Burger good in quality but short in quantity .....
The last time these two teams met, early in the season, the Burgermen only had eight players to start. This time they had nine as two of their players had gone to a totally unrelated field. They began the game with nine men and the two late-comers strolled in about ten minutes into the game. The kick-off was delayed by six minutes to accomodate their request but, judging by their enthusiasm, I don't know why we bothered. The game began with the Classics playing in their old 'come on you blues' shirts and with a brand new 'Premier League' ball. In the second minute a throw in from Gene Crowley was flicked on to Lorenzo Arcari. The visiting keeper went on walk-about to the edge of the penalty area and made a complete hash of his attempted clearance, leaving L. Arcari with the simple task of stroking the ball over the line. A minute later Gordie 'Rover' Macklin, who fell in love with the new ball, had a good effort punched over by the keeper. The 11th. minute saw a clever flick from Macklin to put Jimmy Butler through but the resulting shot was wide to the left. Minutes later another good shot, from Alan Massender this time, was blocked and cleared away. On 18 minutes a left wing corner from Willie Dixon was headed powerfully home by Sherman Foster to put the home side two ahead. Massender tried another speculative shot in the 27th. minute which was punched over yet again. A minute later it was 3-0 from another corner and it was Foster on the mark again to tap the ball home.
Another set piece was capitalised upon in the 39th. minute. This time it was a free kick, wide and midway into the attacking half of the field, from Danny Jensen that caused the problem. That man Foster got his head onto the end of the cross to nod home and to record his first hat-trick for the club. This set the home side up with a comfortable 4-0 half time lead. The Burger manager came over at the break, obviously upset, and stressed that he was going to sent a letter to the Monopolies Commission to complain about the amount of possession that the Classics had held, but he may have been joking - we will have to wait and see. 'Mighty Mouth' came out with his usual half-time comments but this time it was a one liner when he stated, "Sherman, your are hotter than the real estate market!" One of the Burger players took a first half injury and couldn't continue so Bryan Griffiths graciously volunteered to make up their numbers for the second half as they didn't have any subways. Warren Crowley opened the second half scoring in the 54th. minute after Dixon placed the ball on a plate for him - he bellied the ball over the line, unless he has a very low chest. It was W. Crowley's 50th. goal for the club. Burger mustered their second shot of the match minutes later to wake up the sleeping giant, who stuck out his limb to avert any real danger. Daryl Lawrie was put through by chief providor Dixon in the 57th. minute and he was left with the simple task of tapping the ball home.
The heavens opened for the last 20 minutes of the game, along with driving rain. Within that latter period, Dave Moore threaded a lovely through ball for Butler to run onto but, with only the keeper to beat, he fluffed his chance. It was such a rare occurence that, when later questioned about it, he didn't even remember the incident! He was not to be denied though as he popped in with a goal in the last ten minutes and it was Butler's 100 goal for the Classics. It was for the Classics but was not a classic - but they all count. After match banter covered the following points:
Stats
MWG: L. Arcari
Hat Trick: S. Foster
Crap Award: J. Butler