Saving Privates McMichael, Murray, Westwood, Lovatt, Potter…
GPR 3 Hearts of Teddlothian 8
It’s hard not to feel demoralised at this one. What had been a game of back and forth went sour with twenty minutes to go as the ugly reality of injuries reared its head yet again to down what had been such a promising display to that point. Sidenote: this is also a job advert for any physio who wants to keep their hands busy with possibly the most fragile football team since my Football Manager save back in 2015. We pay in salad, pints and most importantly, team spirit.
The boys began the day on the back foot after a number of players dropped out overnight for varying circumstances. The less said about this the better, but, rest assured, they have been roasted accordingly. But on we march. The first thing our field surgeon will need to get their hands on is some Nescafe as, yet again, Hearts had found the back of the net in the opening two minutes. Some early pressure looked like it could doom us before we had a chance to get going, but some titanic defending from Sean and a few great saves fit for the highlight reel kept us in the game, and we soon rallied. A long ball over the top was brought down by Pete, who played in Rory to round the keeper and get us level.
After this, we found our mojo and started to really push them back in their own half. Some fantastic crosses from debutant Simon brought some real heat to the opposition box. Shortly afterwards, a through ball to Rory - who has fully entered goblin mode this season - forced the keeper’s hand, and Ant pounced swiftly on the rebound to give GPR our first ever lead, making it the most recent addition in a long line of firsts for The Salads. We looked excellent in spells just before the half, before a dubiously won free-kick saw the travelling side draw level. We went into the break with plenty of optimism that the game was there to be won, and we can no longer deny that we are very much finding our level (bear with, I explain it).
The second half turned and lead to some end-to-end long ball football, and things were looking like they could go either way. The midfield link-up play had heads turning, and credit to Mark, Yannick and Ant for some of their lovely passing and quick feet. But then, tragically, the seemingly inevitable happened. Within ten minutes, four players went down injured, two of whom were forced off and unable to return. The keeper could barely walk, injuries piled and piled, and even a well taken penalty from Rory couldn’t stop the flood. A very irritating end to a game that should have been much closer but for the rising list of fitness concerns means we lose once again, but nothing can take away from the spirit of the boys to play on despite finishing with a skeleton crew. A bit more time and patience and the results will come, no question.
MOTM 🏆 = Rory deserves a more than honourable mention, but Sean scoops back-to-back MOTM awards for his organisation of the defence and some individual brilliance at the back.
DOTD 💩 = The lads that didn’t turn up. Silly sausages.
