Article by Sam McQuade.
The stage was set. The biggest game in FC Shepperton’s club history. The players arrived at the world famous Bedfont Sports Arena in a buoyant mood and looking forward to putting on a show for the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world. As the Sky TV camera crew were setting up outside the dilapidated Club House, the FC Shepperton players were going through their usual pre match rituals. Aaron was eating a banana, we were watching Aaron eat the banana, King was listening to “Oh Happy Day” as he sat in traffic 50 miles from the ground and Denneh was mumbling something that could only be de-coded by experts from Bletchley Park.
So it was time to head to the changing rooms to hear Denneh’s 16 man squad and get changed for the warm up. With 18 lads all keen to play and only the 16 spaces, it was a bold move from Joe who dove straight into the Kit Bag and grabbed a shirt – Aaron was quick to point out that he may not be in the squad but Joe in typical fashion was even quicker to point out that there was more chance of Steve Carter being straight than Denneh not including him.
The squad and the starting 11 were named and it was out to the training field to get ready for the match. It was the usual intense warm up that has served FC Shepperton well this season which consisted of a few sprints, shouts of encouragement from the senior players and all the standard clichés such as “time to get your heads on boys” – Joe quite rightly pointed out that his head was already on and he’s “not a piece of fucking lego”.
Kick Off time was drawing near and it was back to the changing room for the last minute prep and some inspirational words from Denneh, much like William Wallace in Braveheart before the battle of Falkirk - Just in a foreign language and without subtitles,
And so the buzzer sounded to prompt the teams to head out for Kick Off. The Shepperton fans were out in force and the Met Police were on full alert after being tipped off on a potential terrorist attack from some bombers from Heston. It was a partisan crown inside the Bedfont Arena and the notorious Shepperton away firm were in full voice, nosebag in hand and ready to have it.
Shepperton flew out of the traps and you could tell that the lads were up for it. Scotty and James were causing havoc on the wings and Deano and Denneh stamped their authority over the Heston strikers early doors. It was a close and tight affair for the majority of the first half with both teams defending well but neither creating many clear cut chances. Half time came and it was honours even at 0-0.
Although the action on the pitch was few and far between, that didn’t stop the Shepperton faithful singing the old famous “Oh Shepperton! Oh Shepperton! Is wonderful! Is wonderful! Oh Shepperton is wonderful, its full of tits, fanny and nosebag! Oh Shepperton is wonderful!!”. In fairness to Shepperton as a town/village, I don’t personally think that the song does it justice; Shepperton has much more to offer. Admittedly you can find tits, fanny and nosebag there and I’m sure most of the players could point you in the right direction for all three but all I’m saying is that if you want to attract outsiders to buy property in Shepperton, they should seriously consider changing the lyrics. I would suggest mentioning the picturesque Church Square, the riverside Thames Court pub in the summer and the famous Shepperton Village Fair.
After 15 minutes of the second half, it was clear that a change of personnel was needed as we were finding it hard to get the ball up to the evergreen EB. It was a straight swap bringing Harry on for the old fella who in fairness to him had an impossible task on his own up front. It takes a brave man to substitute EB as we all know about his temper but Sam’s shoulders were big enough to bare it, plus if it went tits up he could always tell EB that it was Denneh’s idea to sub him and that he thinks he’s the best striker on the planet.
Harry gave Shepperton a much needed injection of pace – Not saying that EB is slow, just that if there was a race between him and wheelchair-less Stephen Hawking, I know where my money would be. Shepperton started to threaten but it was neither defence were budging and the match looked destined for extra time until Sam decided to throw caution to the wind by changing the formation and bringing on Gavin Windell. Call it a moment of genius, call it what you will, there’s no denying the tactical nous of Sam was the deciding factor.
As the clock was ticking and the 90 minutes were all but up, Heston’s attack broke down and the ball broke to Steve Carter out wide who skinned the Heston right back and drove the ball across goal to the far post, the crowd were on their feet, and in came Jake at the far post who finished with class and composure. The crowd went bizerk!!! The Bedfont Arena had never seen such drama! Surely this was the winner!!!??
Heston came straight back on the front foot but there was just no way back for them, not against the might of the Shepperton back four who were as solid as Hadrian’s wall all evening.
The crowd were on the pitch, they thought it was all over…it was! The referee bought whistle to mouth and that was that! FC Shepperton were Champions of Middlesex!!!!!
This may be the hardest game of all to pick out one player as Man of the Match but it has to be said that I have never seen a finer performance from Denneh Suantah in an FC Shepperton shirt – A fitting performance from the player manager in the biggest night of the clubs history. Honourable mentions must go to James Mackay, Scotty Peries, Steve Carter, Dan Heath and Dean Mock who all played out of their skins.
What we do in life, echos in eternity.
