Kennington Park was last night invaded for the visit of Cow PR to Gorkana FC’s home turf.
The visiting team appeared a quirky bunch on first glance, and certainly did not disappoint. Their team featured, upon first glance, a female, a Viking, and a keeper emblazoned in a shirt so horrific, it could have graced any Premiership side of the early 1990s (Neil Sullivan would have been proud…), not to mention an entourage of a dozen travelling supporters equipped for the occasion with beer, cider, gin and tonic and banners.
The Gorkana team, whilst missing some of its usual suspects, was also well equipped for the occasion and welcomed back Oli Bridge and James Stanyer into the team alongside captain Ed Riley and James Liddell, a regular opponent of the Blues.
With Alex Baker running the left flank, Kris Mondal marshalling the midfield and Oli Bridge posing a threat just about everywhere, the early exchanges saw some nice movement from each team. Perhaps the increasing influence of Cow’s 8th Man on the sidelines transferred onto the pitch partway through the first half, with every touch greeted to a chorus of either moos or boos. After the Cows early shots, which had not greatly tested keeper Ed Riley, solid in the net, the visitors were able to break through by flashing a shot into the corner from wide left. Minutes later they followed up by tucking in a second goal from a similar area, which the stand in custodian could do nothing to prevent.
Cue a tactical change from the Blues which heralded a recovery in the centre of the park, and Gorkana could re-instill their dangerous rhythm. Further shots were traded, with Gorkana looking the likelier to score at this stage.
Cow delivered a killer blow soon after half time when our female opponent, rumoured to be a former professional from the US league, who by this stage had skinned Tom Foley on several occasions, managed to find an unmarked winger with acres of space and time just outside the box with neat flick on, allowing him to shoot hard into the top left corner and give James Stanyer no chance in goal.
With Tom Foley and Alex Baker working hard at the back, Gorkana were able to press upfield and to good effect shortly after: James Liddell combined with Oli Bridge and Kris Mondal to rifle the ball past the keeper, before a further two breakaway goals made it 5-1 to the delight of the travelling contingent.
Gorkana were not finished however, and Kris Mondal played the pantomime villain to score once more, sliding in bravely to meet a cross from the right ahead of the onrushing keeper. Both sides seemed to throw caution to the wind in throwing players forward for the final few minutes, but the scoreline remained until the church bells tolled.
A match played in great spirit from both sides; good effort to Cow for supplying the highest attendance of the season, and a good effort from this writer in avoiding cow-related puns. It was tempting.
