Summer Campaign Comes Crashing Down with a 1-1 Draw

With a win needed to secure the summer season title, Cameron Road United fielded a strong 16 man squad on another blistering hot Sunday afternoon. They lined up to face the top dawgs Beercelona.

If the opening possession was any indication, it would be a great performance by the Honey Badgers as they took the kick off and passed the ball around for several minutes. The two teams were pretty evenly matched, even though Beercelona were the 2nd Over 30A team the Honey Badgers had faced in the last two weeks – they were solid, but didn’t have the brute strength of attack that Manchester City unleashed the week before.

I will preface this writeup right now with the caveat that after the 2 hour post game marathon (see above photo), the precise details in between major plot points are a little hazy… perhaps it’s the bump on my head that’s causing my memory to lapse (Peterson’s best shot of the day), nevertheless, I will trudge on.

Let’s see, where were we… oh yeah, the first half. Good stuff from both teams with both keeper’s being called into play to make some fantastic saves. One save that the Beercelona keeper didn’t have to save was on Z’s point blank shot in the first few minutes – since the goal was agape. Unfortunately for Z, his shot was off the mark resulting in some Bosnian curse words being thrown about.

The next best chance for Cameron Road came off a corner kick. Scotty Merritt lost his marker and absolutely connected perfectly with a glancing header that was headed for a sure goal…. except the keeper somehow managed to save it point-blank. Stunned that they were not up by a goal, the Honey Badgers dug in and continued to work the ball while rotating players.

With no score at the half, it was time to retreat to the limited shelter of the uni-tent as Ciro left his teammates insufficiently covered with DTT (Dual Tent Technology).

At the start of the second half, with temperatures soaring in the thousands, and injuries and weary legs kicking in from a long, long summer…. both teams came out trying to nab that elusive goal.

Unfortunately, it was Beercelona who nabbed the opening goal on a corner kick at the back post. 1-0 bad guys.

Being a goal down, the official Honey Badger “bat light” was lit, and the troops assembled for their comeback. Gianluca and and Zoran were first up as they combined for a 3 shot attack, but the Beercelona keeper was there to swat away the shots.

Then, the Honey Badgers finally got back into the match. Electing to forgo his portable life support system for the duration of the second half, Adam popped up with a flury of crosses from the wing. The second initiated a sequence of mayhem in front of goal that resulted in a sweet Honey Badger special as Scott would not be denied a second time. His side-footed shot went into the back of the net as the Beercelona defense went down in a heap to tie up the game at 1-1.

With the game coming to a close, Cameron Road went all out attack, trying get that one goal that would get them the title. In the dying minutes, Steve McKenna made his case for Summer Season MVP with a cracking shot that just achingly hit the crossbar. It was the best chance at the win, but unfortunately it was as close as Cameron Road was going to get as the game came to a close.

It was a well-played match by both teams, with the keepers really standing out. The Honey Badgers didn’t get the win or the title, but they finished up with some fine soccer and completed another successful summer campaign. Now, it’s off to rest up, lick their wounds, and get ready for the real deal when the Fall season kicks off in September.

Man-of-the-Match: With another tireless effort, the best chance in the first half, and the only goal of the second half, Scotty Merritt cemented his place in the hallowed halls of MOM winners with a fantastic performance. Surely Cameron Road’s Board of Directors is feverishly working behind the scenes to secure the versatile midfielder’s signature for the 2013-2014 season. Stay tuned.

 

Post Game Carnage

With the season over, Cameron Road switched into “tent mode” and kicked things off properly. It wasn’t pretty, but it was damn effective. Jefe secured his place as official Summer Post Game MVP with his umpteenth offering of beer. In fact there was beer coming out of every possible nook and cranny of their little swath of heaven at Onion Creek.

It might be said that there was too much beer, as the afternoon quickly turned into a war zone of mini-orange projectiles, ice baths (and I emphasize the word ice as Gigi would find out), beer can mortars, shotgunning, and a historic tent jumping escapade.

Play of the Season?
httpv://youtu.be/Dl8yS0MfqJk
httpv://youtu.be/n9VtB8n9k3w
Highlights from the “Gant Rant”
With Billy unavailable for The Milton Report, we turned to Jay.
httpv://youtu.be/EHS2p9ld5ko
httpv://youtu.be/-S71yxMwBiI