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Alltraders found themselves in a comfortably placed fifth position before the start of tonight's game, safe in the knowledge that they had beeten two of the teams above them. All that was needed tonight was a bit of confidence in their own ability to push them up to a possible second place if they could overcome their latest opposition, CPI Crawley.
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It had been noted that Alltraders greatest victories have all taken place in the absence of the cameras, so the sight of Kirsty perched on the wall by the near goal, camera in hand, was not greeted with too much enthusiasm by the rest of the team.
CPI were place two positions below Alltraders, but they also had been matched against the high-flyers early in the competition. With Jamie still out injured, and Tim suffering from a bad cold, it was clear that it was going to be a tough one tonight.
Both teams started the game with an air of caution, sizing each other up with some good penetrating moves in the first few minutes. Tim Leader came the closest to opening the scoring with a viciously struck shot with the right foot from an acute angle that just scraped the crossbar on it's onward journey to pitch one.
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Warren saves from close range much to the excitement of the crowd |
The game seemed to be finely balanced. Alltraders looked like they could break at any moment, with CPI always dangerous in front of goal. However, it was was CPI that took the initiative when Sal was caught napping at the back as a CPI attacker cut behind him to run on to a finely placed pass and skim the ball under Warren to destroy his clean-sheet record.
From then on, the game seemed to step up a pace. Although this was far from a dirty game, the tackles did start to become a little firmer, with Kevin doing a fine impression of 'Eddie the Eagle' under the nose of the referee who had to check to see whether he had left his foot behind....
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'I believe I can fly' |
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'I'll find the rest of your leg later' |
The half time whistle eventually blew with CPI one goal up.
The second half started with Alltraders desperate to make up the defecit. Kevin seemed determined to take on all of the opposition team (twice) before thinking about having a crack at goal. CPI closed ranks with ruthless efficiency to keep the threat at bay, but there was nothing they could do to suppress a sublime effort from Tim Leader with only two minutes of the half played.
As Kevin finally decided that there was going to be no way through the defence all on his own, he calmly back-heeled the ball to Tim who had taken up a bit of space about ten metres from goal. With a bit of time to look up, there was the smallest of gaps between the goalkeeper and the far post to aim for. With absolute clinical presision, he lifted and curled the ball over the 'keeper into the net off the far post to bring Alltraders level with the goal of the tournament so far. Even the CPI players and watching spectators had to applaud this piece of opportunism from this veteran of the lob!
Not wanting to let this little set-back interfere with their game-plan, CPI continued to press hard on the Alltraders goal. Time and again Warren pulled off some amazing acrobatics to keep the score level. However, another slip by Sal allowed an almost carbon copy move finish with an excellent strike to restore CPI's lead.
There was worse to follow. Almost straight from the kick, CPI exploited Alltraders lack of discipline and created another opening for the same attacker to slam home number three to make the game almost irretriveable for Alltraders...
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Kevin tries to fly again... |
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Tim is crowded out |
With only a minute left, a quickly taken corner found an unmarked Kevin Burton who smashed the ball into the back of the net to claw one back for Alltraders. Was there enough time to retrieve a point?
Despite their best efforts, the watching Alltraders fans had resigned themselves to defeat as eventually the final whistle blew.
So, the curse of the camera continues. However, it as well worth it to capture the goal of all time!
Final Score:
Alltraders 2 (0) - (1) 3 CPI Crawley
Tim Leader
Kevin Burton