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Reversal of Fortune

A change of weather this week brought with it more than just dry courts. It brought out a few more players, and a reversal of fortune for both goalies. An identical 20-9 shut out score was the end result, only this week it was PFG, not Gump, on the receiving end of the shellacking.

'We were bad' PFG stated shortly after the last orange ball bounced past him. 'Defense, scoring, passing, checking--we just couldn't keep up. We tried hard, no question. But not a chance."

"For myself, I start to find a grove in middle of game, but their offensive pressure was relentless, and exhausting.'

Besides the score, the only other similarity to last week's game was a repeated concern over the imbalance of the teams.

'We should have done a trade' Gump declared, despite the victory in which he put forth a solid performance. 'It's no fun for anyone when there's a blowout.'

Except perhaps for Kid. Once again he lead the attack for the winning team, scoring multiple goals along side his teammates, the speedy Elvis and the defensively steady Cowboy Bill, with Bird's garbage rebounds nicely complementing Unabomber's blast from the point.

"Kid is frustrating, for sure." PFG remarked of his teammate from last week. "He is able to control play of game well, but is even more devastating when defense backs off him, and give him room to shoot in close. Crap shoot saves, at that point."

Early season conditioning may have played a part too. A number of times in the match the losing squad had trouble keeping up with the flow, finding themselves constantly one step short of the open ball.

Clearly the difference in the game was control and speed. The lucky bounce was definitely in favour of the winning side, but you have to be good to be lucky too. PFG's squad was not often able to mount a strong attack, clearing the ball wildly more often than passing and shooting with control. A late charge in which Wink, Billy Idol, and the Legend were able to reel off a number of quick, well excecuted goals brought their team close to breaking the shut out, but in the end it was way too little, way too late.

"I'd have prefered the rain from last week to the storm of orange balls i got today." PFG quipped. "Next week. We'll get 'em back next week."

PFG had one thing to celebrate this sunday, at least. Sporting a new helmet and an assortment of other recently acquired equipment, PFG seems at last to have assembled a uniform set of gear. After patching his way through a number of seasons with often less than satisfactory equipment, PFG was pleased to find his new gear more or less up to snuff.

"The helmet look and feel good; the pants, a bit too cumbersome, but everything else, glove, blocker, and pads, are all good to go for a few years hopefully."

He was also happy to see a clear sunday for the first time in weeks. "Much better for gear. Give chance to dry out."

Queried about his superstition over a correlation between new gear and a bad performance, PFG simply shrugged.

"What can i say? It seem to happen every time. All i know is that next week, gear isn't new anymore. So, no more blowout."

PFG wasn't the only player happy to see sun instead of rain. The shift in weather helped bring out Elvis and Billy Idol, and with the Legend's return each team enjoyed a couple of subs for the game. However, even though the turnout was an improvement over last week, there was some surprise that the sunny skies didn't draw more players. Still absent from the games so far has been Lobsterboy, Lak Attack, Wendel, Hoss, and Ottoman, with Paul One making only one appearance so far.

The extra subs for this week gave the teams enough energy to play a mini-game after the first game was over. New teams were picked, with Wink and Legend bowing out to other commitments. And with a strong focus on balancing the teams, trades were made to bring about a competitive result. The final score of 10-6 reflected this, with PFG's squad the winners this time around.

Posted by at November 7, 2005 12:33 AM