Match Report: Wallington (H): 09 February 2008

The trouble with sassy 11 year olds is they don't miss a trick. So I was explaining to my Richard about the next Bulldogs game - played like a bunch of camels last week at Masonians, Wallington at home next up - and he paused (always a very bad sign in one his age), before concluding "So it's gonna be like David versus Goliath, minus the catapult, right?". The little (careful, please: Ed) ...fellow got it spot on, didn't he? .

Unfazed by such precocious realism, a litter of Bulldogs took to the field on a beautiful spring day, on a lush and fine looking surface. Damn and damn again - where are those wafer thin alibis when you really, really need them. Oh yes - got it! I didn't mention that 2 of our players Peter and Jimmy could barely walk, or that we had a charming but distinctly, well, female, left wing called Jenny, did I? So it was that our motley crew of Bulldogs faced up to the Conference's meanest and most ruthless, the phrase "double figures by half time?" running through more than one canine mind.

But what was this? 10 minutes in and where was our usual absurd early goal gift to the oppo? No sirree, not today. Nigel and Mike made sure that the inevitable early scares were within the GBB's range, while Ian - back from injury and skiing (don't ask: Ed), Barry and Jenny - who turned out to be one hell of a battler, gave them plenty to think about their end of the field. Not much was getting through, James, Jimmy and Peter - on his good leg and a half. And linking our rearguard and vanguard was the reassuring and welcome sight of Dev, playing out of his skin. Yes, we were second best of course, but a damn fine 2nd best. Their only goal of a relatively even 1st half came, most unluckily, from a rebound which James then all but saved brilliantly on the line. HALF TIME: Bulldogs 0 Wallington 1

All our fears that we might have annoyed them a bit by keeping it down to 1 were soon allayed as the 2nd half followed a similar pattern. We kept them out and came close their end. But we were under more pressure than them so a 2nd goal - big aerial ball into our 'D', round GBB and boom into goal (yeah, yeah, we'll give you that one) - was no surprise. But there it stopped. And do you know what? We didn't half give them some scares, too. So a final score of huge respectability against such a fearsome opponent: FULL TIME: Bulldogs 0 Wallington 2

Another defeat, ok, but of a totally different nature from our marshmallow attempts the previous week at Masonians. A bit more of this, and a win or 2 surely should come our way before we crack open the Easter Eggs and put our feet up for the summer.

Winston of the Week: Max, for a tireless performance in attack and defence (but a special mention and huge Bulldog thanks also to Jenny, a ringer of a winger - with commendably strong views on post match shower protocol, too. Don't worry - buy her a beer and I'm sure she'll tell you what I mean).