Real Tuesday FC

Real Tuesday 5 - 6 Moroccan All Stars

The Real made a long overdue return to competitive matches today, taking on the Moroccan All Stars in an 8 a side game with the newly minted Benji Trophy at stake.

With Joe pulling the strings in midfield despite having played a full 11s game that morning, the Real were 4-0 up and cruising after 50 minutes. Bill had made a couple of saves (one with his face from a corner) but had otherwise kept the jerseys unsold for once.

A neat finish from close range by our old mate Reda gave the All Stars some hope and they went on to score 5 unopposed goals to take a 5-4 lead. One of these was a nice free kick that Hamza arced into the top corner from the edge of the box; the rest were fearsome finishes from the All Stars’ main man, tricky striker Abdoul, who Joe had previously played 11s with.

With the hour mark fast approaching, Duncan levelled the scores; after a brief conflab, we decided to go for Golden Goal so that the new trophy would have a home to go to. Abdoul duly scored his fourth goal of the game to claim the cup for the Moroccan maestros. They are probably still dancing round the centre spot at Saughton with the trophy as I type this!

Joe later revealed that the bold Abdoul even has his own Instagram channel (@abdoul175) where he showcases his flicks and tricks – the mind boggles! Rumours that Andy is working on a similar channel to showcase his trips and digs cannot be confirmed at this time.

As well as Joe’s 11-a-side exploits earlier in the day, Grant was carrying an ankle injury coming into the game – it’s unclear whether he sustained this while trying to evade his girlfriend’s attempts to braid his flowing locks the night before the game. Pictorial evidence of this Crime Against Football is awaited.

Given these injuries, it was probably just as well that we had a couple of subs, with Duncan and Stevie starting the games on the sidelines. As the game wore on, though, it became apparent that our rolling subs were actually more of a hindrance than a help, as they prevented us from settling into a formation and a game plan due to the constantly changing personnel. It’s likely that we will go with a fixed squad of 8 for the rematch – and there will be a rematch!

With Andy or Bill Ryan added to the line up, we can think about adopting an actual formation, as opposed to the vague ‘circle’ shape that we used on Sunday.

The Real goal scorers today were Seb (2), Grant, Duncan and Jordan. Seb’s second goal was a cushioned back post header that he somehow managed to out jump Gregor for – will let Gregor explain the physics of that one!

Duncan set up Grant’s goal after receiving a pass from Joe – as the bold Duncan was at pains to point out, a move made at Firhill High!

As Gregor admitted in the changing room after the game, the Real players rather ‘phoned in’ their performance for the last ten minutes of the game. It is, of course, rather difficult to stay motivated when you are 4 nil up with the ‘ref’ about to raise the virtual whistle to his equally virtual lips.

The All Stars, on the other hand, were fully ‘up for it’ in those last ten minutes, responding to even innocuous tackles as if putting in a late bid for an Oscar nomination – and putting in some meaty challenges of their own. One boy even managed to flatten Jordan at one point, FFS!

Talking of Jordan, the grin on his face when he found that he could still fit into the shirt he always wore back when the Real used to play 11s games regularly – six or seven years ago – was my personal highlight of the day.