DRAW: CRU 1 – Sporting a Beergut 1 – Badgers Dig Deep To Grab a Late Point At NEMP

Cameron Road was back in action after not playing during the previous weekend’s annual “False Fall” cool down. The October summer was back with sunny skies, blazing heat, and the tornadic winds of NEMP – although to be fair, the pitch was surprisingly green and mostly flat.

It was looking like a pre-game struggle to field eleven. There were several players out of town. There were several players nursing injuries. Chris G was back testing out his case of runners knee. Schwarzy was nursing a case of the “Holden Flu.” Jeff Z didn’t exactly time his Saturday Flu shot to perfection. And Chappy was battling a weekend-long malaise that had him thinking NEMP might be his final resting place after the first 15 minutes.

CRU starting the game down a man, but the two late comers gave the Honey Badgers one precious sub. Not ideal for the massive pitch at NEMP, but it was something.

As if battling the wind and short-handed start wasn’t enough, the Honey Badgers suffered another dreaded own goal in front of Sir Brian Parks who was the keeper for the day. Most agree the sun and disintegrating boots were the root cause. Not to worry though, not to worry.

After that hiccup, the reinforcements arrived and Gianluca took the pitch with Yunir waiting in the wings. Billy and Peterson took the leadership reigns, barking battle plans and trying to rally the troops.

The Beerguts had a few problematic players up top, but weren’t threatening too much as the back line and Parks were solid. At the other end, the Badgers did create some chances. Jeff Z came forward and sent an absolute rocket shot at the keeper. Peterson had a nice curling shot sail just wide. And the best chance came as Gigi sent a nice, deep corner kick to the back post which was met by the Bald Dome of Power and….. saved off the near post by a tiny defender in the “Ciro Position.” Zombie Chappy should have scored.

Next up was the most mellow and uninspiring halftime in ages as the Badgers were knackered and tried to split up 3 oranges. Chappy performed a full head dunk into Jake’s 5 gallon water bucket. Schwarzy needed a break. Yunir nursed an elbow to the lip. It was a struggle but CRU knew there were goals to be had in the second half.

Jefe was pushing forward on the left, covering lots of ground and was getting stuck in the attack. Derek played in Chris G on a full field sprint and let him taste the bitterness of his contagious offside persuasions. Yunir was showing his ticky-tacka skills with Brian recovering in the tent. The defence was soaking up most of the attacks and Parks made a great figertip + crossbar save from a wicked shot. JAKE IS DOWN. JAKE IS DOWN. The big fella twisted an ankle on the NEMPness of the pitch and Schwarzy came back in, depleting the subs bench.

Chris played Chappy in, although it turns out he didn’t know much about it, but the sliding shot fell to the non-bunion foot and was poked to the keeper.

The Badgers were getting a lot of corner kicks headed into the wind, but there were all from the right side with the sun behind them literally making the ball impossible to track mid-flight. That didn’t stop Jefe from barreling down the center of the box, closing his eyes and paying homage to Adam with a ball off the shin.

Schwarzy was trying to line up some shots in the box but there was too much traffic to clear a path. The Honey Badgers earned a free kick just outside the box as Gianluca was chopped down, and Jefe had words with the Aussie ref as he took umbrage at his alleged 10 yard count. Turns out he was using meters or counting in Koala feetsies.

With time running down, Cameron Road got a corner from the good side of the pitch, and Derek’s ball was not the greatest, but it had a wicked bounce that slid off the outstretched arm of a Beergut defender. Penalty! No doubt that Derek would tackle the pressure and bury it to tie up the score!

The defense saw out the rest of the game, with Chris G somehow giving up a pass to an attacker, but then tracking it back down to recover the ball to safety – the man is like the Terminator.

Finally and mercifully the whistle blew and the Badgers had redeemed themselves, earning a nice point in difficult circumstances.

Man-of-the-Match: Brian Parks showed up ready to play between the pipes and produced a shutout (against the opposition)