Deano still hadn’t returned from his ankle injury and is feared missing, so stand in captains and Phil and Kev had a busy few days trying to find replacements for not only Tom, but also Parker who had to pull out the morning of the game and Damo wasn’t 100% sure if he could make the game either as petrol prices aren’t what they used to be. A few hundred frantic texts, gchats and calls later, Balaga had 3 players confirmed. Skinty was back for his 2nd game for the Cucumbers, along with Jonesy and a debut for Harry who Rory recommended.
This was a match that Balaga had been waiting a while for and perhaps the inclusion of 3 relatively new players wasn’t the best preparation, although any fears of this were quickly forgotten. Also, to the relief of the cucumbers, Damo was available to play. Balaga’s formation was:
The last time these two teams met, Deano, broke an ankle, the time before that Damo had to be taken to hospital for a head injury, through no fault of the Upsetters though. They just seemed to be a bogey team for Tongo. The need for rocket scientists to figure out why these two teams were 1st and 2nd wasn’t needed as a bright start by both teams seemed to suggest a tight game was in store. Both had early chances, Rory threw a ball in to Kev who struck it on the half volley and more surprisingly kept it down only for an Upsetters defender to clear off the line.
GOAL!!! The deadlock was finally broke and it went Balaga’s way. A shot taken by Phil or Rory or someone struck a crowd of players in the Setters box, and appeared to strike Webz in the hand, in fact he appeared to hold the ball, turn, drop it and score. Either way, the ref didn’t appear to take any notice and Balaga found themselves 1-0 up.
Upsetters began to step up the pressure but Kev, Harry and defensive midfielder Phil appeared to have things under control. The inclusion of Harry was a masterstroke for Balaga as not only was he a constant communicator but his Rory Delap style throw ins were causing problems for the Upsetters. Previous encounters between these two teams generally went against Balaga as they couldn’t handle the strength of the opposition, but Wednesdays match was different. Everyone seemed to be up for the battle on the Tongo team.
GOAL!!! The second goal, began with a fast corner taken by Dave to Phil in the peno spot. His shot was blocked off the line and webz was on hand to flick it in. Balaga couldn’t have wished for a better start to the game. 2-0
GOAL!!! The upsetters aren’t quitters though and soon found themselves with a goal back. A quick break found Balaga with just 2 back against 3 and a clever ball out Balaga’s right found a man in space. The shot was across the goals to Damo’s left and as the keeper made an attempt to save it he appeared to injure himself again.
Was history going to repeat itself? Luckly for Balaga, they had both Kev and Skinty on hand to play in goals if needed, but Damo refused to go off and luckly for Balaga he didn’t, as he produced his best ever game for the cucumbers in a man of the match performance, to banish any thought of the last encounter between the two teams. Skinty came on for Broderick soon afterwards and slotted in perfectly into the defence, and made a great clearance off the line just as the half time whistle was blown.
The sequence of goals is unknown for the second half but with a helping hand from Dave here goes:
“I cant even remember my first, i think rory passed my it after we burst out of attack doing a one two....i was so happy about winning i cant even remember”. 3-1
“One of rorys was on the right wing and a hard low rocket in to the left corner”. 4-1
“my second goal was a throw in from phil which bounced weird in the box and it landed at my feet to flick it in to the right corner”. 5-1
Upsetters got a second in between this somewhere and Rory got another 2 to make the final score 7-2 to Balaga. A tough match was had by all including the 3 new players drafted in. Joneys high and strength were a great help to Balaga as they were able to hit a few high balls up front or to midfield when he moved back. Kev had a torrid time with that striker they have, with the two of them swinging handbags for most of the second half. Phil commanded the midfield and really stepped up to the mark. Dave who smelt like he just crawled out of a deep heat bath ran all over the park and even with that sore back, managed to score 2 goals and set up a few. Rory was his usual brilliant self, scoring a hat-trick, and webz played his heart out as he always does, getting tackles in all over the park and banging in two goals. Harry and Skinty played like they were seasoned Balaga pros and last but not least, Damo had a blinder between the sticks and deserves man of the match for some brilliant one on one saves in the second half.
That victory takes Balaga 5 points clear at the top as Mercer failed to take the opportunity to move into second, losing the douglasmortgage.ie 6-4. A 100% record for Balaga so far, a dream start.
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