Shambles Football Team

French Revelation Sunday 21st February 2004 Sichuan University astro-turf pitch Shambles v. Local medical students 5 - 3 (1-1 at half time) Not a game of two halves To all intents and purposes, this game was all about the last fifteen minutes. Up to the beginning of one of the most pleasing periods of play the team has ever produced, which included the most telling individual contribution by a Shambles player, it was a war of attrition. The Shambles parried numerous quicksilver forward moves, just matching the opponents for pace, easily outdoing them in determination. Yet again the defence held fairly firm, without a great deal of help from the attack-minded midfield. One (plus nine) The initial centre-field dominance of the opposition was chiefly down to the imposing midfield presence of their number 10, eerily reminiscent of Carlos the Jackal in his full strutting glory. Built like the proverbial outside facility, he made restrained use (OK, not totally like the Jackal) of his muscular build, parrying potential tacklers with ease, and sprinkled his performance with moments of pleasing dexterity, holding up the ball and releasing his attack force by spreading the ball wide for the midfielders run forward to feed their strikers. Towards the end he faded, but he always posed a real threat. Oooh! Two! When the speedy scholars put together a clever combination to prise open the obdurate Shambles defence, leaving the ever improving Matt with little chance of stopping a firm shot, the small local crowd beamed smiles of approval. However, in one-on-one situations, recent form is adding weight to the confident feeling that he is going to come out victorious, if injured. Edge. At two-one up, the students were looking understandably self-assured, even Italian, in their willingness to sit on their narrow lead. The team's favourite referee and some niggly tackles led to one or two slightly more than footballing confrontations, although it never reached recent Neville on McManaman proportions. Mr Lever is thinking of changing his middle name from "Fuckin' 'ell, ref!" to "What the fock d'ya fockin' think that was, you fockin' twat?!" although the inconvenience of extra-wide business cards may prevent this. Mr Allen was also a bit rude, although he maintains he was referring to Kant, the philosopher and erstwhile pushy defender. Bon. Oh! Thierry was playing in his favourite position, just a few metres behind a classic striker's position, to enable him both to run with (or without) the ball at defenders, and to speed around them to latch onto the occasional pass that comes his way. Following up a long ball, he brought it under control with his right, wrong-footing an otherwise sharp defender. Allowing the keeper a glance at the regrouping defence, the bustling Gaul (Getahatrix?) straightened up and fired with his left from the edge of the area. The ball shot towards the inside of the righthand post. The keeper did well to get his left hand to the rocketing projectile. Deux-Er was the score now, and the local crowd had not gone wild. 'Ad 'em Charity begins at home, and the real locals combined entertainment with charity much better than most telethons. The ball was crossed by Thierry (on this day, who else?) from a corner, whistled past a Shambles header attempt, and met the solid boot of a defender. The hurried clearance's ricochet off a team-mate's back was a cruel twist, but hey, that's football! 3-2 to the Shambles. Merci bien! Larry Mullen Jr. The tortured U2 subheading links cannot go on. A few minutes later, a Norman (Coach) free kick to Mark soon found its way to Thierry just past the halfway line on the left. Never a fan of England, he decided to remind us of Maradona's finest World Cup (non-manual) move, rounding five players, looked to cross, cut in to create a momentary opening. His right-foot shot caught the keeper by surprise, although he got a touch with his right hand near the left post, in a nicely symmetrical manner. 4-2. Bien joue! Barbara Ann The Shambles, whilst not quite swarming over the opposition, produced better passing, superior positional play, and showed their greater willingness to fight, particularly Udi and Fernando. At least this game showed that even with superb individual skill, Udi needs support, too. It was not long into the game before three men were marking him. With Roger, scorer of the first Shambles goal, bustling up front, using his power and force of will to penetrate the defensive wall, the right side was proving most promising, particularly as Udi was using the full width of the pitch and some crisp, quick passing. It's all over now In spite of the utterly abysmal referee, the Shambles got another. The rest of us were going to pop one in, but it seemed only fair to let Thierry complete a fabulous hat trick, guillotining opposition hopes. Thierry put on a fine display of strong running, deft control and powerful shooting. The whole team performed well, but were inevitably overshadowed by this sparkling individual performance, a savoury combination of solidity and flair. Satisfaction? From 2-1 down they kept at it and always believed in themselves, showing that, for them, it's about going out there and giving 110%. The lads done tremendous. Team: About 18 of us (11 on the pitch at any one time). Frank Lee Desmond, March 2004