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Dung in by a Beetle

In his first game of the calendar year, Beetle Boy shone as brightly as the golden sun that brought him out to play in the first place.

The veteran fair-weather roadster scored his team's first three goals, and four of their first five, to fuel an 18-15 victory in which his side never trailed.

Never a stranger to the opportunities that come to his stick, Beetle Boy took full advantage of his opponents' inattention to his presence as an offensive threat to cash in early and often.

"We looked around and we decided we were going to cue on Beckenbauer today," said Chico of his side's early lapse that ultimately paved the way to their demise. "That's how we started to play the game and we paid for it when Beetle Boy got hot."

The early outburst not only buoyed Beetle's confidence, it also sparked his mates.

"It seemed like he was the only one of us ready to play, and once he had the magic stick going we just kept feeding him the passes," said Bam Bam. "It was good that he gave us the lead because the rest of us were slow coming out of the gate."

Seemingly incapable of doing anything wrong in the offensive zone, Beetle Boy played like a bug on a mission, driving hard to the crease, digging for rebounds, spinning off checks with aplomb.

"He's a big body, but he showed some deft hands out there," said Chico of his nemesis.

"It's important to get that confidence," said the veteran winger. "I'm normally not that much of a scorer, but to get out early and contribute to the team was really good for me, it set a good pace."

That momentum rarely relented, although a couple of lulls through the middle part of the game may have made the score closer than it should have been. But timely gaols by Franz Beckenbauer and Holt Renfrew, who returned to the courts after an extended absence to travel to faraway lands, snuffed any hopes of a comeback.

"They hurt," said Chico of those momentum-sucking markers. "The guys had great effort, but we just started to run out of gas because we were constantly playing catch up."

Beetle Boy also took advantage of their man advantage, although the contribution of the Living Legend was minimal as he struggled coming off a week-long illness and played only a handful of shifts to spell tired teammates.

"We were finally able to take advantage of the extra man," said Bam Bam. "We were able to cycle the ball a bit more, tire them out a little bit."

Posted by jaysuburb at February 5, 2012 08:51 PM