Pitch Invasion Wednesdays League Runners Up

After just two seasons, Wednesday's Botley Crue team have secured a promotion to the Premier League after a campaign that went down to the last game. It could have been even better too, had the opening day win over eventual winners Pures FC not been annulled following a PI league restructure. Congrats to everyone that played!

Pitch Invasion Division 4 Champions

After 3 seasons of hardship, including two back-to-back relegations, the Crue finally have some silverware in the cabinet after winning the 4th Division Title, winning 6 of their 7 games.

 

The league table doesn't lie.

 

 The lads go wild at the trophy giving ceremony in front of the Botley fans (behind camera).

The gaffer celebrates a job well done after a selfless and hard-working season.

The joy on Damo's face suggests rumours of a transfer away from the Crue are just tabloid mischief.

Pigo executes the difficult "dropping the trophy photo" with aplomb.

Vs HLFC

Botley Crue 7 Vs HLFC 1

Goals: Guerin (4), Mastrantone, Kuponiyi, Fairfield
Assists: Fairfield, Piggott, Bailey (2), Mastrantone

The Crue started life in the lowest division as they meant to go on, rocking up with a minute to spare in a Di Canio-esque panic. Fortunately for our heroes, the opposition had a similar laissez-faire attitude to the new season and kicked off with only four players on the pitch. Once their fifth player sorted out his shin pads, they set out to impose their greater physical size on the game. 

But the Crue were quick out the blocks, setting a high tempo early on that had HLFC chasing shadows. A string of quick passes led to an early chance for Kuponiyi, his strike twatting the post as the despairing keeper looked helplessly on.  

It wasn't long before the ball made its first acquaintance with the HLFC net. Guerin intercepted the ball in midfield and took it on a gentle journey through the opponents half before banging it home. There followed a few tense seconds, the Crue anxious at having never held on to a 1-0 advantage before. But a Fairfield pass picked out Guerin for his second of the game, before a Piggott punt found its way to Mastrantone's chest from where he rifled the cushioned ball into the top left corner for 3-0. Much to the displeasure of the Crue's fans, Mastrantone made his customary milk-the-goal exit, hands high above his shiny head in celebration.  Shortly after, #substitutewanker began trending on Twitter.

Only fifteen minutes had been played and the Crue were in control.  But with prior season's myriad concessions haunting every player's soul like Titus Bramble's ghost, they kept the passes quick and neat and soon found a fourth goal, Mastrantone sliding a through-ball to Guerin for his hat-trick.  Keeper Piggott hadn't had to make a save thanks to the tireless defending of Bramwell, Guerin and Bailey. With Guerin bombing on, Bailey excelled in the role of playmaker and he turned provider for goal number 5, finding Kuponiyi who topped the move with a custom tidy finish. 

Still the Crue weren't done, last term's player-of-season, Bailey, again the maker with a rare furrow forward, crossing the ball with evil accuracy and picking out Fairfield's unseen run. A deft finish on his return from a crippling back injury sent the crowd into an emotional hysteria hitherto unseen at Kidlington's "Sandpit Stadium". 

Like the sea when Neptune is having a proper bad day, Botley smashed their opponents with wave after wave of quick, attacking play. Fairfield's corners caused all sorts of bother with Bramwell inches away from latching onto a devilish outswinger. Another Bramwell strike from way out narrowly missed the far post after another decent Botley set play.  

It was apt that the final say went to hat-trick hero Guerin. After a mix up between keeper and defender, Guerin found time to test a few tricks before slotting the ball between the two and into an empty net from near the halfway line. 

A consolation goal late on wasn't enough to stop the slightly embarrassed Botley victory celebrations after the match, the Crue finally having found their feet.

Season 1: Player's Player Award

Season 1: Player's Player awards. Rules: Each player is allowed two votes simultaneously, equally weighted. No player may vote for themselves, especially not twice. The winner with the most votes by 12am on Thursday 7th March 2013 will owe the whole team a jug of the Seacourt's finest wheaty brew.

UPDATE: The votes are in and the winner of the player's player award is hard living, hard tackling defender Brian Guerin. Cat-like shot-stopper Ben Piggott came in a very close second, so if he wants to he can get some drinks in n'all. Full results are here.

Game 5: Vs Buncha Benchwarmers

Botley Crüe 0 Vs Buncha Benchwarmers 4

Yellow: Guerin, Slater 

Botley Crue faced a derby match tonight, as they took to the pitch to face their traditional rival.
In three matches this season against the beanie-ref-asswipe (BRA hereafter),
the Crue have struggled. Would tonight be any different? 

No, in short, if you’re in a hurry. 

But it was by no means a foregone conclusion, as the game opened with a delicious slaloming run from in-form forward Mastrantone, which was ended only by the ball’s persistent refusal to find its way onto his right peg. The Crue were looking like a match for their permatan-shirted infant adversaries, and only found themselves behind when ‘keeper Piggott’s obsessive tidying got the better of him and the Buncha forward was able to exploit an unreasonably fast break by punting home from some distance.

A silence descended, as Goose received his booking for a perfectly understandable big swear and the Crue set about gathering themselves. The tidy play continued, and with everyone on form, or at least balancing near the top of it, Botley kept themselves in the game. Fairfield’s assured carriage in midfield kept the ball moving, and while Slater and Micklethwaite worried the flanks, a result was still very much in the reckoning. With Buncha’s best moves coming consistently down the left, it wasn’t long before another goal went in, from a crisp finish into the far corner, but the Crue weren’t bowed. 

They continued to probe in this three-way game, as the BRA tried to weedle his way into the play. A few non-throw-in decisions here and the odd 180° look-away there saw him increasingly grow in confidence. BRA has clearly learned from the top-level players, and a moment of slick blame-shifting later on saw Botley skipper Slater take matters into his own hands by attempting to bodily involve a second referee in events. When this didn’t come off, the Crue resorted to pressing upfield in the hope of a reward. Guerin and Bramwell having to put a real shift in - the latter trying to stow the ball up his jacksie at one point - but with Piggott actually managing to kick the ball further than five feet this week, Mastrantone’s holdup play was keeping the team in with a chance. 

Buncha sat deep and allowed the Crue some freedom out wide, but remained doggedly dangerous on the break and despite squandering some more chances, they were by no means shot-shy. Their confident play survived even when Piggott got one of his defenders into trouble once more; Fairfield’s careful backpass taking the most imperceptible of bobbles and the hapless ‘keeper swinging at air as the own goal coalesced behind him. Micklethwaite and Slater soon went close, but the Buncha ‘keeper turned shots left and right, and the Crue corners failed to find a head in the box. 

The closing minutes were expended in an end-to-end fashion, with both teams pouring in their respective directions. Piggott set about atoning for his earlier blunders by facing one onto the bar, and took his customary over-zealous approach to one-on-ones as his teammates toiled on in search of a consolation. The final score ended up 4-0, and while the Crue couldn’t argue with the result, their performance deserved a little better. As the final whistle went, the BRA smiled another smile and chalked up his own moral victory.