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CEBAZAT v 1st XI - 11th OCTOBER 2009
It was another beautiful drive down across country to Cebazat which is a suburban area between Riom and Clermont Ferrand.
Finding the town was something - finding the stadium was something else. Someone directed me to the municipal stadium, a really impressive pile with running track and everything. Surely we won't be playing in this?
But there's another pitch at the side and just as I begin to settle down, two girls' teams run out and kick off. While I'm chatting to some locals trying to find out what is going on, there's a break down the right wing and a good high cross into the area that has the keeper's name written all over it. She jumps up and gets both her hands comfortably onto the ball, and then lets it carry right over her head. It falls at the feet of an attacker who taps into the empty net.
The locals eventually point me in the direction of another ground and I finally arrive there to be confronted with a hike through a public park across a five-hectare field to find the pitch and the match already under way.
And someone ought to report Cebazat to the Puy-de-Dome Football League for bringing the game into disrepute. How can you possibly have a football match being played on a ground that doesn't have a pie hut? It's an outrage!
And as I walk up to the touchline, even before I've got myself into a proper position, we have some action.
Pionsat, playing in their alternative grey strip that I do not like at all, are on the attack. There's a good move down the left wing by Pionsat and a high ball into the area with a lovely volley from the Pionsat forward. The keeper had to be at full stretch for that one.
I manage to take a photo of the linesman's shoulder at the same time, but you can consider yourselves lucky. One or two matches just recently I've missed the opening action through being held up somewhere en route.
Pionsat are playing some lovely football right now. There are some good one-twos down the right wing between Thomas the no9 and the guy playing at no10, who is a new signing over the summer I think.
The no10 works himself into a good position and the keeper rushes out to put him off. The no10 spots his opportunity and has a go at lobbing him but the ball just goes over the top. Pionsat were really unfortunate here - this was an excellent move.
At the far end we have a calamity, as Pionsat always seem to able to manage whenever they get on top in a game. François is abandoned by his defenders as they try to play the offside trap and fail. He's left all on his own in a one-on-one with the quick Cebazat no11. He pushes the ball past the onrushing François and as he goes past, François commits what is called a "professional foul" and brings him down.
Some referees would have waved the red card at a moment such as this and there would have been few complaints from anyone. François is lucky that it's only a yellow. One or two of the Cebazat supporters shout ironically "that was really kind of you, ref". Who says that irony is a humour only appreciated by the Brits?
What annoys the Cebazat supporters even more is that François redeems himself in the shoot-out by guessing the right way the kick is to be taken and makes a really good save.
Once more, Pionsat unsuccessfully play the offside trap leaving François all alone with half of the Cebazat side bearing down on him. This time he gets to the ball first and whacks it upfield.
The clearance is picked up by one of the Pionsat defenders, the no6, who runs the ball upfield with a few of his team-mates on a quick breakaway seeing as most of the Cebazat side is caught out of position.
They make the penalty area and the no6, still with the ball, finds himself in a little bit of space on the edge of the goal area. He seizes the opportunity and punts the ball home. That was some excellent play from Pionsat and they deserved that.
As an aside, the above photograph has proved to be one of the most popular of the tens of thousands that I've taken and it graced the sports pages of the local newspaper, La Montagne, in their edition of 16 October 2009.
Once more, François is totally abandoned by his team mates and is involved in a one-on-one with a Cebezat forward. And he has to confront the attacker without bringing him down or even touching him otherwise he would be for the early bath.
He's beaten once but manages to push the attacker too wide of the posts for a shot so the player tries to come inside again. And with a totally open goal glaring at him he loses his head and goes for glory He puts it almost at the corner flag. No-one else could have done anything other than score in this situation.
Pionsat can't keep on riding their luck like this and getting away with it, and sure sure enough they are soon made to pay.
Cebezat beat the Pionsat offside trap yet again and this time they finally manage to get the ball into the net. A different forward has a one-on-one with the keeper yet again and shows his colleagues how to do it. You have to feel sorry for François at times like this. His defenders did it on him last week in the match at Pontaumur too.
And everyone is ready for the second half except the referee. He needed to visit the dressing room but it's so far away from the pitch that he needed a native guide to show him the way. 20 minutes later they still haven't made it back. They are still probably trying to hack their way through the brush.
And Pionsat must have wished that the ref had stayed in the dressing room as once the match restarts they quickly go a goal behind.
This time Pionsat avoid playing the offside trap but yet again they are caught in two minds on the edge of the box. "If in doubt, whack it out" is what we were told when we were 11-year olds and that's good advice even today. But Pionsat almost always try to do the difficult thing and it almost always goes wrong. Here, they lose possession on the edge of the area and Cebezat whack it into the net.
Pionsat win a free kick from at least 35 yards out, if not even longer. With the sun streaming into the eyes of the Cebezat keeper (it was an absolutely beautiful day) the Pionsat player whallops it upfield in the direction of the goal.
It's high and it's dipping, the keeper misses it and it clangs off the top of the bar and bounces away, with everyone in total confusion. With just a little bit of luck Pionsat could have had a goal here.
We're going through a spell of end-to-end play and right at the moment it's at Pionsat's end.
Cebezat have a break upfield and the ball is played around across the edge of the penalty area. A Cebezat player is freee on the right-hand edge of the area with no Pionsat defender around at all to mark him and he looses off a shot. Mind you, I suppose it was a shot but he drags it right across the face of the goal and out for a goal kick.
And Pionsat equalise! The no11 is incredibly persistent down the right wing - he keeps on going despite everything that the Cebezat defence throw at him. He gets a cross in and Thomas (I think it's him) tries a most outrageous bicycle kick. He misses it completely but it pulls everyone over towards him.
As the ball rolls free, Christophe, the no12 who came on earlier to replace Nico who has limped off with a strained muscle, is totally unmarked and slots it under the keeper.
There's a foul committed by a Cebezat player, the no6 I think. Yet another one and the referee is clearly fed up of some of these little niggles and waves the card - not before time it has to be said.
Now this ref, who clearly has Alzheimer's Disease or something and realises it, stops play for 5 minutes while he writes "War and Peace" in his little book.
And how the ref didn't book the no5 for dissent was something that I found quite extraordinary.
Pionsat are still going forward in the final stages of the game looking for the winning goal and an attacker is brought down by a Cebazat defender just outside the penalty area.
Pionsat's no8 puts in yet another good hard shot over the wall. It curves down and round and is heading for the far corner but the keeper dives full-length to push it away for a corner.
The match finishes on, what for me, was quite an unsavoury moment. At this level of football there simply aren't enough officials and each team has to nominate a linesman to watch for throw-ins and offsides. And Pionsat break down the right wing with about half the team against the keeper. The Cebezat linesman has a quick look around to see where the referee is and then raises his flag for offside.
Now where I'm standing I'm dead level with the play and if that was offside, then I'm a Dutchman, m'n heer. His body language said everything you needed to know about that decision. Last year there were several "incidents" at a match at Sauret. And while you can excuse officials for not knowing the rules, or being unsighted, there are certain things that you shouldn't excuse at all.
But as I said, it was a nice day out.
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