Match Report
Match Report- Crewe Corinthians V The Mighty Ramblers 1st XI
Final score 1-9
Bagpuss
Bradshaw
Doherty
Howard
Egan
White
Handley
GPS Gendall
Lee
Martin
Diego Holt
Chester
One is yet to see a bleaker sight than the gates of North Korea on a grey, wet day in Crewe. However, the Ramblers 1st XI were not to be perturbed by the barbed wire, dark green paint and bullet holes that adorned said famous gates and rocked up full of confidence following a convincing win over the second XI, a victory that further cemented the club hierarchy.
With the ramblers playing some sharp footy it soon became obvious that youth, fitness and technical ability were all in favour of the ramblers (outfielders). The Rolls Royce pairing of Howard and Doherty were dictating play from the back. Exhibition stuff from newly promoted Lee (Carsley), Handley (in his last game for the ramblers before he heads to London to help preparations for the eagerly awaited January tour) and a jet propelled Gendall (supercharged by his new boots and the added motivation from the military grade tracking tech strapped to his body) in the middle of the park, fed the ever hungry Bradders and hot shot White down the right, causing the oppo major problems. Diego Holt, fresh back from his lake district training camp and with knowledge of the increasing opinion that he should be moved to wide positions, was running like a man possessed. A truly amazing occurrence. Ah yes, the goals. No way are we letting the silent assassin (Martin) claim the first OG as their centre half clinically volleyed home to open the scoring. However, he wasn’t finished yet, just moments later Crewe’s mr clinical struck again, helping Whites low cross find the back of his own net to claim his brace. Diego looked on in awe of his finishing ability before bagging his first of the game not long after. Howard could have had a hat trick within 20 minutes had his finishing not been adversely affected by his altitude sickness, he settled for one, a nicely struck shot from inside the 6-yard box which concluded the scoring for the first half. In a week that saw Big Sam back in business, Big Bagpuss was undoubtedly out of business having had two touches all half. Half time, 4-0. Exhibition football from the ramblers.
Second half started in the same fashion as the first had ended. Marauding runs from Martin, White and Bradshaw as well as the new-found energy from the big lad up top was too much for the ageing Crewe back line. Subsequently, the flood gates opened. Unsurprisingly, the silent assassin slipped through Crewe unnoticed to score a second half hat trick. Great sportsmanship from him too, deliberately missing a few sitters to keep the score below 10. Little was known of bit part player Chester’s furious temper and toilet mouth until now. A man clearly frustrated by his lack of football this season became enraged when an off the ball incident was not penalised by the poor, innocent, old, kind, referee. Chester proceeded to verbally abuse everyone within a 10 meter radius and was not deciphering between Ramblers yellow or Crewe sky blue. Some amateur dramatics from the referee and Chester was sent to the dugout to think about his actions. A touch of theatre to what was becoming a foregone conclusion. Second half goals came from Martin x3 and Diego Holt x2, who, in true Diego Costa style, hadn’t even hit the back of the net with his 3rd strike before he declared himself finished for the day and demanded to be substituted. Big Bagpuss was finally called into action when the Crewe sub Vardy attempted an acrobatic slice of an overhead kick which happened to loop over the assertive Ramblers keeper to score the oppo’s only goal of the game. All in all an emphatic victory for the yellow and blue, up the Ramblers.