Teams
| Christmas | Anti-Christmas |
|---|---|
| Simon Cooper (Turkey) | Kim Cooil (Tennis Girl) |
| Neil Sneade (Father Christmas) | Chris Pearson (Cow) |
| Dave Monck (Antlers) | Jack Chalk (Superman) |
| Nathan Monck (Reindeer hat) | Diane Eichelsheim (Gretel) |
| Louise Gutteridge (Christmas Pudding hat) | Laurie Haslop (Ballerina) |
| Tim Clapp (Santa hat) | Alice Hug (Grumpy student) |
| Rob Barton (Tinsel) | Alasdair Edge (Wetsuit) |
| Charlotte Moss (Santa hat) | Liz Dunsby (Leopard) |
| Holly Sheahan (Knight) | Serin Dabb (Tim the Enchanter) |
| Joe Whittaker (Christmas jumper) | Simon Jelley (Thundercats singlet) |
| Clare Sheahan (Noddy) | James Menzies (Frenchman) |
| Georgie Hurford (Hansel) |
Christmas 5-5 Anti-Christmas
(H/T 3-2)
Man of the Match Dave Monck - marshalled the festive rearguard and popped up with a cheeky goal at the other end.
Lemon of the Match Neil Sneade - The voting was split between the ghastly Santa micro-shorts and an emphatic own-goal. Sadly for Sneadey, he was responsible for both.
Cambridge South hosted their very first Fancy Dress Christmas Extravaganza on Saturday, blowing away the cobwebs with an intra-club mixed game at Long Road.
The forecast for heavy rain did not deter the hardy Southeners, with some not only braving the conditions but also chosing to do so in the skimpiest of costumes (Jelley, Neil, Kim et al.) After a few minutes of costume comparison and a fortifying Bucks Fizz all-round, the game could begin, with Team Christmas facing off against the motley bunch of assorted others (Team Non-Christmas, or ‘NC’).
It was the hotchpotch XI (or XIII) that started the brighter, with Superman appearing particularly motivated, especially once he’d jettisoned the cape. He and the Fairy combined to open the scoring before the Knight and Noddy (dubiously appearing under the ‘Christmas’ label) crafted an instant equaliser.
Once their true identities had been discovered, it was also something of a selection quirk that Hansel and Gretel had been separated but they were both making an impact – Hansel by testing the saturation of the new pitch by choosing to lay flat on it (a move later copied by the speeding cow) whilst Gretel was calmly controlling the NC defence.
As the first period went on, NC’s grip on the game increased. Team Christmas seemed determined to hold possession within the defence, despite the fact that at least one of their defenders was prevented by his outfit from seeing the ball. With Scantily Clad Cricket Girl and Weird Leeds Uni Student Girl pressurising high up the pitch, several goals followed in quick succession and a coquettish Santa (having netted a truly marvellous OG) wisely decided to blow for an early half-time.
The second half followed a similar pattern, with the author’s personal highlight being a flapping Turkey’s reverse-stick save from Wetsuit-man. A splendid display of Christmas spirit saw the game miraculously finishing with a ‘next goal wins’ show-down (despite the fact that Team NC were at least a few goals up under the standard scoring system – i.e. counting the goals actually scored). Hence, there were a couple of grumbles in the Panton afterwards when Christmas Pudding-head duly swept in a well-worked, last ditch ‘winner’.
With the game now finished, the rain duly ended and we could all cycle to the pub in relative comfort for lashings of onions with a couple of minor carbohydrate accompaniments.