2006-7 Season

Kenchels FC 0 Japanese XI 2

A pretty dire Kenchels performance this one. We spread so much manure on the pitch in the second half particularly that I swear the grass was growing under our feet.

Mystic Tel, seer of seers, had peered into the rice grains (or possibly rice pudding) before this game and forecast a 4-2 victory for the Mighty ‘Chels. Well, he got it half right. Someone scored two goals but it wasn’t us.

It was a tight first half and the Japs played a fast and furious game. Shots on target were few and far between but as the game wore on, they began using the width of the pitch more effectively.

Eventually, they broke through as we pushed up to catch them offside and their forward ended up one on one against Dave G. He squared it to his mate to make it one-nil to them.

At half-time the boss made several changes which mostly I can’t remember (possibly because they were unmemorable). I do know that Jake came off and EP moved up front – oh yeah, and I came on. I remember that.

As the second half progressed, we found our defence playing deeper and deeper. They had several chances – one in particular would have been a goal if the greedy little ****** had played another square ball instead of hitting it into Row Z.

There was one 15 minute spell where Kenchels seemed incapable of playing a properly weighted pass. Every time we struck the ball, it was falling a yard short of where it was supposed to go. Pressure, pressure and more pressure fell on the back three – with Dave G making one outstanding save at full stretch round his left post.

Their youth was beginning to tell and eventually the inevitable came to pass. We failed to clear the ball properly, they lobbed it over our defence for their forward to run onto and score. Kenchels heads were going down but we managed to pick ourselves up a little for the last 20 minutes.

We began playing further up the pitch and won a few corners. We managed to ping a few balls in and had some near misses. Their keeper was outstanding however and pulled off two great saves in the dying minutes of the game.

And so defeat for the ‘Chels. The only consolation was being able to play at all after two cancelled games. It was a beautiful spring day of blue skies, a gentle breeze and warm sunshine…all it needed to make it perfect would have been a win. Bummer.

© 2007 Kenchels FC, all rights reserved. For more information contact support@kenchels.com.