WIN: 3-1 vs Austin Power Outage – Call the Governor, Badgers shut down the Grid

Looking for an opportunity to bounce back from last week’s meltdown, the Honey Badgers gathered under Nick’s lone tent to prepare to battle the day glow clad gentleman from Austin Power Outage, who were decked out in bring pink tops.

With Jefe successfully penetrating the inner sanctum of the Q2 Stadium the night before and subsequently stuffing himself into Diego Fagundez’s locker for the week, the Badgers were without their spiritual leader. The Mist Man was also missing, leaving the Badgers to cool down naturally, by sweating to near death in the Texas heat.

Still, Cameron Road was putting together a strong lineup. With Jaybone between the pipes, the backline looked impressive and capable with Danny, Adam S, Nick L and Billah. The midfield started with Chappy, Ciro, Nick M and Brian P. Jesus and The Cutback Kid started up top. Lots of talent on the sidelines with Adam, Mark T, Leooooo and Aaron ready to step in and join the party.

The Badgers were off to the races from the start, camping out in the Austin Power Outage half. Jesus had some early cracks at goal, and Cameron Road was especially looking dangerous down the right hand side with Parks and Derek hooking up on the regular.

At the back, with Danny and Billy pushed out wide covering the flanks, Adam and Nick L were doing a great job at stepping into attacks and pinging the ball around to people in yellow.

As the half wore on and chances were missed, it was obvious that it was only a matter of time before the Badgers put one into the back of the old onion bag and took control of the game.

After the water break, the Badgers broke fast with Adam S threading a ball into Jesus who cut through the middle. He drove in a powerful cross to the back of the 18 where Adam G sent a looping header up up up and into the back corner of the net as the sidelines said “wait, that went it?!” Fantastic Adam sandwiched goal to open the game up.

Mark T got back into the game and added his usual blend of aggressive play and ball control as his young legs kicked up the RPMs in the central midfield engine room. Leooooo also came on to add his silky touches and to honor Big Dave with a slightly from behind slide tackle. Billy also went on a walkabout with a deep run down the right side, supporting the attack.

Only 1-0 at the half, but the outcome seemed to be headed in only one direction.

Small Oranges.

With the second half underway, the Badgers continued to apply the pressure to the Austin Power Outage back line. Next up on the showcase was Derek, as he rifled a low shot down the middle that was too hot for the keeper to handle to put the Badgers up by two goals.

“ADAM IS DOWN, ADAM IS DOWN!!!” A fine tribute to Jake as it looked like someone put olive oil all over the ball as Adam Smithers treated it like a banana peel.

The Badgers put out the occasional fires at the back as APO tried to get back into the game, but it was mostly one way traffic.

Having won a corner kick, Nick the Punter put in an in-swinger that was headed for the near post when, for the second week in a row, a defender stuck a paw out (or the ball just happened to hit an outstretched arm) which won the Badgers a penalty. With no Jefe to bang it home, Nick decided to take the assist and the goal as he calmly rammed it home past the keeper for a 3-0 lead.

With the game seemingly in the bag, the Badgers did some post-water break reshuffling with Danny setting Jaybone free to roam if he wanted to, roam around the pitch. (I can’t believe I just wove in a thinly veiled B-52’s reference)

With a possible grid meltdown looming, Austin Power Outage grabbed one goal back with one of their few attacks, but their second attempt was thwarted by an onrushing Danimal.

At the other end, Adam and Jesus were busy creating more chances as the Badgers were looking to finish off the game.

Austin Power Outage thought they had pulled back another goal, but the were thwarted by the dreaded offside call.

With the last few kicks of the game, the Badgers tried to increase their lead with a duo of corner kicks, but the referee called it and Cameron Road was back on track, setting up a nice finish to the season next week against Beerca.

Man-of-the-Match: Adam S had a great game slotting back deeper in central defense, and he ended the game with a thundering shot on target to set up the final two corner kicks.

Post-Match-Report: The Badgers were treated to a thrilling shirts vs skins Hooligans practice game as their coach brooded with hand on chin. Leoooo learned to keep his post-game head on a swivel as his lap was cooled down significantly by Chappy’s cooler. Ciro smiled in dry satisfaction.