And We're Back!

WCFC U13s Badgers roared back into training on Friday at a sun drenched Northbrook stadium. With the pitch looking resplendent with its Wembleyesque straight lines thanks to the hard work of the groundsman Mark and his new mower, the team took advantage of the bank holiday to have a marathon 2 hour session to rebuild fitness. Sporting some long wavy haircuts not seen since the '70s and the odd mullet that Chris Waddle would've been proud of, some of the players seem to have grown a foot taller in Lockdown. Split into two 10 -a-side teams on almost the full pitch, the team got straight into it, showing some surprising good touches and skill given the lay off. The Reds took on early lead, only for the Blacks to equalize and then storm into a 4-2 lead. With the tempo unsurprisingly starting to drop as the temperature and fatigue took its toll, the Reds clawed their way back into it. Going into the final quarter just 4-3 down, they equalised, leading to a frenzied last 3 minutes with chances at both ends until finally, a deft flicked header from Louis won the day. But, as is so often the case, the real drama was saved for the penalty shoot-out. The rules were simple: every player takes one, score and you stay in, miss and you re out. After 3 rounds it came down to a head-to-head shootout between Ben E for the Blacks and Jack for the Reds as last men standing. With their team mates roaring encouragement, or something similar, both missed their next kicks. Jack then put his next one just wide leaving Ben E to coolly finish into the bottom right hand corner to the (socially distanced) adoration of his team mates. The team has a new penalty taker! And so honours were deservedly even but the real winner was grass roots football, showing how much we have all missed it. A great workout ahead of the next league game away to Derry Hill a week today, where the Badgers will seek to resume their winning form to stay at the top of the table. Bring it on!