Cameron Road escapes with a 2-2 draw to end the summer season and close out their 8 game undefeated streak..

Bloodied, battered and bruised – Cameron Road United left the field winners of summer division 3 and finished up the season on an 8 game undefeated streak. The 2-2 draw with Galaxia S.C. ended one of the most successful spells in recent CRU history, but it wasn’t all good times as Billy went down with a serious injury. (details to follow)

An early 8 am start meant a cool kickoff in the 90’s, and 14 Honey Badgers showed up for battle, including BT who has been playing through his broken gooch. With Willis and a  full complement of supporters calling the shots from atop their buckets, Cameron Road started off the game looking to jump on Galaxia early. An early attacking complement of Scotty, Ciro, Daniel, Adam, Chappy and McKenna were working the flanks with success, looking to put in some crosses and create some chances from inside the box. With BT, Gianluca and Stripy ready and willing on the sidelines, CRU was stocked with enough firepower to do some damage.

An early scrum inside the Galaxia box looked to produce the opening goal as several CRU players furiously stabbed at the bouncing ball but couldn’t find the back of the net. But a subsequent corner kick saw Cameron Road strike first blood as Chappy got a head on it and flicked  it into the path of red-hot Scotty Merritt whose header found the far post for a 1-0 lead. Things were looking good in the yellow and blue camp as the Euro contingent of Gianluca and Stripy got into the mix. Steve McKenna was having a great half as well, providing some classy touches and threats from his attacking role. As Cameron Road tried to pile on the pressure, more chances were coming. BT showed a glimpse of his class as he flicked a ball into Ciro’s path down the right channel, but the shot was saved. Adam also had a nice left footed one-timer that fizzed just wide of the near post as someone played him in with a great pass.

In the back, Jay was called upon to make a few gritty saves from probing Galaxia attacks, while Dave, Crosley, Luke and Billy manned his defenses.

With the pressure mounting, it was Zoran who was in the right place at the right time to smash in a Clark Field Special from close range to give Cameron Road a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Well, it should have been a comfortable lead, until Chappy (thinking he was still spending a lazy day on the beach with Corona in one hand and margarita in the other) sloppily duffed a back pass to Jay that went straight to a Galaxia attacker who put it into the back of the net to close the gap to 2-1.

At halftime, a full compliment or orange slices hit the lips as Cameron Road regained their strength for the final half of the season. They hit the field, knowing they had roughly 40 minutes to preserve their 8th win in a row.

The second half got underway, and Galaxia pushed for the tying goal, gaining more space in the midfield and gaining some momentum, but the CRU defense was up to the task of shutting them down. As Billy closed down some space to attack a 50-50 ball, he collided with a Galaxia player, fell awkwardly, and landed on his head. As the play continued, it became apparent that Billy was hurt pretty bad – he laid on the field, face down, for several minutes and finally was able to be helped off the field. A very scary scene, but the EMTs showed up quickly and took him to the hospital where he spent the night. Currently, he is feeling much better and at home, but everyone’s thoughts were with the big Scottsman as he was clearly having a rough go of it.

As play resumed, a somewhat shellshocked Cameron Road tried to reorganize and pull it together, but it was Galaxia who tied the score with a long range bomb that hit the crossbar and crossed the goal line.

At 2-2 and their undefeated streak on the line, Cameron Road ratcheted up the pressure looking for the winner. Scotty blasted a shot wide from outside the box, Steve McKenna had a few great turns and cracks at goal, and The Italian Stalion Gianluca almost gave CRU the lead with a few one-on-one opportunities that were saved.

So the game ended with a 2-2 tie, and although Cameron Road was somewhat discouraged with not putting the game away and pulling out a victory, they left the field feeling great about their 8 game undefeated streak.

Man-of-the-Match: Billy earned his award with his bloody and battered performance this week. He played a solid first half in defense, and was able to walk off the field after being knocked out cold. We all wish him a speedy recovery.

Man-of-the-Post-Match: Willis gets a gold star for accompanying Billy to the hospital all afternoon and providing updates on his condition to his team mates. He also provided the dreadful Golden Boot winning bottle of beer – Arrogant Bastard – which was passed around the post-game circle in a show of Honey Badger solidarity.