End of season spesh: the Great Gasby
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In a move rarer than hen’s teeth or rocking horse shit, I have decided to write a blog to mark the end of another season of football on a Friday night at Coram Fields. As July draws to a close* and with it the culmination of the 2024/25 ‘season’, we happy band found ourselves with more players than ever, bolstered by the large number of ex-pat Ukrainian lads who have all been recruited directly or indirectly through Will.
(*I originally started this about a month ago. Draw your own conclusions about my mental state / level of business at work / midlife ennui.)
It would be uncontroversial to say that the standard has rarely (if ever) been higher. Where once we had a cacophony of rowing, arguing and moaning, these days the games are played out in relative calm bar the odd expletive or exhortation to Do Something in what I am reliably informed is Russian. But Alan is still on hand to ensure that the old ways are not quite forgotten…
After a dalliance with artificial intelligence the team selection remains very much my own very organic nous – make of that what you will. As Simon spends his Summer in his retreat in the Hamptons, the Great Gasby can reflect on another successful year of player recruitment, great games and an operating surplus in excess of £500.
Shall we have a couple of match reports?
11th July
Yellows: me Brad, Joe, Paul, Yev, Roshan, Will, Patrick, Johnnie
Blues: David, Bogdan, Kanat, Simon Gas, Alan, Simon Ink, Anatoili, Gio, Nick Leung
I was particularly proud of my team selections this week, matching up the muscular power and precision of Gio with the more mercurial, will ‘o’ the wisp talents of Patrick. Given Patrick didn’t actually arrive until around ten minutes past seven, this presented as something of a mismatch and Gio diligently dispatched two rasping shots past the Yellows’ keeper (Paul was in nets for one of these) to put the Blues two nil up with the minimum of fuss.
Thereafter the tide of the game started to turn as Will, Yev and Johnnie started making triangles to get the ball up the pitch towards Patrick who had the not insignificant task of getting past both Bradley and Kanat. Nevertheless, the young forward belied his slender frame by slamming in an incredible finish into the top right hand corner and steered another couple in through a thicket of legs to end up with a hat-trick on the day.
Johnnie was also very much on-the-spot and weighed in with a goal as the Yellow team ran out 5-2 winners. I think the most surprising element of this game was that it was one of the very rare occasions when Kanat finished on the losing side…
18th July
Yellows: Simon Ink, me, Joe, Paul, YS, Will, Max Pochuev, Roshan, Gio
Blues: Ahmed, Steve, Brad, Simon Gas, Anatoili, Morgan, Max, Nick Leung, Alan
Full disclosure here, this game has already largely slipped from my memory like a lost Summer love…
But my contemporaneous notes state that the final score was, perhaps unsurprisingly now that I refer back to the starting line-ups, 7-3 to the Yellow team.
Inevitably, Gio was involved heavily in the goals, although my notes also record that Simon Ink was on the scoresheet “from about six inches”. The young bearded Ukrainian lad ‘YS’ who reminds me of the peerless winger Kvicha Kvaratsckhelia (whose name I am committed to learning this year so I can stop referring to him as the “Georgian fella”) and Max were absolutely sensational in this game and were always likely to be too much, with or without Gio (who really put in a shift in) to ensure that even with the specialist goalie Ahmed there was too much firepower for the Blue team. They did manage to get three goals; I think Morgan and Max were the scorers.
All that remains is to commemorate a very pleasant evening spent in Nono’s, the Greek restaurant next to the Skinners’ Arms. Climate change being what it is, we were even able to dine al fresco without any concern.
Myself, Simon Gas, Simon Ink, Paul, Brad, Steve, Max and Will were joined by a characteristically unheralded appearance from Geoff, who timed his run with perfection to take a seat at the end of the table and get in amongst the dips, salads and grilled meats. Such was Simon’s largesse with the cash tip, that we had a round of complimentary Ouza on the rocks.
Opa!
Stick that in yer blog! 