LOSS: 6-3 vs Pennybacker United – Badgers Win Final 20 Minutes Against Sandbag United…. Just Run Out Of Time To Complete Epic Comeback

Cameron Road finally got a break with an 8am game, but it was still hot as the humid dew filled the air like the delicious smells of a fresh batch of Luke’s Grandmother’s biscuits. With Ciro and Derek both out of town, the team’s average height shot up 3 inches, leaving Scotty as the lone representative of the “vertically challenged club.” With five subs to choose from, things were looking good in Badgertown as the tents began to assemble.

Pennybacker United (formerly Struggle FC), were clad in all black, and they didn’t have a gray hair in sight. It was looking like a tough game was at hand as youth would battle mostly not youth.

The early moments of the game proved that Pennybacker were going to be a handful. They were pressing the Badgers back, and they had a plethora of attackers who could all shoot on target like Luke at the Death Star. Jaybone was called into action early and often, making a bunch of early saves.

After weathering quite a storm in the early moments of the game, the Badgers burst into action with a great bit of nepotism as Mark slid a ball through to his old man. Jesus nailed a great shot to give the Badgers and unexpected (and short-lived) 1-0 lead!

Pennybacker countered with a flurry of goals from Badger turnovers and errors, capitalizing on them with wicked shots from distance.

Still, the Badgers were not out of the match. Matt had a shot pushed back out into play which Chappy tried to chip back in the goal, but it must have caught the bunion and dropped just over the bar.

Then one of several crazy moments in front of the Pennybacker goal happened as Adam’s lofty shot from the left hit the crossbar where Matt was lurking in the 6 yard box… but his shot also hit the crossbar for a double dose of crazy!

Matt had another shot to the far post saved off the line from the Pennybacker diving keeper, and could have had a p/k shout as he got taken down inside the box.

At the orange break, the score was a lot to a little as Pennybacker scored 4 or 5 as the Badgers struggled with some bad luck, a little toe bunion that kept Guillermo rooted like a mighty oak, and a crossbar that must have been lowered before the game.

Obviously, the Badgers weren’t giving up and were headed towards Badgertown in the second half for extra motivation.

As usual, Mark was a handful on the ball. His partner in youth, Hoguer, was also getting into the mix with his magical left foot. Adam was busy with a Dark Arts battle down the right side. Scotty was putting in tackle after tackle, while Billy kept his cool against an onslaught of attacks.

Pennybacker scored another one or two to bring the score to what seemed like an unsurmountable 6-1, which kickstarted Cameron Road into comeback mode.

With Big Dave out, Chappy honored him with a slide tackle on the Pennybacker Big Dave, but it was obviously not as silky as what the big man would have done.

Conner nailed a header from a corner kick. Jake actually won some headers at the back. Adam rightfully asked about a defensive foul…. but the ref wasn’t giving it, even with a trio of circumstantial cleat mark evidence painted down his shin. Things were heating up.

With Jesus headed to referee duty one field over, Chappy came in up top and was looking for some assistance from the young guns. First Mark drove in a cross which the B.D.O.P. skimmed right to the keeper. But then Hoguer found him in front of goal and used the magical left foot to hook Chappy up with a ball that the Bald Dome of Power redirected into the far corner for Badger goal number two!

Jake then came in for Chappy and had a crack at goal. The Badgers had another close moment as Hoguer’s short corner kick almost found some part of Adam’s body at the near post. But Adam wasn’t done, as he later pulled out the 9 iron and dropped a perfectly weighted shot over the massive Pennybacker keeper to hit the green. 3-6 Badgers…. but the clock was running out.

With a feisty Peterson trying to push the comeback effort, the Badgers kept coming and withstood any additional Pennyback attacks, but just ran out of time.

6-3 was a lot better result than it was looking like, and with a bit of luck going the other way, the Badgers could have definitely taken something from the game on another day. Ah well, as always, the Post Game was a CRU blowout.

Man-of-the-Match: Yeah the Badgers gave up 6 goals, but without Jaybone’s theatrics, it would have been much much worse.