With both teams only managing 18 players between them at the start, Boots kindly offered up Phil at centre back and Griffin in goal so that both teams could start with 9, which the opposition accepted with an unnerving confidence! Boots lined up with Neil in goal, Pete, Rich T and Al (who was on BBC’s Doctors) at the back, Aidan, Simon and Daz in midfield and Kieran and Patto up front. Brett gladly took on the refereeing duties with the girlish enthusiasm of an American cheerleader.
The game kicked off under the hot spring sunshine and, despite the odd erroneous pass, everyone began to look more composed on the ball which the extra space and the relaxed atmosphere granted. Bally finally arrived from Bristol after 10 minutes of play, and replaced Patto up front who was suffering from a mild groin strain. Don’t ask me why, but Patto then went on to the Wollaton team (perhaps someone couldn’t count, or perhaps we just felt sorry for them because they had Griffin in goal!) After 30 minutes of stalemate (and some harrowing misses from both teams), Wollaton opened the scoring when a goal-bound cross was simply watched into the area, which their striker prodded home past Neil at the back post. Boots quickly responded, and an unmarked Bally swivelled and shot home beyond Griffin following Kieran’s low pass from the right.
The space began to really open up in the second half as the sun/alcohol took its toll, and literally hundreds of chances were created (and missed) by Boots as Kieran and Bally linked well up front with little pressure from the opposition defence (which by now was just Phil as their other players had gone AWOL!) Griffin pulled off a number of interesting saves (when required) from Bally before he managed to get a shot away from outside the area, and a diving Griffin curled himself right over the ball in truly comedic fashion to give Boots the lead. At this point the game halted for a few minutes so that everyone could regain their composure!
Irritatingly (for Boots), Wollaton hit straight back from the kick-off and ran right through the defence to score the equaliser. Chances came and went, Chris ‘Bambi’ Bally slicing shot after shot beyond Griffin’s posts, while Patto saw a nice half-volley curl across the face of Neil’s goal. The best shot on target that Bally did manage was expertly parried onto the bar by Griffin from point-blank. Finally, Pete, who had been playing a composed mix of passing and shouting from centre back, decided to chance his luck from 30 yards and chipped the ball towards the Wollaton goal, which Griffin gracefully palmed into the top right corner. Queue the inevitable Geordie screams about “the best match-winning goal ever”…
Alas, it wasn’t to be as Wollaton once again hit straight back and a controversial offside decision was dismissed by the authoritarian Brett allowing the game to be levelled once more. After some well-worked build up play, Patto then hit the target from the edge of the area and saw his shot roll under Neil into the empty net, to give Wollaton the lead (a proper match-winning goal Pete), before Phil put the game beyond doubt at 5-3 with a point-blank header after he and the Wollaton right winger decided to defy the majority and actually run.
At the end of the day it was a good-spirited game which enabled everyone to gain 80 minutes of fitness! It was also pleasing to see some composure at the back (not always looking to go forward) and the midfield were always available to receive passes and link with the forwards. Despite the result I don’t think there was any doubt that we would’ve beaten them if the squads were complete, and it was only the influence (and goals) of certain experienced Boots players that galvanised the Wollaton team and spurred them to victory!
