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1st XI v PONTAUMUR 18th JANUARY 2009
This match was a rearranged cup fixture - so hastily rearranged that I thought for a moment that I was going to be the only spectator. But the crowd slowly grew until we had what I thought was a five-figure attendance, namely me, two men and a young girl aged about 4 with her dolly in a pushchair. Further enquiry revealed that there were six dolls in that pushchair, meaning that the dolls outnumbered the fans by a considerable margin.
This wouldn't of course be the first game at which the number of plastic supporters exceeds the number of human ones. It happens every match at Old Trafford.
Pontaumur's 2nd XI had soundly spanked the Pionsat 3rd XI a few weeks ago and I ws told that the 1st XI, those here today, had been in the 3rd Division last season but had won promotion and were now leading the 2nd Division. So there is definitely something going on at Pontaumur and everyone was expecting a tight game.
But never mind about that. Pionsat open the game with an absolutely beautiful ball right across the field from the left wing, right to the feet of the Pionsat attacker on the right corner of the penalty area.
You don't see many balls as good as that one at this standard of football. The entire Pontaumur defence is caught completely flat-footed, but the keeper was quickly off his line to narrow the angle.
It was the thing to do for a keeper back in the early days - to rush off the line to narrow the angle. But that was in the days before footballers developed the lob over the top. These days and at this standard the correct approach would be for the keeper to stand his ground and rely on his personality to intimidate the forward, whose ball control and finishing would let him down.
On this occasion the keeper is lucky and manages to touch the shot round the post for a corner.
A friend of mine, a raconteur of no little merit, in one of his talks used to say "if you are going to act like a tw@t wear a silly hat" and I can't imagine why on earth someone would want to wear one like this on a football pitch. It would interfere with your heading for a start.
It wasn't as if it was all that cold either. I wonder what he would have been wearing if he had been playing here in the ice and frost last night. A space suit and helmet, I suppose. I'm just surprised that he wasn't wearing a pair of thermal long johns.
Pionsat were really unlucky here. They were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area for "holding down". It was a beautiful kick too, right round the edge of the wall. It beat the keeper but unfirtunately hit the post.
But look how quick off the mark the two Pionsat forwards were while the defence stood around watching. One of them got to the rebound before anyone else, and unbelievably put it over the bar from about 3 yards out.
A few minutes later we had almost the same scenario. The Pontaumur defence standing around watching while two Pionsat forwards challenged the goalkeeper for a high cross.
But it was a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth as everyone collided in mid-air. The keeper came off worst but the ball merely brushed the head of a Pionsat attacker, and bounced just past the post for a goal kick.
The Pontaumur defence and the no5 in particular were giving me the creeps. It's a long time since I've seen such total disarray in a back line and if Pionsat could put them under some kind of sustained pressure they would surely cave in.
But not this time though. From the resultant goal kick from the incident above, Pontaumur broke down the right wing and completely beat the Pionsat defence all ends up. The shot from the edge of the penalty area clipped the post and went out for a gaol kick.
I had a feeling that this might be a foretaste of things to come. You know how it is when you get these little creeping feelings every now and again.
And notice the ref on the right-hand edge of the image. He's the old guy from the cup match against Chatelguyon. There's quite a shortage of referees round here so it seems and that's quite a shame. And from what I've seen so far, the refs are treated with much more respect than refs in the UK so there's no reason why more people shouldn't take up the whistle.
Not long after that incident, we find ourselves back upfield in the Pontaumur penalty area. Pionsat's no9 works his way into the penalty area and with Pontaumur's no5 in close attendance, still manages to find the space to squeeze off a shot on target.
The keeper does really well, getting right down to his left and pushing the shot wide of the goal ....
.... but not far enough, hard enough or wide enough, as there's a herd of footballers thundering down the right wing. The ball lands at the feet of Pionsat's no11 who strokes it home despite the despairing lunge of a Pontaumur defender. 1-0 to Pionsat.
But that's a bit of an object lesson for all aspiring goalkeepers here. If you can't catch the ball or whallop it well upfield, push it out for a corner. If you knock it back into play, you are out of position and there's always someone else running onto it. Just like here in fact.
Strangely enough (although not that strange if you are a regular follower of football) the goal seemed to inspire the losing team. Pontaumur went on the attack from this point on.
A good ball into the Pionsat area saw a useful header out from the defence, but a lucky rebound let a Pontaumur player in. He was through on goal and with only the keeper to beat, drove it straight against the keeper's legs.
And look at Pontaumur's no12. On his own in acres of space and not a Pionsat defender in sight. If the Pontaumur attacker had passed the ball across the box instead of going for glory, it would have been the equaliser.
Right now it was all one-way traffic in the direction of the Pionsat goal. and sure enough the equaliser had to come. It had been on the cards for the last ten miniutes.
The Pionsat defence had been half-asleep for a while and sure enough they were caugh napping again. A good hard shot from the right-hand edge of the penalty area gave the keeper no chance at all despite his best efforts.
Once again, there's a Pontaumur forward - the no10 - in acres of space on his own. The marking is woeful.
It's all Pontaumur right at the moment and they are still going forward. But at least the Pionsat defence is wide awake this time and they manage to outnumber the attackers in the penalty area.
Nevertheless, the Pontauiur forwards still manage to get in a shot on goal and the keeper really needed to be at his best to keep this one out. Pontaumur should have had a hatful by now.
That was the last action of the regulation 90 minutes and so as this is a cup match, we have 30 minutes of extra time.
And it's no surprise to learn that the first action of the first period of extra time is Pontaumur on the attack. An attacker gets through the defence and, unbelievably, puts the ball wide of the post and behind for a goal kick. It would have been easier to score from here
And would you believe it! We have an almost-identical move just a matter of seconds later. This time the Pontaumur forward tries for the far post and I bet the keeper is relly relieved to watch that go wide.
Pionsat's defence is in total disarray right now, and it's hard to imagine that just an hour ago the Pionsat forwards were running the Pontaumur defence ragged. The way this match is going, it's going to be a case of "when" rather than "if".
It's not a Pionsat attack you are watching, we've changed ends for the second period of extra time. And this time there's a beautiful ball across the face of the Pionsat goalmouth from the left wing. It eludes everyone, despite a nice lunging header from the Pontaumur no9 and goes out for a goal kick.
Pontaumur will really be malade comme un perroquet if they lose this match after the action of the last hour and a half.
There's no replays in the League Cup, so with the match finishing level after the 90 minutes we go for penalties. It's the best of 5, and if the scores are level after the five penalties then they continue until one team has an advantage.
Pionsat win the toss and go first. The kick was such that there was time to write a letter to say which side of the goal he was putting that, and the Pontaumur keeper makes a comfortable save.
Now it's Pontaumur's turn to take a penalty. and the no9 sends the Pionsat keeper the wrong way. It's a good penalty too, just about the right height that makes it difficult to save.
I'm told that Pionsat's keeper is 43 years of age. He'll be feeling every one of those years after this game. Mind you, that's not old at this level of football. France's oldest registered league footballer is 75 and he plays in Division 3 of this competition.
Pionsat go for their second penalty and it's the no10 who steps up to the spot.
He gets the height right but puts it well wide of the post. Mind you, look at Pontaumur's keeper. He's guessed the height and guessed the direction and he would probably have managed to keep it out had it been anything like on target.
It's an awfully long walk back to the centre circle when you have just missed a penalty.
It's another no10 who strides up to the spot for this kick - the Pontaumur no10. He was lucky to be still on the field after some of the lip he was giving out to the ref during the match. I wouldn't have tolerated half as much.
But still, I digress. A regular feature of these pages as you know, I'm afraid. Anyway, the Pontaumur no10 sends the keeper the wrong way and scores. 2-0 to Pontaumur.
Yes, 2-0 to Pontaumur. Pionsat can't afford to miss another one. The Pionsat no9 strides up to the penalty spot and anticipating a dive from the Pontaumur keeper, send it straight down the middle.
But if you send it straight down the middle you need to hit it really hard and somewhere just below chest-height or at neck-height, the hardest positions for a goalkeeper to safely grab it. If you send a daisycutter along the ground or thereabouts, the keeper will just stick out a leg and kick it clear.
Just like this in fact.
This next kick is vital. If Pontaumur score it, then Pionsat can't catch them and that will be that. And look who it is! It's our friend with the silly hat.
He strides up purposefully into the penalty area and places the ball carefully on the spot. He then takes a couple of paces backwards, runs forward, and whacks it ... right over the bar. Mind you, it was a close thing, as you can see. 20 cms lower and it would have been a goal. The keeper would not have reached it.
But the pressure is not off Pionsat yet. They need to score with all their remaining penalties and hope that Pontaumur miss all of theirs in order to have a chance of progressing to the next round of the Cup.
Pionsat's no12 strides up to the spot and takes a beautiful penalty. It's well-struck and at just the right height. Even though the Pontaumur keeper guessed the right way, he was never going to save it. Pionsat can breathe again. But if Pontaumur can score just one of the next two penalties then they win the match and progress through to the next round.
It's Pontaumur's turn again and the no5 strides up to take the kick. By rights he should have been rolled over by the Pionsat attack in the first half but as the match wore on and Pionsat were pressed back into defence he gained more confidence and was much better later in the game. But he's another one who was lucky to have finished the game as some of his antics were rather near the knuckle.
And it's all over now. The no5 sends the keeper the wrong way and scores to put his club through to the next round of the competition.
Pionsat only have themselves to blame for this defeat. They could have had half-a-dozen in the first half yet it was amazing how the match turned when Pionsat took the lead.
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