Chap Battle to Victory

On the coldest Saturday of the year so far the game against local rivals Rotherham was one of only a few to survive the sharp frost. Though the outdoor temperature was a little ‘nippy’ the pitch was in good condition and showed no signs of being frozen. With many games called off there was also a sizeable and welcome support for both teams which all added to atmosphere of the game.
Team news and with Moonpig a late withdrawal, Gina G came into the defence, with the rest of the team largely unchanged. Following recent indifferent displays Hutch also tweaked the formation.
It was a clumsy pushback receive by Hutch that set the tone for the first half, Chap on the backfoot. With both teams fielding a large contingent of talented youngsters the Rotherham midfield took initial control and dominated possession. In the new formation, Chap’s midfield were playing too deep and inviting the Rotherham players onto them. The first 10 minutes appeared to be entirely in Chap’s defensive third and if it wasn’t for goalkeeper Bowring (now to be known as Pikachu) they could easily have been 2 or 3 goals down. As well as making great saves, the presence of Pikachu was causing the forwards to rush their efforts thus keeping the score blank. As the half progressed Boss Hogg’s marshalling of his defensive line saw Chap start to take a foothold in the game. There was still a large gap between midfield and forwards and Gigolo and Tomahawk Bandit were feeding off scraps. Rotherham gained a succession of short corners but once again found Pikachu up to the task, the half eventually ending in deadlock.
The halftime inquest saw Chap start the second half a bit brighter. Both teams shared possession and each looked as likely to score. Chuckle#2 and Fitbit took a more forward standpoint and were now playing closer to the forwards. Mad Max and IceBurg were able to be more offensive in the wide areas causing doubt in the Rotherham defence. Boss Hogg though was now on top of his personal duel with former Chap player, Elvis. Typhoo and Gina G were also looking much more secure in the full back areas and the game started to look like a stalemate. That was until Gigolo performed a signature energetic attack into the Rotherham D and gained Chap’s only short corner of the game. Step forward Boss Hogg whose strike from the top of the D nutmegged the Rotherham keeper and found the backboard giving Chap an unlikely lead.
They say goals change games and in this one it certainly did. The Chap team relaxed and now it was Rotherham’s turn on the back foot. With Flavio and Von Ryan on in the wide areas there suddenly appeared space all over the pitch and Chap started probing the Rotherham defences. From a free hit just outside the D, Hutch found Von Ryan who had sneaked into a superb position in wide left area just outside the D. Von Ryan hit a pass to Gigolo at the p spot and his goalbound effort was met at the line by Fitbit who doubled Chap’s lead.
The second goal completely demoralised their opponents and Chap, learning from the previous weeks mistake, slowed the game down and maintained possession. The final whistle eventually came with a welcome 2-0 win.
At after match teas, Pikachu was a clear winner of the MOM. As he was absent the Starblazer was awarded to runner-up Typhoo. The DOD Hotdog was awarded to Fitbit, not for ‘stealing’ Gigolo’s goal which every good player should always do, but for leaving the warm up balls in his car and sending Buie to fetch them.