LATIMER ROAD ROVERS 18-6 F.C. SE7EN - 30.09.20

WHAT……A……..THRASHING

Life can be tough when your rock bottom, to be kicked when you’re down too, is extremely painful.

But wallow we must not. It’s simply not the FC7 way. We need to digest of course and recognise, but we must also look at the positives in equal measure.

Tonight’s game was a lesson. We were outpaced, out-skilled, were 2nd to all balls. But I can’t re-iterate how much fitness was again an issue. It may sound like a tired excuse, but we won’t all suddenly turn into Superman within a week. It will be gradual, if painful, experience, so we must stick to it.

We were looking forward to a nice friendly kickaround, my first experience of a bigger pitch and 6-a-side, but then we received this message from Footy Addicts!

footyaddictsstaff hey guys, we have a friendly game for this game tomorrow. It will be slightly more competitive than usual as we are playing against a 6-a-side team. If you are not comfortable with this and prefer to join a different game, please let us know ASAP so we can issue refund and get a replacement.

What?

Oh well, farewell to that maiden victory. Frodo suddenly developed a “tooth ache” and pulled out, but luckily new Se7enista; Ash stepped into the breach.

We turned up on a cold, rainy evening and saw our opponents all kitted out, they looked the part, but would they play the part?

Yep. Within a couple of minutes, it was fairly obvious how serious these guys were taking it. It was war. We found out after, that they had been playing together since they were 8, and they were all in their early 20’s. So that alone put them levels above us.

They banged in a few goals at the start within minutes, and the realisation of a whooping was setting in. No shocks to see here!

Fatjet, frustrated up front, ploughed a lone role, and reacted to some petty pushing from our opponents, before offering one of them out. Our opponents might have mopped the floor with us in footy, but when it comes to a bit of rough and rumble, we could hold our heads up high.

Soon after, a feisty ball was heading straight for Ash’s face and he kicked into Basketball mode quicker than Optimus Prime, and handled the ball. Penalty awarded and already knackered and in goal, I managed to pull off a rather nimble save. That was pretty much the only positive to take from this first half as we stood helplessly by as our own net rippled on several occasions.

The 2nd half didn’t get any better, but we did notice the early exuberance of our opponents looked to be faltering. We got our first goal, and soon more followed. But any flames of resistance were doused, well and truly out, as we succumbed to the counter attack on several occasions.

One side note, I managed to get my first goal, skinning one defender before toe-poking a solid finish Romario-style into the bottom corner out of the reach of their keeper.

A consolation was all it was.

I’d be lying to say we weren’t hugely disappointed, we felt slightly dismayed that we had been slightly ambushed like that by Footy Addicts too. But we need to be able to play anyone, we can’t cherry pick, and we’d be lying to ourselves if we played weaker opponents every week (if there are any sides weaker ha!). Plus, it’s all part of our story.

At the very minimum, we are doing much more with our time than we would anyways, I’m seriously considering quitting fags, and the others are enjoying it.

Some people have mentioned whether it is safe of not.

But it is, our level of footy comes under government guidelines and is exempt from the Rule of 6. If you can’t follow government guidelines and enjoy physical activity during the pandemic, then you might as well live inside for the rest of your life.

What will it take for you to go out your front door? The Coronavirus is going nowhere. You can choose to do the same. Or you can take your finger off the pause button. Is it really any better to sit at home and die…….just at a slower rate. Use your brain, don’t scare monger and be realistic……..and above all FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES.

Ultimately with every defeat we experience, we are getting mentally more focussed and determined to get that first win

Bring on the next game, we start afresh.

Join us on our journey!

FC7