Sunday, July 6, 2008

MATCH DAY REPORT: 7/6

Never has a 6-0 lead been less representative of the evenness of a game at WSS level.

While the eventual full-time result was more like 7-3, the Blue team's lead was down to a lot of luck at both ends of the field, and a legendary performance from a goalkeeper more usually found in central defense.

Yes, with Doug missing, presumed fishing, Keith H was the difference in keeping the Blue team's lead as big as it was. It should be noted he only let in one goal - a thunderbolt from Jay - during his tour of duty guarding the porker's fishnets.

On evidence of the play and on paper, the White team should really have kept the game competitive. A forward line and midfield consisting of Jay, Dan, Ed, Jake, Scott P and Mo, to name the major players, have never struggled more as a collective to stick one in the onion. The three goals they managed by the time this reporter went home with a thigh strain were a combination of frustation and hitting the ball right on the screws by Dan and Jay. All three shots screamed in like RPGs and went RPG (Right Past the Goalie.)

Meanwhile the Blues took their chances, and while the size of the lead may have flattered them somewhat, Mark Miller would have had four if he had a left foot, Jerry would have had nine if he was an inch or two taller, Frank would have had a hat trick if the goal had been an inch or two taller, and Keeble would have netted two more (to add to his meager lone strike that opened the scoring) if he wasn't a 250lb snackmeister still hungover from the three pints of gin and tonic he sank as he hypocritically celebrated the 4th of July just days earlier. Oh, and Rocco should have had a bunch, but that goes without saying.

The addition of Juan, a ringer that arrived with Dan (and that should have been a clue he can play,) on the wing opened up avenues for the Blue forwards to cash in on. The White defenders, marshaled by John G, Rich, Tim M and sometimes Dr. Sal (when he wasn't playing as a striker) were heavily reliant on an offside trap that was increasingly dangerous given the manpower the Blue team was devoting to scoring and the lapses that led to some scrambling to recover.

Another big plus for the Blue team was Mike M and Scott R playing in defense. As two of the best athletes on the field were devoting their skills to spoiling White attacks, the Blues obviously gained an edge. An edge the size of a small car.

Tempers flared up as the Whites tried everything bar running Keith over with his own scooter to try and get the ball in the Blue goal. They were never going to boil over, but with the Blues racking up goals against the run of play, the Whites were running out of ideas. The lackadaisical wing play of suspiciously-under-30-year-old Jake, normally the bane of any fullback who he goes up against, summed up the first hour-and-a-half of the White's game.

The pace of the game slowed considerably, but in equal measure as the game petered out. On another day, the scores could have been reversed and nobody could have complained.

FINAL SCORE: Blues 7 Whites 3 (by the time I left at 10:40)

Man-of-the-match: Keith - a cross between Spiderman and an octopus in goal.

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