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3rd XI v AS EFFIAT - 2nd MAY 2010
With Montfermy having declared forfeit for the rest of the season this is Pionsat's last game - a do-or-die struggle between two clubs at the basement of the division. Effiat are on the bottom right now with Pionsat two places above them and a victory is vital for the self-esteem of both clubs.
The match has been brought forward from two weeks hence at Effiat's request and seeing as how it's a bank holiday weekend today with no other football being played, cynics can be forgiven for thinking that Effiat might be taking the opportunity to give a couple of their first and second-teamers some .... err .... match practice.
Indeed, as the teams warm up before the kickoff, I have to say that I don't recognise too many of the Effiat team that was mauled by Pionsat back in December .
But astonishingly, not only do Pionsat have a full side out (including Fabien who is normally in the 2nd XI's attack) they can afford the luxury of Marc, Jerome and Eric (three stalwarts of the side) on the bench. Florian has turned up with his kit but with no defections from the team he can't get a game and Thomas from the 1st XI and one or two others have come along "just in case".
So with a full-strength 3rd XI line-up of Damien in goal, a defence of Roman, Max, Remy, Damien and Renaud, Loïc, Edouard and Matthieu in midfield and Xavier and Fabien in attack we kick off. If Pionsat had had these 14 out all season wouldn't it just have been different for them?
And the game begins with a moment of total controversy and in my opinion quite rightly so. There's a major mix-up in the Effiat defence as Xavier is racing after a loose ball. One of the defenders and the keeper come for the ball at the same time and in the confusion the defender handles the ball. Xavier is the first to react to the loose ball and thumps it into the empty net and the referee ..... blows for the handball!
Just what happened to the Law of Advantage? It's quite clear in the Rules of the Game (said he with expert knowledge) - "the referee by applying the Law of Advantage shows his maturity and control of the game, for in penalising systematically every fault committed by a team he may well be giving them an unfair advantage in preventing the opposition from scoring a goal".
I reckon that that decision is .... well, you don't really want to know what I think. How Xavier and the rest of the Pionsat players kept their cool at that moment I really do not know.
But a free kick it is, no point in arguing, and Matthieu lines up to take it from about 20 yards out. It's an absolute peach, right over the wall and screaming for the far angle. But the keeper's reactions are as good as Matthieu's kick and he dives full-length across his goal, gets a hand to the ball and palms it round the post.
Even Matthieu is impressed and pats the keeper on the back. Is this really the same keeper who made such a mess of things in the away match?
Pionsat win another fee kick halfway in the Effiat half. All of the Pionsat attackers line up in quite an unusual formation wide on the wings, with no-one in the centre. What is going on?
The ball is played over the top of the defence into the empty space in the centre and Loïc, running in from midfield, gets onto the end of it and blasts it towards the goal, but he puts it just wide. That was a close one.
Pionsat are really playing well in this game and have Effiat under some pressure. They win a corner and the ball is played in but an Effiat defender rises to the ball and heads it clear.
It goes as far as Damien (the no6, not the keeper) who is about 25 yards out from goal. He sends a screamer back into the area but it goes just over the bar with everyone beaten, including the keeper.
How Pionsat haven't scored yet is a mystery to me with all of the pressure that they have had. Damien in goal has had hardly anything to do
But early in the second half, while I am being interrupted by one of the club regulars and so the camera isn't ready, Pionsat do take the lead. It's been a long time coming but here is is nevertheless.
It's a good ball over the top of the defence and Fabien, played onside by one of the defenders, does well to bring the ball under control. He gets the wrong side of his marker and so with the keeper out of position Fabien drives it home. Pionsat are 1-0 up and they really deserve this.
And there's a moment of crisis in the Pionsat defence. They've played so well in this match so far but yet again they are caught out by a lack of concentration at a vital moment.
An Effiat player, totally unmarked, has a shot at goal that leaves Damien standing but Renaud, rushing in from the right-back position, gets to the ball and heads it off the goal line to prevent a certain equaliser. The ball goes up in the air and Damien has to leap to catch it and despite a fumble (luckily there were no Effiat forwards up with the ball) he manages to hang on.
If ever there was a decisive moment in any match them this could well have been it.
Shortly afterwards Pionsat almost score a second goal. And it's from a glaring mistake by the Effiat keeper. He takes a kick out but it doesn't go far and puts one of his team mates in trouble as a Pionsat attacker comes bearing down on him. The defender plays it back to the keeper who now comes under pressure from the attacker.
I don't know what must have been in the head of the keeper at this moment but he elects to dribble to safety instead of whacking it away. And how many times have I complained about keepers messing around like that? That ball should have been in the cemetery across the road.
This pantomime takes us to the goal line about 10 yards outside the area with the goal totally uncovered and the keeper still won't kick it to safety. Just what is he doing? The ball comes free and finds Jerome about 15 yards out with an empty net in front of him but, being off-balanced and probably surprised as well, screws his shot wide of the target.
And it gets worse for Effiat and the keeper shortly afterwards, as Pionsat score a second goal near the end. It's a magnificent effort because it stems from an Effiat throw-in near the Pionsat corner flag.
Loïc intercepts the throw, takes two steps forward, sees Fabien standing just inside his own half and hoofs the ball right over the defence clear into the Effiat half. No offside of course as Fabien was in his own half when the ball was played.
Fabien races after the ball, hotly pursued by two Effiat defenders and for some inexplicable reason that only he will know, the Effiat keeper elects to charge out of his goal. He doesn't stand a chance and Fabien, who by now has collected the ball, simply knocks it past him and then prods it into the empty net.
Just look where the keeper is. He doesn't have a hope of doing anything useful that far out of goal if he hasn't a 100% chance of getting the ball.
My major gripe about keepers, apart from their failure to clear their lines, is their rush of blood to the head. The number of times I've said things about keepers charging off their lines and they don't take a blind bit of notice. A man with a ball is slower than two men without it and had the keeper stayed on his line drawing Fabien towards him it would have given the defenders a chance to catch up and close him down and maybe put him off his shot.
But once the keeper had come off his line the result was a foregone conclusion.
The keeper, totally fed up and I've no idea why, changes his shirt with another player and goes off to play in the outfield.
So Pionsat's 3rd XI end the season with a win - one that hauls them another place up the table to 7th out of 10. What would have been the odds on this at the end of November when they were bottom of the table?
This was one of the best matches I have seen them play, so what was the difference?
Firstly they had a full complement of 14 players, including a defender on the bench so that they could rotate the team when people started to tire.
Secondly Fabien from the 2nd XI came to help out and I wish more people from the 1st and 2nd XI would volunteer whenever they can.
Thirdly they had some encouragement from some of the 1st and 2nd XI players who had come along to watch.
It doesn't take much to transform the fortunes of this team as we have seen and with some help and guidance from those in charge Pionsat's 3rd XI could be a good solid mid-table outfit.
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