IT was a tough week of football for the Toti FC O35 bullets that started off well on Wednesday but let’s just say the game plan did not quite go according to the script on Friday night.
On Wednesday the South Coast all stars travelled away to Montclair and came away with a convincing 3-1 victory against Yellowwood Park (YWP). Toti dominated the hosts in the first half, with Mathew ‘the tyre dude’ Powell scoring the first goal and Craig ‘the beast’ slotting the second and then shortly afterwards the beast struck the crossbar. Toti were positive and kept possession and both Avellino and Sheppie were denied by the agility of the YWP goalkeeper, thanks to the aid and tireless work rate of Shaun Holmes.
Score was 2-0 at half time.
After the break Yellowwood Park made some changes and stepped up the pace and started distributing the ball a lot better and putting pressure on the Toti backline.
Debut boy, Dale Studinski, had a dream start to his O35 career with a towering header to alleviate the pressure on the other end of the field but this did not seem to dampen the host’s resolve as they soldiered on and eventually slotted a soft goal right through my legs. With all three of our goalkeepers missing in action, I found myself selected as fourth choice, last-resort keeper, quivering between the sticks every time the ball came into the area and I did alright and would have kept a clean sheet had I seen the shot come in from outside the area. That is not what it looked like from the sidelines though, with me kitted out in what looked like leprechaun green goalkeeper attire. I appeared to prance towards the ball but misjudged the swerve of the shot, rendering me prostrate and now I have to live with the ridicule of the ball going through my wide open legs. The wheel turns in the most mysterious ways.
Final score 3-1 to Toti.
The long-awaited match two days later against the Twini 1st side was very entertaining and produced nine goals for the cheering fans on the packed terraces on Friday night at the rugby club. Twini were young and effervescent and played the game at a blinding pace that was just too much for the bullets to contain and the lighties found themselves 4-0 up at half time with scintillating and quality finishes. A brace of goals came from man of the match, Shaun while Dave and Jason scored one each.
The second half was an entirely different matter with the bullets clawing back two goals, courtesy of Avellino and Sheppie. Oddly enough, the side seemed to play better after I was substituted off the park for blowing like a beached whale by man of the match, Deon Dunbar, and when the legendary Ian Bender had sneaked off to the empty changerooms to cool down in the shower. The goals were not enough to stem the tsunami of attacks from Twini down the flanks and straight down the middle of the park and it was carnage with another three goals coming from Brad, Jude and Kelvin.
Janos Molnar, Michael Chapman and Sipho ‘hot stix’ grafted hard while Dean ‘the recoiling cobra’ Carson was reduced to the panting puff adder. Goalkeeper and coach, Decian ‘Quasimodo’ Romani, pulled off a double save and a number of other good stops but may have to be admitted to hospital next week to have the hump removed from his back as a result of spending most of the time picking the ball out of the back of the net.
It was a fitting end to Twini captain, Wesley Ferguson’s career at Twini as he moves on due to work commitments. Wesley received the COD award for his troubles and the club wishes him well.
Gary Hutchison did a fine job of refereeing and allowing the game to flow, which did on occasion see some heavy tackles going in from both sides – more so from the ballies though. There were some unsavoury chirps flying around on the park too but then that goes with the territory in derby matches like these. Twini manager, Justin Fourie, can be proud of his boys because they rolled with the old school punches and kept their heads, in spite of the one unsporting Young Turk who refused to shake hands after the undisputed victory because he felt he had been manhandled too much on the field. This unfortunate incident reminded me of a chirp from the super hero movie, Spawn – “you have been violated girly boy”. My advice to you my boy is that you if can’t run with the big dogs, then it is best that you sit on the stoep with the pussy cats and play with your regurgitated fur balls.
The final score was a deserved 7-2 to Twini.
