This year our message board regulars, wearing anything but Claret & Blue, took to the Turf Moor pitch for two matches, the first of them kicking off at what should be the right time for football, 3 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon.
After much deliberation in the days leading up to the games – with the “Can I play against my brother?” and “I don’t want to be on the same side as him” type comments the teams were finally named late on Friday at a time when surely all the players had chosen to have an early night in preparation.
The smooth planning was interrupted about 11:30 p.m. when one of the players phoned to confirm that it was the week after and when told not said he would have to rush round on Saturday morning to buy himself some boots. I’m sure Steve Cotterill never has it this tough.
Incredibly everyone got there for the first game, and in one piece, and just before the appointed hour the teams were led out – Claret Heroes in blue and white stripes and Holy Custards in a resplendent yellow kit.
It was an exciting game that was eventually won by the Custards but not before some stunning goalkeeping at both ends of the ground, particularly from dsr in the Heroes’ goal who at one point made an astonishing triple save.
There was crisis to come though and one of the goalkeepers didn’t make it for the second match so Custards’ keeper jdrobbo found himself lining up again, this time for Damos Drunck, in the second game.
The Druncks in all blue, took on Waterside FC who played nothing like AC Milan despite trying to look like them in a game that was won in the dying minutes. Druncks led 2-1 and their late inclusion jdrobbo kept them in the game with a series of fine saves.
That was until the last three minutes when Waterside netted twice through lutonclaret and sussexclaret to win it.
Waterside’s cblant, having been in the losing side a year earlier, was delighted to secure his first Turf Moor win and told Clarets Mad, “The team huddle before the game really lifted the lads and we bonded from that moment on, there was only going to be one winner, revenge was sweet but we owe it all to the gaffer he made us believe.”
But poor jdrobbo, a hero one minute, could only reflect on what might have been. “500 miles is bad enough but when you have to hear it five times as you pick the ball out of the back of the net, that's just taking the ****,” he said.
The final word though has to be cblant’s and he summed up what it meant for each and everyone of the players involved when he said, “For fifty minutes we were ALL our heroes past and present, we were our own legends and this was our own cup final, in our minds we re-lived every game we had witnessed on that hallowed ground man and boy and in victory or defeat the dream had been realised.”
| Clarets Heroes | Holy Custards | Waterside FC | Damos Drunck |