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2003 'The Classic Cup'

Christmas Eve 2003, a cold and windy day in the heart of rural England. Two teams of hardened mammals faced each other on the field of glory. The Squirrels, strong of mind with nerves of steel stood tall. The Badgers, clawing and scraping the land, marked their territory ready for battle. The stage was set for a confrontation the likes of which had never been seen before.



















The game began with a flourish, everyone eager to make an early impact. The melee seemed impenetrable until a skillful Squirrel known as Macca took charge. Latching onto a through ball from Coo Ed the marksman Macca coolly dispatched the ball past the hapless keeper. 1-0 Squirrels.

The Badgers were shaking when the Squirrels nearly doubled their lead with a smooth passing move, cutting the defensive line to pieces, only the now rejuvenated keeper Po Po denying Macca another classic goal. Could the Badgers find a way back? in short, no. For it was only a matter of minutes before the Squirrels made it 2 with a fine long distance effort from P'Teh. The floodgates were open... goal, Macca, 3-0, a great move clinically finished. The Sciurus were in full flow and despite their reliance on a fatty nut based diet, they seemed fit and strong.




















The Squirrels turned on the style, Hazza high ball forward, Macca nodded down to P'Teh, on the half volley, rattled the crossbar. What a lovely move, if only he could have finished it. The Badgers were certainly down, but were they out? not if the plucky Brocc striker Gooney had anything to say about it. Mugoo crossed low into the box, Po Po battled it back and Gooney tapped in. 20 minutes played and the game was for the taking, 3-1 Squirrels.

The Squirrels swagger was gone, it was time for the Captain, Hazza, to take charge. This giant of a mammal strode forward to take a throw, down to Macca, back again, the Captain showed calm and control as he stroked it to Debo, cross field ball to P'Teh, went past one Badger, slid an easy ball into Macca who finished well, 4-1.
















Tie Rack, the Badgers resident heartthrob sent over a long throw to Gooney who sneaked in at the front post for a good finish on the turn, where was the defence? A lifeline for the Badgers, 4-2. Debo showed some class as he rounded the keeper for an easy Squirrels goal, 5-2. The Badgers put on pressure with a series of in-swinging corners, but they came to nothing and just before half-time Macca popped up to slam in another goal, 6-2 Squirrels, Half-time.




















The second half began slowly but there were 2 notable events worth describing. The now legendary book, East Anglian Country retreats, Vol 2* describes the first of these with the following text "...and when physicists look for a practical example of what happens when an unstoppable force strikes an immovable object the footage of Dele and P'teh's galactic collision is readily shown. This is also often quoted as the personification of the intense competition felt between these two sides". I am sad to report that this collision caused a severe injury to Dele, who is still recovering to this day.

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The second notable event was supplied by Man of the Match Coo Ed who dispached a self setup volley up and over the badger keeper to make it 8-2, a wondrous goal from a mammal of skill and precision.

The goals came in thick and fast as the match progressed, with the game ending 12-5, Squirrels. The classic Spurtnip was over and all the woodland creatures retreated back to burrow or nest for the hard winter ahead.



Spurtnip Cup 2003. The Classic Cup.



*copyright Neil Snazzel 2004.


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