Ecusson 0-5 RBBFC V1 26 September 2026
The fifth round of ABSSA fixtures saw RBBFC Vets 1 travel to the other side of Brussels to put their 100% record on the line against a tricky Ecusson side. The Indian summer / fast unravelling climate crisis had the Vets 1 squad’s southerners purring about the perfect conditions while the northerners, baldies, and particularly, the bald northerners, urgently sought shade and suncream as the mercury crept past a balmy 20c.
With a strong-looking squad assembled, Captain Billiet settled the troops. The recent innovation of individual player stats meant that the motivational words were part old school, part cutting edge. The message was something like work hard, stay humble but improve pass completion during transition and leverage more high intensity sprints. One unnamed defender may or may not have mentioned something about top speed stats.
Krissy started in goal, eager to add another match to the longest clean sheet streak of his distinguished RBBFC career. Jean, Igor (Victor en français), Gav, and Mark completed a miserly defence. Jere, Hodge and Rich made up the midfield, with the gourmet attacking trio of Maarten, Ala and Marko up top. Max and Marcelo provided the over-qualified finishers from the bench.
Huddled up, Hodge offered a last piece of wisdom before kick-off – shoot on sight of goal. After a cagey opening, RBBFC mounted the first attack. The ball fell to Hodge approximately 38 metres from goal, who shot. The score remained 0-0. Wise words. The first 15 minutes saw Ecusson moving the ball around cautiously without any real threat. RBBFC had less possession but more intent to move the ball forward earlier. The Brits second attempt saw Hodgson, a little closer to goal this time, rattle the bar. Soon after, in a nice team move, the ball was worked out to Marko on the right-hand side. Ala held his run and was duly found by Marko - just as you would expect from a man with his own Panini sticker. An unstoppable first-time finish from Ala and it was 1-0 to the good guys.
The Whites were now on top and pushing for a second before the break. The chance came when another marauding Big Bad Bill run down the left resulted in an Ecusson defender’s stray hand getting in the way of the cross. Penalty to the Brits! Strangely or so it seemed, Hodgy spurned the chance to add to his club-leading goal tally suddenly remembering a tight hammy. McGeehan, unwittingly and clearly having not seen the crater where the penalty spot had once stood, placed the ball overhanging said sinkhole. There then ensued a 3-minute delay during which the referee explained that this was OK to several opposition players seemingly unburdened by a detailed understanding of the laws and directives of association football. Hard and low was the way to go. 2-0 to the men in white.
The rest of the half saw Ecusson up their game a little. A minor shout for a penalty led to another round of whining. The end result being their number 10 finally getting booked. A little annoying for Jere who had to winch the guy out from deep inside his pocket so he could receive his yellow. Back in he would go for the rest of the game. Just before half-time Ecusson hit the post from a corner to signal a warning that the game was still very much alive and simplify the half-time team talk.
Warning received, RBBFC1 upped their game in the second half knowing a third goal would kill the contest. With Jean, Igor, Gav and Mark swotting away any danger, the rest of the team could concentrate on trying to convert some of the many chances they created. The M&Ms were called for to freshen things up. Max replacing Gav who recorded his fastest sprint of the day to make sure he was buvette-side of the pitch when play resumed, and Marcelo on for Ala. The changes did the trick as Marcelo beautifully picked out Hodge at the back post for the 3-0. The Whites kept coming, eager to turn a good performance into a statement win. McGeehan was the next one to benefit from Marko Vision, with the ball laid on a plate for a tap-in to make it four. There was still time for McGeehan to return the favour and set up Pinkers to complete the scoring and a resounding 5-0 win.
There may be harder challenges to come but a great result and good all round squad performance bodes well for the next games as RBBFC5 start to build some serious momentum.
