O35s FNSW Champion of Champions winners 2018!!
Men’s O35 FNSW Champions of Champion Final – Match Report
Dunbar 2 – 0 Como West
There were a few jitters in the dressing room early on with Charlie ‘The Gaffer’ D’Souza calmly taking the pressure off everyone by highlighting that both the league and championship were nothing in comparison to the CoC, firmly stating that “This was the one we wanted”
After a long trek to the cow paddock for our warm up, the lads knew this was a special occasion, with DK saying it was the best grass he’s ever tasted.
We made our way back to the tunnel to line up next our opponents and walk out on to the pitch for our final game of the year.
<insert champions league music here>
A nervy start by Como allowed Danny ‘it’s comin home’ Feego to cleanly dispossess the left back and drive towards goal. The uncharacteristic lay-off to Nathan ‘3 chances’ Wall took everyone by surprise, especially ‘3 chances’, with the attacking centre mid so surprised he dived face first into the synthetic pitch. As the wee man layed unconscious on the ground, both sides were wondering, is he okay? And how did he miss that?
With 3 chances still seeing stars it was time for the Lara brothers to stamp their authority on the game with Adrian ‘I used to model 23 years ago’ Lara drawing a strong save from the Como keeper with a firm snap shot.
Tyrone ‘more than a handful’ Lara was not surprisingly more than a handful for the Como defence terrorising the right back numerous times and managing to place an inch perfect cross to his older and heavier brother who was unable to finish.
Not long after that ‘Handful’ again found space in the Como penalty area twisting and turning his defender before curling his shot beyond the keeper only to hit the frame of the goal, bringing the 200+ crowd to their feet.
Como managed to see the first half out unscathed although started to see more of the possession as the half drew to a close.
The 2nd half got under way and both teams failed to assert any authority in the final third with the intensity of the first half taking its toll.
Matty ‘I’ll come on when everyone else is tired’ Toeover started to get in behind the tiring Como defence as the game was getting stretched.
A neat passage of play from Mal ‘concentrate on your own game’ Carson and 3 chances saw then ball fall to Handful with the younger Lara slipping the ball first time to Toeover, who managed to nod the ball perfectly in his stride before calmly finishing the ball over the Como keeper. 1-0 Dunbar.
Paul ‘Chin Up’ Stuart and Dan ‘The critic’ Stubbs started to get on top of the opposing midfield with The Critic dominating the areal battles while Chin Up continued to slow his opponents down with his studs (on his boots not his ears) earning himself another respectable yellow.
Como tried to penetrate the Dunbar defence but Greg ‘Sounds of silence’ Dennis and David ‘Do you think the Lara’s would adopt me’ Pope we’re rock solid, as were Gordon ‘Tiddleedee potatoes’ Bryan and Jimmy ‘No Smile’ Meyer.
Pete ‘Skywalker’ Sartos began to use his Jedi mind tricks on the Como defence walking past them multiple times however was unable to find the net.
Christophe ‘The’ Amate provided fresh legs for the fading Handful, with Mo ‘Shoelaces’ Suleman and V ‘Dad Jokes’ Atlassian coming on to lock up the defence.
With 10 to go Dunbar Toeover got his 2nd, finishing a scrappy piece of play, but securing victory and really putting the result beyond doubt.
The final whistle blew and the crowd erupted. Finally after years of waiting, the CoC was coming home.
It was a tough game against a great team and we wish Como Jannali Football Club all the best for next season!
Off we went to our sponsor The Village Inn to celebrate the end of a long but very successful season!!