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YC&AC, Sunday 4th November,
Vags' apparent quest for relegation was dealt a severe blow after a gutsy 4-1 win against YCAC on Sunday. The win sent shockwaves through an already unpredictable league, leaving leaders BFC quaking in their Matrix pods after they dropped points on Saturday night.
Preamble to the Revolution Hurt bad from four losses on the bounce – the last one a whoopin` from their sibling rival - one would have expected a dejected bunch of scruffs to be turning up. Oh, Fool, think again. This merry band of vagabonds stood proud by the Yamate gutter in their Sunday best, double eager to turn it all around. After a Craig Brown-esque teamtalk from Richard `The Professor` Straughan, Vags gained extra collective momentum from a team stretch straight out of a Poona Ashram, thanks to Wayne`s `Sideways Facing Giraffe` Pose (Upmyassana Style).
Game Plan -The Professor had a large squad of 15 to choose from, and after taking sage advice from his senior players, decided to experiment. Concerns that star striker, Alex, wasn`t getting enough service, had to be addressed: so, Ex-St. Cuthbert`s striker (and adopted Geordie), Francis Sahara, was to partner his younger brother upfront; Muzzy`s hustle to be tested out at wingback, opposite Wayne. The usual trio at the back, under the command of Jedi O` Connell, to be protected by the Mighty Quinn, with the attacking midfield duo of Simon and Paul sent to pilfer and create.
Quit Your Jibber-Jabber. These men had been written off, wrongly accused of crimes against football that they did not commit. This was the week the B-Team became the A-Team. I just love it when a plan comes together…
The Game From the off, the brothers ran riot, leaving a well-organized, yet less mobile, YCAC defence hoping to play an off-side game. This worked once or twice, but Alex soon latched on a through ball from Quinn that raced through the YCAC left flank like one of his cyborg experiments heading for the lab exit. Alex steadied himself, and for a brief second halted, perhaps remembering how long it had been since he`d had such a good chance to score. His right foot shot was already heading into the bottom left corner, the slight deflection simply easing its passage into goal Valhalla. The drought was over, the sound of distant drums an ominous signal that this was just the beginning.
Vags were playing Atacama pace than previous games and this showed - they were getting much Mojave the ball, holding onto it well, building up play, winning possession. A second goal soon followed when hard work in midfield released Alex. Drawing two defenders, he slid a killer pass through to Francis, who bravely finished with aplomb despite tough pressure from a defender and advancing keeper. The Professor fidgeted nervously with an unlit cigar.
After four games without a goal, some may have thought Alex`s confidence was low, that it would affect him. Oh, Fool, just go home. Quality can`t hide for long, and besides, before the game, the Professor gave him one of his infamous Glenlivet peptalks, saying to the Wonderkid - “Just Gobi Yourself”. This is exactly what he did for goal three, showing why he will become the top scorer and best striker in the league by then end of the season. Stickyfoot Paul created the goal by weaving through the opposition and laying a videogame-type through-ball onto Alex, whose timing between the offside trap and the advancing goalie was simply immaculate. He just rounded the keeper and tapped home.
There were other chances, notably for Gary Q, who was picking up a lot of loose balls on the edge of the area. Yet the Irishman lacked the desire to erase the memories of his last (much-regaled) two long range strikes. Were they but infrequent love affairs he just couldn`t abandon so soon perhaps? Sometimes we must betray the things we love for the greater good, like a grand old Post Office, or our favourite white mouse. Besides, goals are like London women, you wait 20 minutes, then three come at once.
One notable effort came from Simon, who went one-on-one after a slick move, his outside-of-the-foot flick just shaving the post of the goal down near the restaurant. The finish aside, this whole move was top class, and showed things are really starting to click for Vags. The Professor pulled out a box of long matches.
Orc-like Kev came on for Legolas Francis after the first Quattara, which had naturally left YCAC in a bit of a Depression. The extra stone in flab from American boigers and microbeer made an immediate impact: the opposition scored. A raking 25-yard strike across goal that left Taylor with no chance. It had been their only real effort on goal.
Intermezzo Half time was greeted gratefully by both teams, the heat had meant everyone had burnt off more than a few Kalaharis. Being 3-1 up, one would have expected the team talk to have been “Safari, So-Goodie”. Instead, the unknown feeling of supremacy put strain on a bemused Vagabonds. Nerves jingled, jangled; arguments for argument`s sake to mask the confusion. Richard demanded more goals – “ Or there`s Nefud for you after the game!”.
Use the Force The thought of a missing out on a stodgy YCAC Burrito del Midget drove Vags on like madmen. Alex kindly obliged by completing the perfect hatrick soon after the break – right foot, left foot, header. Another team goal…for which Ged modestly took all the credit. Forget the 40-yard one-two Paul had to run onto and cross in, forget the neat downward header at the back post…No, this goal was made when Jedi stood stork-like on one foot and lifted his sole skyward to remove a clod, the ball bouncing off into Paul`s path for him to create the goal. “That was my goal really”, said Ged, trotting back for the restart, his mind obviously overloaded with how best to spend this week`s extortionate match fees on his beach house in Thailand.
Redemption At 4-1 up, the game should have been over, but spectators got the feeling more goals were to come. There were still over 30 minutes to go, and YCAC to their credit went up a gear and onto the attack. Vags started to tire, nerves started to fray, the attacks were relentless.
The only reason there wasn`t a fightback was down to a second-half of heroics by Vags Goalie, Taylor, who made a string of top-drawer saves of every variety – tipped a low drive round the right post; saved a low shot with his foot at the left post; made kamikaze blocks with his head and chest; dived on a grenade. A Goalie`s dream come true. After the previous scorelines, and an admittedly under-par performance against BFC, it would have been easy for the Vags goalie to have let his head drop, but not this guy. Turned it all around and showed us all that he can win us matches. Hats off to the fellow. This week`s Man of the Match.
Other MoM`s nominees go to Paul, who had his best match in midfield so far, with a mix of energy, verve and superb passing, setting up two goals (with help from Ged) and disrupting the opposition`s capacity to attack. Stevie G marshalled the defence admirably, crucially intercepting on a few occasions. On paper, of course, Alex should`ve have won: three goals, a direct `non-clod removal` goal assist, and a game full of ideas, trickery, and clever runs... but he`ll just have to do it again next week.
On top of the superb individual displays, the Professor must have been happy with the whole team effort. Nao had another solid game despite `a knee without two crescent balls`; Simon ran a marathon allowing Paul to shine; Quinn might as well`ve had a mop in his hand with the cleaning up he was doing; and Muzzy and Wayne played themselves into wingback positions for the rest of the season with tireless displays that were perhaps the real key to the success. Even the subs played well: Nick hustled at left wing; Graham put in some great tackles when the backs were against the wall, and Adrian scared the opposition so much that his old foe, Steve Taw, bundled him off the pitch. This was soon put down to an old feud about a stolen onegiri when the two were exchange students back in the `50s.
Overall - Job well done. Three points, four goals, high fives all round.
Footnotes Credit to YCAC. They never gave up and played hard but fair football. Extra kudos to 15-yr old linesman Tom Taw who was spot on on every line call he made, including our first goal, which most opposition teams would`ve cheated on. Good to see the traditional spirit of fair play has been passed onto the new generation. The Ref had a solid game too: no cautions, and he let the game flow.
Next Game Sunday November 11th 5.15pm – Hachioji
Sees us up in Saitama against the Jets. With all the key positions firing, let`s rack up our goal difference.
Report by Rob Keating
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