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YC&AC, Sunday 25th January.
A new captain, swearing, players returning from injury, 8 goals and a clean sheet. There was all this and nothing else as Sala FC outclassed YCAC 2nds in this FJ Plate match.
First, the captaincy. The Monday afternoon drama series that Sala's captaincy had become was finally laid to rest on Sunday. After much hemming and hawing, Brookey decided that he was too busy and that it was time to step down and focus on his hair. And so, Guido "The G-man" Geisler returned to captain Sala once again and bring some much needed buoyancy to a close-to-sinking Sala ship. Otsukaresamadeshita to Brookey and ganbatte to Guido.
Next, the swearing. With Guido in charge a new 2009 no-swearing policy was enforced. And, amazingly it was followed by all the Sala players. Once they were off the pitch though it was game on, with Daniel "The Smut" Bard coining the title of this report when he replied to an innocent question "How about a spot of post-victory lunch in Yokohama's Chinatown?" a rather unflattering response referrring to Dan's distaste for this particular area of Yokohama followed, the exact words a little to strong for print..! Jings, what a way to mark your comeback from injury. And, this was not the last of Mr Bard's lewd language either, as we shall see later. Hmmmm.
Along with the aforementioned, Bard, Sala also welcomed back Pete "P-chan" Swinney, so that they lined up with a strong squad that YCAC 2 never really ooked like matching. Onto the match and the 8 goals then. New vice-vice-captain Brookey put Sala up after a minute. Good play from Stu put Brookey through on goal where he finished from a tight angle. Brilliant stuff from Brookey who looked more like his old quality self without the pressure of the captaincy on him. Stu soon made it 2-0 when the keeper parried his shot only for Stu to latch onto the rebound and finish from 1 cm with some typical violence and bullying. Sorry, tenacity. Congrats to the big man for breaking his Sala duck!
At this point it was all Sala with Take proving an excellent outlet on the right. Great stuff as usual from him. The 3rd came after a corner broke to Clarkey. He held off the whole YCAC 2 team before cutting it back to Ian who blasted a decapitator of a shot into the back of the net from the edge of the box. The 4th was the best so far, with Shige picking up the ball deep in his own half and spraying a lovely through ball to Samwise who galloped onto it, took a touch, then picked his spot. Composed finishing from a man not long back from Mount Doom.
At half time Guido demanded a no mercy style 2nd half, much like the heartless sensei in Karate Kid. The troops felt momentarily bad about sweeping Daniel LaRusso's injured leg but then thought to hell with it and pumped in another 4 goals. Thus keeping their Cobra Kai sensei happy.
Number 5 was the pick of the day. A great flowing moved started with an action-starved Ian charging out of defence. He played the ball to Ryo who touched it off to Shiva. He then played a lovely weighted pass down the flank for Ian, who had continued his run, and showing the other side to his game Ian played it across the 6 yard box where Sam darted in near post to crash the ball into the top of the net. Absolute belter.
No. 6 was a penalty that Toby won then duly converted with a calm finish. Sala's ace striker then bagged no. 7 having been put through by Shiva whose quality passing, along with Pete's dynamic midfield play, was instrumental in continuing Sala's dominance. Unfortunately, no. 8 was an own goal, even though the scurrilous Shige tried to claim it.
So, Sala ran out 8-0 winners. It must be said though that this cup tie could have been different had the evergreen Lenny not cleared YCAC 2's header off the line when the score was still 1-0. Indeed, YCAC 2 could have actually won the match by forfeit had Scotty's sideline buffoonery not been noticed by Guido, who realised instantly that Scotty had subbed on 3 players but taken off 2. Ooops, back to school for cadet Thomson.
Lastly, a mention for the new keeper, Shun. Vocal at the back, good distribution, safe hands and a clean sheet. Nice work, youngster.
By Scotty Thompson
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