Powerleague@Shepherd's Bush - 6pm - 5-a-side - Inter-departmental match
What a game!
If ever we needed an advert to attract new players from work and beyond, this match provided it.
It had a lot, comebacks, stunning goals, comical own goals and most importantly, loads of fun. We had some fans come down to cheer the prospective sides, which in the chilling weather, was the first goal scored (so thanks to Alice, Dani, Scarlett, Sofia, Lauren and Louisa), and to be honest, there were a few nerves flowing in the air, so the support was appreciated. A lot of banter had preceded the game, but suddenly things seem real and we all realised reputations and bragging rights were on the line.
It was a very cold night, but least the rain held off as the game kicked off to a cagey start. The first few minutes, no team wanted to give too much away, and the ball was caught up in a stalemate of midfield. Not great the match had begun and already had the hallmarks of a dour game of footy,
...How wrong we were...
It was Finance that drew first blood, Bamble threading a neat pass through to Padraig who took on a shot first time, with it whizzing into the top corner. I.T. looked rattled. It wasn't long till Jon D, capitalised on a mistake/fall from Frodo in his own half to slot the ball home for Finance's second.
The number crunchers looked good, despite a couple of last minute drop outs from their team and debut makers Nivraj and Khilan ably stepped up to the plate, there seemed to be a good understanding between them all, as they passed the ball fluidly and kept possession well.
I.T. were lucky to claw a goal back, debutante, Darren, thundering a strike from his own half, that Padraig and Nivraj were powerless to prevent, Finance weren't visibly shaken though and quickly responded, Porridge, once again capitalised on a poor goalie pass out from Songfish to intercept and bang in his outfit's 3rd goal, thanks to a brilliant dummy from Khilan that fooled all and sundry.
This was the moment, that Finance's own first capper, Khilan, (better known for his Ultimate Frisbee expertise) decided to join the party. An unknown quantity, neatly side-footing in Finance's 4th goal, he most certainly wasn't unknown after that strike. 4-1 down, Darren responded, showing some of his Sunday league class by finishing off a good team passing movement to make the game somewhat more competitive. The nerds were struggling but with the score at 4-2, they were thinking there was nothing to worry too much about at this point.
But things were going to get worse...
At this point Finance, were in their full flow, passing the ball around, winning the 50/50s, they looked fitter, more cohesive and hungrier. The IT guys looked a little lost, were they being outclassed or was it just the nerves?
It wasn't long till Finance were beginning to run riot, increasing their lead to 6-2. Khilan with a tidy side foot finish before Padraig leading his team from the front as captain, blasting in from range.
Half Time had arrived just when I.T. needed it, they needed to re-group and fast.
As if things couldn't get worse for the InfoTech outfit, myself, Songfish made a horrendous error, losing grip of a lame cross before the ball squirmed between my legs agonisingly wriggling over the line. It was like the whole venue was watching as the score ticked up to 7-2.
I'll be honest...I'm not the quiet type....but I was silenced. The fans who had come to watch were goading me, and I didn't have any quips to fire back, we were losing, and losing badly. Could we really bridge such a gap? I was at a loss for words.
The computer wizards could of caved in, after Songfish's mistake, but they started to compose themselves as the 2nd half wore on. Frodo, so far, unusually quiet, after his early mistake, burst into life, slotting home as the team began to get pumped up vocally. Padraig hit back for Finance, as IT's efforts to get back into the game were leaving them exposed at the back.
A lot of the Finance guys, hadn't played regularly at FC7 on our weekly Thursday game, and this threatened to be the turning point. They were tiring, and tiring fast. They did have a sub, but 5-a-side is so intense, and they were being tested now. Although in the "red", the Claret IT team, sensed it a little and started to capitalise on it.....making the ball do the work, and making the accountants chase the ball as much as possible.
It was at this point that Tey started to establish himself in defence for IT, bossing it, pushing the ball out into the Finance half and giving their attackers the freedom to burst forward. Frodo, looked renewed, and Jumbo who had been contained thus far, began to break free of the shackles.
It wasn't soon before the deadly duo of Frodo and Jumbo were getting their customary swagger back, inter-passing the ball deftly and creating chance after chance. Inevitably, possession, turns to goals, and true enough, Frodo started getting on the end of some great Jumbo passes as the Finance lead was chipped away at. Jumbo himself scored a stunner, tiptoeing, nimbly like the ninja to unlock the thus far solid Finance defence and placing a pinpoint shot, Nivraj was helpless to stop, to start his own account of goals.
A flurry of IT goals followed, as is it was IT's chance to shine and run riot, and finally they had reached parity, with the score at 8-8.
Some pics from the fun night
What followed was a heavyweight slugging fest, with both teams struggling to contain each other as tiredness set in. I.T. began to gain a slight advantage, finally taking the lead, but Finance still had enough in the tank to drag the scores level at 10-10. Songfish had put his howlers behind him and was start to form a wall in front of goal, and I.T. slowly started to dominate the bulk of possession.
The Finance team were probably individually fitter than I.T. But its important to say, that nothing compares to 5-a-side fitness. It's another level of intensity. Although the likes of Padraig, Phillip, Jon and Bamble had played a few games at FC7's weekly gathering, their attendance wasn't as much as the I.T. lot, and this could of been the deciding factor. The specific, short-sided 5-a-side muscle memory, they had built up was starting to tell. Early nerves had been banished and IT were enjoying their football and were the ones finding all the space.
The well organised Finance team were getting stretched at every opportunity and it was easy for Frodo, Jumbo and Darren to exploit them. Even Tey had opportunities to get forward and even smashed home a left-footed screamer to get in on the act.
Frodo and Darren added a couple more goals a piece to make it quite a convincing IT win in the end at 15-10. The score line doesn't give the true story of a game that IT were mostly chasing, but their quality did rise to the surface by the final whistle.
Bragging rights to I.T. Finance were good sports as we all shook hands and dusted ourselves down before heading to The Distillers for a well earned pint. We drank long into the night, to cap off a brilliant evening of fun.
At FC7, we had a great year, given the shadow of Covid hanging over everyone. But we still achieved so much, this game was a highlight of the year but it is just a taster, of things to come. We already called out the Planning Dept. Ben in the People team doesn't have any footballers in his dept, so he's furiously recruiting a "best of the rest" squad, so hopefully we'll have a couple more of these inter-departmental matches to look forward to in 2022.
Speaking of the new year, 2022 promises to be a busy one. Hopefully we will push forward and the 2G squad will join the Powerleague Monday night league. FootyAddicts think they will be able to host their annual 7-a-side tournament in London, Covid has cancelled the last couple of year's edition so it will be a welcome return. We're also hoping to finally get our mixed game setup early in the year.
No time to sit still. Our time is now. FC7 are ready......are you?
The Finance vs I.T. 7edit on YouTube (click the image below to watch the highlights)
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