Classics v Aldergrove
Denny Ross
22nd. Nov 2015

Conditions: Slight frost and cold but warming as the game progressed

Players on duty: Jimmy Butler, Danny Jensen, Dave Moore, Pat Rohla, Alan Massender, Gordie Macklin, David Breen, Gene Crowley, Daryl Lawrie, Bryan Griffiths, Chris Arcari, Randy Hosler, Rick Geary, Pat O'Krane, Will Dixon.

Classics breeze past Aldergrove .....
The match kicked off late due to the second consecutive home referee mix up. Katie Thorlakson, the ex-Vancouver Whitecap and women's Canadian national team member, gracefully volunteered to referee the match, and did so until the scheduled referee eventually turned up. The first half of this match has to go down as a bad day at the office as the Classics couldn't seem to get their rhythm going at all. There was a string of passes going astray from all over the field and it appeared like the Classics were hung over as they just couldn't find any white shirts. This factor, combined with some uncharacteristic misses made the going tough. They did, however, sail into a 2-0 lead before the half through Pat O'Krane and Gordie Macklin. O'Krane's goal came after a cross from Macklin was mishandled by the visiting keeper and he pounced to convincingly strike the ball home. The second goal came through a delightful move; Randy Hosler took a dead ball kick which was headed on by Alan Massender. Macklin was on hand to set off on a marathon run to the box, which he executed to perfection as he cut inside to hammer the ball home to round off a perfect three-man move from a sitting ball.

    
The second half started brightly enough with an early goal. This time it came from an O'Krane pass which released Will Dixon and he didn't disappoint as he struck the ball with power, high into the net, despite the goalie getting a hand to it. It was Jimmy Butler's turn to get on the scoresheet next and he doesn't do things by half. He scored a quick hat-trick to put the game out of the reach of a tiring Aldergrove team. Butler's first came courtesy of a Dixon pass. The second came after good work by Gene Crowley, and Butler capitalised on it. The third one is worthy of special mention and was the pick of the bunch. It came as a result of some intricate, and almost extrasensory perception, inter-play between Butler and Daryl Lawrie; needless to say, the ball was nestled comfortably in the net at the end of the move. At 6-0 the Classics turned off for a decisive moment and allowed Aldergrove to score a goal that wiped out the shut-out attempt. The fans were leaving in their droves as the game was all but over. Dave Moore had been juggling the ball like a Cirque du Soleil member and was entertaining the crowd with his antics so it came as a big blow to let a goal in. At one stage I counted 10 black cats behind the nets so it was a cruel fate that one shot sneaked in at the near post. However, if the hat-trick was the icing on the cake, the last goal was the cherry on the top. Dixon popped up with his second goal after a decisive run into the box was finished with a low shot to the left of the keeper.

  
The referee admitted after the game that another goal that Butler had scored had not been offside and he also confessed to letting Aldergrove score their only goal from an offside position. Such is the game! The after match festivities included the Pat O'Krane comment which related to one of Jimmy Butler's goals where he was running along the 18 yard line, while holding hands with one of the opposition. He directed his comment to the referee and said, "Ref, I think they are holding hands." Butler was non-commital but did finally admit that he bats for both sides, with the excuse that it doubles his chances of trapping-off on a night out. There was also a mention of Rick Geary changing his name to the Four Minute Wonder. There was lots of time to talk as Alan Massender went for pizza which should have been ready in five minutes, but it took more like an hour. Dave Moore then explained the story behind a clean sheet which is faithfully reproduced below with the full permission of the author of "Out of Our League: Defunct and ex-Football League Teams - Volume One." Click this link to purchase a copy for Christmas.

"In February 1907 Accrington Stanley travelled to Bradford City for an FA Cup tie. The Bradford goalie was the legendary and gigantic Willie “Fatty” Foulke. Foulke’s red jersey clashed with the red of the Stanley team and finding a suitable different coloured replacement jersey was difficult. One of the locals helped to solve the problem by loaning him a white sheet which was wrapped around the man’s bulky waist. The result that day was that Bradford City won by a single goal and since Foulke didn’t dive during the game it is quite possible that the term ‘keeping a clean sheet’ could be derived from this unusual incident."


Final Score: Classics 7 Aldergrove 1 (2-0)

Stats
GK: D. Moore
MWG: G. Macklin
Hat Trick: J. Butler
Katie Thorlakson refereed the first five minutes