CRU Ends the Season in Style with a Thrilling 2-1 Victory Against the Baker Street Boys

With their second straight 2-1 victory, Cameron Road United pushed their win streak to 5 games and sit in third place going into the winter break. It has been a fantastic run of games for the Honey Badgers who just seem to find a way to win each week no matter the lineup.

Cameron Road got a few big boosts before the game with the return of two injured players, and one long lost Honey Badger. Both Dave and BT (yes… BT!) returned to action after being on the shelf, and Way Shong donned the yellow and blue for the first time since moving to San Francisco.

The first 20 minutes were dominated by Cameron Road: The passing was crisp. The defending was ruthless. The goalkeeping was tenacious. With BT and El Jefe distributing from the center of defense, the Honey Badgers moved the ball around the pitch and sunk their teeth deep into Baker Street’s back line. Unfortunately, the goals weren’t coming.

The most notable moments were probably BT’s standard issue left footed screamer from the top of the box, and Jefe taking a tumble right on his broken-ass arm. Ouch.

The next spell was dominated by Baker Street as they got more into the game and attacked Cameron Road’s defenses. Fortunately, Dave and Crosley were up to the task, with the added help of Andy and the midfield.

A pretty even half ended tied at zeros.

Baker Street came out with a purpose in the second half. They had Cameron Road on the back foot for long periods of time, and it was up to the defense and Jay to keep things even. Jay made some clutch saves (as usual), and it was a lot of team defense keeping Baker Street out of the net.

And as they pushed so many chess pieces forward, Baker Street were exposed to Cameron Road’s deadly quick strike counter attack lead by Stevie Mack. And with one magnificent stroke of the ball, Chris Peterson sent Ryan off to the races and the Honey Badgers into the lead. Chris gathered the ball on the right flank and let fly one of his favorite 40 yard cross-field passes. The ball perfectly slipped past a the Baker Street back line and found Ryan streaking at the back post. The wiry forward controlled the ball off his chicken-legged thigh and harnessed all of his non-smoking fury at the goal. With a daft touch, Ryan kicked the ball off the outside of his yellow and blue Mizuno Morelia Neo, off the keeper’s shoulder, and into the back of the net. It was a beautiful pass and goal that put the Honey Badgers up 1-0.

Unfortunately, Baker Street didn’t feel like giving up so easily and were right back at it on the attacking front. After giving up a free kick to their pesky #2, Baker Street lined up just outside the box on Jay’s right. After whipping a ball into danger area, chaos ensued. The ball was cleared, came back, headed, headed back, bodies were falling, cats were playing angry birds on iPhones, hail was falling back up into the sky, Andy was wearing a matching outfit…. and somehow the ball bungled itself into the back of the net. And with that stroke of bad luck it was back to one a piece.

With the momentum on their side, Baker Street went for the win. Cameron Road defended like the Rebellion on Hoth: with determination, guile and a little Skywalker counter attacking play. But mostly, they were defending.

With about 8 minutes to go, CRU broke forward on another counter attack. With bodies in the box, Peterson sent in another cross. Somehow, Ciro ended up with it and flung it back into the penalty area where Chappy had set up shop. With a flick of the tip of his Mizuno Supersonic Wave, Chappy sent the ball skyward past the keeper, crashing off the crossbar, back down into goal, and back out into open play. Without knowing whether the ball had crossed the line, Chappy and other Honey  Badgers tried desperately to get the ball back into goal, but the little angel on the sidelines had already signaled that the ball had crossed the line. As the referee confirmed the goal, the Baker Street boys were, shall we say, just a little bit agitated. They went bonkers, surrounding the referee and demanding that he reverse the call. (and in fairness, after the game the Baker Street keeper said it was a goal).

With such a commotion, there really wasn’t time to celebrate, and it was back to some heroic defending from the Honey Badgers to preserve the lead. And as Crosley boomed a clearance at the final whistle, the result stood and Cameron Road won their second consecutive 2-1 game and pushed their win streak to 5 games.

Impressive stuff from the Honey Badgers who just refuse to lose.

Man-of-the-Match: The 14 year old linesman who correctly called the winning goal, even after being cursed at by men old enough to be his Grandfather. Well played son, well played.