Well, having written about seven entries in a month, it's now been about seven weeks since I wrote one, so it's about time I put that right. Annoyingly there's nothing in particular for me to write about, so it's gona be a general ramble.
But where to start? Football I think. You may remember in one of my previous posts that our five-a-side team had one win under our belts. That was probably about ten weeks ago, and since then we've added a total of no wins to that tally. One game per week, countless goals scored, but sadly countless more conceded, most notably two weeks ago. As we all take it in turns to play in goal, the first half of this game saw me put the gloves on. I started off pretty well, making a couple of decent saves, one of which with my chest as I dived at the feet of an onrushing striker. We went one-nil up and it was all going relatively smoothly, until they equalised. Not too much I could have done about that one, 'twas a decent finish.
The second goal, however, was a slightly different story. To aid my team mates and give them an extra option, when playing in goal I like to come out of my area and act as a sweeper. Obviously when the opposition get the ball I rush back and take my proper position. With the score at one-all, and us on the attack, I thought all was safe for me to come out of my area, but we lost the ball and it was hoofed clear. The guy who hit it never looked at the goal, but it was coming my way. He'd hit it with a lot of curl, and it came to me on my right-hand side, but in a momentary lapse in concentration, I tried to control it with my left foot. God knows why, but how it cost us. I could only watch in despair as the ball flew past my foot and proceeded to roll into the net, brushing the post as it did so. Cue howls of laughter and celebration from the oppo, and looks of loathing and derision from my team mates. Well, at least that's what I'm assuming, I couldn't actually turn and face them for a good ten seconds.
'I almost stuck my foot out and stopped it myself,' said George, our number one fan, who was standing by the goal. I wouldn't have put it past him to be honest, but no, 2-1 down we were at half time. The second half saw the most unjust, unfair, totally unacceptable and shocking thing happen in the history of football. Or at least that's what Tom Green thought. The world's most talented player had to take over in goal. How could this be allowed, he must have thought. Well, put simply, 'cos everyone takes it in turns, that's how.
So, in he trudged, and out I bounced. The second half was barely 20 seconds old when a slightly odd period of play commenced. I had the ball, but not under full control. Running at the goal, a defender came in to block my path, and took a huge swipe at the ball. I'd seen it coming, so flipped the ball over his foot, and jumped out the way of his flailing leg. He made no contact with anything, but the ref gave a free kick anyway. The ref happened to be a woman of about 30 years, and this guy went mad at her. She duly sent him off, which caused even more uproar. He eventually left the pitch, then from the free kick, Sam played me in down the left, I took one touch and smashed it into the far corner with my left peg. One of my better goals, and very satisfying to celebrate in front of the freshly-sent off man.
Incessant pressure was applied, especially by Dom, who hit the post twice and missed a sitter, but we couldn't penetrate the line a third time. Two-two it finished.
Anyway, enough about football, spent a bit too much time on that. Time to talk about some pool. It's been a month of differing fortunes for the Nuthouse Nutters, featuring an 8-2 win, a 6-1 loss, an amazing 5-5 draw and a disappointing 5-5 draw. Add in singles and doubles tournaments and it's all been going down.
Let's start with the singles. Not really terrifically successful, it must be said, as the only people to advance to round two were Adam Toulson and Alex Irani, both due to withdrawals from the opponents. I could have won but lost, Ewan played his part in a see-saw battle which eventually resulted in the Bieber-styled not-so-typical Essex boy losing, Jamie played well but lost four scrappy frames and Callum withdrew. Not good. Doubles went slightly better from a personal point of view, with Jamie and me winning 4-2. We'll forget the fact that I played absolutely terribly and concentrate on the next round. Sadly the combinations of D. Mumbai and A. Gecko, and Callum and Ewan didn't fare so well.
Moving on to the league games, a few weeks ago saw us batter some shitters 8-2, everyone playing well and recording at least one win. But last Thursday saw us throw away a 5-2 lead and draw 5-5, which pissed me off to the max. On the contrary, just a day before that saw the complete polar opposite. Having already lost 6-1 in the cup that night, we played Arlington 1066, one of the top teams in the league. Against the odds we managed a 5-5 draw, which pleased both us and the Nuthouse A team, who are in a title battle with 1066.
Highlight of that night was undoubtedly provided by Callum, who held himself together under great pressure to beat Josh Connolly, arguably the best player in the league, who'd previously beaten Alex without giving him a shot. Next game is this Thursday against Nuthouse A. They beat us 9-1 last time out, so we need to put that right.
Part II coming up soon when I've thought of something to write about.
No comments:
Post a Comment