The Cup Run Begins
The first cup round of 2014 saw the almighty Unicol Men's B team drawn up against one of Cambridge's two D Division sides. Needless to say, we went into the match very confident of progression, and maybe even a bit cocky.
With our resources rather limited, old man Travis Sayring was forced to don the gloves for the day, while Dave Galuszka started in the unfamiliar role of centre midfield. Reido was even kind enough to give himself a start for once, dominating right back. Up front we had the familiar heart-throb trio of Patty Purcell, Lee Warin, and Sam Cameron.
The first half was very open and free-flowing with the likes of Charles 'Maple Leaf' Daily and Eisei 'Diesel' Toyota taking control in the middle of the field and feeding the forwards a number of glorious through balls. In the spirit of the day, Patty decided not to put away any of his chances in the first 45, purely to keep things interesting for the fantastic supporters. A clean shaven Galuszka decided that he would try and end his goal drought (legend states that it currently stands at about 35 years), but simply ended up kicking the ball into his own face.
Once he had realised that shooting was not his forte, Dave floated a dreadful cross towards the back post. With none of the strikers bothering to contest the travesty of a cross, two Cambridge defenders got confused about where they were, with one of them finding their own bottom corner with a wonderfully placed header. Nothing much else happened in the first half, so James Stewart, Rory 'Tall Timber' McKenzie, and Trav were able to enjoy some back-yard cricket in their own penalty box.
With the game still in the balance, Lee(onel Messi) Warin decided to finish Cambridge off nice and early in the second half with a fantastic strike into the top corner. A tiring (but not injured!) Patrick 'Giroud' Purcell was threatened with substitution by Reido unless he pulled off a wonder goal in the next couple of minutes. He did not disappoint. Following another botched and saved effort from Glassuzka, Patty scored a goal of the season contender with a fantastic strike from a whole 10 centre metres out. Somehow Reido was still not satisfied and pulled the goal scoring hero from the field, which initiated the return of Hayden 'Back Problems' Hoggard, a great sight for all.
Sick of watching Dave struggle in front of goal, Jordan 'MVP' Mackinnon went on a lung-busting run from left-back, beating a number of Cambridge lads with his extreme pace and facial hair. With Sam 'Off The Market' Cameron waiting wide open in the middle for a tap-in, Jordan couldn't help himself and smashed a shot straight at the keeper. The wing-backs were simply destined not to score on this day.
With the match dwindling down, a rejuvenated Purcell re-entered the fray to add a fourth and final goal for Unicol. After Rory 'I'm getting hitched' Casey blew a glorious opportunity to open his account for the season, the young buck of the team put away the rebound after initially missing the ball with a terrible left-footed swipe. The full-time whistle was blown and the Heinekens were opened. An underwhelming but comfortable win in the end over a dogged Cambridge side. Hopefully the draw for the next round is kind to us.
