Div 2

Finals Fever!! (Bats 2-1 YMCA)

Young women there’s no need to feel down,

I said Jen Peden, pick yourself off the ground,

I said Div 2, let’s celebrate in Newtown,

There’s no need to be unhappy.

Do-dah-dee-dum-do

It’s fun to beat the Y-M-C-A

It’s fun to beat the Y-M-C-A…

‘If we win, we’re in’ was the battle cry from Dena before the game. Luckily for the team it was short and punchy so we managed to remember it – and get ourselves to the finals! Hoorah!

In a game of only one ‘real goal’ (apparently penalties do not count as proper goals to some – to be fair, both seemed to be quite dodgy calls from the ref, so maybe the game should’ve only been 1-0), we decided to keep things interesting by living on the edge a little. While we struggled to dominate in the first half, we reached the dugout at half time (yes, there is a dugout at ELS Hall Pitch 2 – get a game there if you can just so you can try it out) a goal to the good thanks to an assist from Fi and a flying finish from Alice.

Our defence had their work cut out for the whole 90 minutes with YMCA trying the through ball at every opportunity and looking to beat the offside trap. The second half saw two inch perfect sliding tackles from goalkeeper Cara to protect our fragile lead. At that stage the game was 2-1 following two quick penalties – one for each side. First off, Erin picked the ball up in midfield and drove forward taking a shot from the edge of the box which hit a YMCA defender. Handball was the call, although it was less clear than Harry Kewell’s. Up stepped Erin to make the keeper weep. Shortly afterwards, Jen was adjudged to have fouled a YMCAer, despite being the one who ended up with blood all over her. Go figure. YMCA answered our well-taken peno with one of their own and our advantage was back to one goal.

This game was essentially a knockout bout to see which of us would make the finals. In the end it wasn’t the YMCA song but the ‘If we win, we’re in’ catchphrase which helped pull us over the line. One last league game next Sunday, and then some finals to look forward to. Hoo haa Batties!

Written by Jane