Post by Spindle-doggle on Sept 18, 2006 19:54:43 GMT
By request from Mr Drake here is a report of my league debut yesterday. This could be a nice new thread, perhaps someone could write a Copley one aswell as I will be missing the Saturday night updates on Copley's welfare in the confinements of everyone's favourite letdown owned bar.
BASSINDER'S DEBUT CAUSES A STORM!
'I'm not sure it's going to hold out.' That was the verdict from star Polish striker Z (pronounced Zee) as the team rounded up before the game. He was of course referring to the weather. It had been very humid yesterday and the atmosphere looked as if it could fall apart at any minute. The Greens (sorry, don't know my own team's name yet!) were determined though that this would only count in their favour.
The team assembled for kick off. One player was unfamiliar to the rest. Young English rookie Dave Bassinder was on trial today. After a brief training session with the players the day before he had been recommended to team captain Lincoln. The team picked itself...quite literally. It was a case of call your position and you get it. As a newcomer to the team this was foreign to Bassinder. He was on the bench. He kicked his heels and awaited his chance to impress.
The match started slowly. The ground was heavy and the players found it difficult to adapt. The Greens gradually started to demonstrate their authority however and were soon dictating the play. They probed for openings in the Blue defense. After a few mis-timed through balls, it took a spark of magic to open the game up. Receiving the ball on the far right, team captain Lincoln cut in, jinked his way past two potential challenges and curled a cross come shot into the top left hand corner of the goal. It was later described as an 'awesome chip shot from right offense.' With that kind of praise being heaped on the captain, who could possibly argue that it was ever meant to be a cross? It didn't matter, the Greens were 1-0 up.
The captain came off. He wanted to give a run out to one of the 5 subs and manage from the sideline. On came substitute number one. It was clear that this self selecting policy had its downfalls. The captain comes off in an act of selflessness and everyone else is forced to witness a slow and very sloppy central midfield display from two burly fingers in the middle of the park. This riled Bassinder more than anyone. He was doing everything to state his case on the side by warming up, doing kick ups and generally just showing he can do much better than what he was seeing. All other positions were quite strong. There was some sharp forward play by Z, he made some jinking runs and intricate through balls looking for his fellow foreign strike partner. A few saves were produced and the Greens were showing clear dominance. With neat and tidy play on the rest of the park, why was the captain not doing anything to address arguably the most important position on the park- the centre of midfield?
As warm up routines were stepped up from the subs bench, the first sign fell. Fairly inconsistent, irrelevant splodges of rain at first but they soon increased in consistency and volume. The storm was a-brewing. The storm siren sounded from the side of the pitch and the players fled to save their lives (or more accurately- getting their bags drenched). Play was abandoned while the referees reviewed the state of play. If lightning occurs, play stops, that was league rules. Frustrated players looked on as the rain fell heavy and thick for 10 mins and the clouds rumbled. Lightning arrived but too far off to effect play. 10 mins passed and the players were out again.
Storm sirens were still sounding but the referee demonstarted admirable common sense by allowing play to re-start. The subs became more frustrated, this weather had caused many players to catch their breath and avoid substitution. 'I just wanna get on dawg,' came the banter from the defensive sub that looked not unlike a young Peter Ndlovu. The pitch was now as sloppy as the central midfield play. It was therefore a surprise when Bassinder made his debut on the right wing, the third to play their this game, whilst the much maligned central midfield play continued their hapless task.
Bassinder was sharp in the tackle to prove a point. One laboured touch let him down early on, but fans of the Shay 5 aside power league have come to recognise that unfortunately such touches do surface every now and then. There were however, some testing through balls from the right flank to stretch the Blues defense. Eventually a crisp pass to Zee and a jinking run produced a second. The third arrived soon after. A defensive mix up causing a deflecto stike from Foreigner A up front to bundle over the line. The Greens were bouyant.
The rain started again. One long throw down the right, produced a great cameo moment from trialist Bassinder. After fine knee control and a flick past the oncoming defender, he seemed shocked to find himself away. The slow and sturdy Blues defense was torn. A player renowned for little/ no pace had just looked like Aaron Lennon (during surgery) and was now to the byline. A sharp cross just eluded midget frontman Z. It was what is known in the trade as 'a Gazza Euro 96 moment.'
Just like the Green attacks, the rain was not about to cave in reluctantly. The storm siren sounded again. This time lightning was on its way. The referee managed to let play go to half time. With this ruling the Greens could be declared 3-0 winners and the game would not have to be replayed. The game was over. A triumphant yet short debut for the young englishman.
In the hurry to get to cars during the storm, it was later discovered that the debutant had taken the green shirt top home with him. He was pleased to discover before the game that he had indeed bagged number 4. Textbook number for any wannabe tenacious defensive midfielder. It could be argued that this decision was subconcious. After that lightweight midfield play, i'll be taking that role in future thankyou!
By Spindle O'Journo
Ok, bit long. Maybe i'll just do the games with most action. Particularly as i'm playing for another team as from next week aswell. Can't do two match reports. Anyways, it was a bit of a culture difference. Particularly as they play the game with far less aggression. The captain, although a good player, was pretty camp. And I was surprised to learn that the winner of a black girl in the crowd did belong to this pasty white effeminate winger.
I did love some of the terminology though. I particularly liked 'shoot Zee' for past to Zee. When they are asking for a pass back to em, instead of summat like 'back' or 'easy ball', they shout 'drop.' And instead of a challenge or tackle they just say 'good stop buddy.' Quite entertaining. They need some aggression though.
BASSINDER'S DEBUT CAUSES A STORM!
'I'm not sure it's going to hold out.' That was the verdict from star Polish striker Z (pronounced Zee) as the team rounded up before the game. He was of course referring to the weather. It had been very humid yesterday and the atmosphere looked as if it could fall apart at any minute. The Greens (sorry, don't know my own team's name yet!) were determined though that this would only count in their favour.
The team assembled for kick off. One player was unfamiliar to the rest. Young English rookie Dave Bassinder was on trial today. After a brief training session with the players the day before he had been recommended to team captain Lincoln. The team picked itself...quite literally. It was a case of call your position and you get it. As a newcomer to the team this was foreign to Bassinder. He was on the bench. He kicked his heels and awaited his chance to impress.
The match started slowly. The ground was heavy and the players found it difficult to adapt. The Greens gradually started to demonstrate their authority however and were soon dictating the play. They probed for openings in the Blue defense. After a few mis-timed through balls, it took a spark of magic to open the game up. Receiving the ball on the far right, team captain Lincoln cut in, jinked his way past two potential challenges and curled a cross come shot into the top left hand corner of the goal. It was later described as an 'awesome chip shot from right offense.' With that kind of praise being heaped on the captain, who could possibly argue that it was ever meant to be a cross? It didn't matter, the Greens were 1-0 up.
The captain came off. He wanted to give a run out to one of the 5 subs and manage from the sideline. On came substitute number one. It was clear that this self selecting policy had its downfalls. The captain comes off in an act of selflessness and everyone else is forced to witness a slow and very sloppy central midfield display from two burly fingers in the middle of the park. This riled Bassinder more than anyone. He was doing everything to state his case on the side by warming up, doing kick ups and generally just showing he can do much better than what he was seeing. All other positions were quite strong. There was some sharp forward play by Z, he made some jinking runs and intricate through balls looking for his fellow foreign strike partner. A few saves were produced and the Greens were showing clear dominance. With neat and tidy play on the rest of the park, why was the captain not doing anything to address arguably the most important position on the park- the centre of midfield?
As warm up routines were stepped up from the subs bench, the first sign fell. Fairly inconsistent, irrelevant splodges of rain at first but they soon increased in consistency and volume. The storm was a-brewing. The storm siren sounded from the side of the pitch and the players fled to save their lives (or more accurately- getting their bags drenched). Play was abandoned while the referees reviewed the state of play. If lightning occurs, play stops, that was league rules. Frustrated players looked on as the rain fell heavy and thick for 10 mins and the clouds rumbled. Lightning arrived but too far off to effect play. 10 mins passed and the players were out again.
Storm sirens were still sounding but the referee demonstarted admirable common sense by allowing play to re-start. The subs became more frustrated, this weather had caused many players to catch their breath and avoid substitution. 'I just wanna get on dawg,' came the banter from the defensive sub that looked not unlike a young Peter Ndlovu. The pitch was now as sloppy as the central midfield play. It was therefore a surprise when Bassinder made his debut on the right wing, the third to play their this game, whilst the much maligned central midfield play continued their hapless task.
Bassinder was sharp in the tackle to prove a point. One laboured touch let him down early on, but fans of the Shay 5 aside power league have come to recognise that unfortunately such touches do surface every now and then. There were however, some testing through balls from the right flank to stretch the Blues defense. Eventually a crisp pass to Zee and a jinking run produced a second. The third arrived soon after. A defensive mix up causing a deflecto stike from Foreigner A up front to bundle over the line. The Greens were bouyant.
The rain started again. One long throw down the right, produced a great cameo moment from trialist Bassinder. After fine knee control and a flick past the oncoming defender, he seemed shocked to find himself away. The slow and sturdy Blues defense was torn. A player renowned for little/ no pace had just looked like Aaron Lennon (during surgery) and was now to the byline. A sharp cross just eluded midget frontman Z. It was what is known in the trade as 'a Gazza Euro 96 moment.'
Just like the Green attacks, the rain was not about to cave in reluctantly. The storm siren sounded again. This time lightning was on its way. The referee managed to let play go to half time. With this ruling the Greens could be declared 3-0 winners and the game would not have to be replayed. The game was over. A triumphant yet short debut for the young englishman.
In the hurry to get to cars during the storm, it was later discovered that the debutant had taken the green shirt top home with him. He was pleased to discover before the game that he had indeed bagged number 4. Textbook number for any wannabe tenacious defensive midfielder. It could be argued that this decision was subconcious. After that lightweight midfield play, i'll be taking that role in future thankyou!
By Spindle O'Journo
Ok, bit long. Maybe i'll just do the games with most action. Particularly as i'm playing for another team as from next week aswell. Can't do two match reports. Anyways, it was a bit of a culture difference. Particularly as they play the game with far less aggression. The captain, although a good player, was pretty camp. And I was surprised to learn that the winner of a black girl in the crowd did belong to this pasty white effeminate winger.
I did love some of the terminology though. I particularly liked 'shoot Zee' for past to Zee. When they are asking for a pass back to em, instead of summat like 'back' or 'easy ball', they shout 'drop.' And instead of a challenge or tackle they just say 'good stop buddy.' Quite entertaining. They need some aggression though.