CRU 1 – Verity 2
It seems that even Mother Nature has conspired to keep Cameron Road United winless this season. A monsoon-like rainstorm quickly ended this week’s installment of “the most frustrating season ever” five minutes into the second half of what was looking like a promising performance.
Going against Verity, or the Jolly Green Giants as they are also know as, is usually no easy task; but it’s one that the boys in red are usually up for. These games are always close, and this one was no exception. It’s even tougher when you’re battling the driving rain and playing without your first or second choice keeper, but Luke had us resting easier when he donned his new keeper gloves and early stage Odessa high school baseball coach mustache. Unfortunately, his mustache was not yet fully bloomed and didn’t quite possess the magical powers necessary to protect him from a two goal assault within the first five minutes! In the pouring rain, it was tough to clear balls in our own end, and one error led to a thunderous shot being unleashed which Luke valiantly tried to push away, but just couldn’t keep out of the net. Several minutes later, another defensive swipe saw us give up a penalty shot; which to his credit, Luke also got a hand on… his fist pounding the swollen turf in anguish.
After the shock of the initial two goal deficit wore off, Cameron Road started to assert itself and take the game to Verity. New midfield wizard Leif Sherry had a great scoring chance and also set up Ciro for a one-timer in the box that went “just a bit outside”. Our breakthrough came when from out of the depths of the defense when none other than the Dirty Bird, that’s right, the Beastly Ostrich came roaring down the center of IH-35 and unleashed a thunderous volley to bring us back into the game.
At halftime, the team huddled under the limited dryness of the tent while the rain storm continued to worsen. It didn’t seem to bother the team because they came out dripping with determination to get back to level terms… Billy stuck immediately with a goal from close range, but it was ruled off side.
Unfortunately, another brilliant second half performance was cut short when the league decided to call the game. To be fair, it was a bit ridiculous because it was some Noah’s Ark type of rain coming down, but still, you had to think that the momentum was ours and that the goals were coming.
Still, by the laws of the game, Verity ended up with the win after only beating us for the first 5 minutes of the game.
Man-of-the-Match: Gotta give it up to Luke for stepping up to play keeper in dire circumstances, going down by two goals in five minutes, but coming back strong with a key save and looking to pitch an 85 minute shutout.