|
Wed 25th Februrary 2004 Garnett B 1
(0) vs. (0) 0 Garnett A
|
|
Many believed that the last Garnett derby would decide which team would have a better chance of battling for the title (and it did). This match though, was much, much bigger. The stakes were high for Garnett A. They knew that they had to win to keep the pressure on Athletico Jizzmen, who had an easy game against relegation favourites Lawyers, a match which was being played on the very next pitch to the Garnett derby. It could be argued that the B’s season was already over coming into this ma tch, after a poor run of form which hit its low point last week when the black and white army were thumped 5-1 by Dyslexic United. No-one played well during that match, and improving on that performance, combined with the fact that this was the B’s ‘cup final’, was the motivation for Thorpe’s men. The trip down to Close House was jovial indeed, all the noise coming from the B’s players sat on the back row, and the strip night at Bar XS that evening was the main conversation point. But thoughts of naked ladies had to be cast aside as the players quickly got in, got changed, and listened to Thorpe’s team-talk. Rob Thorpe, it has to be said, got it all right today. With only 11 players to choose from, with injuries to Moore and Hindle, and Kevin Young being poached by the A’s, there were no strikers in the team. There were, however, an abundance of defenders. Thorpe chose to play 5-4-1, with Harty of course in goal, then Monaghan and Anderson out wide being encouraged to attack as well as defend, with Wallace, Simms and Thorpe in the middle. The midfield was to be a diamond, with captain Perry playing deep, Heslop pushing forward and Brydon and Murray in between. Tom Penn was the lone forward. Thorpe didn’t try to tell the players the importance of the game – they already knew. Instead, he outlined the way he wanted them to play, who to mark and so on. The B’s went out ready for a battle. The referee was the same who had taken exception to Monaghan’s comments during the first half of the Dyslexic game, and proceeded to give everything to the lads in red for the whole 90 minutes. And judging by the response of the A’s players when Moore got his second in the last derby, there was a chance he might go the way of the whites in this match (as long as Monaghan kept his mouth shut – a rare event indeed). The early exchanges were fast and furious, Heslop going agonizingly close with a trademark free-kick, only for Rob Scott to turn the ball over. The A’s rarely threatened Harty, apart from a couple of long range drives, it was more of a midfield battle. The B’s knew that the A’s could be easily frustrated, so plenty of time was taken over the set-pieces. Nothing wrong with that, though. Half-time score: 0-0. Thorpey was more than impressed with his team’s first half performance. Everyone had improved 100% on last week and were “playing for each other”, as Andy Anderson observed. Thorpe encouraged more of the same in the second half, when Garnett B would have the wind behind them. Shoot on sight was the order. This didn’t happen, but what did happen is that for long periods in the second half, Thorpe’s team controlled the match in their opponent’s half. Heslop, Brydon and Penn linked up magnificently down the left, Anderson and Murray were getting space wide on the right, and Perry was throwing himself into every challenge, as he always does. At the back, Wallace, Simms and Thorpe were keeping Young and Van Savooyen very quiet indeed. And on the rare occasions in which Harty was called into action, he excelled himself. On the next pitch, Jizzmen were comfortably beating Lawyers, and it was a credit to the high tempo and quality of both teams in this match that the Jizzmen substitutes and fans started watching the Garnett clash instead (Monaghan quickly grew tired of being asked the score whenever he went to take a throw-in. “If anyone scores, you’ll f___king know about it” was heard coming from the wing-back at one point). As time went on, the A’s started getting more and more wound up. Maybe they thought they should have had it easier than this, maybe the pre-match benter had worked to good effect, maybe they just hadn’t had their Weetabix, but they were very frustrated. And after a cynical foul by Thorpe on Sammons, the SmartCard-less midfielder responded by kicking Thorpe in the chest as he lay on the ground. The B’s were livid, Penn demanded a red card and it definitely was a red card offence, a horrendous studs-up retal iation. Yet Thorpe, showing the Garnett spirit that the B’s possess in abundance, persuaded the ref to only show Sammons a yellow card. Commendable restraint shown by the B’s leader. The resulting A’s free-kick led to a corner, from which Brydon threw himself at a shot, then Harty got down twice to make brilliant saves. For about five minutes the A’s were definitely on top, but the black and white army held its ground. The B’s then composed themselves and started playing their football, causing the A’s plenty of trouble with fast breakaways down the wings. A perfect example of a Garnett break happened in the last 10 minutes. A Monaghan throw-in was delivered right into the run of Penn, who delivered to Heslop, who went all Stanley Matthews and danced round the hapless Ingham and Martin, before spreading the ball to the right. The ball was intercepted by no other than Bruno Mullan, yet he lost it to Murray who drilled the ball into the bottom right of Scott’s net. 1-0, and cue absolute pandemonium. The cheeky scouser had done it, and was mobbed by his team-mates for the trouble. Heslop simply stood in shock, whilst Monaghan walked pensively back to his left-back position, anticipating the hardest seven minutes of his Garnett career. Yet the last seven minutes was relatively easy, Harty only having to cope with one cross-shot from the left. By this time, the Athletico Jizzmen match had finished, and their players were lined up at the side of the pitch, ready to celebrate their league victory at the final whistle. It was hard to tell who was happier, Jizzmen or Garnett B, but credit must go to the B’s who restrained themselves well and consoled their opponents, before heading back to the changing rooms. On the way, the Jizzmen players, clearly in jubilant mood, caught up with the white army and discussed some of the major talking points of the match, in particular the goal and Sammons’ challenge. A number of bitter A’s players later complained that the B’s shouldn’t have ‘celebrated’ with the Jizzmen, but there were no celebrations until the changing room, where a good old sing-along was enjoyed by all. After the match, an impressive 10 of the 11 players went to the players’ lounge (okay, the Union) yet only 4 A’s players turned up (Some reporters only saw 3, but Dave Alexander was spotted, still in shock, in the shadows). Compare that to when the B’s lost to the A’s. Everybody went back, showing the immense team spirit that this young side possess. The celebrations carried on into the wee hours of Thursday morning, with Sammons and Thorpe making up over a few drinks, and many other shenanigans may or may not have occurred. What is certain, though, is that the B’s have achieved something very memorable. 25th February 2004, the day David beat Goliath. Again. Now the team will surely want to end the season on a high, with easily winnable games against Pamela Anderlecht and Lawyers. Yet the boys can’t get complacent about such games. It may have been complacency that cost the A’s so dearly on pitch 6. Match Ratings: The ratings are for the groups of players rather than the individuals, because the team functioned as a unit, and it is fitting that they be recognized as such. In the reviews section this week: Quote of the Day: All The Best Rory Monaghan MBE Team: K. Harty, A. Anderson, R. Monaghan, R. Wallace, R. Thorpe, S. Simms, T. Perry, N. Heslop, T.Brydon, P. Murray 1, T. Penn, |