THE HERODOTEANS CHALLENGE

		1. T. Christensen
2. R. Anderson	3. J. Haubold		4. A. Stevens	5. P. Low
6. J. Köning	7. E. Barker		8. R. Salewski	9. T. Whitmarsh
	10. L. Grig		11. J. Warren

Top L-R: Giggs, Beckham, Ralph, Del Pierro, Elton, Peruzzi, Adams, Campbell, Inzaghi, Recoba, Davids, Bergkamp

Front L-R: India, Tim, Polly, Lucy, James, Johannes, Jason, Roman, Alex, Thorolf

At the end of the day, there are two ways it could have gone: win, lose or draw. They didn't play us off the park, but their strength was in their
strength - that's their strength. We definitely need to improve, but there are lots of positives. I thought we moved the ball around well and
competed well, but their bandwagon was in a different ballpark. The Herodoteans are the best team in the world, and it's no disgrace to lose
to them by a goal. What is a disgrace is that we didn't win. There are no two ways about it: we could have won this game, or we could have lost it. We lost it. At the end of the day, we weren't up to the test. But all credit to them, they worked hard for the ball, closed us down and made it difficult for us. I'm not one for blaming referees, but that referee was definitely at fault. Konig's goal was definitely in. And if Whitmarsh's
tackle was dangerous play, then I'm a blancmange. But that's football, isn't it? You've got to take the decisions when they go against
you: you've got to take a kick in the teeth on the chin.

My 'person of the match': Emma Buckley (their right full-back & captain).
She played very well, was composed and creative in defence, and brought lots of lager.

Saturday afternoon. The sun beamed his smileyest smile on the wedding cake walls and windows of the world famous Newnham College. Young girls in floaty white dresses were sitting dreamily in the beautiful college gardens with books in their hands and lofty thoughts of Virginia Woolf and Barbara Castle pulsing in their brains. Blackbirds were singing. All their life, they were only waiting for this moment to arrive. It was the big day. Match day. And with a hearty roar from the massing throngs who had gathered around the pitch, the Newnham girls were informed that the game was about to begin. It was the Herodoteans versus the Llamas. The big one.

The match began in some style. Barely had the crowd taken its seats when the Llamas launched their first devastating attack. From the kick off,
James 'Marksman' Warren (he's a supervisor, see) knocked the ball back to He Is Elton Barker. He Is back-heeled the ball on to Polly 'Power' Low, who half-volleyed a back-spin cross-field pass to 'Killer' Konig on the right. With a deft first touch, 'Killer' trapped the ball on the small of his back and produced a tantalising overhead pass to Lucy 'Terrier' Grig. Grig set off on a mazey run which culminated in her reaching the by-line seconds before the incoming Herodotean defender. Her inch-perfect floated cross was met with an unstoppable scissor kick volley from the Marksman that stung the outstretched fingers of the white's goalie as it burst the back of the net. It was one-nil to the Llamas, and the Herodoteans had not even touched the ball.

Only there were no nets, and I did not actually make it for the first goal, so my account of it may be flawed, but Dave tells me that my
description is true to how it really happened. I hear also that the birds fell off their trees in the excitement. But one-nil it was, and clearly,
when I arrived, the Llamas, playing in their traditional turquoise blue strip, had taken their feet of the throttle a little.