A glorious fall day saw Coveside play Nordic on the immaculately groomed pitch 5 at InterRiver park.

Nordic have had a busy summer bolstering their squad and Bernie implored his sqaud to show the right level of commitment and make sure they made this game. His pleadings had the desired effect as only eleven players failed to appear including Rob Paul; Randy Johal; Dave Speers (ruled out because of an unfortunate injury sustained in a team-bonding  incident involving a croissant, whipped cream, and loofah); Cormac Ward (as per Dave Speers); Harp Dhaliwal; Brad Chapman; JC, PK, Sean Bartlett (as per Dave Speers), Graham Phair (working on his catch and release skills).

A tottering Bernie Ward arrived early, looking like he had been soundly spanked by the Mexican beer monkey, and set out his normal 3-5-2 formation (or as Rob Paul likes to refer to it 4-6-3):

Vinnie

Randy | Fergie | Dave

Roddy | Michael | Cam | Rich | Andy

Gino | Eamon
 

Subs: Tim B, Amar D, and Ken E.

Coveside started with a good pace. The passing was crisp and the movement was of the voracity enjoyed by Doc after a double soy bean burger. Coveside were enjoying a lot of possession, but like a spotty geek with braces at a Grade 11 disco, they couldn't score.

A unfortunate bounce saw Cam place the ball in the path of a Nordic attacker whose name, needless to say, I didn't get. While Dave Hannah was dreaming of spending some quality time with a box of kleenex and his Naked Josh videos (even university professors have a TV role model) the ball was played across the penalty box for a easy tap-in by Nordic's big bloke. 1-0 to Nordic!

If there's anybody from the Sports Illustrated personnel/scouting department reading this, don't fret - if that Nordic attacker had been Heidi Klum running along Bondi Beach in a skimpy one-piece, I'd almost certainly have recognised her.

Shaking of this set-back Coveside went back to it and pressed Nordic into their half. Both teams were playing an open game, the challenges were hard but fair, and Rob Brown was able to keep his whistle largely in his underpants.

The half time talk was short, succinct, and strangely insightful. Which of course means that it wasn't delivered by Bernie.

The second half started in an identical manner to the first, with Coveside dominating possession and promising a goal. It further resembled the first half when against the run of play, a determined break from the Nordic right resulted in a hopeful cross which evaded everything but the head of their centre forward. 2-0 to Nordic. 

At this time a few heads did drop, at which time Bernie with the brutal honesty of a Speak Your Weight machine in an American shopping mall, galvanised the team with a cry of you're all fcuking shite.

This immediately had a response as Richie picked up a ball on the right edge of the penalty area, spun around his marker, and lobbed a looping shot over the stranded Nordic keeper. 2-1 to Nordic!

At this time a second Coveside goal seemed the most likely next act, however, and rather predicatbly a long through ball bisected the Coveside defence and found a Nordic attacker, possibly standing in a offside decision.

Not waiting to find out he first time lobbed the ball over the on-rushing Vinnie. 3-1 to Nordic!

The game was now wide open with Coveside pushing forward in search of goals, while Nordic were content to soak up the pressure and wait for the chance to counter attack.

Within five minutes Coveside had again closed the gap to one goal. A break from the right found the ball played into a congested penalty area. After a couple of attempted swings at it, the ball found itself at the feet of Gino who thumped the ball past the Nordic keeper. 3-2 to Nordic!

While on the subject of our talismanic Italian, your scribe was able to fight his way through the ranks of the gather paparazzi and snap Gino's new wheels.

Gino's Miata	Barbie's Miata

With minutes remaining Coveside were applying constant pressure and had Nordic pegged in their half. Another great run through the middle of the park by Roddy saw him deliver a defense splitting pass to Gino who was mercilessly hacked down by that goon, Tyler McKay, in the penalty area. Before Tyler could wipe the froth from his mouth Rob Brown had pointed to the spot.

Rich Hawes goes to kick a dog but misses.

Rich Hawes took responsibility for the penalty kick and stepped up to place the ball on the spot. The goalie did well to get across and palm Richie's shot past the post. The resulting corner saw a melee during which the ball could have landed in the back of the net on a least three different times. The Nordic defence, however, held firm and saw out the last few minutes to secure a 3-2 victory. Overall this was a competitive game played with a great spirit on a perfect grass pitch on a beautiful North Vancouver day. Coveside could feel hard done by with not getting a point but Nordic could make a strong case that they were good value for the win. With two further meetings this season there will be lots of opportunity to settle the matter.

The beers, tequilla, and laughs were as good as always. Here a some more photos for your further enjoyment.