We started at midday, thinking about whether it would be a good idea to (a) have lunch, (b) pack some lunch, or (c) have lunch at 5:30. I decided on (b) as we had a long trip ahead into a territory that I prefer not to mention. We were short in numbers for the game, the last before Christmas break, and we had to dust off Colin's stick for another "almost back to hockey" moment for the Troll. The journey was the opposite of a pleasant experience—pretty much an ocean of cabbages everywhere for about 40 minutes. To top it off, 50% of our forwards were delayed due to car/flood/oil issues. Luckily (?), the game started 30 minutes past the PB time for who knows why, so we started the game with the full squad.

The game started pretty intensely for them, with the ex-wonder-kid back in their squad, bigger than a couple of years ago but with the same skills. After 20 minutes of exchanges (shots here and there), they managed to get a short corner and scored a nice goal. A couple of minutes later, another short corner and another goal. Before halftime, they scored the third one after some contentious rolling and spinning on the ground…

We were determined to switch things and change the energy for the second half. We started creating chances inside their D and controlling their attacks with good communication between mids and defenders. We had shots and chances, but sadly, none were successful. Then, I had an eternal chat with one of the umpires about the very old and basic sh*thousery tactic of kicking the ball away after the it was off the line. Maybe she thought we were trying to undermine our chances of getting back into the game by kicking the ball away; who knows… This was swiftly followed by Colin getting carded for calling an opponent a d**k after the player slide-tackled him (or just slipped, it cannot be confirmed). Then, Ollie made the mistake of trying to stop the ball with his elbow, at about 1m height. We never know; maybe Ollie made the mistake of getting his body to intercept a pass, and the umpire judged that as dangerous play…

Their keeper made some very good saves, and eventually, they scored two more in counterattacks. With 4 minutes to go, I decided to take things in my own hands and went up to play centre forward. I just wanted to do something different… The lads were confused. The only player who actually passed the ball to me was John. Bad sign and 4 votes for LOM.

We went for very quick teas, as we wanted to return to our homes. We wish the best to LS, hopefully getting promoted and saving us the trip next year.