13th Octobre 2023…

Good day, one and all. Another match to report on, as the planet inexorably turns and speeds us towards Autumn and beyond, while the British weather duly alters. There were seventeen of us running around in the pouring rain on Friday; here were your two teams

Blues: Will (in goal), Simon Gas, me, Paul, Anatoily, Klaus, Mick, Morgan and Johannes

Yellows: Simon Ink, Steve, Johnnie, Andrea, Joe, Parminder, Gio and Patrick K

It’s never easy selecting teams with odd numbers, but we had a decent game and a relatively close finish. With their man advantage the Blue team took a two goal lead – the second an insouciant finish from Paul following a delicious and inch-perfect cross from Anatoily that allowed Paul enough time to light a cigar and put down the slim book of Baudelaire poetry he was reading at the far post to side foot home past Steve.

I think Gio then got a goal back for the Blues before the Yellows extended their lead to 3-1 and then 4-2 after Johnnie volleyed home a beautiful cross from Patrick, before a late panic for the Yellows as Gio robbed me in midfield and sparked a move to allowed Joe to prod the ball home unopposed from all of five yards out just a couple of minutes before the end.

Final scores: Blues 4 – Yellows 3

I don’t seem to be able to recall any of the Blues goalscorers – Paul aside – but one would imagine they came from Klaus, Morgan and/or Johannes, the latter of whom was demonstrably man of the match. With the pitch wetter than an otter’s pocket, it was a game that favoured the those of us with a better first touch and Johannes and Morgan combined to good effect for the Yellows, while Gio and Partick eventually forged an expansive understanding after an early tiff about not passing to one another.

And so to the pub for an entertaining evening of geopolitical debate and decrying of England rugby fans; we were eventually joined by surprise guests Yev and Geoff. Which was nice.

Until Friday!