Kings 1 - 2 Pembroke

When disgruntled tourists complain about the myth of English weather, they do not complain about rain, for surely they have their own,  but about a general atmosphere of morbidity, a grayness. When done properly, and we English do it properly, this gray becomes more than just a hue somewhere between black and white. It takes on the form of an accompanying drizzle that doesn’t quite give cause for an umbrella but leaves you with an unpleasant damp sensation, made only worse by the gray temperature, which is always just cold enough to rob you of sensation in the extremities. It is however the first time that the “gray” of English weather has treacherously found itself into the beautiful game. The stage was set for a clash of bitter rivals that saw Pembroke beat Kings to take the plate last year. Now however, both teams were far from the glamour of a final. They were both slightly worse for wear having played the day before. Pembroke lost convincingly to Emma, while Kings were robbed of victory in the last 5 minutes by a penalty and a last minute goal leaving the score 3-3 against Darwin. 

But Saturday was forgotten, this was Sunday, this was a chance to face down last years rivals, a chance to shrug off yesterdays misfortunes, to prove who really deserved to win the plate last year, and both teams appeared fairly committed to win. 

The first half quickly stagnated into a stale mate. Although Saturday’s game was testament to Pembroke’s dubious defense they certainly put on far more pressure.  This was however dampened by a Kings team that may have lacked vitality up front but maintained a robust defense that was determined to win every ball and every tackle. The result was a first half played almost exclusively in the Kings half of the pitch. Kings managed to break only a handful of times, those moments of creativity pioneered by Tom Geue down the right wing and although they were fine runs, failed to find any finishers. Perhaps Pembroke should and could have scored in this first half. They certainly played with a cool composure, or perhaps a bored apathy. It is difficult to tell which for although the fast legs of Alex Estorik often found their way easily around the kings defenders, all their shots lacked any semblance of ferocity. That said, the Kings goalkeeper, Joe Simms, did demonstrate a very consistent ability to save shots aimed directly at his face.

Thankfully the second half took off with a little more vigour with a new sense of determination and some substitutes. It seemed as though the weather was beginning to recede. The addition of Omar Kadhim added some passion to the Pembroke attack and although Tom England and Tom Collins put in some great and aggressive tackles Kings could not prevent a goal forever without pushing forward. Eventually Kadhim converted a clinical corner into the first goal of the game. Kings finally responded with their own attack, this however was slightly hampered by the sudden loss of Tom England who suffered an injury after a brave tackle. Lacking any substitutes Kings played on with only ten men and despite this began to threaten more than they had at previous parts of the game. The insecurity of the Pembroke defence was only highlighted when the goalkeeper, attempting to kick it out of his hands, missed and only a desperate rush for the ball prevented the score from going level. Pembroke were still looking stronger but Kings were now counter attacking more confidently. One such attempt passed right through the right side. Alex Estorik found himself one on one with the keeper, an opportunity he casually exploited. This was however a fairly isolated attempt and some fantastic performances from Jonny Sengendo and Rob Jones among others continued to create chances. Ten minutes from the end Kadhim leaped in the air and narrowly missed from a bicycle kick. The attempt failed, but the Kings defense, seeing some truly exciting football for the first time in the game, were momentarily dazzled. Jamie King exploited the confusion and scored the winner in the melee. Admittedly the last goal materialized out of a bit of a scuffle but Pembroke did deserve to win, as their captain said; “we made it difficult for ourselves but got their in the end.”