Vets1 arrived in Rixensart in the relegation zone for the first time all season. With only three games left and the final two games against the top two teams, the game against Ettekijs pretty much defined ‘must-win’.

The captain asked the troops to be there an hour in advance. Darran got the memo but failed to read all the way to the end – with sixty minutes to go to kick-off he rocked up to the Watermael-Boitsfort pitch used by Ettekijs’ junior teams. He subsequently mis-read E411 as 411KM/h and broke the world land speed record before arriving at the Rixensart pitch about 40 minutes before KO.

Massimo and Mark had been persuaded to lend a hand for the big game. They must have regretted it when they saw the state of the pitch. It was clearly monsoon season in Brabant-Wallon. Even the dug-outs were unplayable. We persuaded the ref to give it a go, we won the toss and elected to play downstream in the first half.

It quickly paid dividends. Moreuil was sent clear through the middle and although their centre-half was quick, MM was quicker, got a toe to the ball in the box and collapsed under a reckless sliding challenge. Spot kick. Duly dispatched by Rice low to the keepers right. 1-0 to the mighty Royals.

Shortly afterwards the underfoot conditions did for Griffiths’ hamstring, Cabaret entered on the right side of midfield with Moreuil asked to plough all of the furrows up front on his own. With the one goal advantage, Vets1 didn’t need to take any unnecessary risks and elected to try to keep things tight at the back. That invited Ettekijs on to us and led to a general sense of playing under pressure but we didn’t give many chances away and in fact created a couple of presentable chances at the other end that we just failed to take.

The half-time team talk was short and tried to take any pressure off the lads’ shoulders by emphasizing that this would be the most important 35 minutes of Vets football in over 20 years! The team then had 10 minutes to reflect on this as the Ettekijs groundsman insisted on re-painting all the lines on the pitch before the second half could start. The pressure was so high it almost produced an anticyclone to dry the playing surface (one for all you geography teachers out there….).

Vets1 played almost entirely on the break in the second half. Moreuil shot at the keeper from a tight angle, Rice took the ball round the keeper 40 yards from goal but lost the foot battle with the centre-half just as he was about to slide the ball home, and Christmas has a header from a corner cleared off the line.

Lodge came on for Criado as Vets wondered whether they would live to regret the missed chances. The pressure cranked up a notch or two. Not that Sejersen could feel it. An Ettekijs attacker twisted, turned, and unleashed a corker towards the top corner. The Great Dane somehow got his finger tips to it, turned the ball around the post, and saved Vets 1 season.

Ettekijs’ frustration soon boiled over. Duvnjak pulled one or their players back and was treated to a punch in the face. A red card and an 8-game suspension. Ten Holter came on for the groggy Bosnian and helped to see out a famous 1-0 win.

The post-match beers sure did taste fine.

Team: Sejersen – Criado (Lodge), Guarnaccia, Christmas, Pellegry - Rice, Duvnjak Ten Holter), Knight, Belfi, Moreuil – Griffiths (Cabaret)

MoM: Tommy Sejersen.