Leicester City 4 -v- Huddersfield Town (Net.Terriers) 0
Land Ut Gods
Leeds Road, Huddersfield
31 May 1998
Team
LEICESTER CITY
Nobby, Porl, Darren "Dawn Chorus" Thrussell, Michael "is that a banana or are you pleased to see me" Lax, Robert "Aye up m'duck,
*that's* no Lestah accent" Watson, Bernie Muollo, David "Dave" Grice, Paul Griffiths, Pat Farragher, Chris Stenson, Kelvin Herbert,
Alex Mason, Neil Hallam, Phil Achurch
Nobby's report continues:
Anyway, once I had managed to escape the pummelling of 11 angry men and the
abuse had ceased it was time to pick the team one last time. Some of my lads
had already declared themselves "unfit" but I suspect the lure of the bar
might have had something to do with it and wondered whether they would have
been as "unfit" had we made it to the Final!
The Hudds guys had already hinted that they would be approaching the game in
an experimental fashion and would be "tinkering with the squad" (which is
usually the excuse that managers use before a game they're not confident
about just to cover themselves *should* they lose!).
Well they certainly "tinkered" alright. The guy I was now marking had played
in goal in previous games, and the chap I had been "in the pants" of earlier
now filled a defensive role. It was all very confusing. If it was meant to
put us off our game, though, it didn't work because by half-time we boasted
a 2-0 lead and I had finally had the chance to put my goal-celebrations into
practice. (Mind you, I do think HTIFC should face an IFA enquiry for
sporting some rather distasteful, loud orange shorts which clearly were
meant to distract us).
Huddersfield took the tinkering a little too far, however, when a toddler -
bedecked in Town kit - wandered onto the pitch in the second half and tried
to take his place in the team. The frightening thing was, he still
outstripped me for pace.
Despite a further couple of goals after the break, Leicester were guilty of
missing a number of good chances after the break and so we had to be content
with just the strikes from Chris S (a tasty little lob from outside the
box), Neil, Alex and Dave which secured an encouraging victory as well as a
very creditable third place in the tournament.
This was probably the most enjoyable and friendly game I have ever played
in. Hudds' good-natured and sporting attitude to the match was absolutely
spot-on and was everything that internet football should be about. Everyone
who took part, did so with a smile and it was a smashing atmosphere out
there, despite the fact that it was at the end of a long and tiring day.
Well done Hudds, it was a pleasure to face you again.
(It should be pointed out that Huddersfield were fielding - for the first
time against Leicester City - Stuart Hill who had recently been "off-loaded"
by the East Midlands club following a back-hander from Town's management
committee after Stu's sordid ferret scandal had emerged in the Leicester
press. Consequently, Stu had to face some light-hearted banter from his
former Leicester team-mates but, in the true spirit of things, Stu took it
in the manner intended.)
After watching Bradford bag some more silverware following a win over
Colchester in the Final, and sharing a much needed drink with some of the
friends we had made, it was time to return to the Popemobile and make the
journey back to Leicester where a bed was awaiting ...
Final and playoff results:
Losers Play-off
Wolves 0 Stockport Co 3
[Unofficial] 3rd place play-off
Huddersfield Town 0 Leicester City 4
Final
Colchester Utd 0 Bradford City 2
And so ends Nobby's report on the teams exertions at Huddersfield in the Land Ut Gods Tournament.
