After a great start to the Second Phase last week, Bonus Weeks were brought back down to earth this week when they just about managed to get out a Team of 11 for the Game against Hermanos Jerez.

With the Bonus Weeks Office having a Christmas Do the night before, with Alan Belshaw, Ross Musk and Chris Griffin all back in England, with the hamstring injury of Jeff Ball and the 6 Match suspension of Rich Billam, Bonus Weeks turned up in Albir with a make-shift Team of 10, only making it a full 11 when Wayne Notman turned up for the second half. With many of their big names missing, it was going to be a really tough Game.

It was quite a re-shuffle to the formation, with Carlos Parkin who was still nursing his hamstring strain opting to play in goal, giving Adam Musk a rare opportunity to play outfield. Luke Swingler made his first start since the beginning of the Season and David Burr had the luxury of playing his first full 90 minutes.

Despite being a man down and the rather strange look to the Team, Bonus Weeks actually started quite well, holding Hermanos Jerez for a good 20 minutes before finally succumbing to the first goal, although the Jerez player was well offside when he received the ball. However, Bonus Weeks came right back with a great goal of their own with the outstanding Matt Patton, getting another run-out in the Centre of Midfield, striking a beautiful shot which swerved in mid-air to leave the Jerez keeper no chance of making the save. Matt is the only member of the Bonus Weeks Team to have played every minute of every game so far, and he will be sorely missed when he returns to life back in England on Boxing Day. He has been probably the best player so far this Season, so it was fitting that he marked his last Game for the Team with his first goal.

The euphoria for Bonus Weeks didn’t last long though, a dubious penalty put Jerez 2-1 up and then another goal just before half-time made it 3-1, although this time there was a strong hint of handball by the Jerez striker but the Bonus Weeks complaints fell on deaf ears.

The second half saw the arrival of Wayne Notman to restore the numerical parity with Jerez, but unfortunately Jerez were just too organised and they continued to push forward in waves leaving Bonus Weeks dealing well with most of the attacks but they couldn’t snuff out them all and eventually Jerez ran out 6-1 winners, although that score-line did flatter Jerez somewhat as Bonus Weeks competed on even terms for much of the Game.

A few more of their regular players would no doubt have brought Bonus Weeks a far better result, but with Bonus Weeks having an even bigger Christmas Do next weekend it seems likely that the Team will have to forfeit their next Game as well as they will be hard pushed to get out the minimum number of 7 players. It looks like Bonus Weeks will have to take another loss on the chin unless Sidreria Escondida agree to re-arrange the Match.

Still, there are 20 Games left to play before the end of the Season so Bonus Weeks will have plenty of time to re-group in the New Year and get their Title push back on track.

update van woensdag 26 december 2007  

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