RCdeB
RCdeB modelling the new kit!
Clutching our new fully logoed Man City kit we arrived at 11:10 in plenty of time for the 11:00 kick off. The stadium was amazing but we were all a little concerned by the enormous expanse of green in front of us!
We swaggered onto the pitch to Queen's "We are the Champions" for a warm up before being introduced to the local dignitaries, officials and the Jaintia Veterans 11 together with men and women dressed in local dress who turned out to be the local symphony orchestra and ballet company
Kick off 11:40 was, like the rest of the game, in slow motion and with a local crowd of supporters who were thoroughly entertained judging from the peals of laughter that rang across the pitch. We certainly relied on the three youngsters who sped the game up and evened things up a bit. These veterans seemed to be mostly whipper-snappers in their 50s.
About 15 minutes into the 1st half Steve's clearance hit Claudio and bounced back into the area where the attacker looked like he was pulled down - a reasonable penalty shout? (Judge for yourself below).
3 minutes later Gus passed from the left wing across the area where Chris H picked it up to run across but fell, the defenders then cleared the ball but only as far as Hamish's chest, after a bounce he volleyed it into the back of the net 1-0!
30 mins in the reds broke away and their no 7 lobbed the ball into our net 1-1! 4 minutes later some fine passing released Hamish who beat the off-side trap and placed it out of reach of the goal-keeper into the net 2-1!
At half time we were entertained by traditional music and plate dancing! This involved the ladies balancing the plates precariously on their noses/chins! Seemed to be a rather complicated way of doing the washing up - thank heavens for dishwashers.
was this a penalty? Not given
RCdeB GOAL! 1-0
Jaintia Veterans GOAL! 1-1
RCdeB GOAL! 2-1
half time doing the dishes
Well done Mark! Or is it Tom Daly
RCdeB GOAL! 3-1
The second half started pretty well and after 5 minutes a red throw in in our half was intercepted by Gus and Hamish who ran up field passing it to Mark who returned it and Hamish scored! A hat-trick 3-1!
Legs were tiring and it became more of a struggle so the ball was in our half a lot more and they had a lot of shots on goal but, despite some pin point passing, they seemed not so accurate with their shots, however one was on target 3-2!
In the dying minutes a questionable penalty was given when goal-keeper Alex bravely fell on the ball at the feet of an attacker. Not sure what the ref expected him to do but a penalty and yellow card were duly issued.
Steve suggested that we should run forward immediately the penalty was taken in case of a save or rebound. Sure enough the penalty was as accurate as a lot of the shots had been before and it hit the post bouncing back across the goal mouth. The instruction was enough for Bain senior to block their no 7 getting to the ball and it was cleared minutes before the final whistle.
RESULT 3-2!
(Hamish Bain 3)
Man of the Match - Hamish, well it was a hat-trick!
There were some fantastic contributions from everyone and the euphoria of a win got people thinking that maybe this might not be the last tour!
Post match line ups
After the match there was lots of local traditional singing and dancing to entertain us before speeches and we were presented with a trophy each. A fun game and we were lucky to have won but our young carers saw us through.
After the match, showers and lunch we jumped back into the buses to return to the hotel for evening beers followed by a group meal in the Hotel restaurant.
