Mens C 3 - 2 KCC B

 Sunday 7th March 2010

HKFC C vs. KCC B - HKHA Cup (3-2 Win)

After a solid but unrewarding display against the B's on Friday night the mighty C's were looking to get their season back on track and put in a strong Cup performance against a capable and determined KCC B side. And before push back our team's morale was boosted when, through the fog and mist, the willowy outline of Steve 'the Bull' Bruce could clearly be made out as he strode confidently onto the field of play. An excited murmur could be heard filtering down from the stands as his Mum and girlfriend shouted words of encouragement. Brucey's presence, along with the oft MIA Matt 'the Red Baron' Truman seemed to invigorate the team and much pomp and fist bumping ensued. Brucey, fresh from escorting his Mum to the theatre on Friday night, was keen to get back into the groove and show the C's just what we'd been missing, and his enthusiasm was there for all to see as he missed every shot on goal in the warm up. KCC looked on apprehensively. However, and to the crowds audible displeasure, Brucey was left on the side lines from the start as El Capitan Tom 'chilli-dog' Spicer decided to shuffle his attacking hand and couple the formidable frame and stick work of Sim with the galloping strides of Matt T, while slotting the more precocious talent of Donny 'the destroyer' into the space usually reserved for attacking midfield maestros, a position more often associated with great players like Hoddle, Waddle, Gazza and the great Ronny Rosenthal. He did not disappoint - more about him later. 

The first half started with KCC running at our resolute but jittery defence and it not for some aggressive and oft last ditch tackles by the two central defensive columns Connor 'the Hitman' and Dave 'the Assassin' we could easily have been two down after only 5 mins. Charlie 'the Pulse' Poulton found himself moved into the uncoveted left back role and despite his hesitance to play there put in a performance of such guile and tact that El Capitan will surely find it hard to reposition him. With some audacious flicks and smooth quick passes the Pulse kept our left side moving forward in the right direction. The right back role was seized upon with glee by 'J-Dog' and he did not disappoint on his fine debut with some stiff defending and forceful hitting from the back. A mighty platform indeed from which the midfield could attack. And what of the midfield, I hear you ask? Well, Tom 'Chilli-dog' Spicer, Tim 'I can't go for one beer or it'll turn into a session' Cairns and Ralph 'toys have officially been ejected from the pram' Koker, with a combined age of 148, rolled back the years with some aggressive running and tackling the likes of which Stoke City would be proud. Forging ahead from the right and left, often over running passes because of their lightening speed, T(om)&T(im) heaped mountains of pressure on the opposition midfield while Ralph harried and pressurised every opponent insight, but alas it was KCC who drew first blood after 10 mins. How I hear you ask? Well I don't recall what happened exactly but suffice to say it was against the run of play with some outrageous good fortune. But, true to the spirit of Dunkirk, our heads never dropped and Sim, revelling in his new CF role, was on hand to tap in 5 mins later after the Pulse hit a magnificent pass-come-cross into the D which Brucey (recently introduced into the battle) did his best to leap out of the way of. Well worked indeed and the celebration by Sim was worthy of a hat-trick at Wembley. The rest of the half was like a game of chess with each player knowing their position and looking to check their opponent with both guile and stealth. Into the fray came Oli 'silky skills' Spensley and Matt 'bang'em in' Brooks which further proved to the amassed onlookers what a strong team of semi-professionals we have. And that was the end of the first half.

On came Simon 'the Chaplain' Chapman who gave us a Churchillian half-time speech full of aggression, commitment, pride and desire which soon took hold.

So the 2nd half begun and that's when the C team really clicked. The core of the old E's fashioned a move of audacious attacking intent with a total of 25 (yes 25) completed passes before Oli S was tackled in the opposition D. The cheers from the crowd grew louder and our chests swelled as the Chaplain's half-time speech started to kick in. We were heading to Wembley. After 10 mins of constant pressure we won a short corner and much to the amazement of onlookers, not least Donny, Ralph slipped it to his left for Donny to control and fire/slice/pass a shot to the right hand post which Tim was just unable to reach. But then the magic happened. The ball fired around the golf mouth like a pinball until eventually a defender was able to scramble it as far as the edge of the area. KCC thought the pain was over but no, the pain was about to intensify. Donny, realising within a mili-mili-second that the keeper was slightly out of position smashed a ball into the bottom right of the goal with such force that many watching thought it must have been Brucey who scored. 2-1 and game on. 10 minutes later the game was over as a contest. A shoddy back pass from KCC was jumped upon with glee by Matt T who only had the keeper to beat. After one, no, two step overs to confuse both himself and the defenders Matt pushed the ball left to where Burcey was hiding. You could see the beads of sweat amassing on his forehead as he realised that the chance was both unmissable and on his wrong side! However he duly dispatched the ball with ease into the bottom of the net and more fist bumping and wooping from the crowds ensued. KCC did manage to get a goal back but again I forget the details. The defence were magnificent in the last 15 minutes swarting every short corner and attacking passage of play by the enemy and special mention must be awarded to the Cat who produced so many top class saves that I can't do them justice on paper. Every time the opposition dared to impregnate our usually infertile D in hope of snatching a goal we had the Cat absolute dominate their every move. The Cat was a man possessed, throwing himself at anything and everything with such passion and pomp that he really did inspire the rest of the team. The Cat - we salute you.  An immense performance between the sticks and clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the team for Man of the Match award. I doff my cap to you sir, great show.

That is all.

Author: Matt Burke

Squad: Tom Spicer, Ralph Koker, Conor O'Donovan, Dave Mahendran, Jerome Mc Donagh, Matt Truman, Matt Brook, Matt Burke, Steve Bruce, Sim Archer-Perkins, Oli Spensley, Vincent Cheung (Cat), Tim Cairns, Charlie Poulton