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OLBY CEYSSAT v 1st XI
27th NOVEMBER 2011
Driving down to Ceyssat, I took the scenic route around the Puy-de-Dome and then over the Col de Ceyssat into the village. Once I'd reached somewhere around Manzat, the weather brightened up and the sun came out, although there was a rather ominous cloud loitering away in the distance, about 500 feet above the ground.
The Puy looked absolutely splendid with the sun beating down upon and so I took a photo of it to celebrate the beautiful weather. And as I climbed up over the pass I was thinking "what a glorious day we are going to have for a footy match at another one of these grounds that I have never visited"
I was quite looking forward to the afternoon and the game and so on.
But of course I spoke too soon. As soon as I dropped over the other side of the pass I was right in the ominous cloud that I had noticed earlier. It was totally astonishing how dramatic was the change in the weather over just a kilometre or so.
As I arrived here the match between Olby Ceyssat's 2nd XI and the Charensat team was just ending and so I took a quick photograph to show you exactly what I mean by the clouds that were hanging around up here - because we are, apparently, about 1000 metres above sea level just here.
Ohh for a breath of wind to blow it all away!
At the start of the match Pionsat line up in something like a 4-3-3 formation. Matthieu is in goal, with Gaëtan, Sébastien, Alex and the other Gaëtan in defence. Midfield is Vianney, Julien and Pierre, with Cedric, Jerome and Nico up front. On the bench we have Thomas, Michael and Jojo.
And just for a change, there's no Franck in the dug-out. Christophe is there instead and right right from the start of the game he's making sure that the players hear him. He's being extremely vocal and we could do with a bit of this every week. It's exactly what is required - someone hurling abuse at the players from the dug-out, to make sure that they keep their concentration.
The opening few minutes are all Pionsat with Jerome roaring away down the right wing. He's having a good game so far and he's just crossed a nice ball into the penalty area and Cedric has risen above the defence - he's probably a good six inches taller than their tallest defender - and has a free header at the ball, but puts it wide of the post.
And look at Pierre standing there, totally unmarked in the centre of the goal waiting for a loose ball or a rebound. That's good positioning and something that other players should note. Ceyssat's defence is looking a little creaky.
"A little creaky" I said, and I was right. Pionsat go in front early on in the game following a long ball forward and some really good interpassing by the front three. As the ball is played across the goalmouth there's a handball by one of the defenders and the referee blows for a free kick. It's another one of those harsh decisions but then again I don't mind that if the referee is consistent.
What is a surprise though is that the referee gives a free kick right on the 18-yard line. Everyone else - players and supporters alike - were convinced that the incident took place in the penalty area. Well, well, well.
But it matters not. Pierre steps up to take the kick and we all know that he has a wicked kick from this kind of range, But I don't know what happened there because it looked like Pierre miskicked it and it grubbed its way all along the ground and into the net with the goalkeeper wondering what happened.
Still, they all count, no matter how they go in. And I bet Pierre will say that he did it on purpose anyway.
And Pionsat almost score a second shortly afterwards. A careless pass from one of the Ceyssat players is intercepted by one of the Pionsat midfielders who plays it forward to Jerome, who was already on the run before he received the ball.
He takes on and beats the entire defence and has a shot that beats the keeper but which whizzes just past the far post. Had he pulled it back a yard or two an unmarked Cedric would have had that one.
Pionsat are still pressing resolutely forward and here they win a corner. The ball is floated into the goalmouth by Nico, nice and high, and the keeper climbs upabove everyone to palm it away.
The ball travels only as far as Cedric whose first-time shot on the volley is kicked off the line by a Ceyssat defender. No wonder Cedric raises his arms in despair.
It's still all Pionsat right at the moment and here's another corner - from the right hand side this time. Jerome wins the ball and drives one right across the goalmouth and there is Pierre again at the far post, totally unmarked yet again. Pierre gets his head to the ball but he just can't get it on target and it goes wide of the post and out for a goalkick.
I really don't know what the Ceyssat defenders are doing at the moment. Three of them are standing around and there are three Pionsat attackers totally unmarked. It's just like the match last night and I'll settle for a score like that in Pionsat's favour.
I think that Christophe has got the message too. We've had a substitution with Nico coming off and Michael coming on to see what he can do playing off Cedric's shoulder.
I said that it was relentless and I wasn't wrong either. Again, it's Jerome down the wing and again it's a high cross into the area and and again it's a free header from Cedric and again it's wide of the post for a throw-in.
Defence all over the place, stuck in no-man's land, Michael also totally unmarked. And I bet that Cedric will be kicking himself when he sees this photo. He was that close to scoring.
Two things can happen at moments like this. Either the relentless pressure pays off and the attackers finally put the ball away, or else there's a breakaway down the field and a sleepy bunch of spectators that is the defence is caught napping. Knowing my luck of course, you would be excused for thinking the latter, but in actual fact Pionsat finally do score the goal that they have been threatening for most of the first half.
It's once again Jerome going down the wing like a train, with the defenders standing about as much chance of stopping him too. This time it's a cross on the ground into the area which takes everyone by surprise. Cedric slides in on the ball and sends the keeper the wrong way.
It's only what Pionsat have been threatening throughout the first half, and when you see (or don't see) the Ceyssat defence, the only surprise is that it was so long in coming.
At the start of the second half we have another tactical change. And again I'm surprised that this one has been so long in coming as well. Pionsat have gone to 4-2-4 with Thomas coming on and going down the left wing and Vianney being withdrawn.
And this tactical change pays dividends immediately. Thomas is off right down the wing with the ball, beats a couple of defenders and gets the ball into the goalmouth, hard and low.
It goes right across the face of the goal, past a couple of sleeping defenders, and Michael is unmarked right at the centre of the goal. All he has to do is to side-foot it in, and the keeper wasn't anywhere near it.
I can understand the Ceyssat trainer being disappointed with his team's performance, but he should be directing his barrage of abuse at his players and not at the referee. Alleged fouls that aren't being whistled are happening to both teams out here today, and I didn't see what the fuss was about this particular one just now.
The referee agrees with me and goes over to explain to the bench in no uncertain terms that if they don't like his performance they aren't obliged to watch it and they can take themselves off to the dressing room any time they like.
And probably the most brilliant goal that I have ever seen is scored shortly after this incident. It brought a whoop from everyone in the crowd, even the Ceyssat supporters, and quite rightly so.
We had a beautiful long diagonal ball out of midfield that found Jerome out wide all on his own. He beat almost the entire defence single-handedly and as he ran in on goal and the keeper ran out to narrow the angle, Jerome simply hoisted the ball up over the outstretched arms of the Ceyssat keeper and right into the net.
This goal was even better than his effort last week against the Chimps . It really was that good.
We are back with the bizarre substitutions again and Christophe has taken Pierre off. Pierre has been playing his socks off for this match and I bet he'll be disappointed to go. It'll certainly give the opposition a breather.
It was after this that the battery in the camera suddenly went flat without warning. And that's a surprise as it's only done a couple of hundred photos. And that means that I miss all of the action that follows.
Such actions as, for example, another bizarre substitution as Jerome is taken off the field. And won't Ceyssat breathe a sigh of relief? I know that it is extremely unlikely that they will pull back four goals but we all were extremely nervous at Malauzat the other week when taking Jerome off gave us all a heart attack as Malauzat went rampaging forward.
As I expected, Ceyssat threw everything forward, including the kitchen sink, and it is just like against Malauzat because once more, Pionsat concede a penalty that really was a little unnecessary as it wasn't in a dangerous position. And Matthieu will be livid with me because although the penalty is well-taken he makes a superb dive low down to his left and puts a good hand to the ball to keep it out.
That sums up the game as far as Ceyssat are concerned because I think that that is their first serious shot on target.
It's desperation stakes again for Ceyssat and the match, which has been warming up for a while, boils over just like it did last week against the Chimps.
And Cedric, who is convinced that he is the victim of two bad challenges waved away by the ref, stands upfield in an offside position to argue his case, taking no interest in the game. Cedric is taken off the field so as to get his mind back on the match and Pierre comes back on to take his place. And this is how the match ends.
Isn't it nice to see the Pionsat side hit top gear at long last and demolish a weaker team such as Ceyssat. Six or seven goals would not have been impossible and Ceyssat were restricted to just one meaningful attempt on goal. This was a game well-played and well-won
Man of the weekend? This is really a difficult one. The supporters for last night's match against the Pieds-Noir should be in the occasion somewhere for having stuck the match until the final whistle, and François who kept goal for the 2nd XI deserves a mention too.
But today I really was torn in two. Jerome had another outstanding game down the right wing and scored a stunning goal, but overall I have to give my award by a hairs' breadth to Pierre who played as well as I have ever seen him play. He ran the midfield for most of the match and was involved in almost all of the crucial action.
As well as that, he was tackling back in defence, loitering in the goalmouth in good positions when Pionsat were attacking, and actually played formally in defence and attack during different stages of the game. All in all, Jerome can be unlucky to have missed out because on another occasion he would have won it this weekend.
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