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Saturday October 16, 12:30
YC&AC Over 35s 5 v Marinos Papas 1
The Over 35s gathered in the usual circle before this match looking not so much like a squad as a squid, or similar soft-bodied invertebrate. The spine of our regular side was missing, you see—GK Greg Lyon, Captain Gordon Deas, MVP Russell Brown and Golden Slipper Alan Plater were all away—and yet we were still a large, mobile and very tasty-looking cephalapod.
In for Greg in goal came a slightly underage but equally sticky-tentacled Ika Casillas (aka Zak Niederhauser). In central midfield we welcomed back the excellent Patrick “Under My Rock” Newell for his first start this season. In defense, we were delighted to be able to select two of the better players [winks] from the Secunds, Steve Taw and Phil Denham.
Patrick
The Over 35s would like to thank the aforementioned men in particular for answering our Supreme Administrator’s emergency call for legs. In addition to these players, we welcomed into our many slippery limbs debutant Stefano Prandi. Oh, and One Kevin Carden was there too.
Kevin had not been seen inside the white lines of a football pitch since suffering a near fatal case of knee snap at the end of last season, but bravely limped forward on this day for one last Yaguchidai stand before slipping away to Thailand. Our long-serving right back and Tesco frontiersman received a well deserved loud round of applause from the squid before kick off, when prayers were also offered for a big lead in advance of his fourth-quarter introduction.
Our opponent on what was another beautiful autumn lunchtime would be the Marinos Papas, a team founded just a few years previously and comprising fathers of boys in the professional Yokohama Marinos academy. The naive, fun-loving Papas used to be easy prey for the Over 35s, but increasingly have been made of less palatable stuff. Indeed, in the corresponding fixture last season a horribly determined Papas forced a 0-0 draw out of us, a result which marked a low point in modern Over 35s football history. Regular Fives knew that the Papas—expertly coached by the Club’s good friend Kanbayashi-san—would be looking forward to this one, and that we would need to be at our best to prevent a calamarity. [Concentrate.]
We lined up in the usual 4-5-1 formation and steeled ourselves.
Peeep!
GOAL! The Fives raced into an early lead first quarter with a typical piece of quality football from the irrepressible Andrew Barrett, our spearhead on the day in the absence through injury of the Supreme Administrator. AB took control of a well-timed through ball from erstwhile Secunds danger man now Our Man William Brady, rounded the familiar chunky form of the Marinos keeper and coolly slotted in. 1-0
GOAL! Andrew had barely got back into his own half before the Papas equalized, a rare moment of confusion in our back four being ruthlessly pounced upon by one of their chaps and noisily celebrated both on the pitch and in the Water Barrel Enclosure, where the home support was outnumbered by a factor of at least 20:1. 1-1.
GOAL! Second quarter and at last we started to boss it. Our superiority was confirmed when another superb long Chris Harrington throw-in was emphatically headed home at the summit of his leap by Darren Buckley. 2-1
Darren, who missed the whole of last season with knee knack, had looked terrific for us on his return, but incredibly would do his other knee late on in this game, and sadly appears set for another long spell on the sidelines. Get well soon, Darren.
The Papas meanwhile were playing their usual tidy game, a high defensive line condensing play in the middle third and asking questions of the pace of our forwards. Going forward the Papas lacked the threat of an AB or AP, but nevertheless drew fine performances from each member of our back four, with Boz again playing a blinder and Phil as always oozing class.
GOAL! Andrew Barrett provided an emphatic answer to the aforementioned question of pace in this quarter, brilliantly striking a long pass over the top from Andreas Hirl directly into the back of the net from some forty yards out. Chris Binz would have been impressed.
Bounce. Look up. THUMP! 3-1 What a strike that was! It was the sort of goal the Papas could only dream of scoring, and psychologically if not mathematically it put the game out of the opposition’s reach.
GOAL! And it was that man Barrett again, this time latching onto a fine through ball from marauding Fives’ defender Andreas Hirl before calmly tucking the chance away. 4-1
The Fives completed the scoring in the final quarter with a great goal that began on the edge of our own area, Kevin passing to Darren who released our No. 17 over the top down the right and who finished with uncustomary style, sidefooting the chance to the right of the outrushing keeper and just inside the near post. Clinical. 5-1
With the game now surely safe, Kevin was offered the opportunity to play higher up the pitch for the final 10 minutes, the Fives risking three at the back to afford Kevin the opportunity to add to his solitary strike for the Club.
And the Fives fans in the Water Barrel Enclosure stood in thrall when Phil, wide on the left, picked out Kevin at the far stick for what might have been the goal of any season. Phil’s whipped cross brushed off the top of a desperately leaping Kevin’s head, to loud groans of mirth and disappointment in equal measure. Shortly afterwards, Kevin had yet one more chance, albeit a tricky one of a sort that even John Utaka might have spurned. Unfortunately the chance not only went begging but also induced a recurrence of Kevin’s old knee injury and enforced his untimely substitution.
The referee had seen enough, and that was that.
Many thanks again to those who came in to help out, and to the Papas, who stuck around for beers and stuff afterwards and on the pitch maintained their status as the Fives’ favourite opposition (after Johnson & Johnson).
Click to enlarge. For those fortunate enough never to have met him, Kevin is the one with a white boot on the red carpet.
He will never be left on the shelf (unlike Tesco brand tofu…)
By Alex Hendy
Goals: Andrew Barrett (3), Darren Buckley, Alex Hendy
Tullett Prebon Man of the Match: Andrew Barrett
Officials: Good
Attendance: The away support in particular was terrific
Great report as ever.
It has been an honour and a pleasure meeting and playing with you all. Good Luck in the future and if you are ever in Bangkok then look me up for a reminiscing beer or 2. Found a few interesting places to take you…………..