Report no 2 from the field of dreams

The second instalment from a less than heroic bunch of 20-something footballers:

Perennial drinkers and serial average achievers, the H&K Booze Hounds, played their latest game in the London Bridge league on Tuesday night. Despite one columnist recently mocking the “scary sounding” opposition (Duffers), the match proved far from a cakewalk and if anything was the Hounds toughest encounter to date.

All round athlete Nick Woods was welcomed back to the fold, quickly donning the bizarrely undersized goalkeeping gloves (acquired by an unnamed, small-handed teammate) and pulling off a string of early saves as the Hounds were pushed back from the off. A lack of shape and some lax defending quickly saw the fourth floor’s finest 0-2 down, however they managed to pull the score back to 4-4 at half time through some gutsy attacking play. Chambers also dragged his body over the halfway line to score a memorable first goal in the league – a long range effort which may (only may mind you) have taken a sizeable deflection on route to the net.

Tired, broken, but full of spirit, the Hounds kicked off the second half but again were quickly behind as the Duffers sizeable striker got the better of two or three Hounds to rifle one home into the net. It was at this point that something clicked though, as first Woods and then Battersby tore into the opposition with renewed fervour.

Hauling themselves back into contention once more following some good link up play between Mullen and Jones, the Hounds then suffered a sickening blow as the latter fell awkwardly under pressure. Slowly rising to his feet, Jones could only watch as Duffers stormed downfield and made it 7-8 with only a couple of minutes left on the clock.

The Hounds needed a break, and thankfully, they got one. When one final attack on goal broke down just past halfway, Duffers chose the sensible option and passed the ball calmly back towards their goal. In a cruel twist of fate (at least for them anyway), the ball was seemingly drawn towards the bottom left corner of their net, with a keeper exhausted by the Hounds incessant fightback unable to reach it. Cue pandemonium from the watching support(er) and the sight of Woods charging round the pitch in excited delirium.

And with that, the final whistle sounded with the scores well and truly deadlocked at 8-8. Hounds remain above Duffers near the top of the table, but it’s clear the fight for the title is far from over….