Victorious ATB End the Semester in Style

ATB FC were looking forward to the last double fixture night of the week. Despite missing Jonny ‘Unreliable’ Brown (formerly ‘star player’ Brown) for another week and with the absence of Sam ‘the Rock’ Butler, we were relishing the prospect of playing ‘League of Nations’ – an international squad dominated by skilful Brazilians who are friends of ATB FC.

Filling in for Jonny was midfield playmaker Rich Scully, while Atherton replaced Butler in defence. G was, as usual, missing.

However, first of all there was the small matter of playing the Dentist 6’s. A fantastic performance saw, quite literally, all the boys put in a great performance. Playing a counter-attacking game Atherton did a great job of soaking up the Dentists’ pressure, earning himself Man of the Match, while Maticevic and Scully did a good job of creating chances for old man Obi and Sawko.

The Boys took the lead in the first half through a stunning half-volley from the old man. Even the gangly goaly was up to the rest of the team’s high standards pulling off some impressive low diving saves to prevent the Dentists getting back in the game. However the pacey Dentist striker marked a turning point in the game when he commented ‘your goalkeeper’s ace’. From that point on it was downhill.

The money-grabbing mouth doctors soon got back in the game in the 2^nd half as Davies’s attempt at a save resulted in diving out of the way of the shot. This goal was added to swiftly after not-so-super sub Powell lost the ball from kick off resulting in the Boys falling behind.  Another, excellent, goal was added to the total before the game was up.

Despite a disappointing result ATB took heart from the excellent first half display and were determined destroy the League of Nations in much the same way that Mussolini did (we don’t usually take our inspiration from fascist leaders btw). The boys started brightly with our Polish number 9 Adam Sawko placing the ball between the keepers legs to keep in contention for ATB’s golden boot award before Obi tucked a chance into the corner to give the team a 2 goal cushion.

Brave Faces: ATB FC and League of Nations

Some stellar defence from Maticevic and Atherton as well as a Man of the Match display from inconsistent stopper Davies kept the international students at bay. In the second half the Boys’were pinned in their own half. Nerves were fraught when the League took advantage of a rare Maticevic  error to bring the score to 2-1.

ATB FC were reliant on Davies making some vital saves at the back. In the last few minutes the gangly goaly pulled off a double save which lead to the opposition striker screaming ‘Oscar motherfucker!’ This is perhaps the highest praise this goalkeeper has received.

League of Nations in training

A fantastic victory over a local rival meant the earlier loss was completely forgotten. With a more than respectable 13 points from a possible 21 this semester ATB FC can hold their heads high and aim for a strong finish to their first season in the prestigious ‘UoL 6-a-side Campus League’.

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