Lego man claimed six points against Paris
Our first encounter of 2010 with The Hague took place in Amsterdam back in March and finished 0-4 to 0-3 in our favour. On the same day, in the final, they turned it around to win something like 0-5 to 0-4. Little has changed since and the games between us continue to be tight and keenly contested. Saturday in Budapest was no different.
We were drawn in a group with Guernsey and The Hague in the 'Championship' section. Stockholm, Budapest, Paris and Luxembourg were in the other group. Bolstered by the return of Lego man and Olof, we felt we were in a stronger position than in Munich. Our opening performance didn't reflect that though and we were absolutely brutal surrendering awful possession, fouling, not tracking men etc etc. We pretty much failed to tick any box. Despite this we somehow managed to lose only by a point. However, the despondency afterwards seemed like it would bring the curtain immediately down on our chances for the day and season.
Guernsey's misfortune proved to be a blessing for us. They had flight complications and as a result they would arrive late and the schedule would be adjusted to cater for this. It left us with a long gap which allowed tempers to cool and banter to resume. In fairness, we have many faults but when fellas have it out it rarely lingers. Bizarrely out of all this, Jim, formerly known as Burger King, came out of it all with a new name, 'The Gooch'.
Back to Guernsey though and it was a game we had to win to qualify. Johnny O was given a job to do on the man mountain and we set our stall out early, tacking on a few decent points. My head for detail isn't so great but I remember Eoin Sheanon getting his jersey fairly well stretched on many occasions. He seems to get very little change out of the referees but is probably one of the most fouled players at these tournaments. Guernsey did make a comeback but we had another surge in us and Olof hit an insurance point with the conviction we know he has in him.
Second place meant we faced Paris, group A winners. They've had the edge on us since Copenhagen last year. We entered the game in Championship mode though, knowing that if we were to win this year's overall Championship, we could not lose again. It was our best half of football of the year, bar none. We totally overwhelmed them and burst forward on every occasion. When they did raid, they found a rejuvenated pairing of Burkey and Crusher in uncompromising form. 2-6 to 0-2 at half-time was our reward.
As you would expect from a team of Paris' quality, they rallied and claimed two goals (the only ones we conceded all day). Those goals showed up a frailty in our defence where we tend to be slow to react to certain situations. Again though, the surge was there and led by Lego man's six points from play (apparently) we took a deserved victory. Again, it would be The Hague in the final, for the 5th time this year.
The early chapters in this year's story with them were riddled with red cards and unsporting behaviour. In fairness both teams have largely reigned in that side of the game but they remain tight and edgy affairs. They have a particularly effective place kicker and again we were punished for some silly fouling in the first half. A one point half-time deficit was not overly concerning. It proved a stubborn gap to close though and The Hague increased it early in the second half. As the game came to a close, Timmy took a run at goal. There was traffic but he managed to veer right of it but in doing so cut his angle in such a way that a point was all he could muster. It wasn't enough and our opponents claimed a second successive European Championship under the lights of Budapest.
As always, it was disappointing but we cannot begrudge them their victory. They were missing a few lads too so to come down and grind out a win was a big achievement. It is hard to pinpoint where it has gone wrong for us but it cannot be anything too major. We are still there or there abouts and the margins in the two games against The Hague on Saturday show that. When we watched them against other teams on Saturday they looked awesome at times but we have it in us to contain them. Despite Maastricht being meaningless in terms of the overall Championship, our pride will ensure that we'll try and finish the year on a high.
Seven sessions left this year. There will be plenty of time to twiddle thumbs in the winter.
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