The other battle of Waterloo
By Mike Stabenow

Another lost battle for Vets II. But was it really necessary to lose at Waterloo - 192 Years after the glorious victory of that other multiethnic lot against Napoleon's multiethnic one and exactly 117 days after our 3-1 win against Chenois? Everyone who like Tony Reynolds had decided to venture out to the muddy grounds alongside Chaussée de Bara could only agree. While defeat was not necessary, in the end it was well deserved.

Still everything seemed to be in place for renewing with last October's winning experience. Three goals (in our favour), one of them scored again by Massimo, a referee called Thomas (then Tommo, now Fran) and a valiant Scotsman moving up take a penalty - but unfortunately missing it narrowly this time. Putting it in simply one could argue that this was the turning point of the game. In the end the result was 3-6, just as with the Waterloo-like defeat against... Watermael.

Talking about water, there was there was lot on the Bara battlefield. To be fair we must admit that the most efficient of eight defenders was called Puddle - positioned somewhere between Colin, Mike B and Andy. Puddle denied Chenois two goals. But the two other defenders called Post and Bar also did a brilliant job - for Colin and the rest of the team.

In order not to be emotional let us avoid the precarious exercise of talking through the situations which allowed Chenois to score in one single game one third of the total amount of 18 which they had managed to score in the previous 16 games. Let's instead focus on how we managed to achieve nearly one third of the 20 we scored in our previous 16 gamers. If you add the three we scored against Chenois last October it makes six - which also equals roughly one third of this season's goals - just in two games.

Massimo, our talkative and ever moaning Italian dynamo, scored coolly putting the ball into the left angle, not leaving the slightest chance for the Chenois goalie (1-2). Another sign of hope for future was that swirling Mike Cesena is not only back on the goal scoring track (3-6), but made a fine serve for Fran who took the ball directly and hammered it into the left corner (2-3). Certainly the nicest goal in the game and the have to have two players of the initial eleven on the ground who played in BUFC´s first ever Vet's league game back in September 1990 alongside Chaussée de Haecht - you will not be surprised to read that we lost - it was 0-2 if I remember it well.

More importantly, at that time already you could sense what has made the vets team an enjoyable place to be during all these years: A very positive team spirit - let's stick to it, let's continue to encourage each other. Waterloo may be a symbolic place, but football is a game, even if played close to a battlefield, on Saturday fortunately soaked only with water. Let's continue to enjoy it and - being aware of the individual skills around in the Vets 2007 generation and also subject to a number of tactical adjustments open for reflection - there will be further wins to report about.

Team: Shayler, Kemp (C), Brown, Woollin, Haye, Bortolini, Egerton, Peckham, Cohon, Cesena, Dibb

Subs: Thomas, Wise, Stabenow, Brewerton