Honey Badgers Back On Track With 2-0 Win Over Phoenix

What a difference a week makes.

After losing the Clark Field Derby Trophy in rather humiliating fashion last week, the Honey Badgers rebounded with a resounding 2-0 victory against Phoenix yesterday. With two tents worth of subs, beer and defenders, Cameron Road United was looking solid in the pre-game warm up. And low and behold, there was a familiar sight walking towards the field before the game… Steve McKenna!

Having beaten this team the final day of the summer season, the Honey Badgers were familiar with Phoenix’s temptation to delve into the dark arts of Diego Costaesque soccer, trying to get the referee wound up. Sadly for them, the referee let everyone know before kickoff that he was having none of it from anyone. So the game would be played straight up, if not on a slight edge.

Wearing their new white kits, the Honey Badgers look every bit the part this week against the Dortmund clad enemy. In the early stages, they pressed the visitors looking for an early lead with a trio of shots. Ryan was first up on the attack as he was played in and went mono-y-mono with the keeper. In the midst of preparing for his shot, Ryan must have received a call from NASA because he sent his “chip” straight TO DA MOON!!

Next up was “Maybe” Thomas with a solid left-footed drive from the top of the box. Finally, Dave turned back the hands of time as he strode up from defense to deliver a wicked, low shot from 40 yards like it was 2005. Somewhere, Clint smiled.

Things were looking good for the hosts as they attacked the Phoenix goal. At the back, Jay made his customary fantastic game-changing save, and the reinstatement of Cuyler in the heart of the defense was a bridge too far for Phoenix to cross.

The attacks kept coming from the Honey Badgers, and Derek was involved in most of them. He chopped up the Phoenix back line with his cutbacks like he was making himself a log cabin (where he would cook up a batch of Luke’s Grandmother’s biscuits on a wood-burning cast iron stove for the team no doubt). On one such attack, his patience paid off as he dinked his was past several defenders inside the box and eventually got the ball to Gianluca to put home. 1-0 Cameron Road.

The return of Steve McKenna was to be bittersweet. He got in a solid 15 minutes with some customary McKenna moves inside the box before a Phoenix defender turned his ankle into a softball. Hopefully, this stay on the shelf will not be as prolonged as his entire summer trip to the Badger infirmary.

At 1-0, the Honey Badgers were just getting warmed up, but failed to nail down the 2nd goal. Adam got in a great cross from this left hand position, but the Bald Dome of Power was just out of reach. BT and Chappy played a nice game of give-and-go, but the keeper got to the ball just before a size 13 could nab a touch. Still, it was coming.

With Peterson playing right back, Billy got some time in midfield and made the most of it, pushing forward in his non-sanctioned red shorts to join in on the attack.

The second goal finally came, as the Honey Badgers were able to convert from inside the Phoenix box. With a ball spilling out to Chappy on the right, he spotted Gigi and Ryan unmarked to his left. With his mind saying “shoot” for a split second, Chappy decided on the proper soccer move and rolled the ball across the face of goal to Ryan (if not slightly behind him). Ryan poked the goal past the helpless keeper to double up the lead and send the Honey Badgers into the half feeling good.

It was all orange slices and smiles in Badgertown.

Down by two goals, Phoenix was sufficiently pissed and “Marco” was on a one man mission to get them back into the game. For the first 15 minutes of the half, Cameron Road weathered the storm as Phoenix won countless free kicks and corners, but failed to score. After his first game warm up, Luke looked like he was back to mid-season form, heading away balls and making timely clearances with his feet.

Showing some astute tactical knowhow, Dave calmly ushered a ball out of the back line with attackers lurking. The linesman refused to make any call, so a corner kick was given. Dave’s opening statement of “I never touched it!” fell on deaf ears as the referee decided to play judge, jury and executioner. With no corroborating evidence to back up his claim, Dave had to rely on his closing statement. Unfortunately, “I never touched it!!” was still not enough to move the judge into action. Dun Dun.

With the brunt of Phoenix’s attack out of the way, Cameron Road relied on a heavy does of counter attacking football in the last 30 minutes as they were able to exploit them on the break. Derek continued to be a threat running through the middle of  the field and he should have won a penalty for being upended in the box towards the end of the match. He dinked a pass to an onrushing Chappy on one attack, but the Captain momentarily thought he was the UT kicker and put his shot just a tad* bit right of the post. Jake cracked off a nice shot from the top of the box that was deflected, and Peterson whipped in a sweet free kick from 40 yards out to the back side where Derek and Chappy discussed the finer points of headers vs. volleys.

With the game seemingly out of reach for Phoenix, they succumbed to their own tactics as they had a player sent off for fouling Ryan and then arguing about it. Down to 10 men with minutes to play, they were never going to find a way back into the game.

And so the Honey Badgers closed out the game in style, pitching a shutout at the back and scoring two goals on the business end. A great way to rebound from last week’s bitter defeat to the Dragons. And the post game….. the post game was a thing of beauty as the two tents remained stuffed like Jefe’s kolaches with satisfied Honey Badgers savoring their victory. There were a few casualties however, as Derek’s better half took some ice bath shrapnel, a diminutive Cuban’s tone-stacked aqua ensemble received a pre-wash soak, and Gigi’s phone may or may not have been hit with a tsunami-like deluge of water from Luke’s 55 gallon drum reservoir.

Man-of-the-Match: In only his second game, it appears that Derek has hit top gear as he juked and jived his way to an assist while creating a bevy of other chances.

*tad – approximately 40 yards to the right and 20 yard over