LOSS: 1-3 vs Libertad – Badgers Streak Comes To An Untimely End

Like a Punter at a post-game, the Texas heat just refuses to leave. Another almost-October scorcher yesterday at the Honey Badgers drew the short straw with an afternoon game time. It was to be a matchup between the two titans at the top of the table as CRU Squared off with Libertad, recently promoted from Over 40B.

Jefe was back on the sidelines in fresh new sunglasses wondering where in the hell his precious tent was…. don’t worry, it’s handled. The Badgers ended up with 3 subs, but short on defenders, so Chappy filled in as Big Dave’s understudy on the left, with Guillermo, Chris G, and Billy forming the back line. With four center mids on the books, but short on wingers, Peterson and Ciro shared some time out on the flanks with Pete, Adam and Jake.

Knowing this was an important match, Ciro was an even tinier Napoleon to start the game, barking out marching orders and pleading for simple passes. You gotta have standards.

The first half was a bit of a mixed bag. Libertad were happy to pass the ball around, but their attacks were’t too threatening as CRU soaked up some pressure. At the other end, the Honey Badgers were making chances. There was a nice break as Yuni surged forward from central midfield, swung the ball to the left to Chappy, who fed Peterson up the gut, who got it to Derek with a crack at goal. A good sign that the counter attack was in play on the day.

But Libertad’s patience paid off as the eventually knifed through the center of the box for the opening goal.

Oranges. (Gianluca would like to file a complaint about the juiciness of this latest crop from Adam)

Thinking there was surely a way back from the first half as Libertad showed cracks in their armor, the Honey Badgers deployed a similar lineup for the start of the second half, with Pete spelling Billy for a bit at right back, pulling double duty like many Badgers on the day.

But Libertad had a few tricks up their sleeves, including a forward who didn’t feature in the first half. He was a handful who ended up scoring two goals. But if not for Jay’s heroics, it could have been more as he made some fantastic saves to keep the Badgers within a shout.

The Badgers weren’t giving up as Gianluca shouted there was still time to make things happen. Derek might have scored a hat trick on another day as he had one shot hit the side netting, and another from point blank that flashed just wide of the post.

The Badgers had an indirect free kick inside the 6 yard box that somehow wasn’t turned in. And at the back, the Badgers were trying to stop the bleeding by any means necessary as Guillermo deployed the “nose trap”.

With the game heating up, tempers started to flare slightly. Billy needed a Scottish pineapple as he was getting the business from some pesky attackers. Yuni will be accepting GoFundMe donations to have some special shin guards 3-D printed as he continues to soak up fouls with his clever dribbling skills. Adam was trying to conjure up some old, unused Dark Arts spells, but the instructions were locked away in the Honda’s glovebox, not to be retrieved. It was handbags at ten paces.

With a free kick just inside the Libertad half, Peterson shouted “what are we doing?!” before delivering a peach down into the box for Derek. As the keeper rushed out, Derek chipped it into the far corner of the goal to give the Badgers a lifeline. That’s what we’re doing!

As desperation set in with time running as low as a snake’s belly, the Badgers pressed forward looking for more. Chappy had two point-blank shots saved by the keeper from the left corner of the goal. And when a new keeper had to be introduced late in the game, Guillermo tested him with a deep rocket that he managed to push over the bar.

But in the end, the introduction of their new forward turned the tide and Libertad was able to ride out the second half for the win. The Honey Badgers were gonna have to lose sometime to nail down that precious 3rd place spot, might as well be against a team at the top of the table.

Man-of-the-Match: Sure the Badgers took 3 up the tailpipe, but without Jaybone it could have been much, much worse. His shot stopping game was on.

Post-Match-Report. Three ciders and a cloud of dust. Should be self explanatory.