Pins, dogs and nutmegs
Without the two iconic goalkeepers, Paride and Tony L, it was easy to anticipate a bunch of goals. Before the match started the ‘Health and Safety’ CLUB team added new pins to the goals as the fierce shouting too often eradicated them sending them flying with great concern for the fans in the stand. Witnessing a goal, especially a FDs one, is sheer emotion but getting a goal in the head can turn out to be a sore experience, and a painfully recurring one given the scoring run rate with the attached power shots. Courtesy half term vacating the noisy neighbours, the pitch could be used in its vertical entirety and the mud did nothing to alter the accuracy of the passing and dribbling as FDs and FKs naturally adjusted the power of the touch to the superior surface attrition: players looked like Renaissance artists just out of a lesson of physics from Leonardo da Vinci complemented by one by Euclid on geometry.
The Bibbed turned out to have better assimilated the concepts as they occupied the pitch with discipline and purpose putting the opponents under constant pressure at no extra energies cost. The Unbibbed, taken by surprise, ordered a recount but much to their surprise it was a levelled eight a side game with no ‘one man up’ conspiracy. In fact Sara on the left flank was dominating the game and soon tested Giancarlo in goal with a shot that that bent his fingers, enough for him to deflect the shot just off the post. Luck for the Unbibbed took the shape of a invading dog who was the only one able to contend the ball off Sara with some success until the stewards justified their daily pay by taking him off the pitch. As these episodes become more and more recurrent it is perhaps wise that the CLUB secure the FDs domain to prevent conflicts with Football Dogs…
Unaffected by the incident the Bibbed stepped on the gas and broke the ice with Adam with an opportunistic tap in giving a lead which was nevertheless short lived as Marco restored parity on the other side. Until Johaness decided to put to use his left foot scoring a brace with trademark shots twinning power and precision. At which point the Unbibbed head of geology and environment confidentelly stated that the southern bit of the pitch was penalising the Bibbed moves and counters and a swap was ordered. Immediately Giancarlo took advantage of the situation: just before receiving a pass he shouted Khaled name and at once the Bibbed defence was on him. The ball on the bounce took a vicious spin ending its run in the bottom corner of the net. Did Giancarlo mean it? In the post match interview his answer was a masterpiece of ambivalence:
‘ There is no denying that the ball was intended for Khaled but I made sure that, had he missed it, the spin would had sent it exactly where it landed’. As they say, never allow the truth to get in the way of a good goal!
It was however a flatter to deceive moment for the Unbibbed as Adam added two more, one on an assist from Francesco after he stunned the Unbibbed defenders with a double lob before adding one himself settling the sore at 6-2 only for Khaled to halve the gap with a late strike. There was simply no time for a Remontada but Marco with a golden goal made sure that the Unbibbed fans had something to cherish for the day.
The Man of the Match Award was not short of candidates: no one was surprised to see Johannes in the shortlist while Giancarlo deserved to be there if only for the serial nutmegs with which he terrorised the Bibbed defence with a pace reminiscent of (half) marathon runners. But no one argued when the speaker announced Adam as the rightful winner: he played in defence like a Claudio Gentile, never discriminating between leg
and ball while adding a remarkable hat trick. Not a mean feature for a centre-half!