Match Reports
02/12/06
City of Portsmouth 3-5 Men's 2nd XI
The city of Portsmouth, once the shipping capital of the world, and surrogate home to many a trepid explorer. Saturday 9th was no exception. As the Brave men of Brighton & Hove Men’s 2nd XI sailed in to town with a brace of victories under their belt and a booty full of foreign bounty (Bruno), there was little else on their mind than the battle that lay before them. Captain Gardner - a fearsome and calculated pirate, and his second mate Childs had planned the journey meticulously and were pitch side with ample time to bait the local peasants, dump their loads, open the gate and pre-scan.
Once on the Pitch the buccaneering Butlin led from the front with darting, penetrative runs and a press so tight it left the opposition breathless. Despite his efforts a momentary lapse of concentration in the defence made way for Portsmouth’s lumbering foreword to pinch a goal and somewhat startle the Brighton men. Undeterred they drove on, dropping anchor on the Portsmouth 25 and unleashing a barrage of missed shots and short corners. Like a ship lost at sea, the foreign bounty drifted in and out of play, confusing the Portsmouth midfield and at times his own, his penchant for creative play fitting neatly somewhere between sublime and bizarre.
Moments before the stroke of half time Jamie the cabin boy scored a vital goal and put the side level going into the second half. Despite his reputation for drunkenness and womanising , when sober, he is proving too difficult a fellow for any defence to handle.
The second half started with a string of successive attacks up the starboard side, lead in the main by some great link up play between the cantankerous Irishman and the ship’s surgeon , Dr Sharma. One of particular note led to the bounty sinking a beautiful first time shot from the top of the ‘D’ to put the visitors ahead. “Incroyable!”
Before the Pompey had time to draw their pungent breath a third goal was sunk - a tap in by the man from the Land of the Leprechauns. An easier goal has not been seen and pales in significance when compared to the grace of Child’s top-corner screamer that followed.
Plain sailing you might think? Not quite. Three yellow cards in the second half left ample room for manoeuvring and Portsmouth did just that, creeping back into the game with a couple of cheap goals, leaving the score at 2 - 4 down for the home side.
The final 10 minutes offered little in entertainment; a well executed short-corner routine lead to a second goal from Jamie and a bit of peasant trickery from the surgeon - spinning like a deranged dog chasing its tale, he outwitted his opponent but failed to impress his team-mates. A controversial decision against Captain Gardner for dissent saw Portsmouth awarded a short corner after the final whistle. Having camped a host of players on the Brighton D, Pompey managed to convert.
3 - 5 to the Brighton at full-time.
Flamboyant, leaky but improved.
Author: Buccaneer Butlin