Snow came, Snow saw, Snow scored, Classics conquered........
It was with intrepidation that the Classics travelled to what is usually termed sunny Tsawwassen. They had to leave early and battle their way through the sleeting wind and slow to arrived at the park in good enough time. The park was appropriately named Beach Grove as it was covered with seagulls. From a distance the field looked well but a slight give away that all was not well was when the seagulls started diving for fish. It was obvious that no game was going to take place on that field unless it was going to be changed to water polo.

However, after scouring the local area, a field was finally found and suitable directions were given although Larry Thorlakson decided to take a convoy of vehicles through the main shopping areas of the town showing his huge following the sights and sounds like a tour guide operator. The team arrived at the field and drove past the huge sign that said “South Delta” but the painter got that one totally wrong as it should have said “South Pole.” The conditions were appalling with driving rain and snow and the temperature well below freezing. With two corner posts short, two passing penguins were recruited to do the duties. The game eventually kicked off 35 minutes late and both teams foolishly decided to maintain 45 minute halves. Even more foolishly, they paid an extra $10 for the priviledge.

When the game eventually got under way it was one way traffic. The Classics playing with the strong wind at their backs (mornin’ Jim) took control from the off and were two goals to the good in the first ten minutes. The first goal came courtesy of Mike Snow (it had to be with a name like that) after a Jim Eden pass put him in position to cooly (what else) chip the advancing keeper. A right wing barrage from Thorlakson ended when he let fly a screamer which ended up in the net via the underside of the crossbar.

In the 20th. minute it was 0-3 after an Eden corner somehow worked its way back to him. Eden chipped over an inch perfect cross which was enthusiastically headed in by a grateful Billy Ranger waiting at the far post. Doug Smith had donned his white shirt to help out the hosts, and he did so with some aplomb as he was one of their best players, after some good harrying with the ball and some healthy harrassing of his team-mates. He could do nothing however from stopping the onslaught, as ten minutes from the half-time whistle Ranger was on hand to do some more damage. A left wing corner from Snow was hit to the back post and Ranger executed a copybook finish by heading powerfully downwards and into the net. Obviously his coaching from Dave Moore is finally bearing fruit.

The second half saw the visitors facing the bad weather and it was looking to be an uphill struggle to maintain the momentum. The team went nap in the 60th. minute when a left wing move started by Eden saw the ball pass from Ranger to Bruce Cook who laid the ball off to Bill McAuley. With Cook bringing the new “only one player can sit on the goalkeeper at a time” rule into play, McAuley was left with the simple task of cracking the ball home into an empty net. At 0-5 the Classics did some shuffling of personnel. Chris Arcari, unsuccessful at scoring up front, dropped to centre of defence alongside Rick Geary and Chuck McGill was given a ‘rambling’ role which is part of his regular game anyway.

The game turned a little midway through the second half when the referee allowed a two yard offside decision to pass, thus allowing what he affectionally termed a “charity goal” for the home side. Well, Mr. Referee, that’s okay for you to do but defenders take pride in a shut-out and a dubious decision like that can ruin not only the game but also the integrity of the officiating in the league. Nuff said! Poor Manny Soucker. He turned up for his return to action on the worst possible day when it was harder standing with nothing to do, than playing. His first bit of action was to pick the ball out of the net after this incident. There was nothing wrong with United’s second goal though. It was a good shot and was a deserved goal as they never gave up, showed great spirit, and kept pushing against all the odds. Fair play to them but 2-5 was flattering at this stage.

McGill was unlucky on one of his forays forward when his shot came back off the far post but no-one was on hand to tap the ball over the line. The final nail in the coffin came five minutes from time when Alfie Deglan laid on a neat ball for Cook. Cook controlled the ball and had the relatively simple task of side footing past the overworked United goalie. It was two very cold and tired teams that left the park after what was a hard fought victory for the Classics. Not one player was prepared to down a cold one after the game so it was off to the local hostelry for after match refreshments. Never again...........well not until the next time anyway!

Final Score 2-6 (0-4)

Stats:
You were crap award: Too cold to hold - deferred