Sunday 8th February. Cringleford 6 Quebec 5.
Never, in the field of Sporting conflict has so much been owed by so many to one Hucks.
Cringleford did not have one of their better games. Quebec were probably the better team. So the winning scoreline of 6-5 for the home team speaks volumes about the performance of one man. Hucks simply refuses to lose.
Cringleford went in 3-0 at half time, having battled reasonably well but conceding a lot of possession to a very strong Quebec side extra motivated by the presence of Hucks, Roberts & Murty, as well as an increasingly vocal support. (I have to sincerely apologise to the Gentleman who was very angry with our inability to provide a back-up match Ball quickly enough & can only hope he didn't feel robbed of his £0 entry fee. Happy to reimburse if he wishes to lodge a formal complaint.)
Murty tried to steer the troops from Centre Midfield with his usual quality & aggression, Roberts, after a 12 hour shift behind the wheel took a while to loosen up but then combined well with Hucks & Ben Carver with his customary composure & precision (his clutch foot letting him down occasionally). Richie in goal had a cracking first half & with the help of Centre backs Rudi & Mark Dennis managed fairly miraculously to keep a clean sheet after waves of Quebec attacks. Hucks did the damage at the other end pretty much on his own.
At half-time, Ecky's "it's not all about possession & we are 3-0 up" speech was very quickly & rightly interrupted by Hucks who was not impressed by our inabilty to keep the Ball. The manager had to concede that Huckerby probably has a little more experience in this area. Team talks have never been his strong point. Recruitment however........
So with Hucks' "Get your s*** together" speech ringing in their ears, Cringleford trotted out with renewed endeavour.... only to concede almost immediately. Hucks soon replied with another goal however & choruses of "They've only got one player!" began to emerge from the away support. To which the only answer was "Yes, he is good isn't he!" A combination of some poor defending from set pieces & Quebec beginning to turn the screw saw the away side get a 2nd & 3rd goal. They also began to find fairly clinical ways of stopping Huckerby, who fortunately over the years has become accustomed to such treatment and if anything it served as an extra incentive for him, so many thanks.
On one occasion a physical challenge by Hucks left a Quebec player on the floor. a cry of "Some of us have got to work in the morning!" was met with shock & envy by the largely unemployed Home side.
Quebec eventually got a deserved equaliser & Cringleford were visibly starting to wilt. An own goal gave them what surely looked like being the winner. 5-4 with 7 mins to go & World Cup Final style celebrations.
But Hucks wasn't finished......
A trademark rampage down the left & shot from Hucks which the keeper probably should have done better with made it 5-5. In reality a bad result for both teams. 2 minutes to go. Ecky picked up the ball in midfield & with a defence splitting pass reminiscent of Platini in his hey-day (when he was a brilliant Footballer & not a slightly annoying Football Fusspot) Hucks surged through and was brought down clearly inside the area. The Ref gave a Pen. There was much contestation as the Away side not only argued against the foul but insisted it was outside the area. After a nervy 5 mins it looked like the Ref might change his mind so Ecky did some clever Derren Brown stuff on him & he thankfully stayed true to his conviction. Hucks duly despatched from the spot to clinch a double hat-rick & earn Cringleford a precious & 10 minutes previoulsy unimaginable win. 321 you're back in the room Ref.
There were a few sour grapes at the end, with some one pointing out that Norwich's favourite Welshman hadn't the same pace as in latter years. Iwan soon reassured him that he was still as slow as he had always been.
A great win then for Cringleford against a very good Quebec side with quality & aggression, but a much better performance is needed in future as they can't always expect Hucks to bail them out....can they?.......still a 3 Horse race with some big games ahead.
