CRU 3 – Babaganoutch 1

Just like the old days when Andy Magilow was calling the shots, when Billy was just a wee young lad in his 30’s, when Willis was engaged (wait, isn’t he still engaged?), when Chappy had hair (ok, only a little bit, but still), Cameron Road beat up on longtime nemesis Babaganoutch en route to a 3-1 victory.

Having demolished their first week opponent by 6 goals, Babaganoutch probably thought they would again cruise to an easy win against their old foes, but from the opening whistle, Cameron Road was on the march, looking to pick up where they left off last weekend.

With 7 subs on the sidelines, and special guest Big John back on the pitch for an encore, Cameron Road had all their firepower at the ready and were able to keep fresh legs on the field for most of the game.

After some back and forth stuff with both teams trying to get into a flow, it was Cameron Road who struck first with a world class finish. With a so-so England performance on his mind, Steve McKenna picked up the ball in enemy territory and showed the English midfielders how to perform a bit of magic himself when he flicked a back heal pass to an onrushing BT. Brian scooped up the ball on the edge of the box and unleashed an unstoppable Tsabalala South African special with his left foot that left the keeper staring at the vapor trail in the sky. The celebration on the pitch was drowned out by the earth shattering sound of thousands of vuvuzelas buzzing in unison… in BT’s mind.

As the half wore on, the old rivalry showed it’s teeth as the new batch of Baba-goons asserted their cranky attitudes on the pitch, constantly fouling, yet complaining to the ref when the fouls were returned.

The first half eventually boiled over as midfield marauder Merrit was elbowed in the face and then hog-tied on the ground by a ‘Noutchette. The ensuing scuffle had to be broken up by both teams, with Cuyler and Big John stepping in to pull apart the fracus. As tempers continued to flair around them, an unlikely UFC fight developed as Way Shong squared off with the opponent’s Teletubby mascot. Unfortunately for both, the teenage referee had lost control of the situation, and issued both parties the dreaded summer red card, earning them both early afternoons on the sidelines and (unfortunately), an early vacation for the rest of the summer season.

With both teams having been reduced to 10 men, there was a little more room to operate and Cameron Road had several chances to double up the lead with Steve just missing goal on a few back-to-back tries. Ciro also burst into the box and tried to set up Stripey for his opening CRU goal, but his pass just missed the bearded-Bosnian hitman.

The half ended 1-0, and both teams regrouped at halftime, preparing for battle with one less player each.

For the first ten minutes, Baba had Cameron Road on the back foot. They were finding lots of space in the midfield, and exploiting it with several shots on goal. Of course Jay made his typical saves, already proving to be more trustworthy between the pipes than the England goalkeeper.

After absorbing the Baba initial onslaught, Cameron Road found itself on the break and Andy Michaelis popped up in the box and sent the ball to the far corner, beating the keeper and doubling CRU’s lead. It was an unusually sublime finish with a daft touch from Andy, who usually prefers the more direct jackhammer approach to shooting.

At 2-0, Cameron Road started to gain more control of the match, but Baba were able to pull one back with a bit of a scrappy goal. Luckily, the goal-scorers douchy sportsmanship came back to haunt him in the end, as he pulled out his six guns to celebrate the goal while taunting the Cameron Road sidelines on the way back to the center circle. He might want to save his victory celebration for the end of the match next time… if they even have something to celebrate.

For the last 15 minutes, Baba continued to press for the tying goal, but the CRU’s defense sucked up the pressure and turned them back. Cuyler’s physical aura alone stopped several attacks, as his fiery hatred for one of his old foes returned.

To close out the game and put it out of reach for Baba, Cameron Road again struck on the break with Ciro feeding the ball to BT. BT’s run put him on the right side of the box where Chappy had made his way to the top of the 18, unmarked. BT rolled it to the Captain, who had time to gather the ball, make a sandwich, check his email and eventually let loose a sizzling toe-poked shot into the back of the net. It didn’t hurt that Stripey had been taken down inside the box in front of him, distracting the keeper and providingsome cover for the shot.

Cameron Road rode out the last 5 minutes and closed out another victory. Their fourth in five.

Man-of-the-Match: Tough one here. Was it BT, with his brilliant goal and assist? Was it Way, who sacrificed his body for the team? Was it Scott, who again was everywhere on the pitch? Was it Andy, who scored a goal as a midfielder, and also filled in on defense? All good choices, but when a player travels all the way from the east coast to return to the pitch, you gotta show him some love. Good work Big John, it was great to see you again!