Badgermania! Cameron Road beat Blue Niles 3-1 with a Euro-Invasion of Goals.

With a trio of goals from Zoran, Gianluca and Steve McKenna, Cameron Road pushed past the pass-happy Blue Niles to win their third game in a row and keep a tight lock on forth place in the division.

With half the team out of town, Cameron Road was down to the bare bones, but did manage to have one sub at game time as Steve McKenna appeared on the hilltop with a shorty in tow. Luckily, the defensive lineup was experienced with Billy, Cuyler, Luke and Adam forming a perimeter around Jay. There was a 20 year gap on the wings as Barnaby manned one and Chappy the other, but Willis and Peterson filled it nicely. Up top it was all funny accents with Z and Gianluca prowling for goals.

At the start of the game it became evident that despite their poor record, Blue Niles were a formidable team whose passing skills and game plan would fit nicely on a Catalonian seaside pitch instead of the barren desert of Onion Creek. They passed the ball around with ease, dinking and dunking one-twos with each other around the field, looking for an opening in the Cameron Road back line. They did a nice job of keeping the ball to themselves, and made the entire CRU team work hard to get it back for a few brief minutes. Unfortunately for Blue Niles, that’s all it took for Cameron Road to score the opening goal against the run of play.

With a daft touch, Billy got the ball on the right side and sent in a zippy thru-ball across the center line to Chappy, who beat his man to the outside and ran the ball down inside the Blue Niles box. Luckily for the Captain, an old and wise Willis suggested the right flank over the left in their pre-game strategy sessions, so he was able to take a right footed shot/cross which the goalie poorly parried away…. directly into the path of Zoran who was crashing the net and poked it home. One nil to the Honey Badgers on their first attack of the day.

A stunned and shell shocked Blue Niles continued their assault on the Cameron Road goal, passing the ball seemingly at will and running down the flanks. Cameron Road’s “all hands on deck” defensive approach was called into action for the majority of the half to try and nullify their attacks.

As the half wore on, Cameron Road had to work harder and harder to plug the holes in the center of the pitch, and as each minute passed, Blue Niles’ frustration levels increased. And in another flash, Cameron Road pounced on an opportunity to break and doubled their lead. Chris Peterson released Big Z down the center of the field where he was able to hold the ball up in front of goal as his Euro tag team partner Gianluca approached from the right. With the swiftest of touches, Zoran slid the ball across to The Italian Stalion to smash into the roof of the net.

With little time on the ball, and lots of work to do on the defensive end, Cameron Road was up 2-0 at the half and sat down for some much needed rest, especially Adam who was nursing a sore calf.

Blue Niles came out with authority to start the second, they marched in waves down the center of the field passing the ball around seemingly at will. Their number 11 was a particular tormenter of full backs with his mazy runs into the box. But for all their hard work and time on the ball, they failed to breech the Cameron Road defense enough times to get clear in on goal. Jay was called in to make a few saves, and there were a few Blue Niles’ shots that went just wide, but for the most part Cameron Road was able to suck up the pressure.

For the third time in the game, Cameron Road burst forward on the counter attack with lightning quick speed and caught the Blue Niles defense playing a high line. Barnaby switched the ball to Chappy from the left side to the right, Chappy played Steve McKenna a thru ball from midfield, and then it was off to the races. A 3 or 4 on 1 fast break was on and Steve decided to test the helpless keeper himself and made the score 3-0.

Midway through the second half, Blue Niles were awarded a lifeline when the referee called a penalty for a bit of shirt tuggun’ inside the box. A harsh call for sure, and to his credit, the Blue Niles’ forward stepped up and knocked it home to give them some hope of getting back into the game.

After a water break, Cameron Road hunkered down and tried to finish off the game as Blue Niles continued their passing assault through the middle of the field. As the game came to a close, the 12 tired Honey Badgers congratulated themselves on a solid defensive effort and their third win in as many games.

Man-of-the-Match: With an early goal and assist, Big Z set the stage for victory, leading the line up top.