TWFC

andyhibbert       Subscription £3.50
Barkball             Subscription £3.00
Ben                    Subscription £4.00
dabiyani1995     Subscription £3.00
Daniel                Subscription £3.00
JakeFlowers      Subscription £2.50
JonF                  Subscription £2.00
Niyi                    Subscription £4.00

Players

Orange Bibs

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Ben, Daniel, JakeFlowers, Guest1 (Brian), Guest2 (Chris)

Yellow Bibs

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andyhibbert, Barkball, dabiyani1995, JonF, Niyi

We welcomed back Barkball whom we have not seen for quite a while. Shain had threatened to play this week and Ben attended too so we hoped to possibly see their rivalry renewed. Shain did not arrive.

Chris, a guest from a few weeks back, attended again to help keep the club's numbers reasonable. Thankfully another guest named Brian also turned up. We haven't seen Guest Brian possibly since last year so we were grateful when he asked if he could help make up the numbers. We then had a good 5 - a side match.

The Oranges eased to an early lead when the Yellow keeper curiously failed to deal with a simple back pass and watched it trickle into the net. The Oranges also later pulled the Yellow defence out of position down the attack's left, squared the ball and slotted into an empty net. Not long after it was 2 - 2 and then finding their rhythm the Yellows pulled ahead to 4 - 2.

In a subsequent period of play the Yellow keeper saved from Ben on the edge of the area. The match went on but fearing his contact may have been out of the area the keeper quietly asked Ben if it was a possible 'pen'. Ben did not make much of it but further down the pitch some of the Oranges stopped playing in anticipation of a penalty. They were told that no penalty had been called for and as such none had been awarded. There was a degree of consternation about this. However, our rules remain clear:

...a gentleman believing an infringement has occurred is entitled to clearly and audibly call for it. No gentlemen is obliged to call an infringement against himself unless he is certain beyond reasonable doubt that he has committed said transgression.

Later on when the score was debated Daniel seemed deeply surprised to learn that it had ever been 4 - 2 to the Yellow Bibs. From that moment on whenever the score was called for Daniel reminded the fixture that he felt the Yellow Bibs had contrived to award themselves a bonus goal and then further denied the Orange Bibs a clear penalty. With this in mind when the score was believed to be 9 - 7 to the Yellow Bibs it was called as 9 - 9 and through conversation resolved upon as Orange Bibs 8 - 9 Yellow Bibs. Barkball sagaciously advised the Orange Bibs that the Yellows had already gifted them about six easy goals so they should probably count themselves fortunate.

Guest Chris in the Orange Bibs goal was continuously peppered with shots and through pure goal keeping heroics was able to keep his team close. The only person seemingly able to get the better of Chris almost at will was AndyHibbert,. His ability to beat each keeper he faced led him to be named the Tormentor of Keepers or the Keepers' Nightmare (note that apostrophe it is meant to mean no keeper was spared).

Goals were scored and eventually after an agreed score of 10 - 10 the cracks began to appear in the Orange Bibs armour, even Chris could not keep everything out. The Yellow Bibs pulled ahead to 13 - 10 and eventually reached 14 goals. From distance JonF smashed home a vintage goal that took the score to Orange Bibs 12 - 15 Yellow Bibs. This convinced players that the evening was finally over.

Final score

Orange Bibs 12 - 15 Yellow Bibs

Things to Note

If our match was anything to go by then at the World Cup there will be own goals, goal keeping heroics and howlers, goals galore and despite the advent of VAR there will likely be rows about penalties not being awarded. Football is essentially the same the world over. The only thing we can be certain of is that in the World Cup the score will not be debated because they have score boards.

Good luck to all 32 countries. And if you are reading this around other people turn to a colleague, look resolutely into their eyes and whisper with reverence 'It's coming home'.

Let's do it all again next match at Tottenham Wednesday FC.