Following another successful Gumtree campaign I managed to arrange a fixture against Blackhall St Columbas, a team set to play in next season’s Church Leagues. This match eventually turned out to be our final farewell to Fisherrow for the 2008/2009 season due to the usual nonsense behaviour from the council closing down the pitches for summer. Yet another beautiful day dawned on Fisherrow and conditions were perfect for a game.
The team assembled good and early and we managed to get a pretty decent warm up in before the match. Deputising in goals was Ken Dick due to widespread unavailability of any experienced goalkeepers. In defence (from left to right) were J.Dick, Gordon Mackenzie, Lewis, and Declan Kinsella. In the midfield; Tulloch, Ryan “Georgie Best” McKenna, Clarky, and Sach. Starting up front were the duo of Calum Day and, Owen Kinsella. In reserve; Louie, Andy McKinlay, Douglas Todman, and Mikey McKenna.
The match was soon underway with the sun high in the sky, but with a comfortable temperature. VAFC won the toss and I chose for us to play with the sun in our eyes for the first half thinking I’d rather play the second half against a knackered and blinded Blackhall. This turned out to be a truly crap choice. Blackhall kicked off and a box to box struggle soon ensued for the best part of ten minutes with creative forward play for VAFC and das boot for Blackhall. However a dreadful breakthrough was about to occur from a Blackhall low cross Declan Kinsella lashed the ball into the back of his own net to give the visitors their opener. Thankfully Declan is made of stronger stuff than this and never allowed the incident to dog the rest of his game. Sadly this was only the tip of an upsettingly macabre iceberg. Again, thankfully my memory of this match is patchy at best and my description of the rest will be brief. Essentially VAFC plugged away with yet more creative play but lacked a defined edge and never really came close to a finish, despite the intelligent play all over the park. With Blackhall’s route one style inevitably came some contentious offside decisions and numerous of them lead to goals. However Blackhall did capitulate on one occasion with the Volleys rushing forward and a tremendous ball from substitute Louie seeing debutante Todman clean through on goal finishing cooly to nab us a consolatory goal. Final result was 8-1, particularly draining considering the clean and precise passing from VAFC. However this result sinks off into the past and Thursday sees us beginning our challenge for the Owen Coyle Super League against Sykes FC at Peffermill.
Even more good news to lift us up from the shenanigans against Blackhall. I’ve finally ordered us a new set of strips. Should hopefully arrive in a couple of weeks. Anybody wanting a personalised strip will have to order theirs seperately at a cost estimated to be between 20 and 30 quid, and will have to give me a shout to order.
Keep the Faith
JD
1 Comment
June 20, 2009 at 1:32 am
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