At 08:02:02 hrs this morning a txt was sent to one of the guardians of young Tommy D., inviting Tommy at very short notice to help out the Devilz in their quest to tame the Tigers two hours later. Reports have it that young Tommy D. was dressed and ready for action at 08:02:21 hrs, the slight delay due to the fact that mum had hidden the socks in the wrong drawers.
This kind of enthusiasm was not lost on the Devilz in their preparation shortly before kick-off. Sofia A.-S., not a stranger to the Devilz, was the second ring-in for the day and, like Tommy D., it was clear form the moment she walked on the park that she would fit like a well loved glove into the Devilz’s defensive pattern.
The Waiuku Tigers too were hit by some late unexpected withdrawals but the amazing depth of football talent in the outskirts of the Awhitu peninsular once again came to the rescue of the Tigers, proving they could field a competitive side any old time.
The fact that these two teams had met for the third time in five weeks didn’t disturb the proceedings, with élan and the previously mentioned enthusiasm they got stuck into it form the word go. Blustering conditions and a deserted Massey Park did not quell the fireworks these two sides threw at each other.
The Devilz had a couple of surprises in their starting formation, The Stinger, usually a feature on the right wing, was moved back into wing defence and this tactical move proved to be a worthy variation to the Devilz’s game. The Devilz found some real punch in bridging the midfield with new-found pace and drive of The Stinger. Time and again they asked the questions of the, as usual, rock solid Waiuku defence.
Up front Bergkamp, The Viper and The Needle played an entertaining switching game, quick turns and change of directions with an astute passing game yielded plenty of shots on goal but the pill did not want to settle in the back of the net.
Waiuku came to the party at their home ground. Tenacious dribblings resulted in occasionally prickly situations in front of the Devilz’s box. The defence of The Stinger, Iron Maiden and Da Man showed good composure and with The Muss in goal asserting his position these ‘fires’ were quickly defused.
Tommy D. and Sofia A.-S. came on as rolling subs and slotted into the defence and midfield as if they had a livelong subscription on the respective positions. The team’s cohesion and understanding of each other’s moves and passes was quite remarkable at this stage. Mighty Mini got his deserved run-on on the right wing and the pressure on the Tiger’s defence never wilted.
Out of nothing Waiuku went 1:0 up, the suppressed ‘OFF-SIDE’ calls, I swear, are still lingering over Massey Park like a bad smell but, as they say, it’s in the book and the rest is history. At this stage the statisticians had recorded NINE shots at goal by the Devilz and FOUR attempts for the Tigers. Justice answered the call and within minutes the Devilz had levelled the score. The teams went into the half-time break with a well deserved round of applause, the score was level 1:1 and the Tigers were wearing a smile of relief on their faces.
The story of the second half is that of the missed opportunities, the Tigers secret weapon and the 18 meter hammer that was a toe-hack but looked like a 35 meter screamer shaping as a speciality of the D-family.
From the sound of the whistle, inviting play to commence for the second half, the Devilz showered plenty of fireworks across the park, alas, the big BANG never happened. Anything and everything the Devilz worked for in the built up from defence through midfield and attack looked a treat but the icing, speak goal, went missing from the action.
The Tigers had to react if they didn’t want to succumb to the waves of attacks coming their way. Enter the Californian Kugelblitz; described as being five years of age the little nugget had the Devilz dumbfounded on one occasion he single footedly took the ball through the Devilz’s midfield, unperturbed by desperate attempts of the combined Devilz’s attack to separate him from the ball. It took S-A-S’s intervention to show the Californian Terror who was the boss, living up to her AKA ‘The Rock’ Sofia A.-S. unceremoniously terminated the advance of the Kugelblitz and instigated yet another Devilz’s attack.
A pass deep in the Devilz’s own half found Tommy D. who took the ball up some good 15 meters and all of a sudden the stories of the old man from the week before must have gotten to him, he looked up, in desperation noticing that on this occasion cameras would not capture what was to ensue, straightened the upper body and lashed out at the artificial pig-skin, ‘wham-bam thank you man’ the ball hummed his own version of ‘Traure Schoener Goetterfunken’ finally coming to rest in the Tiger’s goal and the annals will show that this ‘D-hammer’ could have travelled anything from 18 – 35 – 40 meters really depending on who’s memoirs you will care to read.
The Devilz continued to impress with good ball control and opening passes, alas, with the cow excrements still sticking to their boots, they could not tie the sack closed and you guessed it, the Tigers found, late in the game, from a goalmouth scramble the, today, undeserved equaliser. 21:7 shots at goal, 9:3 corners and suffocating dominance in midfield ended up in a 2:2 final score, yet, at the end there were smiles all round for a good practise match played out in good spirits was had and the result, after all will only bother those that try to make equations add up, always…
All in all it was an entertaining spectacle and on behalf of the Devilz I wish to extend a big THANK YOU to all MUMS and DADS and CARETAKERS for making the effort to get us to this game, likewise we want to again thank Tommy D. and Sofia A.-S. for their guest appearance and last but not least we want to send our best wishes to our friends the Tigers, you are formidable foes and good friends to be had. Good luck for the rest of the season, let’s hope you haven’t used it all up today… ` ;o).
W