The importance of being a team player

So, 3 weeks ago I joined my brothers football team, he plays in a work league and him and his work mates formed a team, I joined the team 8 games in, unfortunately there are only 6 more games left in this season, but it is very enjoyable...

Yesterday was a day like every other day apart from the fact that I have finally realised the value of my worth, it all started when we had a game against a team which are 3rd in the league standings (our team are at the bottom, they had a bad start to the season) I was in goal as usual which is my preferred position, having lost our previous 2 matches I thought that the fact that we were up against opponents that were more accomplished and of higher calibre than our previous opponents the score line at the end of the game may of reflected on our lack of team chemistry and supposed lack of skill.

This was not the case, during the first 10 minutes of the match our captain, one Dominic King had picked up an injury, which unfortunately retired him from the game and we were forced to bring on a substitute, now this was a guy who we didn't really know... he was just standing around waiting for teams who require extra players, like a predator waiting in the over growth, so he came on and was of decent skill.

The score line at the end of the match is more than I ever expected for us with neither team conceading a goal, the other team had a much greater number of shots at me and I'm not sure why but I felt a bit different as the game went on... more competitive, more alert, i guess this reflected in the way that I played and I was delighted at the end of the match when the referee came up to me and I quote said "I'm giving you man of the match, you played an awesome game today." With that the other team came up to my goal and praised me on a job well done, it sumed up for me what the meaning of a "good team player" really is and my fellow team mates could not have been more appreciative of my presence, admitedly I wouldn't of been as good had it not been for my 2 defenders, they played just as well as I did, I look forward to next weeks match and this time we are looking for a win... Wish us luck.

Rob, Dom, Smithy, Blakey, Linsell, you guys are awesome and I am happy that you chose me as your goal keeper, lets get a win next week