We're going to Wembley!
Well, it's actually just Motspur Park, but we can dream!
Men's Football
Imperial College 2nd XI 1
Imperial College 3rd XI 2 aet
After the Thirds' victory against King's Firsts a fortnight ago, you would be forgiven for thinking you'd seen everything in life. Granted, you may never see a man eat his own head, but you can be sure Kofi has a video of it somewhere. As a reward for their tenacity in grinding out a result against a much better team, Imperial Thirds were drawn against the Seconds in the quarter-finals of the cup, meaning that in order to advance they would have to overcome another great side. A rousing team talk from stand-in captain Shatwell before the game meant the team went out on to the pitch knowing they had it in themselves to cause an upset. Shatters especially had a point to prove as our resident QPR coach, Dave `The Guv'nor' Gully was sat on the bench chatting up his missus whilst attempting to instigate conversation about his uranium rod.
However, from the start, the Thirds were immediately reminded of exactly what we were up against. A loose touch from Shatters nearly resulted in a goal for the Seconds straight from the kick off. However, the defence soon recovered to keep the Seconds' potent attacking line, including Parrott, Gready and DAL, at bay. At set pieces, especially corners, the big guns of Rob, Jack and Will were brought up and nearly resulted in a goal when Tim, under pressure from MacAdie's humongous head, directed a header towards his own goal only to be cleared off the line by the everwatchful Pat McMullen. Soon the pressure exerted by the Seconds bore fruit as Parrott received the ball on the edge of the box, sidestepped his marker and powered a shot under Pursey in goal to take the lead.
The Thirds, not to be outdone, soon stepped up their game, with some neat interchanges between Demetris, Shwin and Pires highlighting our attacking threat. With John Silva doggedly marking the influential Richie P in the middle of the park and Tim and Shatters aggressively protecting their goal at all costs Shatters even going so far as showing Parrott his two foot tackle - the Thirds began to fight back. All our good work was nearly outdone shortly after the break as, with legs tiring at the back, Parrott was allowed to slip through and crash a shot against the bar. Soon after AK slipped a tricky low cross through the box only for Parrott to inexplicably drag his finish wide off the post. Fortunately for the Thirds, parity was restored through Demetris with ten minutes remaining. A free kick on the half line was lifted forward by Tim, brought down by Pete and played through to the advancing Cypriot, who slotted the ball coolly past James Haugh to bring the sides level and force extra time although after some neat play on the flank towards the end he also had a brilliant chance to end it then and there.
Despite the obvious fatigue caused by some players having played over 8 hours of football in the past fortnight, the Thirds fought on during extra time, denying the Seconds time after time with some battling performances in the midfield from Pete, John and Mike, supported intelligently by stand-in full back Ian and the rock steady Pat on the right flank. Thanks to the encouragement provided by the team's new cheerleader Leon, who according to one onlooker `didn't once shut up or stop running' after being substituted, the Thirds felt the tide of the game turning. Despite still offering a threat, it was clear that as the Seconds' legs were tiring their spirits were also dropping at being unable to break down a team they'd already beaten twice this season.
With five minutes to go and penalties looming, Demetris picked up the ball thirty yards out. Turning and finding himself in space, he unleashed a rocket of a shot that bulleted into the top right hand corner. After that it was a matter of the Thirds holding the ball up in the corner as demonstrated brilliantly by Pires until the ref blew the final whistle, the cue for mass celebrations by the Thirds after finally beating the Seconds in the most important clash of the season. Congratulations to Demetris for winning the man of the match accolade; commiserations to the Seconds for being so close to going through. Hopefully they'll come along and support the Thirds against their medic opposition in the semi-final.
