Chopped Liverpool Win Bragging Rights By Beating Honey Badgers 2-1
In the battle for the Crown & Anchor, Cameron Road United came up just short and fell to Chopped Liverpool on Sunday. It was a closely contested game that went down to the wire in typical derby fashion. If not for some bad luck and some heroics from the Liverpool keeper, the Honey Badgers would have taken the 3 points.
On a cold and misty Sunday morning, the Honey Badgers assembled on field 3 to duke it out with Chopped Liverpool. Cameron Road welcomed back Captain Chappy from his five weeks on the shelf, and also welcomed back Travis… the Honey Badger in Punter’s clothing.
Fueled by Jefé’s “magic brown liquid,” the Honey Badgers took the field but couldn’t get a handle on the game. The first 10 minutes were all Liverpool, with Cameron Road failing to hold onto the ball. But, by surviving the opening Liver’s salvo, the Honey Badgers gained a little strength and took the lead against the run of play.
Travis got into the game and made an immediate impact with a run down the right sideline. He daftly cut towards the byeline and whipped in a cross to the front post that Adam was able to knife past the keeper. 1-0 Cameron Road.
At the other end, Chopped Liverpool quickly countered with a goal of their own off a corner kick at the back post. 1-1.
The final 25 minutes of the first half were tightly contested with both teams trying to assert themselves. The Honey Badgers took the worst of it physically though, as Chappy took a Mike Tyson-like elbow to the temple that ended his half, and Adam was upended inside the box with a shout for a penalty.
At the half, the Honey Badgers regrouped in the cold mist and tried to figure out how to unlock Chopped Liverpool for the second time.
Cameron Road had some great opportunities to get ahead in the second half but the Chopped Liverpool keeper was having a pretty great game. He stopped Z’s sure-fire follow up while on the ground, and pushed the ensuing corner kick shot over the bar.
As Cameron Road attacked, Travis, Chris and Ciro pushed the ball up deep trying to get into scoring positions. Luke and Cuyler were playing a high defensive line which allowed Luke to roam closer to the Liverpool box in an effort to try and land one of his trademark headers or a rifle shot from his right foot.
With the game on the line, it was the linesman who both giveth and taketh away from the Honey Badgers. First, as Chappy headed in what would have been the tying goal from short distance, the linesman called him offside. Chappy protested, but the linesman just pointed to his shoes which read “Captain Offsides” – no further argument was made.
And then at the end of the game, the linesman giveth to Cameron Road. Andy charged the box to meet a ball in the air while the Liverpool keeper did likewise in the other direction. They collided, but Andy received a bloody lip from the keeper’s fist. After talking to his linesman, the ref awarded Cameron Road with a penalty. Needless to say, Chopped Liverpool went ballistic and hurled heaps of verbal abuse on the refs who stood their ground. After about five minutes of abuse, Cameron Road was actually able to take the penalty, and in a cruel twist of fate, Travis’ hard, curling shot was saved.
With one more corner kick to go, Cameron Road failed to put the ball into the back of the net and had to settle for their second defeat in a row. Not to worry, they will still hold their heads high at the Crown and drown out their sorrows with a dozen pitchers of Guinness, heaps of overcooked fries, sodium enriched burgers and shots of confidence boosting Cholula.
Man-of-the-Match: With the only goal of the game, Adam put Cameron Road on the scoresheet and had an overall good game. He also got battered inside the box which should have resulted in a penalty. Clutch.
Man-of-the-Post-Match: Jefé ruled the post game, and his immediate offering of kolaches and brown “feel better juice” made the loss and freezing cold mist more bearable.
