Baskin`!! Shonan 1 - 3 Verdy

Basking Shark.....Holy Moly I wouldn`t fancy "Exposing myself to pleasant warmth" in there even though it does look an easy swim from the mouth to A-hole.

Verdy win again, Abe scores two, Iio nets for the second game running and Verdy up to 7th place. Four games, a mind boggling (we are Tokyo Verdy remember) 15 goals and a charge up the table to boot. I am personally loving watching the games at the moment as I`m sure any other Verdy fan is.
Verdy are in dreamland right now. Goals going in from all angles and other teams falling over themselves to help Verdy win in the cases of Mito and now Shonan. The winning run will of course come to an end at some point but while it continues let us take a second to bask in it`s full glory. Tokyo Verdy are not Man United, we are not Barcalona and we are not Rangers or Celtic whereby we just have to turn up to win.  Verdy do not care about the "style" (are they joking?) in which we canter to the league title. To be even within a sniff of a second hand rumour of a title from a bloke in the pub would be fantastic. A Verdy winning run is something to be absolutely savoured as they haven`t come with any regularity in the last 11 years bar the season we went up with Hulk breaking net after net.
The latest bash up saw Verdy bring the points back from a stumbling Shonan side who will be kicking themselves for fighting their way back into a game only to give it away again. All the goal scoring action took place in an exciting first half at Hiratsuka Stadium. Verdy were first off the mark with Iio celebrating his re-call to the starting line up with a well taken effort from the edge of the box after only eight minutes. Shibasaki started the move finding Kikuoka who hit a sweet pass on for Maranhao and after a tussle the ball fell invitingly for Iio who made no mistake. The goal was probably a little against the run of play with Shonan continuing to pressure the Verdy goal after the score.
Verdy were to go two up after 30 minutes with a route one of a goal. Kobayashi hit an inch perfect ball fully 50 yards from well within his own half for Abe to run onto, he controlled it with one touch before smartly lifting it over the keeper. 2-0 and with Shonan`s miserable recent record, another hammering could have been on the cards.
However, Shonan were to pull one back just five minutes later with Kauru Takayama finishing a quick break that started from the right and finished from the edge of the six yard box. Shonan were back in the game but would drop the game through a soft penalty right on half time to leave Verdy with the wind in their sails at the break. Abe broke down the left and as he headed into the box in the left channel, the Shonan defender came across and clipped his ankle, the lightest of contact but enough to knock Abe down when heading nowhere dangerous. Very poor defending and as luck would have it the referee right on top to see the infringement. Abe himself stepped up to knock in his second of the night and finisher, coolly placing it to the keepers right. No blast and hope, a perfectly placed penalty from a player who has grabbed his opportunity in the starting line up with both hands.
The second half was always going to have a hard job to match the excitement of the first but overall Shonan probably shaded the opportunities but unfortunately (for them) they were unable to beat Shibasaki.
Verdy were on the recieving end of some poor refereeing tonight. The referee brandished four yellow cards for The Boys and at least two were absolute howlers. Both Abe and Mori recieved cautions  for fouls though on both occasions they clearly got the ball. Mori was absolutely enraged with his yellow and rightly so. Mori went in with a challenge winning the ball cleanly, the Shonan defender went down in a heap, the yellow came out and the defender sprang up like power ball as soon as the yellow card left the referee`s pocket. Completely annoying and I blame Shohei Takahashi. What goes around comes around right??
 FC Gifu are bottom of the league and next up to Ajinomoto so Verdy are absolutely ripe for a beating. The most ridiculous thing in the world (apart from 30 Million for Andy Caroll, betting on David Haye to beat Klitschko and expecting England to win the World Cup before 2066)  is EXPECTING Verdy to win. The best tactic is to expect them to lose and then you can`t lose. If they lose you are prepared for it; but if they draw or win then everything is rosy. So hears to a crushing defeat to Gifu! May they absolutely hammer us!!
Onwards and Baskwards The Boys Canter On!!

However, a Boob Scarf could be just the ticket in which to "Expose myself to pleasant warmth".