So up we all got the next morning. Some a lot more worse for wear than others. We returned our keys to the owner of Fawlty Towers who was being very polite. She was less impressed when she heard there might be an additional "guest" in the hotel.
Al was the only one not to get up and who could care less anyway? There was no chasing him and we all made our way to the ground getting there with time for our usual warm ups.
No apologising by Phil Bray today, he had Nige, Derek, Stevie P and anyone else he might have apologised to in the starting line up.
Nick Bray and Damo were having a pre-match cigarette. This was followed by Damo going off to look in a mirror as he perfected his look of surprise. Of course the rest of the day comments of surprise were flying left right and centre.
Nick followed his ciggy with a nice healthy bacon cob which was just oozing grease.
Chris Stenson was trying to remind Paul McCudden all about how he'd set up goals yesterday by passing the ball to the guys in the Leicester shirt while hoping I heard it so it went into the report.
Derek, Stevie P and Nigel were running around trying to look like they started games all the time and knew what to do warm up wise.
Chris Foster was recovering from a hangover again but that didn't stop him from looking like he was a VIP.
Bernie was glad he wasn't starting the game as he recovered from Mushy Pea poisoning.
Steve and Andy Barwood were by now fitting in well with the squad and Steve had a camera with some interesting photos from the evening before. Let's just say that Damo looked immensly surprised in most of the photos.
Steve Barwood looked absolutely ridiculous with sunburn between his shorts line and where his socks and shinpads were.
Phil Abbott had rejoined the squad after being away with the family. He'd brought them along again and they were doing their best job to annoy him. That was entertaining to watch.
Paul McCudden was busy trying to look like he knew what he was doing but no one believed him after yesterdays performance.
Coops was busy trying to walk along the sideline again and once again wasn't having much luck!
Lee Stone was really happy that Al hadn't made it out of bed yet as he didn't want to talk football again with him for at least another year.
Game Four - Vs Ipswich
So the starting line up for this game was Derek in goal, Stevie P at right back, Kev B at left back, Phil Bray and Chris Foster in the middle of defence. Nige at right midfield, Chris Stenson on the left, Andy Barwood and Paul McCudden in the middle of the park with Lee Stone and Coops up front.
This was a game where we didn’t know what to expect. A lot of our players were suffering from hangovers and we hadn’t played Ipswich since the WorldNet in 2000 (I think).
The game started off with us attacking and fortunately that was the case for most of the game. Although there were plenty of chances during the game for both sides.
We had plenty of chances and seemed to be blowing the lot of them which was a bit worrying. The main culprit was Lee Stone but there were plenty of others making errors too! We were 2-0 up at half time thanks to goals from Coops and Paul McCudden – yes you did read that right, Coops and Paul McCudden. Of course all the hard work had been done for them already by other team members.
The first goal was made from our two players on the right. Nige and Stevie P had combined very well with a couple of great passes to the feet (something a player or two could learn from). The next part of the build up to the goal is highly debatable! Stevie P claims he put in a perfect cross for Coops to finish the goal. Everyone else reckons it was a rather pathetic shot by Steve. He put all his strength into it in the hope it powered into the net but it was so pathetic it just ended in the goal area where Coops was running towards the wrong goal. The ball hit Coops and it went into the net. 1-0 to us.
Not long later it was 2-0 to the Internet Foxes where Paul McCudden managed to get something on target!!!! Mind you this time the work was done down the left by Lee Stone. Lee won the ball in a challenge, beat a few players and pulled the ball across to Paul to bang it into the open net. An improvement on yesterdays form as he would have missed it then.
Ipswich had a chance when Chris Foster casually kicked a clearance straight into one of their players but fortunately it came to nothing.
That was the score at half time with Derek not having a lot to do. When shots came his way he had them covered.
Kev B had kept the left side covered. Chris Stenson was also playing well on the left feeding the ball to Lee. Andy Barwood was his usual combative self and winning a lot of ball in the middle of the park and keeping Paul covered.
Chris Foster had done what was required but not much else.
So we were happy at half time and didn’t make any changes.
The second half continued with the IF’s doing well. Not long into the half we scored a third goal which was pretty much a carbon copy of the second goal. Lee Stone again doing some good work and played the ball across the goal to Paul McCudden to get his second goal of the game and our third. 3-0 up and time to make a change.
Andy Barwood made way for Phil Abbott with Phil going to the left and Chris Stenson moving into the middle of the park. Phil Abbott had been telling everyone what an absolutely woeful striker he was and it wasn’t long before he got to prove that. With the Internet Foxes pushing on for more goals the ball came out to the left. With the keeper way out of his goal having come out for the ball, Chris Stenson passed the ball back to Phil Abbott – it was coming along and sat up to be hit and Phil Abbott put it out for a throw-in over the other side of the park!!! Poor old Nige was right behind him lining up a shot that was going to go out for a throw as well so he was very disappointed!
It was time for another change and Chris Foster was very surprised to be replaced by the thrilled Damo (That made his weekend!).
We continued to push on and Lee Stone was guilty of three missed chances. The first being a nice chip which hit the crossbar – he should have done better. The second a shot from out wide for which he should have done better and the third chance where he chased down a back pass to the keeper. The keeper banged a clearance and Lee charged it down – it went out for a goal kick but Lee should have done better. Finally after all these chances Lee finally put one away and it was a bit of a piss take really. He got close to goal and had the keeper to beat. He tried one of his flicks where he uses what would be his standing foot to kick the ball behind his normally reliable left foot. Cheeky git. 4-0 to the Internet Foxes.
With Coops by now walking it was time for another change and Bernie was brought on and put up front. Blimey that was a weird decision but Nick Bray was too hungover to go on.
With a bit of pace (allegedly) now up front it was time to hit Ipswich even further on the break. And the opportunity came with Bernie put through. Unfortunately as he had just come on he got the ball stuck in his feet – but without panicking he held on to the ball and then played it across to Paul McCudden teeing him up for a hat-trick. Unfortunately despite the incredibly easy chance Paul blasted the ball over the crossbar and into orbit.
And this was call for Ipswich to start attacking and take their chances.
With Damo now in the middle of the defence we were in trouble and there were no surprises (although I’m sure Damo was surprised) when Ipswich scored a couple of goals. The first was when Damo tragically got all his charity bracelets caught up with all charity bracelets of one of the opposition players (although what they were doing holding hands I’ll never know), it made him lose balance and thus he couldn’t clear the ball. The second was when he didn’t win a header – actually that’s probably not the case but I’m going to blame him anyway!
Phil Bray by now was going skitzo! Especially as Damo didn’t look at all bothered (no Phil – that was Damo looking surprised!) I asked the ref how long to go and he said three and a half. Fortunately it was seconds as opposed to minutes. He blew the full time whistle straight after we kicked off and we’d had a very good 4-2 victory.
Now we had to wait and see who we got. Unfortunately it was against Partick Thistle after they beat Crewe 1-0 in their morning game. We knew from watching Partick they were a good side and it would be a tough game.
Time to relax a bit for the next game. Some people caught up on their sleep. Some people went back to Fawlty Towers for a breakfast (if they made it in time). And by the driving of one of them they only just made it (speed cameras and all that).
One or two went to watch other games and others went for horrible greasy food.
I went off and found another kiwi playing for Rangers and asked him what he thought of the British and Irish Lions. Then went over to watch the Coventry vs Millwall game. I was joined by Phil Bray who was as happy as me to see Coventry won with a 45 yard free-kick let in by the keeper.
When I got back to the pitch there were still people asleep – a hard night obviously.
Al had made his way to the pitchside – joy joy.
Nick Bray and Damo were looking at the clouds making pictures from them. I can’t remember what they were coming up with but Al lying next to them saw a striker scoring the winning goal in a final. (Although how you find that in clouds I’ll never know).
Damo was also mentioning how discussing Nick Bray’s love life the night before had been great because it put him to sleep very quickly. Apparently it is that interesting.
Chris Foster was asleep next to his bag not knowing it was wide open and showing certain reading material in it.
Kev and Sue were trying to take sneaky photos of everyone when they weren’t looking.
Chris Stenson was actually over in the car park looking at other peoples cars.
Coops had disappeared but was apparently off sobering up – again!
Game Five - Vs Partick Thistle
Our captain selected the side for the next game
Derek in goal, Bernie at right back, Damo and Chris Foster in the middle, Phil B on the left. The midfield was Chris S on the right, Andy Barwood and Paul McCudden in the middle and Nick Bray on the left. Lee Stone and Coops were up front.
The game started with both teams sizing each other up. Having watched the games the day before there were certain thoughts of what to expect from both sides. Unfortunately we weren’t playing Partick first thing in the morning as by this time they’d sobered up a little bit.
They were a very physical side and were strong on the ball and it showed that the game would be very tough but also very close.
Partick were going to be a problem, and worse still Chuckle Brother was one of the linesman!!!!
And it wasn’t long before Chuckle was in on the game. With Lee Stone off attacking up front on his own and had won the ball. Lee was going sideways when he got a blatant shove in the back and he fell over. Chuckle gave a throw in to Partick the complete muppet! Paul Andy Booth Smiffy would have been proud to see he wasn’t the only one Chuckle gave decisions against. One of the people on the sideline from another team mentioned what a woeful decision it was. Personally I think Lee dived!
With the scores locked at 0-0 it needed a piece of brilliance to break the dead lock. And it was provided by Bernie. He threw the ball in, got it returned to him by Coops and then passed the ball back to Coops.
Coops then turned, ran through two players, beat another player, beat another player, beat another player, went round the keeper and slotted the ball into the net. Oh but what a pass by Bernie earning a clear “assist”. 1-0 to City and time to hold on for 25 odd minutes. Difficult stuff against a team of this quality.
And it proved that way, with Partick pushing on they won a throw in – and they had a long throw expert which we so sadly lack since Jamie Mac got injured. The ball was launched into the box and with players all over the place the ball managed to go into the net. It could have come off anyone but with the great history of Internet Foxes Own Goals (a list headed by Phil Bray but including Kev B, Stevie P, Nick A, Paul Mc and Damo among others) Chris Foster added his name to the list as the ball glanced off of him. Nothing much he could have done but allows me to blame him for the subsequent loss which is good.
Both teams continued to battle hard with defences and midfield coming on top and it went to half time with the scores level at 1 all.
Nick Bray came off with Kev B replacing him. Bernie moving to left midfield and that was the only chance initially.
The second half was much the same as the first with both teams showing great commitment and strength in trying to win the game. There were plenty of physical challenges. In one case with Bernie winning the ball off the Partick left midfielder and sending the ball up the field, the poor baby who didn’t like being tackled shoulder charged Bernie off the ball. There were a few choice words said and Chuckle brother who no doubt had seen the whole thing turned away and pretended to do some work on his awful mustache.
Chris and Damo were doing very well in defence well supported by Phil and Kev. Andy and Paul were working hard in the engine room with Bernie and Chris S getting stuck in on the flanks, Lee Stone and Coops were giving everyone a breather when they got the ball by holding it up well.
Unfortunately we went 2-1 down after one of the Partick players got through on the left. He blasted the ball at goal and the very unlucky Derek got a firm hand to it, only for the ball to still go in the corner.
Time for another sub with Phil A coming on for Phil B.
And time for us to throw caution to the wind and go for goal. With Chris Foster starting to push on to use his strength and skill to create a chance. As we continued to push we got our own long throw opportunity. This was taken and the ball came across the Partick goal. Andy Barwood managed to slide in and get his foot to it putting the ball in the back of the net and leveling the scores at 2-2. A great game and there was still more to come.
The internet foxes now going for the win got a corner and sent the big men up for it. At the back was left Kev B, Phil A and Bernie. Unfortunately nothing came of the corner and Partick broke away. With Phil A yelling at Kev B to keep a line on halfway and Kev B not listening to Phil A (as who does any way), Kev played the Partick player onside and the ball was played through to him with a run on goal. It looked like he’d get the opportunity to have a shot on goal but fortunately the ball was bouncing a little and before he had time to line up a shot Bernie came out of no where and cleared the ball with a great challenge. It gave us an opportunity to get the defence back and ready for another set piece.
This time they went short and managed to break on the right. A cross was banged in and one of their strikers got his foot to the ball partly. It was badly miss-hit but Derek had gone the wrong way and the ball agonizingly trickled past Derek’s outstretched left hand and into the net. 3-2 to Partick and not long to go.
We are the Internet Foxes and we never gave up. Once again we went three at the back and went for broke. We were unable to fashion many clear cut chances though – all but one which fell to – guess who? – Paul McCudden! The ball was provided on a plate for him after a wonderful inch perfect cross by Chris Foster. The ball just bounced clear of Paul sliding in but had he made more effort and went head first into the post, he definitely would have scored. Just shows what lack of commitment Paul McCudden has towards the team. It was our last chance and not long later the ref blew the final whistle.
The end of WN for another year and some disappointing results but nothing disappointing about the effort and hard work put in by everyone. It was just one of those weekends and we deserved more – well everyone except Paul McCudden of course.
And to cheer us all up we got to view the second Jamie J episode of the weekend with Derek Marshall a little angry with himself for conceding the goals went off past the trees where our team was situated and started kicking the ground and even better – he was mumbling too! Brilliant stuff – we’d got our fix of temper tantrums two days running!
Once again and as always it was a great tournament with great friends and an enjoyable squad to be a part of! Bring on next year where someone else can do the bloody report! This is too knackering!