WIN: 4-3 vs Beerca – Badgers Beat Beerca, Break New Jersey Curse, Then Feast On BBQ

Global warming has been reversed. Trump apologizes to everyone and drops out of presidential race. Ciro doesn’t shoot ball right at keeper. On any other Sunday, one of these could have been the national headline of the day. But not yesterday. Yesterday the big news was that CAMERON ROAD UNITED WON THEIR FIRST GAME OF THE 2023/2024 SEASON! Praise be.

It was desperate times for the Honey Badgers with some close calls of late, but nay a win to show for it. Some added incentive for this week’s game would be the annual Festival of Meats with Beerca, more on that later.

The Honey Badgers came strong with 4 subs, Brian Parks and dog in street clothes, and a very special guest Coach Willis – ready to yell at Chappy that he was offside at any given opportunity. Badgertown was also buzzing as they helped Beera set up the grilling station full of meat, meat, and more meat.

Parking sucked, so a few players arrived a few minutes late and the Badgers lined up a bit unorthodoxly with Gigi in center midfield and Chappy up top with Derek. After 10 minutes or so, order was restored with Schwarzy dropping into center midfield, pushing the Italian Stallion back up top. Which was a good thing, since Beerca were having the better of the opening 15 minutes, but their shots were drifting wide and not really troubling Jaybone’s domain.

The Honey Badgers drew first blood with a fantastic goal coming from… you guessed it…. a Peterson free kick. Chris whipped a ball in from the left side for some delicious double header action. Schwarzy flicked it off his Miltonesque gray locks to the mini B.D.O.P. as Derek headed it past the keeper for the lead. 1-0 Badgers!

The second goal was more typical Honey Badger fashion as Gigi had multiple whacks at a ball in the box, and after his header came back out to him, he found the top corner from close range to allow the Badgers to go up 2-0 early on.

Somewhere in the mix, Beerca fought back and made it 2-1, all memories of that goal have been erased by a fog of smoked meats and a near overdose of Fibercon.

To end the half, Jake absolutely smashed a volley home from the right side of the box as Schwarzy’s perfect cross found him at the back post.

3-1 at the half and sweet baby Moses there were oranges as Adam was back! Everything was coming up Badgers.

The second half was more of the same as the Badgers continued to apply pressure to Beerca’s back line. Guillermo had to leave at the half to coach his daughter’s basketball team, which sounds like they could have used the “tiny towers” of Ciro and Derek to provide some rebounding power.

Then Nasty Nate went down with another leg tweak to take the CRU subs from four to two.

And in another injury blow, Peterson’s quad exploded as he took his final goal kick of the day. There would be no more “putting it up” or “sending it” from the best hair on the team as he took a seat next to Nate in the Badgertown infirmary.

So, with dwindling numbers available, the Badgers fought hard to protect their lead. And then it was time for Ciro to take charge of the final 25 minutes and lead the Badgers to victory. First up, fueled from a dominating and powerful Jefe defensive header to clear the lines, the break was on. Gianluca drove the ball down into Beerca territory and waited patiently for the two tiny Nisigushi legs to make their way into he box. Gianluca then crossed it over to Ciro, who put a left footed shot past the keeper for his annual “calendar year goal” to put the Badgers up 4-1!

Not satisfied with just performing at one end, Ciro then diverted a goal away to safety from the near post on a corner kick, and then saved another one of the line with a defensive header! Magic.

With 15 minutes remaining, and a 4-1 lead, it was all going Cameorn Road’s way, but Beerca had a BBQ to defend, and so they made a valiant last gasp push to get back into the game as their #23 forward scored two goals. It was squeaky bum time for the tired legs of Cameron Road, but they saw out the late Beerca push as the referee blew the final whistle, giving the Badgers the win they so craved, and deserved on the day.

Man of the Match: Ciro made it all happen in the second half as he scored what would be the game-winning goal, but also made some game-saving defensive moves at the other end. Total football from Jefe’s Sensei.

Post-Match-Festival-of-Meats-Report: You gotta give it to Victor and the whole Beerca crew. Those boys know their way around grilling meat and closing out a season in style. There were delicious ribs, brisket, baked beans, chicken from Jefe, and an entire smoked pig. Insane. A good time and many meat-sweats were had by all. Cheers Beerca.