BT, BC GM and the genial Dickensian character who gave us midfielder Gary and who is an exemplary finder of lost balls, spent Sunday morning at IKEA pricing top-of-the-range wooden cabinets large enough to be used as a BC Football Section trophy cabinet. He should not scrimp … the silverware is piling up.
The latest precious metal addition is the prestigious Singapore St.Andrews Society 7-a-side Champions Cup, won in battling, breathtaking style by the BC (North), who waltzed, strutted and sashayed through four qualifying matches, a semi-final and final, conceding a solitary goal along the way to glory. In the months and years to come, ordinary folk will stop these heroes in the streets, gaze, nod approvingly, and walk on, smiling. Legends, one and all.
The day-long SSAFC tournament pitted two BC sides – BC (South) finished a creditable 3rd/4th after losing their semi-final in a penalty shoot-out – against German, Scottish, Dutch and local teams. Sunstroke, very large burgers, beer and a punishing match schedule failed to deter the BC players, who were determined to lift the Cup for absent player/manager AM.
The North team – bizarrely skippered by AP, who thinks anyone born north of the New Forest is a dangerous, incomprehensible, pie and mushy pea-eating tyke – kicked off with a 0-0 draw against the Germans as players from all teams adjusted to the reduced size of the pitch and goals.
Goals in both sides of the draw were at a premium, with only three scored in the first half dozen games. The South side – clearly squad organizer TC dozed off in geography classes – nicked a 1-0 win against local opposition, but thereafter drew blanks and just did enough to qualify as second in their group.
On the adjoining pitch, the North imperiously swept aside the niggling Scots -- with a cracking run and shot by GT and a classy second by breakaway defender AP -- and had much the better of a goalless draw with Kool & The Gang A (“Cherish the Love”) before falling 0-1 to a local side after an uncharacteristic misjudgment by stand-in goalkeeper CP. But results elsewhere put the North through to a semi-final against Kool & The Gang B, who were sent packing with a 3-0 drubbing, courtesy of GT and a brace from the fleet-footed MB.
Next door, hopes of an all-BC final evaporated as an inspired Kool & The Gang A keeper kept DH, GM, TC, SM and almost the entire Taylor family (K, K, J) at bay and then saved three well struck penalties in a tense shoot-out.
And so to the climax of the event. Urged on by a baying crowd and to the distant discordant drone of a mixed 20-piece piper’s band, BC North took the game to Kool & The Gang A in a pulsating final. GT was strong in the tackle, deft in his touch, the evergreen JR was a tireless workhorse, CA played out of his skin – to the delight of our youngest groupie, 10-day old daughter Sabrina Bhavini (did the family never watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch?) – while AP, IG, JL and MB summoned one final effort from aching limbs and bursting lungs, loudly encouraged and cajoled by CP in goal. With a penalty shoot-out just seconds away, MB ripped past his marker and buried a fierce, low drive into the net. The Cup was ours, the rest is History.
A terrific team effort, characterised by hard graft, great spirit and a tactical nous that gave us width and increased our attacking options while having bodies back to defend.
The Cup and Champions Plaque were presented to AP by Andy Penders, well known to regular watchers of ESPN’s Nokia Football Crazy TV show. Final hero MB was chosen as Tournament Best Player, which seemed to surprise him as much as it did everyone who had watched him play.
Non-playing GA, revelling in his new role as BC Ball-Boy, walked off with at least a dozen footballs plucked from hedges, opposition team kit bags and small children. Nice work. Should keep us going until October.
Meanwhile, in England, Premier League relegation favourites Reading are 5th – suck it up Princesses.
No comments:
Post a Comment