🎃 Raised From The Dead 🎃
GPR 3 Cowley 3
Halloween season is upon us, and, true to form, goalkeeper Greg began the antics by frightening the living daylights out of us, turning up two minutes before kickoff. He specifically asked me not to include this first thing on the blog, so have a good Sunday lad, you’ve earned it 👍. And it was spooky season all round today as the game swung back and forth in momentum, leading to a fair amount of squeaky bum-time from both sides towards the close. But we finished our run of three successive home games with a flourish, earning a hard-fought draw against a good group of lads in Cowley FC. Don’t worry boys, the magic of away days are just around the corner. Points are on the board, meaning we can finally use the phrase “could be worse” with accuracy.
The Salads went 1-0 down within minutes, much to the disappointment of the home fan, owing to a superb cross and header from the travelling side. We all know that Greg loves spoiling sheets but come on mate, a bit of foreplay would be nice. Not to worry though, as not long afterwards, some tiki-taka passing and sharp movement from Rory got Pete through, past the last man, to smash home the equaliser. But we are no Barcelona - this is Sunday League - and the game soon descended into an all-out battle all over the pitch, with neither side quite able to unpick the other. We went into half-time confident in our ability to get a result, and got going again, and rapidly turned up the heat. The first ten minutes saw a flurry of chances from the boys, and a goal looked imminent. And it was!
But not for us. Honestly, our xG was looking so naughty up until that point. But a quick and clinical counter caught us by surprise, and we were facing defeat once more. Then, a few minutes later, Tyson brought down one of the opposition in the box in a move that made all of us familiar with Tyson say: “classic Tyson”. 3-1 down and, at this point, we were fuming. But if ghouls can come back to life, then so can we. There’s no I in team, but there is an At ‘Em. Brimming with rage (and alcohol in some cases), we recovered, and a goalkeeper slip led to Prince knocking in his second league goal in as many games. At this rate, he’ll have a ‘Strangest Goals Compilation’ all to himself before long. We then should have got a penalty but it’s becoming crystal clear that certain members of the forward line are going to need to take some acting classes if we’re going to get them going forward. But, finally, mercifully, a beauty of a ball from Will played in Rory, who travelled half the pitch to slot it home. After that, either side could have taken it, but the final whistle was blown and the spoils shared.
It was a great game where both sides deserved credit for leaving nothing on the pitch. Everyone who played - you better be dead proud of yourselves. Rowen came back from a long-term injury to put in the full 90. Defensive performances rarely get the credit they deserve, but a huge shout-out to Yannick and Jack for their efforts. On the wings, debutant Mark and comparative veteran Will each had moments of real quality. What a bunch of heroes. Next time we’ll get the W.
MOTM 🏆 = Despite all the great performances, Rory’s constant energy and charging runs to split the defensive unit, combined with his two tidy goal contributions, set him apart on the pitch today. Well earned lad.
DOTD 💩 = Prince, for turning up late. I reckon Greg’s got away with one here… (yeah that’s right mate).
