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14 JUL 2010- King's Sports Centre, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
In the EBs formative years he was taken aside by his father and given some key lessons in life. Daddy EB was a very wise man and was known through the remote village that he lived in as being an oracle of information and wisdom. Admittedly, to the trained eye this information may have been perceived to come from the pub jukebox, Christmas crackers and the almost euphoric trancelike state from too many diesels once every two weeks when the rock and roll paid up but it was wisdom none the less and the villagers and the EB lapped it up. From these the EB learned eight valuable rules in life that were on display in another sterling OB performance last night;
1) Never gonna give you up,
2) Never gonna let you down,
3) Never gonna run around and desert you,
4) Never gonna make you cry,
5) Never gonna say goodbye,
6) Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
It also learnt:
7) A sunburnt penguin, a zebra in a blender and a newspaper are all black and white and red all over
and
8) Those who can, do, and those who can't suggest ideas for others.
Admittedly the last one was more Zen and less Diesel but Daddy EB was a good man who f ucking hated prison flicks starring Nelson Mandela.
Going a goal down to last season's finalists, "Transformers" was a big ask and the first real test of the season for this OB team that is desperate to prove that the success of last season was not a fluke. The goal came from distance and was a little against the run of play as the OBs had pressed and harried and put the Transformers under the kind of pressure that normally brings out a confession and it didn't at all involve a flight of stairs, a hot jug of coffee, a set of pliers and a length of rope with a large knot in it m'lud. Fortunately, this OB team took the wisdom imparted from Daddy EB and never gave up, they never let each other down, never deserted, certainly didn't cry, really didn't say goodbye and there were no lies or hurt. Pastor Astley would have been proud.
Leading the fight back was Anderson with a sweetly struck half volley from midway in the opposition half. A magnificent goal and his first for the OBs; the ball broke to him and his first time shot curved through the air and past the bemused 'keeper. Regular wonder goal striker Addison was next up with two magnificent strikes from the left both of which crossing the goal and finding the far corner. Addison's ability to keep calm under pressure and keep the ball down shows his true class as a footballer and will make him a serious contender for goal of the season this year, if not top goal scorer. With Clarke, Cummings and Shakespeare rotating the centre forward position and with their running, control and distribution causing problems, the Transformers really struggled to get back into the game. At the end of the half, the OBs were a comfortable 3-1 up and the Transformers had gone all Moat, they were surprised, then they were shocked and then they lost their head.
The half team talk by the Gaffer had been focused on defence and the need to keep the Transformers shut out and this was taken literally by the defensive players. Roughead and Gaffing made the defensive midfield position their own and with a combined age of well over one hundred years showed the youngsters around them what determination really meant. They checked run after run, made tackle after tackle and kept the marauding Transformers midfield in check so well that HM Prison Service immediately after the game offered them jobs as Prison Guards. Sives was also strong in the defensive effort and whilst he may not be called on by the Prison Service, opticians on the island would love him as a poster boy. From close range and with eyes like a hawk he stopped shot after shot and blocked and parried and cajoled and was a real influence in the defensive performance of the second half; such a shame, like a rabbit playing in the soft grass of a woodland glade unknowingly in the crosshairs of a sniper, he's vulnerable from distance.
The defensive effort was completed by an almost faultless performance by Brown and Comins. Against a younger and quicker forward line, the experience of these two campaigners ensured that Transformers rarely got a sight on goal and neither player gave up needless fouls in dangerous areas despite being under almost constant pressure. They crunched tackles, won headers, turned defense in to attack and so demoralised the Transformers forward line that they resorted to tantrums and sulking. It wasn't negative football or dreary defensive duties, it was two lions protecting the pride of the OBs and it was bloody good to watch. As the OBs voted on the man of the match award, it was fitting that it was given to these two jointly.
And so, as OBs head to a free week and then their biggest challenge against last seasons first division winners in two weeks time, the EB is pleased to report on yet another OB win and hope for more in the future and can leave you with a few thoughts; if writing is easy every one would do it, when trying to read jokes on a lolly stick you need to be careful that you've licked off the Voom first and you don't a cephalopod to tell you results, you just need to know the game and play it. |
