It certainly seemed more important for some ...
But let's start at the beginning !
It was a lovely day. Sunshine, ice cream, candy floss, bouncy castles and a lot of balls.
We were on time, we'd received our programme, we'd found our selected pitch for the day, and we had lots of energy and excitement. It seemed like all was well.
First game :
BOOM ! - LOST.
Second game :
BOOM ! - LOST.
Third game :
BOOM ! BOOM ! - LOST.
"Good gravy !" , we exclaimed. "What happened ?!". At yesterday's training, the boys were on fire. Carving open the opposition, threading passes through defenders, burning holes through the back of the net.
But in those early games today, well, we were a bit rubbish to be honest ! Lots of effort, but not much organisation.
Maybe we should have rested the boys, maybe we should have warmed up properly, maybe we need better coaches ?
Whichever of those (first 2) reasons it is, we weren't doing out best.
But then, our moment came. It was the playoffs. No more matches unless we won. A quarter final for the bottom half.
They say "From adversity comes great strength", and well, the Rovers certainly proved that ... Pushing, shoving, fighting, swearing, aggressive and downright dodgy, those little terrors ploughed through our boys.
The referee was avoiding it all. Young and inexperienced perhaps, never the like seen before, maybe he thought they'd settle down after a few minutes ... but they didn't.
If any of our foxes were unsure of exactly how to pronounce EVERY swear word in the English language, by the end of that game they were fluent in Docker. No longer would any parent be able to get away with, "No Maxi, I think he said, ''Muddy Funster".'
The kids were upset. The parents were incensed. The coaches were fuming. The Warmley supporters were angry for us. And the grandparents ? Well, that's another story.
Suddenly, Maxi gets pushed from behind for the umpteenth time. He turns and pushes back. The Rovers ragamuffin pushes him back again. The ref runs over and tells them both off. Maxi cries and runs off. Not wanting to play the game he loves any more.
We send him back on. As Winnie Churchill once said, "When you're going though Hell, just keep going ...".
We wanted a Hollywood Ending, we needed a Hollywood Ending ... and we got our Hollywood Ending !
The battle raged on. Time and time again, young Edward saved us from defeat with his gravity defying acrobatics. He flew around that goal like he was on stunt wires.
Kione, out of his favoured position and in defence, cleared the ball perfectly with his precision volleys.
We were hanging on. All the boys were giving it everything they had.
It was the last 2 minutes of extra time.
The score was 0-0.
In 120 seconds we would have the pressure and pain of a Penalty Shootout.
So the team forced themselves forward. Our tactics were to score at any cost.
Stumbling and grumbling, they fearlessly surged through the wall of trouble, bad haircuts and tattoos, pausing only to jot down obscenities they'd never heard before.
Suddenly, a gap appeared and someone threaded the ball through to Max.
He turned ... and shot.
The crowd gasped. Everyone held their breath, the ball rocketed through the air. Their keeper stretched for it, touched it, but it was too strong !!! It boomed into the top corner !
But it bounced straight out from the back of the net into the keeper's hands !
Did the Ref see it ? Would he blow his whistle ? Would he give us our Ending ?
PEEEEEP !
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL !
The crowd went wild. We were through !
Sweet Revenge for Max ! Sweet (and Sour) Victory for the Foxes !
Hoooooooooooooowever, this Hollywood Ending had an extended Director's Cut. You know, like one of those movies that was great before, then they re-release it with a different ending and it juuuuust spoils it all ?
You see, unfortunately, during the "constructive criticism for the referee" stage, one of our supporters decided he needed to go on to the pitch to inform the 17 year old official about the rules and regulations that adorn our beautiful game.
And even more bizarrely did it whilst using a golf club as a walking stick.
Maybe he was teed off, or just green with envy that the decisions were going the Rovers' way. Perhaps he thought he wasn't handling the match in a fair way and wasn't up to par. Whatever it was, he figured putting his point across about the opposing club in a rather frank manner wood help our cause and iron out any problems we had.
It didn't.
We got disqualified.
.
.
.
There's more to this story than we need to tell, but suffice it to say, the youngsters learned a lot that day.
Not just all the swear words, but also that, like them, grown ups can be a bit silly too ...
Still, they all had ice creams, and we finished on a win. So well done to all the young Foxsters.
A bit of a shaky start, but the utter determination in all the games was something to be proud of.
And if there's anything good to come out of this, it's that at least my autobiography is practically writing itself ...
Here's some action shots .. and the obligatory final word ...
... and finally, I have to add ...
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Not surprisingly, no one argued with this referee ...
FOXES TOURNAMENT next folks. Everyone's picked. Sign up ! |
Ha ha beautifully "putt"! As they say you could'nt make it up! Mel
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