The One where CE finally won NFC!

Computers Football Team finally won the Nirma Football Cup after all these years of reaching the finals and falling agonisingly short each time. Well, this time we had the firepower and the fire, to make sure we brought home the trophy! I am still wary of the fact that I am not as athletic as my teammates, and I should have done better, but I was proud of the way I played for much of the 90 minutes. Not having scored ever in my time as a CE player will leave a bit of a sour taste in the mouth, but I did manage to find the net, only to be ruled offside. Some consolation hehe...

I posted a highly appreciated match report on the orkut community of the team. Here it is:
Match report
CE has reached the Promised Land! The Dream, finally realised. WOOOOOHOOOOO! Finally the ghosts of the past football finals can be put to bed!
Final score: 2-1 (Take that, you EC fucks!)
Team formation:
-----------------Siddharth (G.K.)----------------
---Ranga----Parashar---Nikunj----Akshay------
-----------Mihir------------Parth Patel----------
----Parth Shah--------Jimmy-------Vidhan------
---------------------Tanay----------------------

The same starting 11, no subs!

Team huddle:
Everyone was totally chilled, making jokes and pulling pranks, but each one of us knew the task that lay ahead of us. Tanay joked that he was really tense, not because of EC, but because "3 high scorers in the CE team, who will take the Golden Boot???" LOL! This was the last chance for many of us last semmers, the best chance to finally break the jinx!

1st half:
We started better of the two sides and much of the game was played in EC's half of the pitch. However, due to some scrappiness, we couldn't manage to score. It was not clockwork CE free flowing football as was seen in our numerous 5-0 adventures :-) With some neat one twos, 1st with Jimmy and then with Tanay I did manage to smash the ball into the net, only to be ruled offside ::sob sob:: Score: 0-0

2nd half:
EC utilised their two quality players (Dipen and Tejas) to the maximum and started to create chances for thier center forward Aradhya. Tejas made some creative runs down the left wing and Dipen, in center midfield was his usual quality self, but had to defend a lot throughout the game because of regular CE attacks. In spite of all this, they never looked like scoring as Parashar, Nikunj, Ranga and Akshay had EC in their back pockets for most of the game. In case they beat one defender, the other (usually Nikunj or Parashar) would be ready to pounce on and clear the ball. But then, we conceded a free kick about 20-30 yards out. Dipen took it, Siddharth was caught off guard and the swerving ball went thru his hands.
But, our goalie made up for his error with sharp keeping there on. Score: EC 1-0

Then began the CE blitzkrieg. Attack after attack, deft passing, skipping past defenders, it was all around the EC penalty area. Nikunj played more as a defensive midfielder, me and Parth Patel played out wide and drifted in towards the middle, while our wingers and Tanay-Jimmy attacked in tandem. Vidhan made a fantastic run down the left wing, tricking and bamboozling 3 defenders in the process, but lack of support left him helpless. EC could only handle so much pressure, then they finally cracked. I picked up the ball near the EC penalty box, went past Dipen and then passed it to Parth Shah, who came up with an absolutely impeccable low shot into the far bottom corner! Keeper Rohan could only stand and wonder, while CE went delirious. Score: 1-1

We continued in the same vein, but EC also had some moments in the game. Tejas hit a dipping shot which just went off bouncing from the bar, and Dipen danced past 4 CE players but was on his weaker foot when he hit the shot straight into the keeper's hands. We got a free-kick around the same distance as Dipen's free kick, Vidhan put it into the penalty area. Rohan, in a desperate attempt to clear the ball, ended up giving Tanay a golden chance to win it for CE, and he obliged with a simple header, 3 minutes from time! Game resumed but we didn't let EC get another chance around our territory, and when Abhinandan blew the whistle...well you know, we went CRAZY!

Best moments of the final on/off the pitch:

Tanay's shorts: Black swimming shorts, with a thick fluorescent orange horizontal stripe across the crotch!

Lolly's pajamas:Lolly, the hefty EC right winger was continuously on the receiving end of our amazing crowd's jokes and comments because of his pajamas!

Dipen-"AA SU CHHE!":The crowd taunted Dipen with imitations of his trademark dialogue "AA SU CHHE" that he dished out everytime it remotely seemed like it could be a foul by CE! Typical EC behavior!

Ranga: At the end of the game, Ranga turned towards the EC crowd and imitated the looks of shock on the faces of the EC girls! LOL!

Rohan volleyball:Vidhan's free kick landed in the penalty area, and the EC keeper Rohan, inexplicably decided to clear the ball volleyball style, only managing to find the waiting Tanay!

Tejas sms:The highly emotional EC left winger Tejas, who had a decent game himself, was so broken down at the end that he messaged all members of the CE team "I know I am the worst player in the world" Dude was on the verge of a meltdown! Well, he will be ok..

Mihir offside goal:After I put the ball into the net, the entire CE crowd starting running onto the pitch, only to find that it was ruled offside, and the guys being faced with the impossible task of explaining to the girls what an offside is!