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3rd XI v PONTAUMUR 15 NOVEMBER 2008
Pionsat's 3rd XI were thoroughly spanked by Pontaumur tonight. But at least the match was a huge improvement on Sunday's showing and all the players kept their heads. That was something to be grateful for.
The first goal wasn't long in coming. Pionsat were outplayed down the flanks throughout the game, and this particular goal came from an attack came down the right wing.
A cross into the centre, a bit of juggling about between the players, and the ball found the back of the net. The photos haven't come out very well tonight, though. There was a drizzle throughout the game that played havoc with the focusing, and of course all of the action was down the far end of the pitch.
The second goal came pretty quickly after the first. This time, a penalty. A Pionsat player had held down a Pontaumur attacker as a high ball came in from the wing, and the referee was in no doubt about the penalty.
The keeper, a different one this week, and who had quite a good grasp of the technique, guessed the right way but he couldn't get his hand to the ball. I was beginning to have a rather uncomfortable feeling about this match.
I was beginning to feel sorry for the keeper by the time the third goal went in. His defence wasn't giving him any any cover at all and he was pretty much on his own against the Pontaumur attack.
He'd managed to get to this shot and blocked it, but the ball ricocheted back to the forward who simply lobbed it back in, over the prostrate keeper's body. Three-nil, and at this particular point Pionsat were lucky to have nil
Just for a change, a cross came in from the left wing this time. There were two Pontaumur forwards totally unmarked with the Pionsat defenders nowhere in sight, and a fourth goal was a foregone conclusion in a situation such as this.
And Pionsat were obliged to make a team change at this point. The left-back hobbled off and the centre forward went to play left back. Onto the field came the young lad who played in goal last week but normally plays up front and runs at the defenders.
The ball is in the other net this time, and no, we haven't changed ends at half time yet. Pionsat have pulled a goal back.
This was a comedy of errors in the Pontaumur defence. The centre-half went for a good hoof upfield but sliced the clearance, which span backwards into his own penalty area. Few would have argued if the keeper had picked it up - not even the most partisan opponent would have called it a backpass - but to be on the safe side the keeper went to kick it out. However, the keeper sliced his own clearance, straight to the feet of Pionsat's no10 who sidefooted it into the empty net.
And I've talked about this player before. He drifts around anonymously for much of the match, but has a spell every now and again where he comes to life and plays some neat football. And then he goes back to sleep again.
And to everyone's surprise, even mine, Pionsat scored a second. And again it was a goalkeeping error. A hopeful long punt into the Pontaumur area with no danger at all, but the keeper instead of catching it, blocks it with his body. It hits something hard and bounces away from him, landing at the feet of a Pionsat player who makes it number two.
Just as Pionsat looked like they might be getting back into the game, the ref blows for half time.
And straight from the kick-off for the second half, Pontaumur storm up the field and score number five. A break down the left wing and a cross into the centre, and that was that. It's not true to say that Pionsat were having no luck - they had just scored two of the most unlikely goals you will ever see, but they deserved better than this.
Pontaumur's sixth goal had an element of the unfotunate about it. Due to an injury, Pionsat's centre-forward had gone to play at left-back, and he wasn't as bad as you might have thought him to be. But he lost the ball just close to the halfway line, and took the traditional forward's stance of watching the Pontaumur winger run off into the gloom and driving rain with the ball, instead of adopting the defender's role of running after the winger to win back the ball.
With the fullback then out of position, the centre-half had to run across to cover, but he wasn't quick enough. The winger slipped the ball inside into the empty space and the now-unmarked centre forward finished it off
Although this photo doesn't show much in the way of action, it shows the Pionsat left-winger, he whose mighty shot left a mighty impression on me, his team-mates and the back of the net the other week. Here he is, marked by a full-back who is half his age, half his weight, and half his size.
You would have thought that there would have been only one winner in a contest such as this, and you would be right - but it wouldn't be who you might expect. So much so, in fact, that the defender was substituted after 70 minutes. For quick as he might have been, he was no match for the guile and cunning that the Pionsat winger was able to display and he was undone time and time again. It just goes to show that youth, fitness and speed count for nothing if you can't get the ball off your opponent.
The seventh and final goal had an air of inevitability about it. Once more, Pionsat were outplayed in defence and the younger and fitter team from Pontaumur took advantage of acres of open space.
You might well have thought that a 7-2 hiding on your own pitch represents a disaster of Titanic proportions, but that's really a little unfair on Pionsat. They played quite well - much better than last week at St Avit and were really well-organised for a change. The keeper, who I don't recall seeing before, had quite an impressive game for this level of football. He was well-beaten for all the goals, but yet he pulled off a string of fine saves and handled the ball quite comfortably whenever he had a chance.
The truth is that Pontaumur were miles better than any team I've seen at this level. I've no idea what they must have been doing to find themselves down here in Division 4, and when I think of some of the teams that Pionsat's 3rd XI have played and beaten, Pontaumur must be running up some right cricket scores at some of these games. Even that young lad who I like as a forward but who plays some times in goal - he came on as a substitute attacker and made no headway at all.
Final word, or words in fact, must go to the Pontaumur supporters - a band of about 7 or 8 young lads who'd come up to cheer on the team. They certainly added to the ambience, to be sure, and judging by their ... er ... comportment, had made a generous contribution to the takings at the pie hut.
They meithered me into taking a photo of them at the final whistle. I started off by asking for €50 (well, I have certain standards to keep up, you know) and after quite a lengthy negotiation, we settled on a cup of coffee. By this time, the Pionsat club chairman and his woolly hat had been enrolled into the image, so here you all are, in glorious technicolour.
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