Match Report vs. Pharma 2 on Saturday 12th January
Match Report vs. Pharma 2 on Saturday 12th January
This was a clash of titanic proportions. Pharma versus LXG.
A clash of heavyweights, styles, philosophies.
There were many precedents already known to us from history.
Sonny Liston versus Cassius Clay 1964
England versus Germany 1966
Germany versus Holland 1974
“Buster” Douglas versus Mike Tyson 1990
Italy versus Ireland 1994
It was with all these historic clashes in mind that we set out from Kitty’s on Saturday last. Most people looked fresh, having refrained from alcohol and femininas the night before. The sense of freshness from the alcohol abstinence was intensified it must be said, by the absence of Victor, who had no cause to pass by the fruit market at 5.00am. Our gallant chevalier was missing due no doubt to a groin injury sustained on the field of battle. Either that or sustained somewhere near St-Géry.
We had a small adventure getting to the pitch. The intrepid explorers who joined David Pineda were treated to bizarre directions from his GSP system, and in Dutch too. The car was the EU in microcosm, Hungarian language barking out from the back seat, Spanish and English tones in the front. Robert Schuman and his ideals live on.
The match was delayed, and did not start at 3pm exactly. The small bald referee eventually turned up at 3.25pm, bless his soul. He tried to speak loudly and lay out his vision of refereeing before the IDs were checked. “The first person to talk back will be taking a hot shower” was the gist of his message. Little did the little gnome know but the bloody showers didn’t have any hot water. More about that later.
LXG played a tremendous first half. We defended solidly and pressed them in midfield. The game had its physical moments. Pat found this out when he landed on his head after trying to pirouette away from their forward player. Ballet dancing is not for big men Pat, a lesson you should have learned early in life.
The opening goal came about 15 minutes into the first half. And what a goal it was.
Our “Pirlo” in midfield, Raffaele, plucked the ball out of the air, and with one fell swoop, drove a rocket of a shot into their net, bypassing the keeper before he had time to react. Magnificent. It reminded me of Ray Houghton’s cracker against Italy at Giants Stadium in the 1994 World Cup in the US.
The rest of the first half was uneventful, except for Peter Puskas trying to score an own goal, unlucky Peter!
The second half was a different affair though. Tiredness and some injuries began to take their toll, and Pharma seemed to have an extra bit of energy.
They attacked a lot, with many probing balls into our area. A header out from us after one such ball was latched onto by the Pharma midfielder, who booted a nice volley into the bottom corner.
A free kick shortly after nearly produced a spectacular goal on Sada’s near post. However, our US College All Star was alert enough to dive and push it onto the post.
The story did not have a happy ending however. A ball into our box from their right wing produced a challenge from our coach which the Napoleon-sized referee deemed a penalty. The Pharma winger coolly slotted home the penalty, reminiscent of the great Robbie Fowler in his prime.
Alas, a loss for LXG, but nonetheless a well contested match from our point of view. We came up against the top team and matched them for most of the game, losing in the end to a late sucker punch.
Eoin
This was a clash of titanic proportions. Pharma versus LXG.
A clash of heavyweights, styles, philosophies.
There were many precedents already known to us from history.
Sonny Liston versus Cassius Clay 1964
England versus Germany 1966
Germany versus Holland 1974
“Buster” Douglas versus Mike Tyson 1990
Italy versus Ireland 1994
It was with all these historic clashes in mind that we set out from Kitty’s on Saturday last. Most people looked fresh, having refrained from alcohol and femininas the night before. The sense of freshness from the alcohol abstinence was intensified it must be said, by the absence of Victor, who had no cause to pass by the fruit market at 5.00am. Our gallant chevalier was missing due no doubt to a groin injury sustained on the field of battle. Either that or sustained somewhere near St-Géry.
We had a small adventure getting to the pitch. The intrepid explorers who joined David Pineda were treated to bizarre directions from his GSP system, and in Dutch too. The car was the EU in microcosm, Hungarian language barking out from the back seat, Spanish and English tones in the front. Robert Schuman and his ideals live on.
The match was delayed, and did not start at 3pm exactly. The small bald referee eventually turned up at 3.25pm, bless his soul. He tried to speak loudly and lay out his vision of refereeing before the IDs were checked. “The first person to talk back will be taking a hot shower” was the gist of his message. Little did the little gnome know but the bloody showers didn’t have any hot water. More about that later.
LXG played a tremendous first half. We defended solidly and pressed them in midfield. The game had its physical moments. Pat found this out when he landed on his head after trying to pirouette away from their forward player. Ballet dancing is not for big men Pat, a lesson you should have learned early in life.
The opening goal came about 15 minutes into the first half. And what a goal it was.
Our “Pirlo” in midfield, Raffaele, plucked the ball out of the air, and with one fell swoop, drove a rocket of a shot into their net, bypassing the keeper before he had time to react. Magnificent. It reminded me of Ray Houghton’s cracker against Italy at Giants Stadium in the 1994 World Cup in the US.
The rest of the first half was uneventful, except for Peter Puskas trying to score an own goal, unlucky Peter!
The second half was a different affair though. Tiredness and some injuries began to take their toll, and Pharma seemed to have an extra bit of energy.
They attacked a lot, with many probing balls into our area. A header out from us after one such ball was latched onto by the Pharma midfielder, who booted a nice volley into the bottom corner.
A free kick shortly after nearly produced a spectacular goal on Sada’s near post. However, our US College All Star was alert enough to dive and push it onto the post.
The story did not have a happy ending however. A ball into our box from their right wing produced a challenge from our coach which the Napoleon-sized referee deemed a penalty. The Pharma winger coolly slotted home the penalty, reminiscent of the great Robbie Fowler in his prime.
Alas, a loss for LXG, but nonetheless a well contested match from our point of view. We came up against the top team and matched them for most of the game, losing in the end to a late sucker punch.
Eoin
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