THE DAY THE DREAM BECAME REALITY
By Mark Reilly
With impeccable timing, the PA from across the main pitch at Nekker belted out 'The Winner Takes It All' closely followed by 'We Are The Champions'. Simultaneously, upstairs in the Nekker bar, Captain Corpse was single-handedly rewriting the definition of the term 'cognitive dissonance' by gleefully opening bottles of champagne in the aftermath of his beloved Celtic being trounced in an Old Firm game!!!!
However, Celtic were also a distant second at Nekker on this occasion. The champagne flowed heartily in honour of Gerry's Galacticos achieving his long term dream of leading the 1st Vets to promotion as Champions. The gloom following the relegation of 51 weeks ago was totally banished as the Vets finally laid to rest the worthy challenge of Brussels LTC on the last day of the season with a confident, steely and smiling performance which matched the gorgeous weather, in front of a large and enthusiastic home support.
In truth, the final outcome was never much in question - the Vets set about securing the required win with a whirlwind opening burst, which brought the crucial first goal after only 5 minutes. Delightful link-up play between Rommel and Gerald on the right hand side saw Gerry Cain played in to hit a sublime angled drive across the keeper and into the top corner.
The same player was unlucky not to double the score within two minutes after pouncing on a miss-hit goal-kick and lifting the ball round the keeper with the outside of his left foot only to be denied by the face of the post.
The second goal was only briefly delayed, though. After sending his first corner of the afternoon tamely into the side netting, Meneer Wilhelmus Swartjes more than compensated by sending his next corner arcing directly into the net at the far post, to the delight of us all, and to the particular glee of young Tibo watching from the side.
With authority duly stamped on the scoreline, the Vets set about the rest of the half in a relaxed manner which reflected some of the better performances of the season. Rommel drove forward at every opportunity like an enthusiastic kid, perhaps the beach like conditions of the Nekker pitch reminding him of his younger days playing in his homeland. Vice -Captain Dixson must have thought he was in California as he easily broke up Avia's infrequent attempts to move out of their own half before setting up the next wave of attacks, and Meneer Swartjes gave the right back a torrid time with his pace and two-footed trickery on the left. Meantime our defenders remained largely untroubled as Avia struggled to offer any consistent threat in the BUFC half.
Half Time: BUFC 5 - AVIA 2 (2-0)
In the second half. Gerald dropped back into midfield to produce his trademark driving runs, pushing Rommel to an unfamiliar wide-right position. The flow of the game continued towards the Avia goal, and an early header from Meneer Swartjes was narrowly tipped away by the keeper.
The inevitable third goal arrived some 10 minutes into the second half, when Gerry Cain picked up the ball on the left edge of the box and evading two challenges, set himself up to place the ball low down to the keeper's right.
The fourth goal followed a gem of a move begun by Gerald, continued up the left by Bengt and Meneer Swartjes, who eventually cut the ball back to the left edge of the box for Gerald McInnes to rifle low across the keeper and into the right hand corner.
The remainder of the half was punctuated by a couple of odd incidents, firstly when the Nekker pitch almost gobbled up Sean Nevin as he lined up a free kick late on, proceeding to place his leg in a hole, and secondly when Marco Martiniello was cruelly banished from the far side of the pitch by the over fussy referee for daring to stand up for youngsters' rights. That's no way to treat a disabled old man who had done everything in his power to cadge a lift to be present on the big day!!!
Avia received some consolation for their part in a sporting contest in the last minute. A dead ball having found its way into the box. Sean Nevin's informative and timely call of 'Don't let him turn!!' was dutifully ignored by the rest of the defence. The attacker duly turned and drilled the ball between Dave Lees's legs. 4-1.
The final whistle saw mass celebrations, photographs, and an impromptu shower for our beloved captain before retiring upstairs for the aforementioned champagne.
Back in the dressing room Rommel gave us all a 'millionaire's shower'.
It was a champion way to end a championship season!!
Team: D Lees, F Thomas, S Nevin, G Mulholland, B Ljung, M Bajraktari (sub M Reilly), R Zahr (sub R Crossman), J Dixson, W Swartjes, G Cain, G McInnes
