Day 121 - It's a big day for many reasons!

Going to miss donning that number 11 shirt. Up the Big Willy!

Day 121 - 22nd October 

It's final day. Big Willy F.C v.s. Kiradon, the odds are against us but we're going to give it a bloody good go!

The day was consumed undertaking an assessment with St Giles college at Highgate, London as part of my CELTA eligiblity requirements. Did you know there are now past perfect, present simple and future continuous tenses? No? Me either. When I was at school it was either past, present or future tense you were talking in. What's going on with the world?

Anyway, after sounding put my vowels like Rain Man 'O, O, O, O,' and explaining why a teacher was still good at their job even if they didn't know the answer to every single question a student could ask in a lesson (who writes these bloody questions) I had my exit interview with Charlie to sign off with Globalteer. As expected, it went very well and he seemed pleased with the feedback.

Afterwards, we went through my sitcom and I was really pleased with the comments and feedback. Definitely something positive to work on in the coming months.

This boy is a crazy one but an awesome coach and student! Good luck buddy!

It was then time to bid farewell to my awesome Coach DK. I'm going to miss teaching him English and us going out to the schools and NGO's to teach sports. We managed to get a selfie in anyway!

Don't scrub up too bad! Thanks Mr Xè!

Then it was the first trial of the day - an informal interview with ACE (The Australian Centre of Education). Now this place is like the Oxford of Siem Reap. The place is sleek and the classrooms look like something out of the future. Suited and booted in Mr Xè's finest, I met with the campus manager and Will to discuss my background, the qualifications expectations and so on. I was even offered coffee and cake which is always a bonus.

Will showed me around and I knew it was a great place to work, however our thoughts were more occupied on the final later that evening.

Whether it was the nerves or just me running around so much I felt a little clammy. A beer at the Hard Rock with the lads as a pre-game psych up session was probably not the greatest idea but we weren't there to get hammered, just team bond. We all spoke about what it would be like to win the final and the different scenarios surrounding it.

So back at Bou Savy I did my best to emulate the All Black's Haka Dance in my own way to psych myself up. With Swedish House Mafia and Aviici playing loudly in my ears, I was ready.

Over at Samakee it was like Fight Club. Countless numbers of Khmers had shown up to cheer on Kiradon. It wasn't just 6 vs 6. It was 6 vs 100 now. 

The first 10-15 minutes we contained them well. They had a lot of possession but were resorting to long range shots that were either blocked by us or saved by Boreth. A few minutes later they scored and a roar of cheers went up from all around us. Then a little while later they scored again. Same noise levels erupted and I felt a sinking feeling.

The half time team talk was still positive, it was a final and anything could happen. 

The second half brought hard tackles and fouls from both sides, the referee definitely playing up to the screaming supporters around us. They cruised into a four-nil lead before a keep ball session ensued from them. One of our players was sent off for two bookables which got a reaction from Kiradon but Alex had scored twice in that time to alleviate some of the damage and make it a respectable 4-2. 

I slipped over much to the jeers of the crowd and slid in on the keeper to stop him time wasting.

When the final whistle went it was disheartening after all the hard work from the season but we made it to the final which was something. A few more beers eased the pain before we moved to Charlie's and I started my goodbyes to the lads.

I started to feel hot and clammy again so headed back to Bou Savy to sleep.

Special note: 

To the Big Willy boys - Will, Charlie, Alex, Yanni, Colin, Nico, Dave, Simen and Boreth:

Boys, it's been epic. What a season! Thanks for all the great games and for the beers over the last nine weeks. Hope to see you all again soon! Oh, and good luck next season as Foregone Conclusion!