DRAW: CRU 1 – Santos 1 – The Soccer Gods Demanded More Badger Blood at NEMP

8am at NEMP. Nobody’s favorite, except for Chappy who lives 15 minutes away. Still, 12 Badgers braved the early morning, ready to face Santos, who are newly re-branded in green. Dumb.

With Adam and Nate arriving a few minutes late, and Schwarzy suiting up and rushing onto the field at the whistle, Cameron Road started a man down for the opening 10 minutes, but were not fazed.

Santos were flexing their muscles early on the gigantic moon-scaped pitch, but the Badger defense refused to break as Billy, Guillermo, Chris G and Parks patrolled the back line.

Chappy was 12 hours back from a week’s worth of margaritas in Mexico on one wing, and Peterson both “put it up” and “sent it” from the left wing. In the center of the field, Yunir and Schwarzy were salsa dancing with lots of intricate passes allowing Camron Road to move the ball forward to the the lone striker, Derek.

Once reinforcements arrived, Adam inserted himself up top with Derek and started applying his Dark Arts from the top, which was having instant impact as the Honey Badgers started to push the issue and create chances. Derek had several shots over the bar. The best chance fell to Schwarzy, who rifled a low shot to the far post, only for it to be saved off the line by a cheeky defender.

At the back, Parks and a Mark Ruffalo look alike tussled for shaggy hair superiority. Before the game Brian claimed he was 80% love and 20% hate, but at that moment he tapped into the 20% to earn a yellow card.

Jake remained mostly upright.

Mostly good stuff was happening and the Honey Badgers were feeling pretty good about oranges and halftime.

The second half was more of the same with both team trading body blows. It was a pretty even match but Cameron Road were firing off shots that just missed the mark – until they didn’t.

What happened next was one of the brightest spots in a so-far dreary season. The move started at the back with some nice intricate passing through the left side of the defense. Chris G was on the move with one of his trademark blistering runs and when he was in position in enemy territory, Derek got him the ball. What happened next made everyone smile as the hardest working Badger slotted home his first goal for the club with a back-to-front assault on the Santos goal. Chris G!!!!!

And shortly after that, he went back to his day job of locking up Santos’ best player with some physical, double-yellow action at the back.

With a one goal lead, the Honey Badgers were hoping to hold onto their precious lead, but The Soccer Gods had other plans. Apparently, they had not received enough sacrifices from Cameron Road in 2026 yet, so they allowed Santos to tie up the game with 5 minutes to play.

Cameron Road would have to settle for the 1-1 draw, but progress was made. The team is actually playing really well, so hopefully some big wins and solid performances will be just over the horizon.

Man-of-the-Match: This is a no-brainer, CHRIS G with the goal!