DRAW: 0-0 vs Austin Athletic: Badgers Play to a Draw Against AAC

With a sprinkle in the morning to jack up the humidy to Vietnam-like levels at Onion Creek Field, the Honey Badgers gathered under the shade of the tent to do battle with top dawgs Austin Athletic Club. The “Tiny Trident” arrived early, having traveled together inside the glove box of their Uber. When the dust settled, Cameron Road was 16 strong inside Badgertown.

With only a single referee, the eventual offsides calls would become an issue, but early days there were two heavyweight clubs battling it out in a well fought game.

The Badgers were looking the more likely to score though, having the lion’s share of the ball. At the back, Jefe won the first aerial dual with a clutch challenge inside the box.

Peterson swallowed a bug, and Matt went on a head-clearing walkabout as the early stages of the game started to take shape.

Miguel received a ball and got hit hard, but his “Racist Mike,” his new alter ego, earned himself a yellow card with some timely words of wisdom for the referee.

With Jaybone Thugs and Harmony not being troubled to much at the back as Nick, Billy and Jeff Z turned back the attacks, the Honey Badgers surged forward trying to nick a goal. Andy had a great chance, and actually had the ball in the back of the net after Matt’s slide tackle recovery in the final third, but the referee wasn’t as impressed as the Honey Badgers were so the goal didn’t stand.

At the back, Chappy discovered a new way to trap a long air ball as he went down to attempt a header from a foot off the ground…. smashing the ball against his face, but somehow ending up with the ball at his bunion.

The oranges were spectacular at halftime as the game remained an even affair.

To start the second half, Cameron Road picked up where they left off. Mark was hard-charging down the gut. Scotty was flying down the wings. Pete was mostly filling in for defensive cover. Conor was all legs and all over the place. And Jefe made another clutch defensive stand at the other end to kick off the festivities.

As the half wore on, the referee seemed to be missing more and more offsides calls going against the Honey Badgers. On one, Matt was sent clear on goal and finished where he was surely on, but it was called back…. much to Jefe’s dismay as he sprinted 50 yards to let the referee know his thoughts.

The Badgers were pushing in the final 20 minutes and working some nice touches inside the box, but the goals just weren’t coming.

Great, hard-fought game though between two good, physical teams that ended in a 0-0 draw.

Man-of-the-Match: Jefe was back to his best with two clutch defensive duels won, the shade of the tent, golf balls to send into the tree line, and an ice cold cooler of quality beverages to power down to.

Post Match Report: Hot. Sweaty. Sultry. Conor brought popsicles and fresh mango. Ciro baked another batch of his special empanadas…. which begs the question… should we be eating 120 degree crab meat? Chappy continued his quest for a golf comeback with some choice darts into the woods. The icings were sparse, but Jefe took one down the crack side of his back side. Eventually, the rain came and cleansed Badgertown with eagle tears. With two games to go, the Badgers are looking to wrap up a summer league title.