Ah, there you are! Well, it’s been a long and at times turbulent season for the ‘Dogs but, you know what? All things considered, we looked to be ending it on an up: 2 home wins on the bounce, either side of a game at Wimbledon where we deserved at least a draw. But this would test us – could we round things off with a flourish and get one over on our own NPL kennelmates, the Desperados?
As the teams lined up, it struck your correspondent that we don’t half have some fantastic attacking talent at NPL when we get it all together. If our trio of Scotton Junior (hooray!), his old man and Neil S promised a goal or 2, what about theirs – Gordon, Jiji (oh no, not again!), Kevin G and Rupert Cox? Not much money had been wagered on a dull goal-less draw prior to pushback.
On the other hand, we had a proud record of not having conceded a 1st half goal for over a month to protect. Something had to give. You’ve guessed it: scarcely had we had time to say “oh goody – Satbir’s back, too!” before our defence got us into a tangle of 6’s and 7’s and a Gordonesque reverse stick piledriver from Rupert C got them into a lead of 1’s and 0’s. But hold on! No-one responds to being a goal down better than us (…months of practice?) and, suddenly, the pressure was on their goal and, soon, it was 1,2,3 and 4 whoopeedoo. HALF TIME: ‘Dogs 4 Desperados 1
Just for the hell of it, we swapped goalkeepers at half time. So our forwards for once had to endure the endless chatter and antics which so endear (ahem) our GBB to all the other teams we play. He kept out a fair few, too, as the ‘Dogs continued to dominate, in some style. But he was powerless to stop Tom Mayhew’s deflection for an own goal which was positively Gallifant-like in its deft execution, and was equally rooted to the spot when Scotton Junior took advantage of a break which saw 3 ‘Dogs attackers through on an isolated goalkeeper for a clinical ‘in-your-face-Gramps’ bullet finish into the corner. Meanwhile, at the other end, the Desperados scored a (rather harsh) PFlick and a bit of a pinball job from a short corner, the 1st short corner goal we have conceded since (ok, ok, we get the picture: the ‘Dogs are defending much better now blah blah get on with it – Ed). FINAL SCORE: ‘Dogs 6 Desperados 3
Could we round things off with a flourish? Oh yes, we could! Long gone are the dark days of November and December, when Peter and Nigel stepped into the breach to avoid the ‘Dogs being put down and the survivors merged with the Desperados. Subsequently promising but fruitless days of January and February led to a final 4 games of 3 resounding wins and a solitary somewhat unlucky single goal defeat.
End of Term Report: The ‘Dogs are alive and well, on and off the pitch. Nigel, Mike and Avni (with whistle and stick) have done wonders in defence, Peter has led by example a midfield in which James E was shoo-in for Newcomer and Player’s Player of the Season and Jimmy – with both scrupulously impartial whistle and scary ‘Grim Reaper’s scythe’ stick – a most popular Captain’s Award winner. In front of them Max, Barry S and Ian ensured we remained keen and competitive in attack. Huge thanks also to other ‘Dogs who play when they can – frequently after a League game on Astro – and ditto to Kevin G and all other Desperados who played for us often and to great effect. Woof! Woof! Tails wagging proudly and noses healthily moist, the NPL Bulldogs are looking towards the 2008-9 season in optimistically fine fettle.
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