Line-up: Puig, Lachia, Bon, Lebbink, Wetzel, De Roeck, Lo Presti, Friedrichs, Pellegry (Gunter), Takeda, Lambers (Deschamps)

It all started with a father’s affaire, with Legere and Gunter struggling to find shelter for their kids in order to make it to Londerzeel for the first match of 2017. This was the last weekend of a weather-wise classic month of January that allowed the different players to show who has great experience and who has not on weather/remise forecasting.

Each time the game was cancelled in the previous weeks, the whatsapposphere was getting excited, waiting for Lolo #experienceinweatherforecast for the upcoming Saturday. Indeed, once again, due to many remises generals, 3 consecutives match were cancelled, and our forever young personage could show he was still fast, if not in running, at least in proposing clear prediction for the coming Saturday.

But this week it was our weather forecast analyst, el Pupuig who used all his competencies. More confident thanks to skills developed in weather summer session in Costa Rica, he could clearly see it in the worldwide forecasts, hectopascals and cumulonimbus fog. His message was clear: do not plan anything this weekend, we will play, it is 90% sure, it will be 7 degrees in Londerzeel, with 80% humidity and a 75% cloud coverage.

These predictions verified, the team could meet up in Londerzeel, and see some smiling faces, all happy to be able to play after a long waiting period.

The pitch was not too bad at the beginning of the game and it allowed the players to ask between themselves the classic question before the game: "tu mets les studs ou les multi”, "you put studs or multi”?

It is clear for some defenders that a winter grass game is a studs game, but some Bolshoï ballet artists still prefer to wear their more confortable multi.

The capitano had to check Johan Cruyff 1992 season's data to organize the team. Indeed, due to some father’s affair (an early cinema session, combined with a lack of baby sitters on Brussels), our Catalan sorcerer had to reshape his entire usual lineup. However, the problem had an easier solution since the team could count with reinforcements coming from the 1st team, with Lachia, Lebbink, DeRoeck and Takeda. Anyway, you could almost hear the boiling interrogation in our strategist mind.

During the pre-match speech, some said they saw the "keep talking” smile of Pellegry, when our tactician told Lebbink, unusually playing central defender: "Didi, you can sometimes switch with Pellegry, if he is tired, so you can move forward and bring freshness on our left side.” Indeed, there was not much permutation between these 2 left foot folks.

After a quick warm-up, RBBFC2 gentlemen could finally play their first game of the year.

The not too bad pitch quickly transformed itself in a beautiful potatoes field, which did not help RBBFC to implement its technical superiority. At the contrary, it quite leveled up the technical difference between he two teams. Combining this potato field cuisine with a clear lack of dynamism on the RBBFC side will easily give you a hint of the first halftime performance: the visiting team dominated and controlled the ball but without being able to create spaces and played a one-touch pass game not appropriated on this pitch leading to many imprecisions. All these combined allowed Besace to breathe and to run in the counter attack to have some clear occasions.

As a gross summary of first half, it is worth mentioning an amazing hat-trick of saves by Besace's keeper on a shot from Lo Presti, followed by Takeda and then by Pellegry's right foot. Also, some fans were questioning themselves: "why does Didi continue to shoot all his balls in the forest on the left of the pitch? Is it an incantation message to raise spirits of an Indian cemetery hidden under these trees, to prepare the body burial of a poor forward sacrificed on the pitch?"

Towards the end of the first half, Besace had the chance on a beautiful half volley, after managing to get through RBBFC defense organization. Fortunately, the capitano flew in the sky (over Mineo! So high!) to deflect the attempt to corner. RBBFC's keeper also demonstrated its now famous Higuita inspirations. Imitating the Colombian master with his feet as he cannot with his hair, he cut some deep ball on a beautiful tackle out of his box.

Half time arrived and capitano's speech confirmed the impression: "we have to do more to win this game".

Second half started on a better rhythm. The whites having a better ball possession and Besace showing signs of tiredness.

Flamby, so happy to play in its native Flemish area, managed now to better combine and find its automatism with the far away east comer Takeda. They were having more impact on the defense, and clearly created more advantage for RBBFC. The midfield "bucheron" style with De Roeck and Friedrichs provided better balls to the Italian Andrea Umbrella peignoir master. At the same time, Pellegry and Wetzel's wingers efforts managed to pass through their defenders. (do you need more than 2 passports to play on the wing?). Bonbon and Lachia gave more space to Lebbink, who went up helping Pellegry on the left side. Capitano could now deliver his precise reliance to prepare counter attacks. Clear occasions and many deep balls kept coming and the defense of Besace was having troubles on holding the attacks. But once again, the RBBFC guys did not manage to put the ball in the cage.

Worth mentioning the two most clear chances of the half. Contrary to the ones in the first half, in this case in both cases the strikers managed to get passed the goalkeeper. However, in the first one a defender denied the effort in the goal line with Lebbink not being able to push it in and, in the second one, the ball, after looping over the goalkeeper and bouncing in the irregular grass, hit the post when everyone was about to scream the goal.

It was the time to Deschamps, to wake up of this recuperation siesta on the bench. He replaced Flamby on the pitch and could benefit from the tireless efforts by the Flemish by tiring the defenders who could not resist its dynamism. It resulted in some good shots, unfortunately unsuccessful, and a good cohesion with the super active Japanese, Shin 12 valves motor.

Frustration was rising among the whites, and after having seen our umbrella ankle almost broken by a hard tackle without a 100% deserved yellow card, Bonbon decided to take the law into its own hands and, at the same time, to celebrate his return. He wanted to show its classic technical gesture for which he owns the secret. Lachia, his buddy from the Gironde estuaries, offered his priceless collaboration by giving him enough space to do it. Lachia never misses a chance to leave its position and go for a coffee with Lebbink while opponents launch balls behind his back. In this particular case, Besace strikers felt into Lachia's trick, and did not hesitate to send their faster forward with a deep ball. A perfect calculation and timing allowed Bonbon to project both the ball and the player in the forest with a superb tackle. As some said, there was a bit too much of intensity there, and the referee was not ready for this. He brandished the most undeserved yellow card of the history to Bonbon, who used the opportunity to remind him calmly and politely the umbrella story. At that moment, the opponent doctor hesitated to bury the unfortunate attacker body on the location showed so many times by our shaman Lebbink. But with some miraculous water, this bip-bip roadrunner came back on the pitch, having learnt a new science mastered by RBBFC on tackling accuracy and how tackling and touching the ball first. Pupuig was unhappy, as it created a useless free kick, fortunately finally not dangerous.

Chances still kept coming, but the luck for the visiting team would not improve. Bonbon was also worried for its favorite fox in the box. Staying on a corner 2ndball, our unfit defender received a ball in situation of a left-winger. Unsure of its Ryan Giggs capacity to eliminate a defender, he preferred to serve his Capocannoniere with low back pass. After a dribble, Deschamps managed to find a shooting opportunity, but almost broke his ankle when shooting the ground.

White attack deployment created more space in their own defense and this allowed Besace to find spaces behind RBBFC defense and to create some dangerous counter attacks, most of them ending with not much danger thanks either to the lack of accuracy on the shooting or by the good organization of the defense. However, a Didibonbon misunderstanding on a long ball created a very clear chance for opponents. Trained to extraordinary invisible Rossi magic power, the crafty defender is forced to take the forward ankle without being seen by referee, and the chance is denied. A few minutes after, on a second play after a long ball, the Besace striker managed to pass the three center backs and found himself alone inside the box in front of Puig, who deflected the shot with his legs and the rebound was rejected by another overmineo flight from Bonbon, a header while lying on the ground, to avoid a second chance for Besace.

The last seconds brought a last chance for the whites. After a snooker game in the cage area, ball arrived to Lebbink's feet who shot with the heart closely pass over the bar.

It was time for the referee to whistle the end of the game, and a frustrating draws for the RBBFC boys.

Man of the match and reporter: Frederic BonBon