’s top table after winning last season’s second division, although they lost momentum with midterm player departures.
Madrid Reds had flirted with the drop to the second tier following the upturn in fortunes for others, but they stepped up a gear after Christmas and managed to equal the fifth place finish they attained this time last year.
O’Neill’s United had begun 2012/2013 as favourites alongside Atlético Cero, but suffered a disappointing year by their own high standards.
They did, however, give us a flash of the sublime when they steamrollered all opposition at the IFL’s touring International Cup for the third time in succession, held this year in Valencia and contested by teams from Madrid and the Valencian capital.
They also took Atlético Cero all the way in the final of the Nuez Web Solutions Madrid Cup, only losing out on the trophy they won in 2010 and 2011 in a penalty shootout, after impressing in the end of season one-day blitz tournament.
FC Dutch Gold claimed the prize in the consolation tournament that day, adding the Copita to the Vase trophy they won in the ‘best of the rest’ competition in Valencia.
The recipients of silverware were rounded off by Triskel Tavern, who convincingly sealed the second division title as they did two years ago during their last sojourn outside the top flight.
The season’s greatest advert for perseverance was, the seemingly hapless, Rastro Bar-barians, whose record in mid-February read played 13 lost 13.
They won seven of their nine remaining games and rose from rock bottom to fifth in the second division, leaving everyone wondering what they’d been putting in their Saturday-night drinks.
There was no such mystery with FC Red Calm, sponsored by the brand of Ribera del Duero red wine which gives them their name. It wasn’t exactly a vintage year for them as they found themselves bottom of the barrel, but the playing, and the drinking, was a lot of fun.
(Luc Ciotkowski for IFL Madrid, published in the July 2013 edition of InMadrid, updated to include Nuez Web Solutions Madrid Cup results)"
see this in full at:
https://www.facebook.com/IFLMadrid
http://issuu.com/inmadrid/docs/1306_inmadrid_july_2013_issue
background also to be found at:
http://www.inmadrid.com/magazine/regular-sections/sport/soccer/love-game
The IFL Madrid raised their glasses to Atlético Cero, who made theirs a treble as they won the first division championship, the Nuez Web Solutions league cup and the Nuez Web Solutions Madrid Cup (the one-day open summer tournament) in the same season for the first time.
The mostly Peruvian outfit outclassed the rest of the field with a probing, attacking brand of possession football, in which the attitude was ‘score one if you want, we’ll score three”. Their final goal difference backed that up almost exactly. Star striker Dani Espadín hit 85 league goals, a ratio of ‘only’ 4.5 goals per game played (he managed a record ratio of over 5 per game last term), which gained him his third consecutive Pichichi top scorer award.
The game that epitomised Cero’s commitment to goalscoring was the titanic cup semi final between the team with the best attack and the one with the best defence, where O’Neill’s United led 4-2 five minutes into the second half and Cero substituted their goalkeeper for an attacker. The daring gamble paid off: Atlético Cero won the tie 7-6 and went on to claim the cup against Santana in a repeat of the 2012 final.
Eight-times league winners Santana had come back from a poor start to the season to be the team who pushed Cero the hardest, beating them in both their league meetings before succumbing in that cup clash.
Yet it was the year’s revelation team, FC Twenty, who snatched the first division runner up spot from Santana and in doing so capped off a meteoric rise from being the fourth-placed side in the second division in 2011/2012 to becoming one of the league’s heavyweights.
FC Británico also made a notable transition to the league’s top table after winning last season’s second division, although they lost momentum with midterm player departures.
Madrid Reds had flirted with the drop to the second tier following the upturn in fortunes for others, but they stepped up a gear after Christmas and managed to equal the fifth place finish they attained this time last year.
O’Neill’s United had begun 2012/2013 as favourites alongside Atlético Cero, but suffered a disappointing year by their own high standards.
They did, however, give us a flash of the sublime when they steamrollered all opposition at the IFL’s touring International Cup for the third time in succession, held this year in Valencia and contested by teams from Madrid and the Valencian capital.
They also took Atlético Cero all the way in the final of the Nuez Web Solutions Madrid Cup, only losing out on the trophy they won in 2010 and 2011 in a penalty shootout, after impressing in the end of season one-day blitz tournament.
FC Dutch Gold claimed the prize in the consolation tournament that day, adding the Copita to the Vase trophy they won in the ‘best of the rest’ competition in Valencia.
The recipients of silverware were rounded off by Triskel Tavern, who convincingly sealed the second division title as they did two years ago during their last sojourn outside the top flight.
The season’s greatest advert for perseverance was, the seemingly hapless, Rastro Bar-barians, whose record in mid-February read played 13 lost 13.
They won seven of their nine remaining games and rose from rock bottom to fifth in the second division, leaving everyone wondering what they’d been putting in their Saturday-night drinks.
There was no such mystery with FC Red Calm, sponsored by the brand of Ribera del Duero red wine which gives them their name. It wasn’t exactly a vintage year for them as they found themselves bottom of the barrel, but the playing, and the drinking, was a lot of fun.
(Luc Ciotkowski for IFL Madrid, published in the July 2013 edition of InMadrid, updated to include Nuez Web Solutions Madrid Cup results)"
see this in full at:
https://www.facebook.com/IFLMadrid
http://issuu.com/inmadrid/docs/1306_inmadrid_july_2013_issue
background also to be found at:
http://www.inmadrid.com/magazine/regular-sections/sport/soccer/love-game
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