Did Sweder really tip off Robbo? The wee man failed to show this Sunday morning and once more I was forced to drop back into midfield. Perhaps it was for my own good. One goal in 5 years is hardly prolific for a centre forward, even by Kev Campbells standards.
And last weeks optimism was based upon more than a mere hunch. Confidence oozed through the entire aluminium structure of our metal bashing outfit and it is appropriate that todays hero should be the man with the iron leg. Alongside the volatile yet luckless Gelo up front we have an extremely talented striker whose injured knee only permits one game every fortnight. He plays with a complex looking orthopaedic support which covers most of his left leg and from a distance it looks like an artificial limb. In fact from a distance the man with the iron leg doesnt look unlike the boy on the old Barnardoes collection tins. Remember him? no?...thought not
In any case, put a ball at his feet 40 yards from goal and our man turns into Ronaldo. Ronaldo with a limp.
Match Report.
Our opponents today werent the anarchists of Villalibre. Instead the visitors were a young side called El Rancho from the nearby village of Magaz. The first half was evenly contested with the aluminium boys perhaps edging it on possession. 10 minutes before half time a lofted ball from BB put the man with the iron leg clean through only for him to be brutally upended by the goalie who was lucky to stay on the pitch. Gelo lumbered up to take the resultant penalty kick but our hapless centre-half kissing gunslinger blasted the ball straight at the keeper and then wasted the rebound as well. Jubilant scenes followed as los rancheros congratulated the goalkeeping villain-turned- hero and directed a few uncomplimentary colloquialisms towards the ever unpopular Gelo. The preferred insult of our uncouth opponents seemed to be a tomar por el culo! which translates as go and take it up the bum! But even then, I suspected that Gelo would have the last laugh.
In the second half the aluminium boys played a patient, waiting game, looking for the quick counter attack. The defence was marshalled by stylish Frenchman Jean Phillipe (Sacha Disdel to his friends) with unruffled not a hair out of place composure. In midfield our leggy Cape Verdian workhorse Paulo won everything in the air and resembled Patrick Viera at his best. Mingoya junior didnt win anything in the air but flicked the ball about cunningly and BB ran about a lot and hoofed balls up-field
a lo ingles. And you know what? The worm turned, the mouse roared and the dog had its day, all in the space of a 15-minute hat trick by the man with the iron leg. Each goal was a poem, worthy of a loftier stage than the Bierzo league of friends. The rancheros, shell-shocked, began to argue amongst themselves, the ref, thinking of his Sunday lunch, decided to blow up 5 minutes early and the happy aluminium boys trooped off the pitch with beaming smiles wondering how they possibly could have gone 5 months without a win.
Final score; Aluminium Boys 3 El Rancho 0
Man of the match; the man with the iron leg.
Days like this make me realize that football is and always will be my first love and that running provides an honest substitute for my impending middle age. Running is individualistic, introspective, idiosyncratic and many other polysyllabic adjectives beginning with i. You ask yourself a thousand times why you do it and never come up with a truly satisfying answer. Football on the other hand is an uncomplicated game for social animals. Its about teamwork and about having a bit of a laugh and it only takes up a couple of hours on a Sunday morning. Running (or perhaps I should say marathon running) consists of lonely, unimaginably hard 20-milers, painstaking pre-dawn plods and rewards that sometimes only you are aware of. Football meanwhile is all about two halves and putting it into the back of the net
and remember, it only takes a moment to score a goal so, over here mate
on me ead
PUT IT IN THE MIXER!!! Complicated it aint and when youve won 3-nil, well. Youve won 3-nil havent you?
Next week were away to the village team of Molinaseca, a very nice place indeed if you fancy a look
http://www.cerespain.com/molinaseca.html
