[MattADH]

All Over


Football Fever in France


After their previous win in Austria in1999, The BRCA Football squad were looking for a second win at he annual football match against the Germans at the St Gaudens Stadium


The football match in St Gaudens between the English and the Germans was even better arranged in 2001 than before. The team had enlisted the help of Christine Kenningley as the kit supplier and the defending champions were adorned in Cobra and eagle designed white shirts. Numbers and names were added for the professional touch as the Germans opted to play in their traditional dull grey.
There was no end of support in the side with Mick Cragg enlisted as Coach, Tony Snee as the Referee, Paul Worsley as Time Keeper and Brain Harris as the whistle and general morale booster.
Twenty-five minutes each way was agreed an the Germans kicked off playing left to right. Unlike the well prepared English squad, the Germans had to rely on some honorary names joining their team including Teemu Leino of Finland and Reto Koenig of Switzerland. They also struggled with numbers and had to rely on some older generation of players to make their numbers up. It was no surprise then when the talents of the English saw them run into an early three goal lead by half time. Some excellent strategy and substitutions were made to ensure that everyone got a go. LRP’s Jurgen Lautenbach was playing well in goal but was unable to cope with the pressure of a strike force of Simon ‘Hat Trick’ Reeves and Ian ‘Goal Hanger’ Kenningley. The score could have been higher in the first half had the post not saved the Germans and Simon Reeves had not been eliminated early on after being severely winded from a bad challenge.
Into the second half and a number of key players were switched for fresh legs. The subs included Chris Doughty and Ben Riley and AN Other. The fresh legs had an immediate effect and Simon Reeves was back on the scorers’ sheet with a swift shot from the left hand side of the penalty box. The pressure was showing and the Germans had no alternative but to adopt controversial tactics. A number of former English players donned the German DMC sponsored shirts for the final 15 to 20 minutes. Included in this underhand nationality switch were Hannu Worsley, Dave Duggan and Craig Drescher. The BRCA Coaches at half time had substituted these three but they still wanted more action. The only way this was going to happen was to switch teams and play for the side currently trying to stem the flow of goals in the back of the Lautenbach net. As hard as they tried, the tactics were no good so some dubious measures were taken in midfield to stop the passing game that the British players were so good at. They felt that the best way was to crowd out the middle of the pitch and to do this, the Germans placed 18 players on the park. This certainly helped their ball retention but still they were unable to put a goal scoring attack together. Pat F got the closest to our goal but the defensive held strong and a few determined challenges from the back line resulted in a clean sheet for Chris Doyle, the keeper. At the end of the 50 minutes, the BRCA GB team had won by nine goals to nil and the Germans had been beaten again on a neutral ground. There were stories of some bad challenges but there were no sendings off by Tony Snee. Both teams had entered into the spirit of the game well and after a second victory in France after the initial win in Austria, the two teams will be looking for a victory come the 2002 Euros.


The English Team:
Chris Doyle
David Duggan
Craig Drescher
Hannu Worsley
Paul Bradby
David Snee
Neil Cragg
Paul Kenningley
Adam Skelding
Ben Riley
Chris Doughty
Simon Reeves
Ian Kenningley


Some of the German Team:
Jurgen Lautenbach
Teemu Leino (Fin)
Marcus Lubke
Moritz Gaul
Reto Koenig (Ch)
Patrick Feschtschenko
Benni Groschel
Lena Schlepple
David Duggan (GB)
Craig Drescher (GB)
Hannu Worsley (GB)