June 18th Sat
Good old Oifuto
TML
Sala 1v0 BFC
Sala: Ivan, Steve, Clarkey, Yoshiki, Yusuke, Giles, Lenny(Brookey), Guido, Xavier, Toby, Brian(Charles)(Naoki)
Sala Goals: Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeernaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaandeeeeeeeeeeeez (70)
Who do you think you are Kidding Mr. Himmler?
Ah... That familiar smell of sour grapes. So often my own cologne, it feels almost strange to have to sniff it from another. But sniff it we shall, again and again, every time I read their match report, it justs gets more and more amusing. He must be the tallest, baldest eight year old boy in history.
I just want to get it straight from the start, Yoshiki has never been sent off for Sala before, is rarely in trouble with the referee for anything, and wouldnt have been in trouble on Saturday had it not been for the attitude of one or two of their players. It was a foul for high feet. It was a red card for kicking the boy. But the situation would not have escalated had it not been for the intial ridiculous reaction from the guy the foul was against. It was high feet. It happened at least three more times during that game without anyone going 'loco'. Then the big boy came a running, to "make him say sorry". For a foul? Since when has that been in the rules? Gallant though his intentions were, he had no reason to be there and was merely worsening the situation. That is all I shall say on the matter. (Except he went down like the Titanic, after a theatrical glance around to make sure people had seen it)
In response to the question of considering whether we want to play with someone who has this opinion of foriegners... The answer is hmmm...Yes. He was spot on. And the only thing that there is no place for in this league, is people shaking hands after the match and then going and off and writing nasty little articles like that. I would never write an article in that manner if I knew for sure that it was going on the TML website.
Shame on you BFC.
And so the game.
This was never going to be a classic by any stretch of the imagination. Two big teams with a lot of Brits on the park. The first half saw few chances at either end, though Toby will probably feel that he could have gone closer when the ball broke to him at the back post after a salmonesque leap by Giles.
BFC had a great chance to go ahead, when Sala didn't play the whistle after a handball shout, but their striker was a little eager to shoot and his effort from the edge of the box flew narrowly wide.
Xavier was the star of the show in the first half though, his running with the ball and without it were equally impressive and he continues to defy gravity by outjumping players a foot taller than him. But Yoshiki and Yusuke also had cool heads at the back and got forward well. In general Sala had the better of the first half but not by much, and BFC still looked like getting on the score sheet.
The second half didnt really get going until Yoshiki's sending off. This seemed to cement Sala's resolve, and they got stuck in harder. Guido, Steve and Clarkey seemed to win almost every ball flung at them for a while.
Charles, attempting a bicycle kick was kneed in the head by Sid "Remy Bonjasky" Lloyd, and had to go off. The return of Brian to the fray saw a renewed ambition upfront for Sala, and this eventually culminated in the goal.
Toby did well on the right, as he had for most of the half, and fed Xavier on the edge of the box who placed a low left footed shot in off the near post. 1v0.
After the goal, Guido took off Brian and put on Naoki to shore up the backline. He got straight into the mix and capped a great 15 minute cameo with one of the best tackles all season, not giving an inch against a much bigger, heavier opponent. Brookey came on for Lenny and fired up the midfield once more, as the final stages approached
The last five saw some high drama, BFC's Tomo had a shot cleared off the line and another striker blazed a drive over from only 8 yards. The commitment and running showed by every Sala player in those final 5 (and then some!) minutes was a great ending to a pretty poor season.
Still, we finished third, and that aint so bad.
Finally thanks again to Martin and Naoki who didnt get much of an outing, none at all in Martins case. Its happened to me before and it isnt much fun, but this is how a football team works and the chance to play comes around again soon enough.
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