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3rd XI v ES ST ANGEL
4th SEPTEMBER 2010
Hello, hello, here we are again! It's 5th September and the season opens with a 3rd XI match against St Angel. I don't recall their name being mentioned in Division 4 last season so they may have been one of the clubs relegated from Division 3.
And it's something of a different 3rd XI that we are seeing today. Matthieu is in goal, the two Christophes are playing in central defence and there's a winger who is new to the club. There's also a centre-forward who I'm sure that I saw playing once or twice last season and although he wan't match-fit then (assuming that it's the same guy), he impressed me with what he did. Eric and Romain were on the bench, Damien was refereeing, Max and Renaud were in the crowd, there was another guy who I know who has played a couple of times and he was in the crowd too, and Xavier wasn't here at all.
And it isn't long before the action begins, and it takes place in the St Angel penalty area. There's some good play down the Pionsat forward line and a couple of players link up quite nicely on the edge of the penalty area with some neat play.
This no9, who has already impressed me in the 10 minutes or so during which we have been playing, beats his man, finds some empty space and has a go for goal. The keeper is lucky to get down to this and he manages to scramble it away. Pionsat could have been on their way here.
The keeper is not so lucky with this ball however. Again these two new players are linking up quite nicely in the Pionsat attack. But this attack stems from a ball in midfield, a one-touch interception and pass down the wing and another one-touch pass into the centre that catches the entire St Angel defence wrong-footed as they wait in vain for the offside flag to go up (I was level with play and the Pionsat forward was a good yard onside, and the linesman on this side - the St Angel linesman as it happened - agreed with me).
The no9 wins the ball and goes this time for the other side of the keeper, and that's Pionsat in front.
I can't remember how many weeks it was last season (and it certainly was weeks) before Pionsat's 3rd XI scored their first goal (it was a Xavier "thumper", as I recall) but this season it's just 18 minutes.
But it isn't long before St Angel pull a goal back. Pionsat lose possession in the right side of midfield - in the opposition half as it happens and the defence, who had come maybe a little too far forward, are caught out of position.
They aren't quite as quick as they might be in getting back and a couple of St Angel players manage to break through on goal. One of the attackers looks up, notices Matthieu a little too far forward off his line, and lifts the ball over him into the net.
But never say die Pionsat. They don't let their heads drop and go back upfield looking for another goal. It's the no9 once more and he makes himself a little space in the attack. He is looking quite the business at this level of football.
With a quick raise of his head he spots the keeper off his line and tries to emulate the St Angel goalscorer (the dirty beast) from about 20-25 yards out. He doesn't get enough on it though and the keeper catches it without being under any pressure at all.
A few minutes later Pionsat do go back in front. And it's a frightful mix-up in the St Angel defence. It's a high punt into the St Angel penalty area by one of the Pionsat midfielders, more in hope than expectation and both the goalkeeper and the centre half move towards the ball to clear it.
They see each other coming and so they both stop - not a one of them shouts for the ball - and the no9 manages to slide in a leg between them both and prod the ball into the empty net. That was a goal out of nothing and the 3rd XI deserve every now and then to score a goal like that. It took everyone by surprise - even me.
The second half is a little quieter at least in the opening period and we have to wait for quite a while for some action. There's again some quick thinking in the Pionsat midfield and a nice diagonal ball puts this new Pionsat winger into some space.
He's pretty quick, this guy (Valentin, his name is) and he cuts inside and goes for a curler around the keeper. The keeper just about gets his fingertips to the ball and push it away.
We have to wait until the very end of the match for a moment of real controversy. There's a foul on one of the Pionsat attackers - it's a clear foul and as it happened to be in the penalty area it was a clear penalty. But the St Angel defenders dispute the foul, and then they dispute the fact that it happened in the area. Damien goes over to inspect a mark on the pitch and then points to the spot.
Now I'm not going to say anything about the penalty kick because we can all have our off-days, but the keeper didn't need to do much to earn his money in this situation.
From the keeper's save the ball rebounds clear, to the ironic cheers and applause from the St Angel bench. It travels as far as Christophe who has another chance to go for glory.
This time the ball is somehow smothered by a combination of the St Angel defenders and the goalkeeper, just as we were all expecting the ball to find the back of the net, and it's somehow bundled away out of danger.
What happened next was ... errr ... unclear. Suddenly Damien turned round, glared at a St Angel defender and awarded a free kick just on the edge of the penalty area. Matthieu runs up out of his goal to take it, and lauches one of his legendary curlers around the wall. It doesn't trouble the keeper but the consequences of this might have troubled Matthieu. He has to scamper back to his goal in rather a hurry as St Angel take the quick goal kick.
Speaking to Damien after the match it seems that one of the St Angel players made some kind of remark that was rather too near the knuckle for a Saturday evening's family entertainment, and Damien was not impressed.
And on that note, the match ended. And Pionsat's 3rd XI find themselves at the top of the table. They can bask in this glory for at least 18 hours until the rest of this weekend's round of matches will have been played.
None of this is anything to get excited about, however. The 2nd XI aren't playing this weekend and so a couple of the players from that team took the opportunity to have some match practice. Next weekend when all three teams are out I reckon that we will be back to where we left off last season.
One thing to get excited about though is the quality of the photos. I have a new camera - a Nikon D5000
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