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A Lot of Hard Work

Denys E. W. Jones

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 The whole week long we trained hard for this match.
We practised corners, throw-ins, penalties.
And free kicks too, from fifteen, twenty yards.
Next came an hour of dribbling around cones,
To make sure that our skills were finely honed.
Then sit-ups, press-ups, other such exertions,
To guarantee that we were fully fit –
Our Boss is a great one for risk-aversion.
When match day came, a pep talk from the Gaffer,
To psyche us up, ensure there were no slackers.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 But after all that, how did things pan out?
We did enjoy our fair share of possession.
Yet could not transform that into a lead.
We hit both posts and bar in quick succession,
But lacked the slice of luck you always need.
Appeal for penalty of course denied.
And linesman’s flag went up to show offside.
Then at the death a treach’rous cross came in…
Our Keeper failed to grab… their Striker pounced,
And bunged the ball into the Onion Bag.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 So after all that effort, we got beat!
A lot of work, lots of hard work
Went into that defeat.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 16/9/2024
Denys E. W. Jones

Notes

If I remember well, it was Malcolm Allison, Big Mal, who once quipped “A lot of hard work went into that defeat.” I am not talking about a specific defeat here, it could be any defeat, suffered by any team, at any time.

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Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/a-lot-of-hard-work/