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BEAUREGARD VENDON v 2nd XI 19th APRIL 2009
Back in November, the 30th in fact, Pionsat's 2nd XI played Beauregard Vendon in a howling gale, and gave them quite a spanking. Today in the bright and warm sunshine was the return match, with the added attraction that if Pionsat were to score one clear goal more than Mozac, they would win the Championship and be promoted, with a couple of games still remaining.
There were quite a few changes in the Pionsat side today, including a young guy called Thomas playing at centre-forward. I was sure that I hadn't seen him before, although Michel, the trainer, assures me that I have. I'm certain that I would have remembered him. He was pretty quick and pretty keen and played a major part in the game today.
Beauregard Vendon's ground is another nice setting for a football match. There were nice rolling hills in the distance and a good view of the local church.
There was also a good view of Beauregard's no4, Cyrille by name, who was to make his mark on the game, and also on some of the Pionsat players, in more ways than one. If I had been refereeing this game he wouldn't have lasted more than 5 minutes on the field.
We didn't have too long to wait for the first goal. And it started, strangely enough, from a Beauregard attack. There was a good interception down the right side of the Pionsat defence and the ball was quickly played forward down the wing.
There were two Pionsat attackers upfield and the one wide on the right picked up the ball, drew the defence out of position and crossed inside for his colleague to tap home for 1-0.
Simple
Not long afterwards we had a famous mix-up here in the Beauregard defence. Another good ball came into the penalty area from the right wing and the entire defence (and some of the Pionsat attack) stood around watching it arrive.
Suddenly almost at the last moment this young no9 reacted and got something on it. The keeper had a despairing dive but missed and there was a desperate scramble by a Beauregard defender who hacked it off the line at the last second.
The Beauregard players can consider themselves really lucky here. If Thomas had reacted a microsecond earlier this would have been a goal.
Now I said a few rude things about the guy who was keeping goal for Beauregard at the reverse match, but whoever he was who was keeping goal here (I cannot be certain that it was the same guy) certainly redeemed himself.
The Pionsat no9 got in a good shot and the keeper clawed it out of the air with one hand and managed (probably to his surprise as much as to everyone else's) to hang on.
Bravo him!
Beauregard have a guy playing no8 who at first glance doesn't look all that much. But appearances are deceptive. He keep on going down the wing shrugging off tackles. At times Pionsat had 2 men marking him but it didn't seem to make much difference.
On this occasion he is clear through and it is the most timely of interceptions from a Pionsat defender that prevents a shot on goal.
And I was talking about this Cyrille, the Beauregard no4, a bit earlier. There was another vicious foul from him right in front of me and the referee for some reason that only he knows waved "play on". One or two people in the crowd (yours truly included) were rather dismayed by that.
Now I talked about an impressive save from the keeper a few minutes ago. This next bit is not so impressive. He had a habit of bellowing loudly each time he intended to come for the ball, although it seemed to me that this was more with the aim of intimidating the opposition than warning his defenders.
Here, as a cross came into the area from the left wing, he bellowed loudly so his defenders stood off waiting for him to come and collect. But instead of coming out, he stayed put with the aim of collecting it as it reached him, but that gave a Pionsat forward enough time to nip in in front of everyone and head home.
A more simple goal than that you won't ever see anywhere, and recriminations amongst the defence are no good at all.
It has to be said that a good many goals at this level are conceded due to simple misunderstandings amongst defenders. It would be well-worth any coach's while getting the defenders of a team together before the start of the season to sit down and work out a plan, some tactics and some simple calls. It would only take an hour or so.
Mock American gridiron (football) all you like, but when was the last time you saw a misunderstanding in an American gridiron play?
Shortly after that, the referee finally blows for a foul committed by the no4, "and about bloody time, too" I heard myself say on the dictaphone. I have to say that given the memory that I have, I always dictate my notes of the action. There is no possibility at all of me remembering what happened by the time the final whistle blows.
We change ends at half time (like the two homosexual football supporters) and the second half gets under way. And once more, we don't have to wait all that long for Pionsat to increase the lead. The Pionsat team is awarded a free kick and give a most marvellous demonstration of how to beat an offside trap.
As the kick is taken and the ball played over the top, the Pionsat players farthest forward run back, bringing the defence up with them, and the quick forwards run on from midfield. The two forwards are thus totally unmarked and in acres of space and one of them heads in past the stranded keeper.
This quick forward line is constantly catching out all of the other teams. It's the quickest attack I have ever seen and the success that the 2nd XI has had this season is down to them.
The next action would have made a really good photo if the camera shutter had not frozen at an inappropriate moment. Once more there's another nice ball over the top and Pionsat's Christophe finds himself in the centre of the action.
He's crowded out by the keeper and a defender but nevertheless gets off a good bicycle kick (which I would have loved to have photographed) which unfortunately goes narrowly wide of the post.
I've talked relentlessly about the perils of goalkeepers rushing from their lines with no home whatever of reaching the ball, and here's yet another example.
Although no goal results from this effort - the ball goes wide of the post - you can see precisely what I mean. The keeper rushes out, he hasn't a hope of getting to the ball and the Pionsat player simply drives the ball past him towards the open net. The keeper should have stayed on his line to cover the goal and left the defender to get in a tackle or put the attacker off his shot.
What happened next can only be described as a calamity. There's a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area and the keeper gives his huge bellow and runs out to give it a huge whack upfield. And fair enough, he makes the ball.
Unfortunately his huge whack goes straight into a Pionsat forward and the ball cannons back over his head towards the goal. The quick Pionsat forwards are after it like a flash and the no13, the Pionsat player furthest left, gets there ahead of his colleagues and as the ball bounces on the line he pokes it firmly home.
It's round about now that two cars pull up in the car park and 9 girls of various ages descend. I sidle over to Bernard, the President of the Pionsat club, to ask him, seeing as how promotion is practically assured, whether he has ordered some filles de joie to help celebrate the occasion.
The match is by now drawing to a close and this is another team that Pionsat has run to a frazzle. The Beauregard defenders can't simply catch up with the game.
Just like at Sauret-Besserve a few weeks ago the Pionsat forwards are queueing up to take pot shots at goal. It's only a matter of time before one goes in and it's Sébastian's turn to get himself onto the scoresheet with a wallop from outside the box.
I reckon the keeper was exhausted for he didn't make too much of an effort to stop this one. Ironically during the home fixture whoever was keeping goal for Beauregard also let a simple shot - a grubber - sneak into the net.
So it seems that Pionsat are promoted to the 2nd Division, and deservedly so. And I am trying hard to think whether Michael in the Pionsat goal actually did anything. He might have handled the ball a couple of times and kicked away from an onrushing Beauregard player a time or two, but Beauregard offered absolutely nothing up front.
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