McVitee FC on tour - Land ut Gods '99
Martin Ford
The LuG tournament (Land Ut Gods) took place on Sunday 28th March. The event took
place in Huddersfield on Leeds Road playing fields (just down the road from the
McAlpine Stadium). The 12 teams involved were: McVittee, Net Terriers (Huddersfield),
WHOSH (Luton), Inter Bears (Rangers), Mad Hatters (Stockport County), ASB (QPR),
West Ham, SBA (Coventry), Nett Busters (Lincoln), Lards (Leeds), Internet Bantams
(Bratfud) and Punch Drunk (Ipswich).
The format was 4 groups of three teams, the top two teams going through, though the
bottom team then went into the plate competition. McVittee were grouped with Hudders
and Luton.
Dave had managed to get a squad of 15 players, but with a few withdrawals through
injuries the team was down to a bare 13. However, as the opening match against Udders
drew close, there were only 9 players available, the first game:
Martin F, Dave B, Pete S, Mark W, Mark C, Andy H, Paul, Spenner, Lee H.
Basically it was a backs against the wall job, Hudders having plenty of possession
and superiority in numbers. Fortunately we managed to hold out for the first half
and went in at 0-0. The second half was much the same but then the delayed carful
turned up and evened the teams up to 11 apiece. Rick took over in goal and Gav moved
into midfield. Rob eventually went up front after a substitution. The match finished
all square, 0-0, not a bad start.
Huddersfield beat Luton 1-0 in the next game, so a draw would be good enough to see
us through. We wanted to win the group, but it wouldn't be that way. Against Luton
we struggled to gel and went through following a fortunate 0-0 draw; Luton had
scored but the ref dissallowed it through offside, hmm, lucky for us.
The quarter final saw us paired against West Ham, a big strong team, but this time
another recruit had joined (Mike S?), so we had the luxury of two subs (me being one
after tweaking my knee against Luton). This was another tough game, although a lot
more even. The match was decided in the second half with the only goal of the game.
Mark W broke down the right, burst into the box and crossed to the far post for Rob
to head in. West Ham pushed forward, but good defending and an outstanding last
minute save from Rick saved the day and the lottery of a penalty shootout (which
were numerous on the day - including a three way shootout to decide a group finish).
So onto the semi-final against Bratfud. An early blow was the loss of Andy H with a
broken toe (ouch), he was replaced by yours truly. Once more it was 0-0 at half time.
Spenner broke the deadlock with a run from midfield and slotted passed the 'keeper.
Bratfud came back strongly and equalised not long from the end. More injuries
appeared, Mark W was struggling with a groin injury, Gav had to be subbed with a bad
groin strain; he was replaced by Mark C. Bratfud nearly grabbed a winner with the
last kick of the game but the combination of Rick, the post and Pete S hooking the
ball off the line secured a draw and the penalty shootout.
The shootout stood tantalisingly at 2-2 with the last kicks to be taken. Rob took
his, and however daft as it may sound, it was unclear as to whether the ball had gone
in. The netting was loose, not tied down, flapping by one of the posts, and the
penalty ended up in the netting. The ref gave the goal, Bratfud were sure it had
missed, hand on heart I couldn't tell. It was clear though that the McVittee players
were unsure, some said it went in, others said it missed. The ref said we could
re-take the kick, Bratfud protested; any further arguments were saved, when Rob to
his credit admitted it had missed. Bratfud just had to score their pen (which they
did) to reach the final, against Stockport County.
So semi-finalists, I honesty think the final would have been a step too far
especially with the injuries. Who knows, maybe next year?
The squad in full:
Rick S, Gav H, Dave B, Martin F, Pete S, Mark W, Mark C, Mike S, Paul, Spen O'G, Lee H, Rob, Andy H.
