CRU 2 – Celtic Cowboys 1. Bloody Hell.

Ryan deservingly sips his Lone Star from the a gargantuan Mizuno koozie after scoring the winning goal only moments earlier.

As Mother Nature decided to pull the plug on Saturday’s warm, balmy weather, and replace it with a NEMP-like windy, cold and blustery Sunday, you just knew it was time for a dogfight. And that’s exactly what Cameron Road United got facing their long standing rival the Celtic Cowboys. To their credit, the Cowboys were actually pleasant to play against despite their physical nature and propensity for fouls. Unlike many other AMSA teams who bitch, moan and foul… the Cowboys will smash your heels from behind… but then pick you up, have a laugh about it, and jointly complain that it was all the referee’s fault.

Knowing that they were in for a physical game and that many of the team were nursing some sort of nagging injury, the Honey Badgers laced up their boots extra tight as they took the field ready for battle. With a nice showing of 14 players, CRU faced the uphill battle of playing against the wind in the first half. Celtic took that advantage and pressed hard, using their muscle and good passing to spend some quality time in the Cameron Road half.

But as has been the case in weeks of late, Cameron Road struck like lightning with a really good move down the left hand side. Dave worked the ball up the left from his defensive position and fed it deep to GiGi. Gianluca used his rangy frame and gazellish stride to track the ball down in the corner. With Adam cutting through the box, Gigi sent him in where he wasted no time crossing it to Andy who was unmarked at the back post. Since Andy is literally on fire this campaign, he calmly slotted the ball home for his 10th goal of the season and a 1-0 advantage for the Honey Badgers.

After some more back and forth action, BT should have doubled the lead with a powerful right-footed strike from the top of the box that smacked the right post and traveled all the way across the goal before going back into play. His celebration cut short by the cruel bounce of the ball.

And as fate would have it, the Cowboys got back into the game with a bit of a lucky bounce inside the CRU box. After surviving the half with a 1-1 score against the wind, the Honey Badgers assembled on the sidelines, licking their chops at the prospect of the 20mph wind at their backs.

With the second half underway, it was Celtic who took the initiative, even going against the wind. They pressed hard for a winner, but CRU’s defense soaked up the pressure. Danimal was immense. Heading away ball after ball, making tackles and barking out orders. His fellow back liners also stood tall in the face of Celtics pressure. Peyton was cool as the other side of the pillow, Dave defended the flanks with passion, El Jefe took a break from custom spray painting to push back attacks, and Luke played inspired ball with only one good knee.

The fouls were starting to mount up, but the referee decided to just “let it flow” instead of puling out the cards. Finally utilizing the wind, Cameron Road went forward in search of a winner. Stripey popped off a few long range bombs, one narrowly sizzling past the post – while is European brother Gigi had two close range shots saved by the Celtic keeper.

On a particular Celtic break, their forward pressed deep into Jay territory, when out of nowhere, Danimal tracked him down and unearthed him with a fantastically timed slide tackle – afterwords unleashing a guttural howl of approval from the defender who refused to let the boys lose. Defensive play of the game for sure.

With time winding down, Cameron Road had a few last minute corner kicks. Peterson almost won the damn thing himself as his first curling corner kick just sizzled past the outside post. With the keeper getting a faint touch on the ball, Cameron Road got another corner with a minute to go. As Peterson set up, Ryan made a mad dash to be played a short kick on the left hand side. Respecting the effort, Chris rolled it to Ryan who skipped a defender to his left, and unleashed a Pirloesque left footed beauty that broke the hearts of every Celtic Cowboy as it crashed past the defender on the far post into the back of the net. Sweet Honey Badger mercy it was a wonderful strike at the death that closed out the game with a win.

And so it goes. Another day, another win. This one wasn’t particularly pretty, nor did Celtic make it easy. But the powerful defensive effort and thrilling last-minute winner made this a game to remember. It always seems to be against Celtic.

Man-of-the-Match: With a towering defensive effort, and a game-winning goal at the death, this match deserved tandem recipients. Well done Danimal and Ryan (or Ryan and Danimal).