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3RD XI v NEUF EGLISE 25 OCTOBER 2008
Winter was definitely on its way on Saturday night for the match against Neuf Eglise. This was Pionsat's third team against their second team, so I was hoping for a good exciting match. and believe me, I wasn't disappointed.
It was a keenly fought game with a great deal of enthusiasm, which more-than-made-up for the lack of skill, or so you might think. But there were one or two little flashes of brilliance that showed that some of these elderly, paunched players had at one time (even though it might have been a very long while ago) had quite a useful footballing history, and that maybe some of the younger element of the team might aspire to greater things if only they could lay off the beer, ciggies, and grandma's boeuf bourgignon with dumplings and greasy sauce, and get running up and down the street for a couple of miles three nights a week.
Goal number one for Pionsat was a beautifully-worked goal between one of the older forwards and the young no10 - he who had played in goal for the first half of a match a few weeks ago and then come outfield in the second half to terrorise the opposition.
A nice and crafty 1-2 on the edge of the area let the no10 in on goal and with only the keeper to beat, his deft sidefoot caught the keeper out and the ball trundled neatly along the ground into the net while the keeper (and everyone else in the ground) was expecting something more ambitious.
I spoke to the coach about this lad afterwards, as to why he doesn't get a chance at a higher level. "He likes to hang on to the ball too much" was the reply. Well, he can hang onto the ball for as long as he likes at this level as far as I am concerned if he keeps on playing like this. That seems to me to be exactly what is required. Not much danger of him ducking out of a strike on goal.
I missed the second goal, which was for me anyway a disaster. Pionsat play with this ... er ... rather large gentleman on the left wing, and I'm not talking about his height. He's out of breath after going about 15 yards, but his fitness notwithstanding, there's certainly a reason why he is in the team.
He caught the ball on the left wing, stepped inside, and unleashed a shot from about 25 yards with all the power that you can imagine from a gentleman such as himself, and it curled round the keeper into the top corner of the net and there wasn't anyone or anything who was going to stop it. It took everyone in the crowd completely by surprise, yours truly not excluded (which upset me greatly for it was magnificent) and the delight on the guy's face, as well as from amongst the crowd, was evident. You'd pay £50, $90, €75 to see a goal like that anywhere else.
We nearly had a third goal too, with a good ball into a crowded penalty area and a mass of players going for the ball. It's a good job that the keeper had what seemed to be a good pair of hands, because if he had dropped this one, it would have been "goodnight, Vienna", for the nearest player was Pionsat's centre-forward.
He's a big lad too, but he's clearly seen a better class of football in his youth I reckon, because he was no slouch when it came to leading the line. You'd be quite happy at this level with this guy up front.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the match was all one-way traffic towards the Neuf-Eglise goal, but that is certainly not the case. They were giving as good as they were getting but the only difference was that they couldn't seem to be able to get the ball into the net. it wasn't for want of trying though.
They finally did manage to pull one back towards the end of the first half, but down the far end of the field in these lighting conditions (not even 250 Lux, I suppose) it wouldn't come out in anything-like respectable quality.
Following a neat bit of football on the edge of the penalty area, the centre-forward glanced up, saw the keeper slightly off his line, and lobbed the whole defensive line. 99 times out of 100, these kind of balls end up in the car park of the "Queue de Milan" Hotel just down the street, but just for a pleasant change, the ball crept in underneath the crossbar to set up the second half for a tense 45 minutes.
And once again, the match started with some exciting end-to-end play as both teams tried to make the most of their advantage from the first half - Pionsat leading but Neuf-Eglise finishing the stronger.
But our no11 was not going to let himself be out-done, and he had a go with another curling effort from a bit nearer the centre. I was poised and ready this time, but so was everyone else. And in any case the ball curved wide of the post and went out for a goal-kick.
Pionsat scored a third goal well-into the game. With the ball being played into their half and with not very many options on for Pionsat, the whole Neuf-Eglise defence moved up to catch the Pionsat attack offside in what was probably the second-most exciting technical moment in the whole game. It was a delightful choreographed move that totally surprised me - the last thing I'd expect to see at this level.
As I say, the second-most exciting technical moment in the whole game. It was only beaten by the delightful way that the no13 timed his run onto the ball, beating the offside trap and putting the ball wide of the keeper into the net. As it happens, I was standing exactly level with the attempted offside trap and I could see the whole thing unfolding right before my eyes. It's probably not exciting for anyone who isn't interested in the technical subtleties of football, but I always was something of a purist.
But no denying the goal, though. We were having a good evening. That was yet another goal that
Neuf-Eglise kept on coming forward and doing their best to pull the score back. Their heads weren't down and they were keenly contesting everything. There will be a couple of players waking up this morning with some impressive bruises, none of which were caused by malicious challenges.
The Pionsat keeper was on the receiving end of a challenge that laid him low for a couple of minutes but he picked himself up and carried on bravely. But another one that came in a couple of minutes later saw him off with a damaged shoulder, and the Pionsat no6 (who himself had been on the receiving end of something similar a short while earlier) took over the gloves.
But as I've said before, and I'll probably say it again, there isn't any of these diving and rolling over and dying antics in this level of football. Some of the knocks are really quite heavy, but the players just pick themselves up and get on with it. It's much more exciting on a ground such as this than watching 22 prima donna ballerinas on the television.
But having said all that, with everyone including the referee looking at their watches, a foul in the penalty area led to a Neuf-Eglise penalty. The replacement keeper for Pionsat had an outrageous charge off the line, something that would ordinarily never be permitted, but the Neuf-Eglise forward simply stroked the ball past him into the net.
And then a curious thing. Just as the restart was about to take place, a Pionsat player threw his shirt to the floor and stormed off the pitch. "Reviens, Albert" or whatever his name was "ce n'est pas grave" called his colleagues, but he stormed off into the dressing room. And immediately Pionsat kicked off, the ref blew for time.
As it happened, the next day I met the referee at the St Gervais match, and I asked him what that was all about. Apparently one of the Neuf-Eglise players had encroached into the area before the kick was taken, and the ref hadn't noticed it. The Pionsat player was upset that the ref refused to order the penalty to be retaken. Ahhh well. It's a bit too late to try to draw the ref's attention to anything once the kick has been taken and in any case, I would say that the player was enticed in by the Pionsat keeper's charge off the line. So it wouldn't have made any difference anyway.
It beats me though why more people don't come down here to watch the footy. The people are quite friendly and the football is entertaining - it's certainly better than cocooning in front of the television as I have said. I reckon a lot of people are missing out on some really good weekend entertainment. And it's free to get in, too.
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