Monday, June 11, 2012

Back with a whimper

Make a mistake in the qualifiers
and you may ride your luck.
Make mistakes in the finals
and you come unstuck.
So they put us under pressure
and we made mistakes.
We could have recovered
but they got the breaks.

At the highest level
we must retain the ball
if we’re going to have
any chance at all.
For they’re so damn ruthless
when they get a sniff,
that it takes but a second
to send our dreams skew-whiff.

The first was a header
from a long way out
there didn’t really seem to be
any danger about,
but it swung deceptively,
swooped in like a ghost,
crept in like a demon
just inside the post.

The second was a gift,
a stray pass from Ward,
when presents were the thing
we could least afford.
And although he was fouled
when he tried to clear,
the ref didn’t see it
and the price was dear.


The third was regrettable;
we stood off too long,
allowed time for the cross,
which was firm and strong.
The header flashed in,
hit the post, rebounded,
went in off Shay
as he stretched out grounded.


But we’d cause to cheer
with St. Ledger’s goal
to show the world we’d sugar
still in the bowl.
And all is not lost now,
although we feel the pain –
we’ll be right back on track, boys,
when we hammer Spain.

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