Champions (Finally)!!!!

I only blog now when we win a championship. No trophy, no t-shirt, no blog post.

Match Report:: Damn it feels good!

After years of futility--there is a debate whether we once beat them, or whether we once only tied them--we have finally beaten the Optometrists! And we did when it counted most, when a championship was on the line.

Things started out dire for us this session. We lost Alex for the season, and we had to pull Dave out of retirement. And our poor luck from the first session (missing the playoffs with only one loss) carried over to the first two games, where we lost to our 2 nemeses by a total of 4 goals. Even our first win of the session was a dicey affair, and our prospects for a championship looked iffy.

But then we started gelling. Our movement off the ball and some creative passing gave us a glimpse of how much this team could achieve. Unfortunately, our solid play was against the two weakest teams in the league. Could we do against the best two teams?

The semifinal match answered the first half of that question, as we beat Waltham's Mullet-Malpractice in a gutsy game with only one sub. Now we had to exorcise our demons, and fortunately we had a full squad.

I don't have the words to describe what happened (and I sort just plain don't remember), so I thought I would let Ray Hudson describe the action.

Edi (above) was "cat-like, jungle-like, quick. Big puma. Big, beautiful, brave gladiator goalkeeper." He made some truly spectacular saves, even more incredible because his left elbow was badly banged up. Only 2 goals until mop-up time. "Spartacus, I called him. Mix in a bit of octopus. Beautiful."

Chris (below) was "just like a Turkish bellydancer on a surfboard, skipping through the tulips." He was able to effectively turn through the heart of the Otpisani defense, "trickier than a squirrel running on a telephone wire."

Paul (below) was physically dominant. He was a "matador. Look at him, so languid, look at him walking. He’s like a big, beautiful zombie. He just strolls around languid like, like smoke off a cigarette, you know. And then he jump out and just draw your blood."

Nick was "the magic man with the twinkle toes and the x-ray vision."

Val (top) was "braver than a bull fighter with no knickers on!"

Caley was the usual calming influence in the engine room. He was a "concert pianist, with his feet" and he "could fill the Grand Canyon with his class."

Dan (top) was highly mobile and dangerous with both feet. "I’m telling you man, this kid could be the best thing on two legs since Sophia Loren."

In all, there was some "silky" soccer, and several "orgasmic" finishes. Without Drago, Otpisani "was as dangerous as my grandmother knitting a quilt." That doesn't take away from a great effort by us.

Well done, boys.

Final Result
DPR 8-4 Otpisani
Champions!