Victory for ATB!

The return of fallen soldier ‘G’ lifted spirits all round, including manager Maticevic’s intense training regime.  However, team physio Nikhil Lal confirmed our worst fears when he ruled out G for the last game of the season, despite an extended rest at home.

Moreover he put G’s whole footballing career in doubt as G will need to gain a considerable amount of weight before he can play again.  However, we were delighted to have him back and he was very keen to be our mascot for our last match of the season against Big Apple.

Lucky for some, the 3rd from bottom team didn’t actually turn up, so we were given a 6-0 default win and played a friendly against Green Giants. This was the team we’d lost 5-2 against on our first game of the season, so this was our chance to prove how far we’d come under Maticevic’s guidance.

With only 6 available players, Maticevic allowed some variety as a reward to our most committed players. Atherton went up front in the hunt for his first goal of the season, supported by Sam ‘the rock’ Butler and Adam Sawko in midfield. Meanwhile, Maticevic again proved how magnanimous he is by putting himself in defence with Ewan ‘road-runner’ Powell.

The boys started brightly, dominating the team that had once demolished our pre-season optimism. Atherton and Butler were clearly giddy with excitement at being so far up the pitch and linked well with Sawko to create numerous opportunities. While it may have seemed Atherton continued to be plagued by poor finishing as he missed an open goal, he actually managed to make up for his error with a goal that somehow hit the keeper and span back into the net.  His celebration was more impressive than the goal itself as he did the famous ‘FIFA flop’ move.

Rooney’s attempt at Patrick’s FIFA Flop celebration

Sawko also took advantage of our domination to close the gap behind top scorer Obi to just 2 goals. Powell was all over the pitch terrorising the Green Giants (who, confusingly, seemed to play in every colour but green). Butler had a few efforts on goal but the centre half proved his natural position was at the back with some wild shots.

In the second half it was all change with your reporter switching goalkeeping duties for the number 9 role, playing in some rather attractive pink socks it must be said. Powell was given a much needed rest in goal, where he performed admirably, and Atherton slotted into midfield. The gangly goalie Welsh wizard’s movement and height (and also some extremely generous team mates) meant several chances fell the forward’s way.

Unfortunately, they all went begging with the closest effort a Van Persie-esque volley that whistled past the keepers post. But the target man was able to head down a few chances to Sawko and Maticevic who also had some decent efforts. In defence the Giants posed an occasional threat, but Powell was keen to prove he deserved the post of 2^nd choice keeper and managed to keep out some challenging shots.

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The final scoreline of 2-0 was a brilliant reflection of how far our team has come, especially since we were playing without some of our so-called ‘star-players’ in Jonny “I’ll give this game a miss” Brown and Old Man Obi.

ATB after a surprisingly successful season

Speaking to The Tab, Manager Maticevic said:

“Ewan thoroughly deserved his man of the match pat on the back as he didn’t put a foot wrong all game and was rewarded with a darting run forward to assist Adam. We played with confidence throughout the friendly and I trusted the Boys to win by a comfortable margin.

“If Obi and Jonny did feature, we probably would’ve got done for rape! Seriously though, we ended the season with smiles all round and I see no reason why we won’t carry on this form into next season, especially now we’ve all gotten to know one another.

“I’d like to publicly thank everyone who participated in our fixtures and I hope the fans look forward to next season’s squad announcement in a few months. The Boys all deserve a break to recharge for pre-season.”

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