LTC spoil the party!

By Vets 2 correspondent

LTC spoil the party!

Our last game before Christmas and it was parties all round. Captain McGrath was away at a works party in the UK but in Brussels for the weekend, and the "Old Farts" Christmas party, were ex Vet regulars, Kenney Francey, Roy Sandbach and Chris Burrows. Unfortunately with Vets availability at an all time high this season the only visiting Vet to make the squad (and then only the bench!) was Kenney Francey who had pre-booked his place with Capt'n McGrath a few weeks before!

With Donnelly, Cunningham, Hyde and Brown all participating at the Old Farts (six to seven hour!) lunch the day before this was always going to be a tough game for Vets 2! The fact that our opponents for the day were 2nd in the table Brussels LTC (won 9, lost 2, drawn 2, 53 goals for, 19 against) was also of concern. The result from the first game at the beginning of the season - Brussels LTC 8 (eight) - RBBFC Vets 2 (two) was also a bit worrying.

Anyway Vice-Captain Alex Knott again stepped into the breach and led out the team (emailed us to from Capt'n McGrath) as follows:

Colin R (GK)

Pete B (RB) John E (CB) Kevin (CB) Dave (LB)

Jim D (RM) Chris F (CM) Ade C (CM) Alex (LM) (Capt)

Ian (F) Jim G (F)

Subs: Charlie (S) Chris D (S) Ken F (S)

As it was cold and rainy at Everberg, and had been raining all morning, we were all quite surprised the game went ahead. Surely with the Everberg mud, and the fact that LTC started with just 10 men, we were in with a chance?

In just the first few minutes the 10 LTC players demonstrated their superior skills and fitness. The only surprising thing was that they did not quite manage to score - although they were all over us and did hit the woodwork a couple of times. Even more surprising was that we scored first (a strong shot from Ian Maybrey spun off a defender and over their keeper). We should have also scored when Ade Cunningham got on the end of a great cross from Jimmy Graham but "fluffed" it when it would have been easier to score. Less surprising was that LTC soon equalised but then, against all the odds, did not take the lead before half time. 1-1 at half time saw Jimmy Graham step down to give Kenney Francey a game.

Within a few minutes of the restart Captain Knott (having earlier advised us all about the importance of warming up) clearly had not taken his own advice and limped off with a pulled a calf muscle and was replaced as a player by Charlie Mann, and by Chris Ffinch as Captain, By this time LTC had 11 eleven players and their youth, skill and fitness saw them crack in 6 goals in the second half. Even the late substitute of Dartnell for Donnelly failed to stem the tide.

MOM went to Ade Cunningham (for effort I think). Vets 1 promptly joined us in the bar as they had somehow managed to persuade their ref to call off their match (same pitch, no rain, bunch of girls!)

Bar talk centred on how in just the first 10 minutes of the second half we had conceded goals numbers 2 to 5 and someone looking at the pink sheet pointed out they their team were on average 10 years younger than ours!. Santa, forget skill and stamina, just give us back our youth for Christmas!