Div 1 Match 7 – NK Hrvat

Week 7 saw Rino’s take on NK Hrvat at Van Tech turf in Vancouver at 8:00 pm. In preparation for the Friday night lights, some of the lads met before the game for a bite of pre-game supper and playful conversation with the waitress. Charlie loaded up on electrolytes, while Brent, already coming off a cold, ate what looked like three week old BP chicken parmesan. This proved to be a mistake as he had to evacuate no less than four times before the game (luckily, there were two porta-potties at

the pitch; one had to be razed in order to prevent the spread of what would have otherwise been a killer mutant virus following Brent’s last pre-gamer).

The game kicked off with Jeff Thom in net and Cooper, Bligh,

Brent and Jordan in the back line. Andrew, Dylan, Peter and Paul were in the midfield with the dynamic duo of Cyrus and Charlie up front. The match started poorly for Rino’s, with a lot of missed balls and less than characteristic defense (Coach Kenny nearly loosing his voice from yelling “don’t dive in” so many times), allowing Hrvat some early possession deep in Rino’s half. One particular instance saw Jeff give the ball away just outside the 18, perhaps just to challenge himself with an early breakaway?

Once things settled down Rino’s was able to tally a couple of notches before halftime (the soccer kind, not the “Ultra Violet” kind). The first goal started with a solid challenge from Wade in the middle, then a pass to Cyrus who took it out wide and crossed shot the ball at the net with some help from a confused Hrvat defender who hammered it home just to be sure. The second goal started with a magnificently placed pass from Dylan to Charlie, who calmly tucked it far side pass the keeper. A couple of bright periods of football in an otherwise mostly frantic game. Reinforcements came in the form of Vinny Martin before the break; Peter having had to leave the pitch briefly to reapply his mascara before returning to the game.

The second half of the game resembled more of a tennis match at times than soccer and highlighted the general lack of discipline in the game, both technically and emotionally – despite the referee giving 147 “last warnings” over the course of 90 minutes. There were a few guys shown cards. One of particular note went to Charlie for pushing a player after the whistle (although he later admitted he was just really upset about having to miss his performance in Supernatural, “Live Free or Twihard”……Seriously?). Cyrus was also surprised to get a yellow card for pretending to be Peter, a crime punishable in most developed countries and clearly outlined in the FIFA rulebook.

As the game wound down, Hrvat pushed an extra man up front, but to no avail for the home team. Rino’s made a couple late subs of their own with Laurie and Marsh coming on to help seal the deal. After 90 minutes, the final score stayed at 2:0, Rino’s tallying another clean sheet and 3 points.