Striker Soccer
Today marked the second game of
Striker Soccer. My opponent was, first time player, John. My Spamchester Park
Queen’s Rovers took on John’s York City.
John had never played soccer but
had played hockey for 30 years so had a pretty good idea of tactics.
I started the game and after a
couple of moves, John tackled me and won the ball. A few moves later he was in
the open and had a shot……. which was saved by my keeper.
In the meantime, Neil’s Manchester
United was taking on Richard’s Birmingham City on the other table. There was
big excitement as there was a shout for some adjudication from one of the other
members of the Club, who just happens to be a referee. The judgement was a
penalty.
Manchester United had previously scored,
so this was Richard’s big chance.
He lined up, rolled the die and……..scored…….
putting them on equal terms.
Back to our game, I lost the ball
to John again and after a couple of moves, John was in the clear again.
He shot……and again it was saved
by the keeper, he was keeping us in the game….literally…
I went for a fast break down the
right, which, failed yet again. John had a couple of moves to set up an attack.
He changed his tactic this time
and dribbled into the 6 yard box before shooting. My goalie tried in vain to
save this one, but he was beaten this time. John had scored at the 23rd
minute mark (according to my scoreboard)
John blocked me in very tightly
for the rest of the half.
I made a substitution, I took off
a defender and added a striker, giving me a 3-4-3 set up.
John started the second half and
quickly made an opening for a shot, which was saved again by my Best on Ground.
Although I managed to keep the
ball quite a bit in the second half, John managed to stop me from moving the
ball forward. I had to keep passing sideways or backward until I made a
mistake, which John managed to exploit.
At the 14 minute mark, he skilfully
made another assault on my goals, where he managed to dribble into the 6 yard
box again and sneak another one past my stricken keeper. John was 2 up now.
I went on an “All Out” attack but,
yet again John managed to block me in. I managed to get out wide to the right
and attempt a risky pass. It was a failed pass and the subsequent tussle for
the ball, he won the ball.
He made several passes and was
pressing me again. I managed to block him and force him wide. And with 1 minute
to go, attempted to make 1 last pass before a possible shot………it was a failed
pass, but time had run out for me and the game finished with John’s York City
winning the game by 2 goals to Nil…….in fact I hadn’t even had a shot on goal…..
Manchester United had managed to
score again to win 2 – 1. Man U are now looking at playing York City in the
N.W.A. Charity Cup to start the season, lovingly called the F.N.G. Cup…….
