Badgers Give Austin the Blues with 2-0 Victory!
Cameron Road finally put it all together in their first win of the season. Two great goals, some even better saves, awesome shutout defense, and a total team effort allowed the Honey Badgers to close out the game in style.
With McKenna and Z unavailable, Cameron Road elected to play a lone, bald front man and pack the midfield with five. Behind them the defense welcomed back Cuyler and Big Dave, who both played big parts in the shutout.
Early on, the five man midfield paid dividends as Cameron Road controlled the center of the park. They were the more attacking team and applied pressure on the flanks with Andy (whose socks were just a disaster) and Adam.
After several unsuccessful free kicks, Cameron Road got off the mark with a brilliant header from Luke. Peterson floated an outswinging corner to the far post that Luke met with with his trademarked double fisted stance (literally, since Luke took a page out of the Johnny Football book and patented the “sports move”). Luke drove the header to the top right corner and fit it into a postage stamp sized window for the opening goal of the game. His “Buddah Belly” celebration might be an acquired taste, but his commitment to the fine art of headers is revered by all.
Back at the other end Peterson closed out the half by missing the back of the net by six inches with a 30 yard free kick.
The Honey Badgers were confident but cautious at halftime knowing that they wanted to avoid another second half collapse. They took the field hoping to put the game to bed with a solid second half performance.
Ciro and Ryan were getting things going in the center of the pitch, and Billy was also getting forward to unsettle The Blues. Andy had a few early runs into enemy territory, but the final pass just wasn’t there to set him free.
Cameron Road scored their second goal on a scrappy snatch-n-grab job. Like a crack fiend on the streets of Hamsterdam, Chappy just can’t stop scoring (you’re seen The Wire, right?). With his new Hypervenoms attached to his tiny feet, Ciro beat two men, fell down with the ball and got back up stumbling towards the goal. What did he get for all that hard work….. the ball stolen from him by an onrushing Chappy, who took a touch and sent a patented sliding shot past the keeper to the far post. 2-0 Cameron Road.
In weeks past, a two goal lead with 20 minutes to go might have been the death of CRU. But on this day, they summoned the full powers of the far away tree line and locked it down at the back. Cuyler and Dave were legendary, both providing timely defensive clearances. Jay made another fantastic save to preserve the shutout. And Crosley, Jefe and Jake all pushed up to keep the Blues comeback hopes at bay.
The badgers also kept the Blues busy at the other end with a relentless attack. At one point, Cameron Road tried to set the record for consecutive corner kicks with 3 or 4 in a row, all the while eating up valuable clock time.
As Cameron Road fended off the last of the Blues attacks, the final whistle blew and the Honey Badgers celebrated their glorious victory. Like a plate of Luke’s Grandmother’s hot biscuits, this win was the complete package. Four points in the first two games is not a bad start at all.
Next up for the Honey Badgers is a double dose of Dragons with back-to-back trips to Middle Earth.
Man-of-the-Match: Considering about 90% off all p/k’s end up in the back of the net, you gotta give it up for Jay when he made a double save at a crucial point in the game, preserving the momentum, and propelling the Honey Badgers to victory.
