FC REAL P V P KENSINGTON DRAGONS U13s
The Dragons were due to play away this Sunday but in the days leading up to the match, FC Real contacted us to ask if the game could be played at St. Mark’s Park, presumably because the Bernabeu pitch wasn’t up to scratch after Louis Suarez’s teeth had torn up the hallowed playing surface after his Barca debut in El Classico. Or the European Champion’s pitch simply wasn’t available after some bizarre fixture mix up. Whatever the reason we agreed and the game was slated for a 12 noon kick off in North Kensington and not at 10.30 in Madrid.
So it was going to be an away match played at home, the visitors being the home team even if they were actually playing away, if you follow me. It was all a bit confusing but we were just happy to be playing.
A depleted Dragons squad, ravaged by half term absentees was hoping to build on our run of 5 wins on the bounce. And despite the number of missing personnel the starting 11 looked very good on paper. But with just one substitute where normally we have 5 showed we were running a bit thin on the ground and were lacking strength in depth. However the Dragons coach remained confident that this team could perform, especially after the rejuvenating properties of an extra hour in bed afforded by the Autumnal clock change.
So Sunday morning rolled around. The late October sun shone. The freshly laundered kit was packed and arranged in ascending numerical order in the kit bag. The Nike match ball was inflated to official regulation pressure. And the chilled Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference’ oranges were precisely quartered and sealed within their Tupperware container.
And then came the call. The call that all managers dread. The opposition couldn’t muster a team and so the match was called off because the home team (who were really the away team) had forfeited the game. It was a cruel blow to Dragons who had pestered their parents to travel back from half term getaways early, offered to drag themselves off sick beds for the cause and travelled to St. Mark’s without checking their emails and texts.
But looking on the bright side, we accumulated another 3 points to our league campaign’s tally and without a single blemish to our goal difference column or muddy stain on our team kit. And the shirts will be smelling fresh and ready to wear for our next game, away in the Cup to Hanwell Town FC next Sunday. I’m not sure what to do about those oranges though. Anyone fancy 72 orange quarters?