LOSS: 1-3 vs Travis FC – Goals Dry Up Against League Leaders

Sunday. Noon. Still too hot and muggy for November. Ciro was in uniform, but for how long? Andy showed up, but would he have his jersey and cleats? Jefe and the tents were back, but would they turn the tide? Three-ish subs arrived, but would they be enough? So many questions. So many questions.

The Honey Badgers were facing top of the table Travis FC, who were a good team with some skilled midfielders and a…. boisterous crowd behind them.

With Gianluca and Derek not in the mix, Chappy started up top with Jesus. But wait, a few minutes into the game a tall, lanky Italian was spotted headed towards the field. Gigi! A quick swap and he was back up top. Again shorthanded in defense, Jake and Andy took turns in the backfield with Billy, Jefe, Guillermo and Big Dave.

Parks and Schwarzy started in central midfield with Ciro on the sidelines, hoping to give it a go. The usual combinations of Chappy, Jake, Parks, Andy and Adam would take to the edges at various stages of the game.

If the opening 20 minutes were any indication of how the result would go, the Honey Badgers were looking dangerous, holding most of the possession and testing the keeper from long range. It was a mostly one sided affair, but Travis showed how dangerous they could be with their only attack by scoring, but it was ruled offsides.

Jefe took one right in the family jewels, but managed to get his pass off before hitting the turf like his last name was Nunn.

Ciro got in the game to give his tiny bum calf a go, but even his new yellow high-vis shoes wouldn’t be enough to keep him on the field and he exited to drink cider and watch the Badgers from the tent after a brief five minute shift in central midfield.

Cameron Road were doing lots of good stuff with the ball as Schwarzy was the lynchpin of most attacks. Parks had another shot from distance like last week that went just wide, Guillermo was surging forward to get into the mix, but the best chance of the half fell to Adam.

With about 25 family members on the sidelines to support him, Adam was looking to impress. But would the pressure be too much? With a nice attack, Chappy grabbed onto a ball headed down the right side, hit the byeline and sent in a cross to the box. Much chaos ensued, including Jake getting knocked down inside the box. The ref let it play out, and the ball finally found its way to Adam standing pretty much in front of the goal. Would he bury the chance and make his family proud, or would he send it straight to the moon, further disappointing his parents? The score remained 0-0.

Still, the Badgers were looking good and creating most of the chances. But the Soccer Gods must not have been happy with the amount of bones Jefe rolled, because they allowed Travis to score with one of their only attacks of the half and go up 1-0 as their goal scorer pulled off some kind of slide with the ball wizardry inside the box.

Oranges and homemade brownies from Team Greenspan!

Play resumed for the 2nd half with the Badgers attacking towards the tree line. Travis FC were growing into the game and getting on the ball more and so the flow of the game started to get more chaotic. The Badgers were defending more and more and conceded a second goal to go down 0-2.

At this point, the fouls started to pick up, and the Badgers were getting frustrated with the Travis midfield and constant infractions. But they did catch a break when a ball hit a defenders hand after Guillermo’s shot and they were awarded a penalty. Ol’Schwarzy absolutely roofed it with an excellent strike and CRU was back in the game at 1-2!

At the other end, the Badgers gave away a penalty after a team effort to dismantle the Travis attacker was successful. Too successful apparently, but enter Jaybone’s time to shine as he dove to his right and pawed away the p/k!! Classic.

After having been handed their lifeline, the Badgers tried desperately to get the tying goal, but Travis FC wasn’t done with their scoring boots. After Schwarzy and Guillermo tried to gently escort the Travis midfielder off the field in a bit of frustration and retaliation, they were awarded a free kick. The kick was stopped, but most likely due to their crowds constant chatter which lulled the Badgers into a trance, several guys in blue were there to dink in the rebound while Cameron Road stood transfixed.

At 3-1, it was pretty much over with little time on the clock, but the Badgers still pressed forward to try to nab a goal, but it left gaps in the middle of the pitch for Travis to exploit. Jefe and Chappy disagreed on late-game tactics, but later found something they could agree on as they soaked Andy with a post-game ice bath.

So the Badgers mid-season slide continues with a frustrating 3-1 loss to Travis FC. With two games to go, they are cleared for a double dose of victory to propel them into their winter hibernation. Hopefully they can pull off the first of their payback wins next week against Beerca… and then eat all of their BBQ.

Man-of-the-Match: Differing opinions on the sidelines about who should receive this week’s honors. Big Dave was big in defense, Jaybone stopped a p/k, Schwarzy was great but got it last week, but in the end, Andy returned for his first action of the season and 1) brought his entire kit, 2) didn’t foul anyone too bad (on either team), 3)played midfield and defense, and 4) brought a nice selection of cold beverages.