We Are Social 2 – 1 DS 2

With the Champions League about to enter the knock-out stages, and the International programme in full swing on Wednesday, the best match in London town on Tuesday night was to be found in the Kennington 5-a-side Football League between We Are Social and DS 2.

We Are Social approached the match determined to get the first points on the table (after an unfortunate 5-3 defeat in the league opener) and spirits were high approaching the stadium, as half of the team decided to stick to their personalised training regime and warmed up cycling to the venue.

Reunited with the other teammates, the pre-match warm up worked well in that it scared the opposition starting goalkeeper to the point that he was late.

As the game started, he must have foolishly changed his mind and entered the field of play just in time to allow a shot from Joe W to go past him. 1-0 We Are Social.

The lead only lasted 4 minutes, as their striker – the only player with a nearly-fixed position, basically because he could not possibly run – managed to make Ardel (who had been excellent in goal until then, 10/10 to his in-match commentating too) think he’d shoot one way but shot the other. 1-1.

The second half started with the absolute highlight of the game, Joe F falling over and blatantly handling the ball, only to stand up and pretend nothing happened. A beautiful moment in the history of the sport.

The boys in white kept the pressure up. Joe F attempted to lob the ball over the keeper (this was 5-a-side, remember). Ardel’s 15 identical shots got gradually closer to the goal, eventually hitting the post. Here’s one such shot:

But it was Andreas who won us the game, scoring with a “thunderbastard” as Joe W called it. 2-1 We Are Social, a result kept safe by a) an excellent fingertip save by Joe F, b) Agger-like defending, Brazilian-like runs and Zidane-like vision by Ed (his words), and c) all-around pressure by Rob.

At the final whistle, it was 2-1 for We Are Social, and first 3 points on the table. The pub followed, where of course we only discussed tactics in preparation of next week’s game v Tropic Thunder.

The winners at the Old Red Lion

The winning team: Joe W, Andreas, Rob, Ed, and Joe F at the Old Red Lion (and Ardel who’s not in the shot). Full match commentary provided by yours truly, and of course on Storify.