Golden Goal Denied: The Royal Warden’s Whistle
‘We are far too strong’ said at the start a leading figure in the Orange ranks who paid a hefty sum to stay anonymous. Was it gross miscalculation or a subtle attempt to manipulate the buoyant betting market? An inquiry is undergoing and we shall know soon.
In fact the Orange were one man up with a line up that looked par for the course. The goal looked safe with Paride in it and Massimo in front of it. Midfield was a good blend of dynamism with Yassin, comeback Dan Andrea R and experience by Andrea M and Giancarlo, all ready to supply ammunition to the new kid on the block (Ishan) and the fox in the box (Francesco). Victory looked like formality.
Unfortunately for them the reality check was only few kicks away: a long, high Colours’ ball, one that strikers usually curse as useless, was in fact hooked and tamed by Daoud who first evaded his marker’s attention and then went around the keeper to score an unlikely, yet beautiful solo goal.
From there on it was an uphill struggle for the Orange team unable to counter with any attempt to score cut short by the uncompromising three pillars Colours’ defence made by Hossam, Hannes and Chetan. Dario and Johannes shined in midfield and their contribution on the day amounted to a brace each and few assists on top.
Daoud ended up scoring four out of probably as many opportunities, considering he also had to leave early. His conversion rate remains one of the highest in planet football.
His departure provided the opportunity for a reshuffle with Francesco swapping side and Rookie Yuness joining the Orange who badly needed fresh blood. The young defender is another product from the Moroccan cantera who has generously supplied so many talents and, from what we saw, Yuness is more of the same.
Orange took courage. Yassin scored twice and Andrea R once, managing to reduce the gap but it was too little too late and the final score read a demoralising 8-3 in favour of Colours. So much for the predictably of football.
There was still though the hope of the golden goal. But it was not to be this time. In fact both teams and fans were perversely denied the irreplaceable joy of the golden goal. The perpetrator will never know the damage inflicted to humanity but he just didn’t care: while we were in the middle of the fight for the last goal, the now familiar Royal Parks warden approached us gently, yet again questioning our right to play football in the park.
Typically it happens when someone complains about our activity. Most of the time is a frustrated fan, out of sheer vendetta, who couldn’t up get a season ticket, either because it’s too expensive or it’s sold out. As we have a countless number of fans this ritual becomes recurring.
Many reputable law firms have promptly offered to represent us for free, just to associate their name with ours’ in this noble cause. Yet the CLUB maintains that our interests are best served by our Chairman Hossam who has successfully and repeatedly dealt with the matter single handed. Fear not, it will be football as usual on Saturday.
As for the Man of the Match it had to go unquestionably to Daoud but, as he had to leave early, he could not actually take it. That gave the opportunity to few claimants to land their hands on the trophy and at the moment of writing the dispute is still on.
COLOURS-ORANGE 8-3
GOALS
COLOURS: Daoud (4), Dario (2), Johannes (2)
ORANGE: Andrea R, Yassin (2)
TEAMS
COLOURS: Alessandro, Chetan, Hannes, Hossam, Julien, Dario, Johannes, Daoud
ORANGE: Paride, Massimo, Yussen (from 45’) , Andrea M, Giancarlo, Andrea R, Yassin, Dan, Francesco, Ishan