"A Mickey Mouse Team with a complete clown"
Pictured left to right: Mike, Ned, Neil, M.Mouse esq, Bobo, Mikey, Harry, Luke, Andy in Latina "the best Latin American grill/piss up junction in Shanghai"

Team:

 ................................…......Neil (replaced by Michael Uidam)…………………...........

Santi……………………..….Tony……………………….Paco…….…………….Danielle

Harry…………………………Mikey…………………….Andrew……………….Luke

………………………………Andrea……………………..Ned……………………………… 

“We took our 8-1 spanking like men”-Ned Kelly

Football has no place for wimps! With the 9am alarms accompanying the pitter patter outside, it was only the true men/woman (let’s not be sexist now) with gumption enough to grace the pitch. Sadly Phil Boyle and Peter Robinson were not amongst these men having perhaps taken the concept of champagne football too literally. Shame on them!

However the other 13 team members of the mighty Galacticos can hold their heads high. Pitting themselves against a fluent Japan team, who played with an electric pace and deadly precision, many may have been questioning why they too didn’t just stay in bed this morning feeling sorry for themselves. An experienced centre half pairing of Paco and Tony proved no match for the speed and silky skills of the Japan front line. Although they may have that extra second in their head, they would need at least seven to keep up with these guys. Six nil down at half time was very flattering though and true to the Galacticos spirit, we came out fighting in the second half.

The Galacticos response sent Japan on the back foot. With some neat passing and moving we took the game to Japan and it eventually paid off. Good work down the left from Andrea and Luke allowed Ned to creep into the box unmarked and cooly finish off the cross which curled into the side netting, a true fox in the box. Japan’s pace was still causing problems however the introduction of debutee Michael Uidam (Father of Danielle) in between the posts, allowed O’Maonaigh-Lennon to command the defence, limiting their opportunities and bestowing the Galacticos with a base from which to assert themselves. As the great Paul “Bear” Bryant Jr. once said: “defense wins championships”. However, Japan remained resilient and the game finished 8-1 to Japan and in true Galacticos fashion, the result was soon forgotten as the beer started to flow as we replenished our shattered bodies at Latina’s, to ease the thought of those Monday morning aches.

Although it was debated whether we would “take a bullet for our Mothers,” with today being Mothering Sunday, Galacticos proved that they would not lie down and that Galacticos Mothers is far more worthy (and were not just saying that because we completely forgot it was Mothering Sunday and didn’t get you a present).

-Mikey (edit Pete)