Scorers: Galloway(2), Raxworthy
I never thought I would be writing with disappointment after having scored a brace, but …I am.
Turning up at Bethune Park, the home of many historic EBOG matches, I was confronted by a positive rabble of AP 9s. With pre-match rumours that EBOGs only had 9 players, spirits were high.
As kick off approached, we could see that EBOGs had the full quota of 11, this included a goalkeeper who had never seen a football before let alone a set of goalposts.
We started inconsistently and didn’t get much better until the opposition had scored a weak goal. We equalised from some nice football (It’s traditional to mention who scored? Ed.), then shortly after “Handball”. A penalty was awarded, the heroic leader stepped up and slotted home after the opposition changed the “goalkeeper” to an outfielder. At this point we thought we would win.
With less than a 2 minutes of the first half, a freekick over the top was slotted home by EBOGs, a disastrous end to an adequate first half. At this point I was getting more and more excitable, team members would say either agitated or mental.
Some poor play early in the second half and we conceded, I became very frustrated, again team members would state mega angry or “lost it”.
We desperately searched for an equaliser, we had a few good chances and lots of play up the field, but we missed chances without even putting them on target. My reactions at this point were not acceptable, for which I truly am sorry. Coupled with my increased rage and disappointment, the referee let himself down on a few occasions, to my greater dismay.
Again we pushed and finally I had a chance outside the box which I curled left footed inside the post. The keeper wouldn’t of saved it if it was delivered in an oversized box by a van, labelled “keeper”. This is not because of the quality of the strike, more the lack of awareness of their goalkeeper.
With 8 minutes remaining we pressed, but we couldn’t quite get the goal. We finished gutted we hadn’t won. I finished with a blood pressure higher than a 35 stone man eating a cheeseburger.
Playing with the 9s is all about encouraging, enjoying your football, having a good time, and playing to win. I let the winning part overcome me too much on Saturday. Although I promise to take the same enthusiasm to win into every game, I won’t excuse this as a way to become enraged at my team in the future.
My goals are dedicated to that special someone.
