May
28
Facing the undefeated league leaders the Deceptacons, Jackson 5 had a tough game on their hands on 28 May 2008. It proved to be an incredibly intense game, neither side having substitutes, neither side willing to concede defeat, both sides refusing to admit they were exhausted.
The Deceptacons played the game with one player less, but their superior ball control and fitness gave them an edge over Jackson 5.
Three goals to Deceptacons and one to Jackson 5 in the first half set the stage for a gruelling second half. The first half Jackson 5 goal came off the boot of Mike Haydon from a brilliant pass by Jamie Blanchard. The Deceptacons’ goals were breathtaking, one even stunning veteran keeper Matt Bowen into motionlessness.
Mid-way through the second half, Jamie Blanchard was kicked in the calf, but without any substitutes, he gallantly continued playing, albeit while limping severely.
Incredible, determined play by Annabel Treagold and Catherine Haydon steadily wore down the Deceptacons until, towards the end of the second half, Mike Haydon scored again to take the final score to 3-2. Jackson 5 had finally shaken off the demons of the previous weeks and were taking the game to the league leaders.
Catherine, Annabel, Mike and Jamie all had shots that went agonisingly close, with only spectacular goalkeeping by Deceptacons keeping them in the game.
Let this be a message to the other teams in the league - when Jackson 5 is on fire, they can and will take the game even to the best of teams.
Popularity: 64%
May
27
Proving that they are not completely invincible, BXVI were incredibly held to only 1-0 for the first half against Happy Mutleys. This is the lowest score BXVI has made in one half for several seasons and exposes a potential weakness in the squad…
Happy Mutleys came out striking - being generally larger than the BXVI players, the Mutleys threw around their weight with complete disregard as to whether they could injure someone. In a display seen more on the rugby field, the Mutts tried to stamp their own brand of soccer on the game. The referee is well known for being exceedingly weak, preferring to just let the game flow, rather than give a free kick for an aggressive shoulder charge by a 6 foot 5, 110kg guy against a 5 foot 5, 55 kg girl, which knocked her off her feet. This is an example of the entire first half.
In the second half, it seemed that the referee realised that there was a raft of fouls being committed (could it have been the fights that broke out when the larger BXVI players got fed up with having their legs taken out illegally and told by the referee that nothing was wrong?). Needless to say, after the referee handed out 5 yellow (warning) cards, 4 of which were given to the Mutts, the Mutts cut down on their aggression and acutally tried to play soccer.
Once the game became soccer, rather than some sport akin to martial arts, BXVI displayed their superior skill, finishing the game 6-0, with another clean sheet to Mike Haydon.
Popularity: 40%
May
20
In a thrilling destruction of “Norfolk’n'Chance” (NFC), BXVI finally broke through to double figures, posting an impressive 10-0 victory on 19 May 2008 in the A-Grade, Lords Mixed Indoor Soccer Competition.
Norfolk never had a “folk’n'Chance” against the crushing pressure of BXVI. Almost from the whistle, BXVI determined to break their three game streak of 9-1 victories to further solidify their position as league leaders.
Five goals were scored by Chico in his usual dashing style, one by Rachel, three by Tim Haydon and one by Gerard Cummins.
NFC, to their credit, kept playing the game even though they were 8-0 down with 10 minutes to play. In previous weeks, the opposition has tried every stalling tactic possible (like kicking the ball onto another field of play - for which the referee gave a yellow card) to stop the endless stream of goals from BXVI.
This takes BXVI’s goal tally to 63-7 in 9 games, a 900% goal difference which only serves to further highlight their prowess.
Popularity: 37%
