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AS NEUF EGLISE v 3rd XI 18th APRIL 2010
It was a gloriously sunny but windy day here on the exposed and windswept plateau that passes for Neuf Eglise's football ground.
And two things happened today that have probably never ever happened before, and probably won't ever happen again. And they are that
Firstly...... not only did Pionsat have a full complement of 11 players, they had a full complement of substitutes too and also another player who didn't make the team but came along with his kit "just in case"
Secondly.. the oppostion could only muster FIVE players.
The laws of football are quite clear as to what happens in these circumstances. No team may take the field or continue a match with less than eight players, and if they cannot put out eight players on the field at any point in the match they must forfeit the game. Furthermore there are penalties in the case where a team cannot muster eight players at the kick-off. They lose a point and they have to pay a fine, presumably to reimburse the travelling expenses of the visiting team.
Some teams in the league rigorously enforce the letter of the law but Pionsat of course know what it's like to be short-handed and so a solution was rapidly arrived at to everyone's satisfaction. We ended up with a 10-a-side friendly match. Even I was asked if I would like to play but with no boots it wasn't really an option.
The first action is from an indiret free kick awarded due to a handled backpass by the Neuf Eglise goalkeeper. Xavier lines up to take the kick with a player on his left and another to his right. He feints to the left, backheels to the right, and the player there goes for glory but puts it over the bar from about 15 yards out.
But does backheeling it count as kicking it within the meaning of the rules? Now that I'm a ...gulp... qualified referee I ought to know these things. I shall have to find out.
Pionsat eventually take the lead after about ten times of trying. It's been all Pionsat so far. There's a good ball right across field to Xavier but the ball goes behind him so he turns, runs after the ball and plays it back to Christophe who is running in behind. Christophe squares the ball to Jerome who is in centre-field and he blasts it home into the roof of the net.
Some nice play there by Xavier and Pionsat deserve the lead after all the attacking they have had. Damien in the Pionsat goal has had nothing to do so far except handle the odd backpass or two.
Early in the second half Pionsat almost go further in front. It's a lovely ball right through the defence and Eric runs onto it. He's in a one-on-one with the keeper and Eric manages to get the ball wide of the keeper and it looks like a certain goal.
However the keeper just about manages to get a trailing leg to the ball and puts it wide of the post for a corner. Pionsat were unlucky there.
Eric is once again in the thick of the action. He wins the ball in midfield and takes the ball into the penalty area. His shot is blocked by aone of the defenders and falls to Pionsat's no7, Loïc, who I don't recall having seen before (it's been a while since he's played, apparently) and who looks like a Welsh coalminer.
Loïc lifts it over the defence and over the keeper and the keeper's despairing backflip just manages to get a hand to it but he can only help it into the net. All this attacking and it's still only 2-0. I can't believe it.
But eventually Pionsat go on to score a third. Eric has to stretch really high to reach this ball and does well to control it. He's all on his own surrounded by a couple of Neuf Eglise defenders in front of goal and so intelligently holds the ball up until a teammate can join him.
While the Neuf-Eglise defenders are preoccupied Jerome, who is the first to react, sneaks round the blind side of defence. Eric lays the ball off and Jerome, all on his own, makes no mistake with his shot.
There's a huge clearance out of goal by Damien, whose kicking has been excellent today. It beats almost everyone on the field and sails clean over the top of the defence
Jerome, who is having an excellent game today, just about manages to catch up with it. He's the only player for miles around and from 15 yards out with just the keeper to beat, tries his luck. But he puts it just wide of the post.
And we have yet another huge clearance from Damien that sails again almost the whoe length of the field. This time it finds Eric in the forward line. He's also having an excellent game today - the best I've ever seen him play.
He once again lays it off to Jerome who is once again on his own 15 yards out. This time Jerome's shot is on target but the keeper, diving full-length, gets a hand to the ball and pushes it out for a corner.
Eric and Jerome are combining really well up front latching onto these long wind-assisted clearances from Damien in the second half. Xavier, who plays as rhe big tall target man in the Pionsat attack is doing his job by pulling the defenders out of position and leaving these gaps for the other two to sneak into.
The opposition, because you can't really call them Neuf-Eglise, pull one baka goal back late in the game. The "regular" Loïc who is playing for the other team today wins the ball and noticing Damien off his line, curls the ball around him and into the net.
And after all I said to Damien last night and this afternoon about him staying on his line and not wandering off when all seems quiet, and yet there he was again - miles out of his goal. GRRRRRRRRR!
And so we have a comfortable victory for Pionsat at last in their efforts to haul themselves out of danger.
And as I have said before and I make no apologies for saying it again, it really is all about numbers. Here we have a full complement of player at last and they are able to take advantage of the lack of oppostion. And even in games where the opposition has been complete, then numbers on the subs bench gives the players on the field the opportunity to come off and have a breather when they get worn out, and we don't have any collapses in the final minutes of each half.
The match against Manzat where Pionsat lost 6-1 would only have been a 2-1 defeat if it had been played over 35 minutes each half or if something could have been done to replace the shattered defenders who had run out of steam with 10 minutes to play in each half.
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