A very strange night.

It started with an emotional departure from my house. “why are you wearing your football kit Daddy?” my daughter asked. “I’m Going to football tonight”. She then burst into tears and begged me not to leave. The solution put forward by my wife was a little out the box. They were coming to watch!

I’d been out for a month with holidays, work and niggles. As seems to be the case when returning from a stint out…..I was captain…..joy. Harvey had choice and with 6 vs 7, going for the extra man was a no brainer. With me being a man down, I picked a team of runners, started myself in goal and mentally wrote my team talk “just run please!”

The game started fairly evenly with some good chances at both ends. The Yellows chances were clearly a bit closer though with everyone hitting the post or the bar

About 10 minutes in, my fan club arrived. Sitting behind Harveys goal I could just about make out my wife continuously answering questions from the kids. I later found out these were “is that uncle Andy playing? Why did he just smash the ball onto the other pitch?”. “Why does Tom keep kicking the ball against the post?” “Who is that man that keeps kicking people and saying sorry?” The latter turned out to be Reuben, obviously

Harvey remained solid in goal and the Yellows kept missing but eventually they broke through and Gary got a shot off, threading the ball between 3 Whites. I saw it too late but still should have saved it. 1 - 0 Yellows.

The game continued with the same theme. The Whites were working really hard and making a few chances but the Yellows had the most chances and kept missing.

Just past the halfway point I decided to give myself a run out and ask Steve, who looked to have a little hamstring problem, to fall on his sword and go in goal. Within seconds I had quick one-two with Reuben and then laid the ball off to Ben who had made an excellent run following with an excellent finish. First goal in a while and in front of both my kids. Wonderful. 1 -1

The game continued but a fairly loose pass from me gave the ball to the Yellows. A brilliantly worked goal was met by a good finish from Medhi. 2-1 Yellows

A few minutes later I saw the family get up and waved them good buy. Just after doing that, I received the ball on the right wing knocked it past Jonny and had a decision to make. Hold the ball up and look for the cross or smash the ball at Harverys Hernia. I chose the latter. It was on target and caught Harvey off guard. I pumped my fist in the air towards my kids who were cheering on. A priceless moment for me 2-2

Time check with Reuben. 10 minutes to go. I looked around to see a team of Whites blowing out their arses. Everyone had worked their socks off but Mike and Reuban really put a shift in. Steve was excellent in goal and we held on. A sterling effort on a difficult night. 2-2 at the final whistle.

As is usual, the next team were on the pitch before we managed to get off. Harvey suggested a coin toss to decide who would progress to final of the Captains Cup. Given my record with penalties, I accepted.

We got back to changing room to discover 2 issues. Firstly, no one has cash anymore. Secondly, we had been robbed. I couldn’t find my phone anywhere, Cush couldn’t find his either. Then Harvey shouts “my phone and wallet are gone, weve been done” What a disaster! 2 seconds later Harvey says “ oh, they are in my jeans” Cush replies “ I’ve found mine”. Where was mine then? I’d left it on the sink after placing it there when picking. A completely unnecessary panic! On retrieval of my phone I text my Wife. The kids can never come again! Why shatter the illusion.

To finish the night Gary came in with a coin. I lost the toss and my Captains Cup run came to an end. Congratulations to Harvey!

Everyone was MoM for me but I’ve given it to Ben who had an excellent game, put in some key tackles and scored a great goal.

Will someone text me next week please and remind me to bring the balls!

Thanks