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LOUBEYRAT v 2rd XI 23 NOVEMBER 2008
Pionsat's 2nd XI had drawn Loubeyrat away in this round of the cup - a team one division higher than them in the pyramid. So seeing as it was Sunday and there was nothing else happening, I braved the freezing temperatures, the desperate wind and the driving gusts of snow to find myself shivering to death on porbably the most exposed plateau that I have ever found.
I was freezing to death in a thick coat, two pairs of trousers, two pairs of socks, a pair of gloves and a woolly hat. Heaven alone knows how the players coped with it.
And to everyone's surprise, and I suspect even theirs, first blood went to Pionsat with probably less than a minute on the clock. And for a change I was ready, having set everything up in the comfort and shelter of Caliburn.
We had the most incredible mix-up in the Loubeyrat defence. A loose ball into the area, the keeper clearly shouts for it, and then completely misses his kick. The Pionsat centre-forward gets there first, shrugs off a weak challenge, and with the simplest of tap-ins scores probably the easiest goal that I've ever seen in any level of football.
Ironically, Pionsat almost presented Loubeyrat with a similar goal a couple of minutes later, but it didn't take them too long to get back on terms.
The biting wind was blowing at almost gale-force diagonally across the field from Pionsat's right-back position towards Loubeyrat's right-back position (that's from far left to near right in this photo). And a healthy thump into the wind from the edge of the penalty area from a Loubeyrat midfielder that on most days would have gone wide past the post curled in round the Pionsat keeper and into the corner of the net. Not much you can do about that.
Loubeyrat took the lead shortly after this. A 50-50 ball into the area enticed the Pionsat keeper out, but he was never likely to reach it and a Loubeyrat forward hammered it home. I'll have more to say on this subject at a later point in this report.
This is more like the kind of thing that the keeper ought to be doing. Standing his ground on his goal line, letting his defenders do the work, and forcing the Loubeyrat attackers into shhoting at a defended goal.
Here, nicely positioned, the keeper takes a clean catch and immediately takes the pressure off his defenders. And with this wind that was blowing from behind him, a good hoof upfield (and this lad can kick, too) would put pressure right back on the opposition.
One thing that I've noticed about this keeper is that he doesn't like diving at the feet of onrushing forwards, and I've commented on this before. Here he is, kicking one off his line.
I suppose what counts at the end of the day is the number of goals you concede, and any way of keeping them out is good enough as long as it works. But as a former 6th choice goalkeeper for my year at Nantwich and Acton County Grammar School (so you can see that I have all the right credentials), I can say that this isn't a fashion that would arouse the approbation of the purists
Meanwhile, up at the other end and despite being 2-1 down to a team in a higher division, Pionsat were playing like they meant business and they had a couple of forwards (the nos 9 and 11) who were impressing me. They weren't the tallest I've seen, but they were certainly amongst the quickest.
Here, one of them sprints through into a one-on-one with the keeper and brings out from the latter a pretty effective block, putting the ball high and wide around the post for a corner.
And talking of Pionsat's no11 who was impressing me with his speed off the mark and with his general play, and also of goalkeepers and purists and the like, here's a moment that will live in the memeory of the goalkeeper for as long as he lives, if he lives much longer than the final whistle. A simple backpass to the keeper and a simple kick-out, you would have thought, but somehow he manages to sidefoot it to the onrushing Pionsat no11 who sidefoots it into the empty net.
The keeper spends the next five minutes leaning against the post, totally disconsolate and being encouraged by one of the substitutes who went round to ease his agony. And the Pionsat no11 goes off thinking that, despite what I had said earlier, there ARE easier goals to score in any level of football.
And who would have imagined this scenario? Pionsat, and the no11 again, take the lead.
All through the match the Loubeyrat defence had been playing the offside trap and had been catching out the Pionsat nos 9 and 11 constantly, much to the anguish of our no11 who made his feelings about this known on numerous occasions. But playing the offside trap against a couple of really quick forwards is a dangerous game to keep up consistently, and sooner or later, if the forwards are any good at all, they will catch you out if your defenders happen to blink an eye at the wrong moment.
And here we are - the simplest of balls over the top of the defenders, the defenders move up, but they aren't quick enough and play the no11 onside. And of course you don't need a second chance with a shot like this one. Considering that Loubeyrat are one division higher than Pionsat, they had a remarkably fragile defence. And that guy running back is the centre-half, believe it or not. He would have needed a pair of stepladders to have won an aerial ball against a tall attack.
I can remember Crewe Alexandra's central "defence" pairing of Ray Lugg and Warwick Rimmer against Watford back in the mid-1970s. They were no taller than me, and Watford played with the giant Ross Jenkins at centre-forward. The result was a foregone conclusion.
The second half got under way with a small amount of sunshine, and almost immediately Pionsat went on the attack. They strung together some really nice passes and there was some good play down the right wing.
The ball eventually made it into the penalty area, but nothing came of it, and it finally went out for a goal kick. That was a shame. Pionsat deserved something more from this movement.
I said earlier that I'd have more to say about goalkeepers coming off their lines for hopeless balls and getting themselves in all kinds of difficulties as a result. Just like here, in fact. A good ball across the defence, the keeper comes but is nowhere, and a good lob from the attacker over the keeper's head and Pionsat go into a 4-2 lead.
At this level of football, the attackers are not likely to be so skilful as to come out of a one-on-one with a goal. Added to this the fact that the kicking by keepers isn't up to much anyway, the best route for a keeper at this level is to wear something flourescent, garish and oversize, stay on his line flapping his wings like a bird, and intimidate the forward into shooting. Any money will say that the keeper stands much more of a chance in that situation than needlessly running off his line for a ball he isn't likely to reach, or miskick even if he does.
Mind you, it seemed that being off his line was this keeper's speciality. Later on in the game, he took up a position somewhere between his penalty area and the halfway line, and on one occasion rushed out to almost the halfway line to intercept a ball. It's a recipe for disaster.
On this occasion, the keeper has a slice of luck that everyone needs every now and again in football.
The Pionsat no9 has the measure of this keeper and entices him off his line, even when there is no need for him to come. Once he's off his line, the no9 goes to lob him, but misses his kick and the keeper is able to get down and smother the ball. The no9 can consider himself unfortunate with this effort.
But disaster strikes Pionsat late in the game. You can see that it's our old friend madame l'arbitre from the Nord Combraille game, and she was still making the curious decisions - in both directions, I have to say in fairness.
This was a free kick for what looked to me (and many others, too) a pretty fair challenge. And despite the defensive wall and the wind blowing the wrong way and a right-footed kicker, the ball still found its way straight into the net. I'd have loved to have seen this kick from the other side of the field to work out what happened there.
Loubeyrat were on the attack pushing for an equaliser to at least bring the game to extra time, and they weren't all that bad going forward.
They won a corner and the ball headed out into the centre of the penalty area. Everyone in the area moved out to get it, but a gust of wind stronger than the rest grabbed hold of it and swirled it dangerously goalward. A good job the keeper was awake - the desperate pas en arrière was just in time.
And just to show that everyone can have an off-day in a football match, the pressure from Loubeyrat pays off eventually - and from a miskick from one of the Pionsat defenders too.
But if you want to see what good man-marking is all about, look how closely the Loubeyrat no2 is the the Pionsat no8 in this photograph. No danger of the latter finding himself in an unmarked position up front.
And from being 4-2 up and coasting to a comfortable victory, Pionsat now find themselves pegged back all-square. The miskick from the defender has let in one of the Loubeyrat forwards and he finds himself clear on goal.
With all of the goal to aim at, he calmly picks his spot wide of the keeper and tucks it into the corner. He's not going to miss a simple chance like this. From that range, not much the keeper can do about it.
And after that comes a moment of high drama. Pionsat are still attacking, still looking for the winner, and they score a goal in the most unusual circumstances.
Another break down the right wing, another interchange of passes, and the ball is whipped hard and low into the centre. The centre-forward takes an almighty swing at it, misses his kick (although he will of course say that he deliberately sold a dummy to the Loubeyrat defence) and the ball goes under his foot out wide to the left winger who, with the entire Loubeyrat defence caught flatfooted, makes the most of it and hammers home from 15 yards or so. No keeper in the world would have stopped that.
I have to say that considering that this is the thirteenth level of the French football pyramid, I'm impressed with what I've seen of Pionsat going forward. The defence is somewhat suspect, if not fragile, but they are good value going forward, and deserved their victory.
And if that wasn't enough high drama, then here's some more. I'm not quite sure what happened after the final whistle but there was some pushing and shoving in a melee near the touchline. For some reason there's a supporter on the field and I can't be sure if he started the incident, but he's well-involved in it at this moment and despite being restrained by a Loubeyrat player, he's still in there willing to mix it.
It goes without saying that the ref is having none of it. She gets the players off the field and summons a member of the Loubeyrat committee into her room. Having satisfied herself that the offending supporter is a player registered with the club and the French FA, she then called him to her room and to "bring your registration card with you".
There will doubtless be more about this at a later date. Assaults or attempted assaults on people carrying out their duties are considered as an offence of the most serious kind here in France, and the authorities are very quick to defend their own, usually with the full force of the law. All of the football grounds carry posters reminding everyone, whether players, officials or supporters, of the behaviour that is expected of them and the draconian measures that may be taken if anyone steps beyond the boundary of good behaviour.
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