Game 1 report brought to you by Dave 🦉 who apologises, unnecessarily, about the accuracy and style. Dave there’s far worse 😉. Try to emulated Sean and you’ll feel so much better 😅

I apologise in advance if I miss out any exciting detail , or incorrectly report any incident during the game , simply because we didn’t have a reporter and I reluctantly volunteered after consuming all of 2 Radlers (2%) in the bar afterwards 🤷‍♂️.

I also apologise for not being able to meet the standard of reporting that Rory reaches – verbal diarrhea needs nurturing and practice 🤓.

So , here goes 🚀.

As the Reds lined up , minus Terry who was still prancing about in his snack bar , Keith immediately commented on Dave’s 🦊 inability to provide “well balanced” teams.

Keith’s comment proved justified as the Reds moved the ball about in neat triangles reminiscent of the great Barca team of years past.

The team of Blacks looked very much like the depleted Owls team I watch , chasing shadows every weekend !!

Amazingly , despite having 95% possession , the Reds failed to hit the back of the net early doors 🤷‍♂️.

Someone ( who will remain nameless ) , queried why certain players in red were in game 1 and on the same side , when clearly they were not injured and capable of walking the extra distance to reach the fast game ? Mystery 🤷‍♂️.

However , despite this huge gulf in skill , the game wasn’t providing the goal fest it should have. One sequence of play reads : Paul 🦵hits the post , Dave 🚕 follows up but H gets his sizeable rear-end in the way, the ball rebounds to another red who smacks it against the other post , and so it went on …… Still 0-0.

Finally Steve did the inevitable – Reds 1-0 up.
Amazingly , 3 water breaks later, the Blacks still only trailed by 1 goal. And then the drama unfolded.

Terry , who had finally swapped his apron for a Black shirt , found himself bearing down on goal.

However , Paul 🦵, who tries to compete with Alvin as the quickest runner in “WALKING” football , did his usual chasing back and tackling from the back, side , anywhere ( unsurprisingly ), to give away a penalty !😳

Up stepped man of the match Boris to bury it and level the scores. A great memory of a great guy finally scoring after 8 years of trying. We’ll all miss you mate 😩.

Our referee Kev 🥧 ( in red of course ) , failed to pull up several of the Reds for blatant running , leading to a couple more goals and a 3-1 scoreline. VAR would have had a field day ! Joe and Ton were the marksmen.

Well done blacks for enduring the run around , and not complaining – well , other than Bambi who never stops complaining 😤- and well done Boris for registering their only shot on goal .

Retiring to the bar for a farewell speech and presentation for Boris – the game itself seemed insignificant in the grand scheme of things ! The spirit of the game will always win through despite the occasional challenges ⚽️