Terry Tanaka proving that you are never to old to win the Man of the match award

Back on the pitch after having only 2 games in the last 8 weeks, Barbs were facing promotion-bound and in-form (5 victories consecutively) BFC Vagabonds in Komaba, for the final stretch of  Division 2 (4 games in 4 week-ends for us).

Sunny day, quite hot and the strict 11 turning-up for Barbs, not really the best set-up for this important game.

The first 20 minutes were attack-bound for both teams (or was it defensive-errors on both sides), resulting in many corners and saves from both keepers.

Then we realized we could not last 80 minutes at this pace and the game somehow settled a bit in midfield until Toshi scored on a very opportunistic header after a rebound in Vags penalty box. Not that he is that short, but he jumped in front of two Vags defenders after a clearance rebound not going that high, leaving no chance to the keeper from 6 yards out.

More-than-welcomed half-time happened with Barbs leading 1-0 but the weight of years and recent inactivity was heavy on its aging defensive line, me the first of course…

Second-half restarted with Vags scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes, including a 108 years-old penalty scene.

Quite impressive to see Ged (55) having to square with Terry Tanaka (53) to put Vags in front on the score board, a well-taken penalty proving experience is priceless….

Toshi scores his 8th & 9th goals of the season to keep the Barbs in the battle for promotion

Barbs were then reduced to 10 ½ men on the pitch (not in size), Fred having to stay on the pitch despite not being able to run anymore (why anymore, he never runs???). We kept pushing on Vags defense, nearly paying-off if it was not for a superb save from Vags excellent keeper Graham, on a volley shoot nearly at blank-point. Terry was doing the same on his side with a well-timed dive on one of Vags free-kick, keeping us in the game. At this point, Barbs relied on its speedy forwards (Toshi and Shouchi) to put pressure on Vags defense. It paid through an individual exploit from Toshi for his second score of the week-end, passing through many players from 35 yards out, stopping in the box to then go wider and shot past the keeper from a tight angle.

2-2, one would say it would have been a descent result for both teams, if not for Shouchi to show why he is now joint top-scorer of Division 2 in the dying seconds of the game.

Another individual move from the right going through several defenders, to launch a low-shot from the edge of the box, ending in Vags net despite an out-stretched effort from Graham. Not even time to do a restart, the ball stayed in the net.

A last-second win for Barbs which was really a killer-blow for Vags… They gave us a very hard time and they deserve to be within the top three teams of the division this year.

Now, 3 games to go and we know what will happen if we have a positive results in all 3…

Promotion is in our hands for the second year in a row, Division 2 title also after AOB loosing on Sunday and being 1 point in front of us with one more game played.
Still plenty to do, nothing is secured in this competitive league this year.

Man of the match: Terry and Toshi, for their efficiency at each end of the pitch.

FD

 

 

Would Mr Cockerill have missed all the one on one opportunities?

We- the Vags- lost to the Barbarians in the cruelest of fashions conceding  the decisive goal with the very last kick of a  match played in the sweltering heat at Komaba Sub ground.

The result handed the initiative to our opponents who leapfrogged us up into second place. A draw would have kept them below us and kept us in a position to win the league. We now have to win our last three games and hope that both the Barbarians and the Old Boys drop points to have a chance of claiming top spot. The last kick of the match has changed the whole complexion of our season.  As Lenny Kravitz would sing though: ‘it aint over til it’s over’ and we’ll keep on fighting.

The first ten minutes of the game saw the Barbarians pin us back and force a series of corners and half chances. We soon came into the game though and dominated the half. Unfortunately, this was a half were we somehow managed to spurn several great scoring chances. I lost count of the amount of times we had just the keeper to beat and failed to find the target. A Cockerill, a Cockerill,  my kingdom for a Cockerill.

We were made to pay for our wastefulness as Barbarians striker, Toshi ( who was a thorn in our side the whole game) reacted quicker than us to score with a good header from close range.

Half -time and here wasn’t much we could say except keep making the chances and surely sooner or later we would score. The second half started exactly as we would have liked it. Five minutes in and we were awarded a penalty after   Mark was pulled down. Up stepped our veteran defender Ged O’Connell who at 55 years of age i guess must become the second oldest player to score in the  TML, a record held by our previous striker ‘the silver feather’ Adrian Thomas, who was watching from the sideline. I’m told that the Barbarians keeper was the same age as well making it a 110 year old aggregate penalty showdown.

A few minutes and Gerrard finally decided to stop f***ing around and hit a shot with a modicum of venom which found the back of the net. 2-1 up and cruising. But as you know from the scoreline at the top of this report, this game had a bitter twist. We looked frail at the back after going ahead and only a wonder save from Graham Burt stopped the equaliser. A couple more chances and free kicks followed before ,Toshi got the ball out on the left and took full advantage of a defensive mix-up to level matters up.

The heat was taking it’s toll and the game was fairly open. We were dominating posession and territory but the Barbarians were always dangerous on the counter with their fast strikers. Into the last minute and the killer blow came when their striker collected a ball in the middle of the park with acres of space and ran at our last two defenders and produced an inch perfect finish.Final whistle and groans, moans and tempers flared amongst the Vagabonds.

It’s easy with hindsight to reflect what we could and should have done and there is no doubt that we could have made life a bit easier for ourselves today with some better decisions. A point suited us and so shutting up shop for the last few minutes was something we should have done. Some players were played out of position when it didn’t have to be the case  and i think one or two people should have stuck their hand up and volunteered to go off  when they were struggling during that greulling last few minutes. The fact of the matter is though that if that last kick hadn’t been converted we would all be cock a hoop with the point. It was just one of those days. We’ll take it on the chin and stick together and come again – whoops,pardon!

Another game with no linesman and i’m sure the referee will agree that without both teams accusing the opposing lineman of bias throughout the game he can relax and  get on with officiating fairly. No lineman, no problems- that’s what i say.

The game was played in a combatative but fair spirit with very little moaning at the referee even though ex -Vag Kev Gray saw fit to assault 4 of 5 of us. At the final whistle he came over and was spoilt for choice of who to apologise to first.

He had a good game overall but he still hasn’t managed to kick the habit of shooting from the half -way line- the nimrod.

Anyway,the positive thing is that we played pretty well  and there was certainly no lack of effort.Similar performances in our last three games will surely see a return of nine points and who knows where that might lead us? Before this game we had won seven in a row and eight of the last ten. We can be proud of that. It ’s been a great season for us especially since the turn of the year.

There seems to be a lot of chat at the moment about whether any of the teams at the top of TML2 want to get promoted and there are plenty of different opinions and preferences. My opinion is that whoever goes up are going to struggle really badly. If we are going to suffer a long season in TML1 i only hope that i have the comfort of a TML2 league winners medal.

Next week we face our other title rivals-the Albion Oldboys, in what has now become  a must win game.  Promises to be another good one. See you there.

UP THE VAGS

WB

No nonsense report writing from the no nonsese defender - Wayne Baxter

We – the Vagabonds- beat the Musketeers 6-0 on Sunday at Fukuda Denshi on an extremely rainsoaked and waterlogged pitch. The result put us back up to second in the table with just four games remaining and also consigned the Musketeers to relegation- sweet revenge for the defeat we suffered at their hands earlier in the season.
With five changes to the squad that triumphed over the Jets in the plate a couple of weeks ago – testament to the size and quality of the Vags squad at the moment- all the talk before the kick-off was that if we started strongly and just kept to doing the basics right then we should be too good for them.

Kick-off, and with the rain and wind in our faces we took the game to the Musketeers and effectively killed the game of with four goals in a blistering 20 minute period. James Musgrove   – to give him his proper and rarely used title- opened the scoring  with a powerful shot from inside the area. The goal took his tally to ten for the season and he joins the very select club of Vags players who have managed double figures. Phil Cockerill and Alex Sahara being the only others during my eight years with the Vags. Muzzy then created the second after chasing a ball into the box and going shoulder to shoulder with one of their defenders. The result was the defender bounced off and onto the deck leaving Muzzy to square for Nao Kaneko to slide in with a great finish.

A few minutes later and it was 3-0.  Wayne Baxter-that’s me- drove at their defence and gave a reverse pass to Yuta who curled a delicious finish round their keeper and into the far corner. When Yusuke capitalised on a complete misunderstanding between their keeper and defender to make it 4-0 i was wondering whether we might be seeing a double figure scoreline as well as trying to come to terms with the fact that we had lost to this lot back in October.
The half petered out and the rain really came down with a vengeance. Our main half-time talk was about keeping our shape and discipline-yeh right! Nice one.

James Musgrove played a vital role as the Vags continue to hunt for the double.

The second half was a damp squib in more ways then one. The pitch was so waterlogged that any time anyone got some space they were slowed by the pitch and then closed down. In fairness, it suited us as at 4-0 we knew that the Musketeers were never going to be able to trouble us. We did dominate the second half,though. They were limited to just one shot at our goal near the end whilst we scored two more. Athol Norse made it 5-0 with a shot that nearly took the net off when played through and then Yuta grabbed a second to wrap things up nicely.

Three points and job done. Next up are the Barbarians who are a solitary point behind us in third place. This  will be another crucial game, in fact,  all our games are at the moment as we try to secure our first ever 11-a-side silverware. The announcement that three or four of us will be unavailable is a bit worrying-lets hope that the others who didn’t play this game are able to play.  Either way it’s going to be a great game. See you there.
UP THE VAGS.

WB