In Jeremy Fagan’s weekly team email prior to his squad’s rematch against Pogue’s Run1, the Goose captain noted a statistic that may have gone unnoticed by his own players since league play began in May. He let the team in on Goose’s dirty little secret: that they had yet to defeat a team with a winning record in Pub League play. After handily dispatching Renner’s and Connor’s the previous week, it was time for Goose the Market to prove they could not only keep the score close against the best teams in the league (back-to-back 4 point losses to Good Earth and Claddagh stain Goose’s record), but that they could defeat them outright. Goose’s response? “Challenge accepted.”
Pogue’s entered the match needing a victory to remain in first place tie with Claddagh for the league lead in the race for the Quigley Cup. Goose, despite the absence of Tim Moriarty for the 8th straight match, was determined to show the league what they were made of. Fresh off his challenge for Goose to prove they belonged among the league’s elite teams, Fagan shouldered the offensive load to put up 2-3 against the notoriously speedy Pogue’s squad. Ciaran Connery added 5 points and 2 blocks to the effort while picking up the slack for vacationing offensive juggernaut Sean McGill, whose 3-match absence has resulted in a 3 game winning streak for Goose. Coincidence? Probably2.
For Pogue’s, Jimmy Pepper sprayed3 the Goose defense for 1-2 on the offensive side. Jacob Wilkes led the produce peddlers with 1-4, and points from Tim Boyll and Matt Lewis were notched on the stat sheet.
Ultimately, there was just too much Goose for Pogue’s to carve up. Kyle Griffith, Jeremy Hambrick, Tommy Smith, and Nick Wilson all joined Fagan and Connery in the scoring column, and Goose left no doubt of their ability to beat the best at the end of a surprisingly lopsided 2-8, 5-12 victory.
1-Week 1 resulted in a 4-8, 4-8 tie.
2-Actually, probably not.
3-See what I did there?