Chilliwack v Surrey Classics FC
Tzeachten
6th. November 2011

Weather and Conditions: Cold and icy

Chilly in Chilliwack ..........
The Classics took the long trip to Chilliwack for the first meeting of the two teams since January 2010 where the Classics had triumphed at Tzeachten by a score of 4-2 thanks to goals from Gordie Macklin (2), Alfie Deglan and Alan Massender. The game kicked off five minutes late and early pressure from the home side brought the first real action as early as the third minute, and that was a good saving tackle in the penalty box from Danny Jensen. In the sixth minute, a right wing corner from Macklin was headed out by a defender for a corner from the left side. The Classics should have taken the lead from the resulting cross as the ball was met at the far post by Chris Arcari who should have buried the header into the net but his weak attempt went wide of the post from just two yards out. Deglan let rip in the tenth minute but the ball just scraped past the top left corner of the goalposts.

chilliwack    chilliwack

Comical incident for the game was achieved after Jim Eden asked Larry Thorlakson to warm up and get ready for his introduction as a substitute. The referee was duly summoned to allow the substitution to take place and he stopped the game to accommodate the request. As Fisher Crockett started to make his way to the touchline the players on the sideline looked for Thorlakson but he was nowhere to be seen. Eventually he was found standing in a corner with his back to the field and with both hands at the front of his body in a position near the top of his legs. No-one could imagine what he was doing but the outcome was that he still had his training tops on and he was definitely not ready to be introduced to the game so the substitution was cancelled and the match allowed to be continued.

Chilliwack mounted a good attack on the quarter-hour mark which caused panic in the Classics defence and resulted in a corner for the home side. Two minutes later Macklin was brought down and from his resultant free kick Robbie Keam brought a great reflex save from the keeper after a deft header. The home keeper was in outstanding form and managed to keep the Classics forwards at bay with a string of impressive saves. Thorlakson gave away a free kick on the edge of the box but the defensive wall did its job and the danger was cleared. In the 31st minute a right wing attack from Chilliwack resulted in a looping shot which was just too high for Dean Herbert and, although he got a finger-tip to it, he was unable to prevent the ball from hitting the top left corner of the net. The half-time score was 1-0 to Chilliwack but it could have been even had Deglan's effort been just a little lower as one of his shots rebounded off the crossbar.

chilliwack    chilliwack

The second half continued at a frenetic pace with both sides having an equal share of the action but midway through the half the Classics drew level. Deglan moved the ball intelligently to Massender who, in turn, laid it on for Macklin who made no mistake with a textbook finish to bring the Classics back into the game. Keam received a yellow card for a foul, and both Jensen and Thorlakson received warnings for dissent from what appeared to be an over officious referee at times. Arcari was unlucky not to win the game for the visitors when he saw his effort strike the upright after a ferocious shot.

The after game festivities were of the usual high quality with Deglan taking on the role of the barkeeper from "It's a Wonderful Life" and he came out with the immortal line, "Hey, look at me. I'm giving out beers!" It would have been a wonderful gesture but it paled into insignificance as Dave Moore had already announced that the beer was free for that week.

Final Score: 1-1 (1-0)

Stats
GK: Herbert
Yellow cards: Keam, Jensen, Thorlakson
Crap Award: D. Moore