VENTURE 5 A SIDE |
It was the day after the night before, and, after a late night - that began with a quiz and ended at Andy Sprecks house - we had a 5-a-side competition to get to. We all rose at the ungodly hour of half eight ish in the morning. Well, Ok, not ungodly, but unnatural given that we'd got to bed at about 3am! And we arrived at the sports venue (Powerleague in Ardwick) for the 10 'o clock start time. The competition would be made up of two groups of four. The top two of each group go into the semi-finals, and the winners of those play, suprisingly enough, in the final. The trophy twinkled at us as we signed in, and we knew it had to be ours. We were in the second group. Our Group Matches are detailed below. Each game was eight minutes one way. Match One Marple VSU 3 v 0 Wythenshaw scumbags The starting game against some young thugs. They hacked away at our legs, and had come on to the pitch expecting to win. We stopped them. Our first goal was kicked home from outside the area, though Tommy then ran into the area. As the rules stated that this was allowed as long as you didn't hinder the keeper, the goal was accepted. They obviously hadn't read the rules! We scored two more to finish them off, as well as being told that we're "Cheats" and that "He dived" Match Two Marple VSU 5 v 0 Romiley?? Easy Peasy. Even though we'd just played a game, we still managed to shine against a lacklustre team, which included a girly by whom Ian was tackled. We were knocking the ball about like Manchester United, and had our own version of Andy Cole ("Gimme 7 chances and I'll score 1") upfront. Ian managed to get a goal with the last kick of the game. It was a cracker, a bullet of a shot. Match Three Marple VSU 3 v 1 Rio and Gang Following a heated game the Rio and gang had just lost, they were fired up for this one. We took the lead after about ten seconds, but they equalised with minutes to go. We finally decided to go up a gear or two, and soon we were leading, and holding them comfortably. We could have qualified with a draw in this game, but we kept working, and it all paid off in the end. Group Table P W D L F A Pts Marple 3 3 0 0 11 2 9 Wythenshawe 3 2 0 1 ? ? 6 Rio and Gang 3 1 0 2 ? ? 3 Romiley?? 3 0 0 3 ? ? 0 Semi Final Marple VSU 6 v 0 Glossop We were expecting a tougher game for the semi-final against the runners-up from group 1, but it was oh so simple. They had craterous gaps in their defence in which one of us (usually Adi) could sneak through and score easily. A good game for us and the fans, and a confidence booster for the final. Final Marple VSU 2 v 1 aet Wythenshawe scumbags again We met Wythenshawe again in the final, but their attitude to the game, and their fouling nature had gained them few friends. Everyone wanted us to win - simply so that they lost! We had never gone behind in a game yet, but with our tired legs that's exactly what happened. We, and the crowd were stunned. There was little life in us. We were gutted. We managed to claw our way back into the game, before eventually beating their keeper with about a minute of normal time to play. Into Golden Goal extra-time (The Ref hates penalties). They were on the attack (although one of them should have been sent-off for a dodgy tackle and dissent to the Ref. He apologised and the Ref let him play on). Then it happened, they scored. At least, they would have had Tommy not gone down after Emile Heskeys brutal kick into the back of his leg. Ian and Adi were suddenly revitalised by this, making inspirational runs through the midfield. Something that was continued when the fresh legs of Pamphlett had joined the battle. Dan made an incredible save to stop a certain goal, before Ric broke down the right wing. He hit the ball from a close angle, but the keeper had already missed it as it flew into the back of the net. The crowd went wild. Paul started to cry, he was that happy. We all shook hands, and Ric attempted to swap shirts with a hunky guy (his words, not mine!). We did a few laps of honour before collecting the trophy from Queen Jane. Whilst we were ecstatic Dan decided to reward the crowd with a streak across the pitch. Insert your own "Ball control" joke in here. Then all the crowd started to sing "We are the Champions" as we danced and jigged amongst them. After a quick communal bath we were back in Dans car, on our way home, feeling content, and happy to get in from the rain. OK, I admit it, the last bit isn't particularly true, but hey, it would have been boring otherwise, wouldn't it?? |