Round 6:

"It was one of those days that you simply don’t forget" I told my therapist. Lying on the large brown couch I couldn’t help but grimace as the memories started to flow back. We had gone over the problems of my life with great detail over the past few weeks and it was clear that we were starting to narrow down the root cause.

"So tell me about this game against, who was it…Toro?" My therapist was a young blonde, straight out of university but she seemed to know what she was doing.

"Yes, Toro. It was a strange from start to finish…I mean how often does Eroy offer to drive me to the game?" It was true, Eroy almost never bothered to drive to the game and alarm bells should have rung when he offered to do so.

"Anyway, after the mind numbing drive from Brisbane to Pinkinba things started to go down hill."

"How so?" My therapist pretended to look interested.

"The location was so surreal. We couldn't have been more than 100 metres from runway 6 and the burning lights of the BP oil refinery in the distance cast an eerie glow." The imagery still haunted me to this day.

"Isn't it illegal to have lights so close to the airport?" The therapist was way off track but the thought had crossed my mind. Maybe we could have them arrested? I stopped daydreaming and went back to concentrating on the story.

"yeah maybe, it was a strange place. I mean the club was brand new…4 change rooms and all painted this sterile hospital white. It was intense, the place looked like a 7 eleven…without the convenience of food." That was something I could have used at the time but it was no point beating my self up about it.

"Look this all doesn’t sound too bad. I mean you played soccer at a place where they should be loading air freight. So what's the problem?" I really couldn’t believe I was paying her for this but I felt the need to continue.

"Well. It wasn't so bad until the kickoff. I had just been introduced to a new player in our team, a guy called Barry…who I named Barry the Baptist…out of Lock, stock and two smoking barrels…never mind. He took it well. We played on this brand new bumpy pitch. It looked good but sort of played like astro-turf. "

"what's astro-turf?"

"look it’s a long story and I'm paying by the hour."

"ok, continue."

"The first half was revelation. Toro, god knows why they are called that…something the Spanish would say during a bull fight if you ask me. Anyway, they played like Manchester United with the skills of Telford United. I've never seen a team so committed to passing the ball on the ground around their backline. I mean once, twice…every bloody time. Which is fine if you are defender…but when you have to chase those defenders around and around…you get my jist. It just wasn't a good time to be an attacker whose job was to hassle defenders."

My therapist was doing her nails by now but I was starting to feel better. The reliving the worst moments of my life was sure to have a cleaning effect on my troubles.

"Anyway, we started well…probably too well. Toro was bound to turn the ball over in their half and sure enough after 30 seconds they did. Anthony got more ball than a hooker on a…lets just say he saw a lot of ball. I think Dave missed an early chance…that's right…it was a diving header…wasn't really a missed chance…as he got it on target…but it was a good chance."

"Toro almost hit back. Some guy managed to nail a shot that hit post and managed to stay out. I think Eroy wanted to sub."

"Then it was my turn, a great run by Anthony. The cross deserved better and when it falls to you on the edge of the 6 yard box your supposed to score. I didn't. Somehow I managed to shoot dead straight…which would have been fine except I was 3 metres to the left of goal. Ray was understandably upset"

"what did he say?" My therapist was leaning on her chair.

"Well, he pointed out the handy use of a nailgun and the larger of my two testicles…he was right…I shouldn’t have missed. Anyway, if it had improved from there things might have been different. Except they got worse. Dave had a 1-on-1 chance with the keeper and got confused…I think he picked up the ball and tried to slam dunk the keeper…you cant do that in soccer."

"Oh, I see.." Therapist.

"Yes, well it was one of those nights. Anthony again played a cross to me…this time it was for a header. I could understand his thinking…I had rooted one chance on my feet…he tried to take that out of the equation. Anyway my free header from 6 yards was well placed…about 6 inches wide of goal. Things had not improved."

"yes, but surely everyone misses chances." Her tone was innocent but one that was more professionally driven. I was beginning to feel that even my therapist thought I should have scored.

"I thought I had made amends when I got on the edge of a pass 10 yards from goal. I shot towards the far post and the keeper spilled it…my disappointment lit up when I saw Chris fly like a startled gazelle and look to tap it in to the unmarked goal. He couldn't have been more than 3 feet from the goal."

"What happened?"

By now a tear had run down my cheek. It was not fair. These sort of things were not supposed to happen and when they did, they happened to other people.

"Lets just say he found one of those bumps in the pitch."

"Oh dear, he must feel terrible." Her words must have hit home to me.

"Yes I'd say so, I think he's your 3 o'clock appointment actually. I'll continue…because the drama didn't end there. After all that pressure and the blown chances, we finally scored what was to be the winner. I couldn't believe it. From the first corner of the game Dave deflected in a header. I mean he may look dopey and fragile at times but it was a great leap.

That pretty much brought us to half time. The boys weren't too happy with the finishing…I can't blame them…I also thought the club house was painted terribly. Anyway, we re-focused and got on with the job. The second half had more of the same. They didn't really threaten us much. In fact it was the best I had seen the defence play all year."

"what, even Russell?" It was harsh but fair.

"Yeah, I thought Russell was near man of the match. We had a heap more chances, especially on the break. Dave somehow managed to hit the post, Anthony and Gabriel had the odd chance. I saw Dave have a chance against the keeper…but it didn't work out.

Ray got booked again…"

"AGAIN! He grabs a yellow every game!" Even for a therapist it was a comment that was well deserved. Ray had a reputation causing trouble.

"Yes, this time he managed to tackle a defender from behind…and when they fell over…Ray thought he was kicked in the head deliberately. It was fair enough…I would have kicked him. But it was an accident and after some exchanges of differing opinion…Ray was given a yellow card. He was bleeding…so it was only fair that he take a break.

There wasn’t much else to tell. The final whistle went and we had held on when we should have cruised to victory. I'm sure things will be better for me"

"Well we are out of time Mr. Peisley…we'll go over the implications next week. If you could just show in Chris on the way out…I'll see you then. Bye"

I had strolled out and sent Chris in for his therapy. He had taken things a little better and was off medication. I still had a few courses of prozak to run. Beside my new job as a Grange assistant grounds-keeper was keeping me busy. Maybe it would help with the demons of the past.

Quote of the week:
Nick: "I thought the ball was out" - After Nick had picked up the ball for a throw-in when it was 2 metres in play.

Team in no particular order: Andy, Anthony, Chris, Dave, Eroy, Jimmy, Mezza, Nick, Pete, Ray, Russ, Barry.

Injuries: Pride.