WIN: 6-1 vs Austin Power Outage: Call the Governor, the Grid is Down! Badgers Win Big!
After losing a tough opening summer match, the Honey Badgers bounced back in a big way as they shut down the grid on Austin Power Outage on their way to a commanding 6-1 win.
It was a steamy, hot and sunny June morning, and dew covered the pitch like a bandana over Pete’s bald dome. There were more new faces under the protection of the tent as Jefe’s summer transfer buys continued to take shape. This week the Cameron Road welcomed Andrew, or Andy, or “the English Michael Ballack” or “Young McKenna”. Whatever you wanted to call him, it was nice to have another set of 20-something legs in the fold.
Peterson was back for his first attempts at “putting it up” this summer. Adam showed up looking a bit grizzly. And Matt also returned for his annual summer fling with the Honey Badgers after spending a six month-long deprogramming session high atop the Himalayas. His zen transformation is now complete.
Austin Power Outage, or “Pink,” were a solid, friendly team for the most part, and the first half was a bit of a cagey affair. But Cameron Road started off on the front foot, looking to get a foothold on the game. Mark and Jesus were hooking up on down the left flank, Scotty was seeing a lot of the ball down the right, and young Andy was already looking dangerous up front with a few early touches.
But Pink got an early break as Jay suffered from an acute case of MSFS (Morning Slippery Finger Syndrome). But a quick shot of penicillin and a Red Bull, which he had stashed behind the goal, cleared it up instantly.
And from there, the Honey Badgers took total control of the game.
Andy got the scoring started with a solo effort after Mark got him the ball to open his CRU account. Nice work from the non-ancient legged duo.
Andy popped up again as Johnny on the spot after Peterson fired in a quickly-taken corner kick to the near post. Andy was there to tap it in from point blank range to put the Honey Badgers ahead 2-1.
The rest of the first half didn’t see any more goals, but it did see the Honey Badgers continued pursuit. Matt got his first action of the summer and was looking as dangerous as ever. Chappy was finding Ciro in the center of the pitch often, and went in 1-on-1 with the keeper to try and pry a loose ball free. At the back, Jeff Z was back to his MVP form, always arriving just in time to poke away any danger. Jefe continued to ease into post injury life with some timely headers.
Going into halftime at 2-1, the Honey Badgers had a plethora of oranges to choose from as Adam and Conor “El Guapo” both provided the necessary burst of citrus.
The second half was one way traffic for the most part, although Jaybone did have to push a few shots over the bar with Big Dave, Nick, Guillermo and company forming and Iron Dome in front of him.
Matt took his turn at being an official Cameron Road #7 by blasting a shot over the bar. Adam took a few off various body parts inside the box. Jesus was using his final 15 minutes to make runs down the left. Conor was ramping things up in midfield. But it was Andy, receiving a ball from Scott, who hit his hat trick 60 minutes into his Honey Badger debut, as Jefe celebrated his agent fee increasing by 300% instantly.
3-1 and Cameron Road was looking for more!
Down the left side, Chappy fed the ball upfield to Mark with acres of space, and watched as the young gun carried the ball 30 yards on a solo run, only to send in a nice cross to Matt in the center of the box. This time Matt harnessed all of his zenness and calmly buried the ball to the far corner for the 4th goal of the day.
With time yet on the clock for more goals, the Badgers weren’t finished. Going for his 4th goal, Andy was chopped down inside the box for a penalty. Scott gobbled it up quickly, wanting to take it as Conor pleaded for an immediate sub so he could. There was confidence everywhere! With a simple look off to the near post, Scott sent the keeper the wrong way and slid it to the other side for the Badger’s 5th goal of the day.
Still not done!
Showing he wasn’t just a one trick pony, Andy found Chappy alone to his left and sent him free inside the box. Feeling he was surely offside, Chappy turned and volleyed the ball left of the near post. (But hey, it wasn’t over the bar)
And to cap off the morning and the game, Matt found Petarrrrrrrrrr at the back post for goal number 6!
A little better mood in the tent this week as the Honey Badgers notched a big win.
Man-of-the-Match: Let’s see, you know only 1-2 players on the team, you show up early on a hot Sunday morning and BAM, you score a hat trick and probably could have had 5 goals on your debut. Well done Andy, well done!
Man-at-the-Match: MIA
