Morning gents. The pre-match was dominated by the weather. The Marauders showed their spirit and toughness by all showing up in spite of the hail and frigid temperatures. A few phone calls from Wilson and it appears that the opposition (and also Wilson) want to postpone the match! Stunned by their lack of commitment the Marauders stood firm. A phone call to captain “Potter” was required to coax the Tuscan Raiders into showing their faces. The captain to captain chat included the promise of sunshine (yeah right) and the threat of default (dam right).
The talk of postponement took up so much time that the start was actually postponed and the Marauders were forced to wait on the sideline as the first hail shower ripped through. The interruption to our usual pre match drills can only be another cunning ploy by the Tuscan Raiders to steal our mojo. Their mojo stealing escalated as Wilson continued to collaborate with the opposition, this time sabotaging our team kit by passing it out to selected members before the hand over ceremony.
The game finally was started by the whistle of our friendly Mexican midget Pedro. The Marauders were against the wind (heading south) in the first half due to a confusing call by Potter to go with the wind when it was obvious the conditions would get worse.
The first half was punctuated by through balls and half chances. The first corner of the match resulting in what many thought was a goal. The corner was whipped in like only dribble can to the near post where it took a couple of deflections and appeared to be going out. I subsequently dragged it back and slotted it home. Unfortunately the call of out was made by Pedro using his cycloptic depth perception.
A few more half chances came with missed free kicks and long shots going astray. Matt caused his first headache of the day with a thunderbolt from 30 yards out which only made it 5 yards before smashing into Pedro’s face.
All that remains to discuss in the first half is the goal scored by the Tuscan Raiders, the details of which I am a little sketchy on. I have done my best to suppress this painful memory. The ball was with the Raiders 35 yards out when they noticed that Pedro was not the only midget on the field. Noticing that Bolts was a ‘little’ out of position they thought there was a ‘small’ chance they could take a ‘tiny’ lead. The lobbed shoot falling just over the flailing arms of bolts and into the net. 0-1.
The half time chat was relegated to the dressing room where we would expect to be protected from the conditions. The elements were not done with us though forcing their way through suspiciously placed sky light on the roof of the girls changing rooms.
In the second half the game was fairly stagnant. A few long shots from the likes of Mark and Matt caused their psychotic keeper/captain potter a little bit of trouble and earned us plenty of corners. A special mention here to the effort by Fridge and Dribble. A short corner is taken by Dribble, both he and Fridge proceed to stair at the ball until Fridge is reminded by Dribbles yelling that you can’t pass it to yourself. Confusion eschews and the Tuscan raiders get the ball and counter attack. You will have to share your new knowledge of the rules with your girls side Fridge, that is, once you get down off their changing shed.
The next chance came from an excellent through ball from Dribble. It sent me away on goal with a defending cutting down the angle. I cut back inside the first only to find a second defender, eventually the ball falls to Fold whose shot smashes into a defender and away form the goal
Another corner for the Marauders was floated into Matt’s path. Regrettably there were other people in Matt’s path as well. With commitment that can only come from being a Marauder, Matt launched himself at the ball with the Kamikaze like gusto. The head clash left both players seeing stars (not the type that Wilson considers himself) and the game was stopped. Matt appeared to be ready to run it off, but the attraction of a free ride in an ambulance was too much for him and he was off to Hutt hospital for treatment.
After more delays the game restarted with just 13 minutes remaining. With renewed passion the Marauders attacked the game in an attempt to steal a late win. Another hail shower did nothing to dampen our resolve, in spite of the opposition pleas to leave the field again. With less than 3 minutes remaining the ball was with Dribble just outside the box. A good pass found me in the box. Turning and stepping inside a defender the ball was slotted past their inept keeper to bring the score back to 1-1.
Still pushing for the game our inexperienced back line was shown up a few times without Matt the enforcer. The final chance falling to their shaggy haired striker, a through ball found him one on one with Bolts (who had another excellent game). Bolts made a great save and managed to fall on the ball to end the game.
So the Marauders managed to escape with a point that was definitely deserved. We didn’t play the best football but like true champions showed up ready to play no matter the weather and hustled until the final whistle.
And we still have the ability to emulate the great Arsenal side of 03-04 and go the entire season unbeaten.
Fines
Wilson. Handing out the uniform pregame, not travelling back from his holiday like other committed team members and not instantly shooting down any talk of postponement.
Matt. Taking out both teams best defenders at once and attempting the same on the ref. Not to mention jacket and camera grand larceny.
Will. Foul throw, enough said.
Beauy. Not providing his kit when he couldn’t make it and apparently wearing it about town!
Dribble. No shin pads causing him to leave the field in the first half.
Over and out
Casper
The Marauders Football Club
Wellington
New Zealand
