DRAW: 1-1 vs Wolverines – 10 Man Badger Squad Frustrates 20 Man Wolverines with Heroic Defensive Performance

Sunday brought the bi-annual pilgrimage to the high plains of NEMP. Jefe was (of course) first to the field to set up Badgertown and greet the players. The patchwork pitch was actually looking slightly less than terrible, with strange patches of St. Augustine sprouting up inside the 18 yard boxes, and rolling hills of semi-green grass covering the majority of the field. (although the standard craters, cracks and portals to the mines of Moria where the Balrogs live were still present and had to be avoided)

For the third week in a row, the Badgers were going to be shorthanded while the Wolverines were gathering large-scale forces to throw at them. Also, they wore yellow so Cameron Road deployed the seldom used, but beautifully stylish white jerseys.

Gianluca’s arrival made it an even 10 Badgers for the day. The cuts came in the midfield, where Ciro would have to deploy himself as the lone central target, but with the understanding that Guillermo would push forward from defense and Derek would drop back from attack when needed. Jaybone was between the sticks, Billy, the Jeff’s and Guillermo were in defense, and Chappy and Adam were on the wings.

As the game started it was hot, humid, sunny and rather unpleasant trying to match all the Wolverine’s fresh legs, but the Honey Badgers were never going to throw in the towel. Instead, in the opening moments of the game, Adam launched a ball that hit the back of the linesman. Classic early rumblings from the master of the Dark Arts.

Things were not looking too bad in the early moments, the Badgers were soaking up pressure and getting the ball out of defense smartly. Gianluca was working the deep right corner of the Wolverine back line, but that area of the pitch resembled a Ukrainian war zone which was to be avoided as much as possible.

The Wolverines were not looking too powerful with their attacks, but they were spending more time in the Badgers half than they were welcome to. They also snuck in a worm-burner to the far post to go up 1-0 after about 20 minutes. Still, not time for the Badgers to panic.

With a few attacks, Ciro launched two free kicks to the BDOP, but it was still needing more post-concussion calibration to put the balls on target.

The Badgers were getting scrappy, and Gianluca was shown the yellow for a bit of a naughty tackle from behind. He did manage to get the ball, but the referee and Pep Guardiola look alike went on a mini-tirade telling him it was for retaliation from earlier fouls – which made no sense. This confusing discussion with the referee only sparked Gianluca to dial up his hustle to an 11.

Halftime saw a bit of disgruntled oranges as the short-handed Badgers were really wishing for some fresh legs to even things out. But things got calmed down and it was back to business for the second half.

The Badgers were back at it and employing more Dark Arts by just lumping it out of bounds and trying to waste a little time when possible. But Ciro wasn’t having any of that, he wanted goals and the win, and his hustle and bursts through the lines led the charge for the comeback.

At the back, Jaybone was making some spectacular saves. Diving in the dirt, leaping to push over a shot to the top corner, soaking up blistering shots from the Wolverine’s #11 who was starting to heat up. It was classic Jaybone. It was all hands on deck to form a defensive shield around the goal. Jeff Z was immense, although his call for the Wolverines to stop heckling us was….. ironic. Guillermo was at his fiery best. Billy calmly got the Badgers out of trouble on the regular, and Jefe used every part of his body to clear the lines – even somehow managing to both pay tribute to the missing Jake by becoming friends with gravity while still clearing the ball out of bounds.

Hell, even Derek and Gianluca were dropping back to play defense and give the Badgers a fighting chance. And wouldn’t you know it, those two combined for a tiny bit of magic at the other end to level the game at 1-1. Adam got a ball through the middle of the pitch and it was Derek who found himself in attack getting close to the box. But without substantial room to operate his customary cutbacks, he found his partner Gigi to his left. With one of his trademark low, hard, accurate shots, Gianluca smashed home the tying goal from distance as Chappy ran by the referee and screamed “Now that was retaliation!!” – Pep had to agree, that shit was funny. With their only shot on target of the game, the Badgers found a way to get back into it.

So, with 20 minutes to go, Ciro claimed that the Dark Arts may now be deployed as he sent several “BT Bombs” deep into enemy territory clearing the lines. The entire 10 man squad performed bravely with a defensive masterclass. The Wolverines were attacking often, but it’s tough to break down 10 men behind the ball with a common purpose, and so their frustrations grew.

Both Jeff’s were battling light injuries and Billy started to feel the divot, but it didn’t stop the Badgers from closing out the game. With a 1-1 draw against close to 10 additional players, it sure felt like a win.

Man-of-the-Match: Jaybone was on point with save after save to keep the Badgers in the game!