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Coveside took to the field against
NAFC on a cold and wet January morning to kick off 2007. Without
being condescending; NAFC put in a solid performance and in the end
were unlucky to lose 3-2. But for a fine save in the final few
moments by Kevin Ward and two shots cleared of the line in the last
minute NAFC could easily have won this game and there could have
been no complaints from Coveside if they had done so. There are no
more excuses to be made about a lack of participation at training or
lack of attendance at games; so let's get to it.
Unless Bernie Ward tries out for Glasgow Rangers or Harp Dhaliwal walks into the Queen's Cross wearing an England shirt with number 7 on the back the most astonishing football story you will hear this month is that Eamon Ward has been at the last two training sessions. In fact it gets even more astonishing; Eamon and Kevin Ward were at training on the same day and the same time; it's just a shame that Bernie could not make it (he and his fellow NSCL executives were locked away discussing the socio-economic implications of soccer on the North Shore while drinking their way through the league coffers) because then this scribe would have gone out and bought a friggin lottery ticket. Coach Ward started with Cloudy in goal and a patched defensive line of Doc; Richie; Kevin; and Randy Johal (assuming the Ashley Cole role of the only defender playing in position*). The midfield consisted of Ivan, Andy, Rob, and lanky streak of piss Dhaliwal. Upfront was Eamon and Magnum PI. Gino was the substitute. The coffee club was well represented by Brad; Dave H; Dave Speers; Ed Duynstee. The game started out pretty much as the league form would suggest. Much of the first 45 minutes were played in the NAFC half of the field. Coveside were playing the ball around well and gently blowing out the cobwebs of a nine week lay-off. To Bernie's unimaginable delight the entire width of the field was used and cross after cross was floated into the danger area. The NAFC goalkeeper made a string of saves and kept his team in the match. The breakthrough when it came was from the Eamon. Showing that training does make a difference he collected the ball with his back to goal and the spun around to slam it into the back of the net. With the amount of possession they were enjoying a second Coveside goal looked likely but despite good chances falling to Tim; Rob Paul; Kevin; and Gino the half ended without a change in the score. Clearly not match fit; Bernie decided that he could not manage a half-time talk and so his charges huddled together to discuss American Idol; Entourage; and why Dave H had such an unfeasibly large head. The second half started much like the first had ended with Coveside dominating the play and searching for a second goal. The wait this time was not so long as Richie stepped forward from his defensive duties to bury a goal from the six yard line following a melee from a corner. Instead of opening the expected floodgates the second goal had a startlingly effect. It fired up NAFC like a blacksmith's bellows while at the same time turning Coveside into a bunch of tossers who could not pass the ball around without giving it away. All of a sudden what had seemed like a comfortable cushion was removed as a NAFC breakaway resulted in a well worked goal. Game on. All of a sudden Bernie was wishing that he had taken the time at the break to discuss tactics and to deliver one of his inspirational speeches. Knowing that he needed to make an urgent adjustment to reverse the momentum; he decided to change goalies. What? Kevin Ward (playing his first game for two years) was instructed to take over goalkeeping duties from Cloudy. It's this kind of managerial magic from Bernie that keeps not only opponents guessing but also his own players bewildered. The change did, however, have an immediate effect as Coveside marched to the other end of the field where Eamon pounced again to grab Coveside's third. The words Eamon and pounce are not very often used in the same sentence and if any of you are feeling uncharitable towards our hard training striker you could instead ponder:
At the stage the game should have been over but shortly after Eamon's goal NAFC contrived to score another as a cross from the wing allowed a simple tap-in. This second goal sent the watching SirM into a fit of giddiness as the implications to his rankings started to sink in and he had to rush home to sit in a dark room with soothing whale sounds. In the first version of this report I failed to mention a terrible incident involving Gino where he was straight on clobbered in the nut sack by the ball. As he crawled around on the floor gasping for breath he was somehow not consoled by the peels of laughter from the coffee club. Coveside's last five minutes would have been much more entertaining and less painful if they had been set to the Benny Hill music (as this report has been). With the defense totally at sea; NAFC camped out in the Coveside half and peppered the goal with shots. Kevin Ward (taking over from Cloudy) pulled off one fantastic save to deny a certain goal. Still working heroically to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory Coveside kept turning over possession and one 60 second sequence saw the ball cleared off the goal-line not once but twice. It's no stretch to say that the final whistle spared Coveside's blushes; if the game had carried on only one team looked like scoring and it wasn't the pile of shite in white. There were only three good things to come out of this performance.. the points. The beers and laughs after the game were damp and short-lived as a lot of people went home to watch that crap that they call football in North America. |
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