Introductions on Facebook Messenger . . . after the game.
As with all things, the hectic prelude to the game completely gets turned around by the performance.
This was one of the best for a while and it was from players who barely knew each other, if at all.
Jake Dyke and John McHale from the Saturday morning 5-a-side. Nathan Malloy played football and basketball back in 2013. Chris Taylor was roped in by Anthony Yates. Taylor’s last action for Sassco was in the 6-a-side League back in 2009, the days he looked good in a medium top.
Middle was Craig Mouat sourced by John Harper and last seen by me playing in the Castle Park kid’s team in the mid 2000’s. Callum Robinson was also sourced by Harper. Michael Parkin saw an SOS message on the Saturday Morning Football Facebook Group and thankfully he replied and not some fat heffer which usually does.
The heffer part was left to Harper up top, but partnered by Michael Pattison, fresh off a plane and on to the pitch. Luckily there were no cliques on the team and everyone passed to the danger men and the correct players, apart from Harper who tended to pass to the opponents.
The team was bolstered and marshalled in goal by the experienced 15 year old Louie Yare. So, from Monday nights debacle, only me, John Harper and John McHale remained. All were reasonably comfortable with the positions they were in and it was all decided on Facebook Messenger beforehand. It was panic stations though as Alan Rose and James Adams dropped out at short notice.
We conceded early, but didn’t feel too worried, as Pattison had fired over the bar before that. Then, a poor opponent was turned around four times by Pattison to grab the equaliser. Half time was 1-1 and it was reasonably comfortable overall, but at the back we were a bit shakey and it was a bit like that all game. There were a few goalmouth scrambles and shots fired over, while others were smothered by Louie. As always, I wanted the ball launched, plus we didn’t play any offside trap and most of it was adhered to. The goals were actually conceded by us simply not launching. One such came in the second, but we equalised from Pattison not long after and then had a sustained amount of pressure. Pattison had chances and Yatesy had two glorious ones (to add to him hitting the bar).
Late on, they scored from a break, despite our pressure, but even then, in the dying moments, a bullet corner was narrowly missed by the flying Craig Mouat and also by me as I busy dancing with their ‘keeper.
Final score 3-2, but an outstanding performance from a put-together side.
