STEP BACK IN TIME

Just in case you need reminding, the 2022 edition of the ICA World Cup is now well underway, with the Sunday editions of TVV being devoted entirely to the tournament over the next few months.

I thought it would be worth looking back to the very first tie played in the 2018 edition, as it proved to be a real thriller.

2018 was based entirely on knock-out, unlike this time round where there is an initial group stage.  There were 129 ICAs eligible in 2018, which meant two had to go head-to-head in a preliminary round to get the number down to a figure where there could then follow five knock-out rounds in advance of the final.

Here’s what happened…..

#115 : Talking Heads v #93 : Close Lobsters

A transatlantic clash between two of the dark horses for the tournament.  The tracks were selected by a combination of coin toss (‘Heads’ for Side A and ‘Tails’ for Side B) and a dice (the number rolled landed on the song. prospect.

Born Under Punches (from the LP ‘Remain In Light’ 1980)
v
Let’s Make Some Plans (single, 1987)

The match report the following week revealed how it all unfolded.

The 12 noon kick off on Wednesday clearly suited the American art rockers as they raced into a 10-6 lead following the opening exchanges over the first four hours.  The Scots beat combo fought back tenaciously, and shortly after 8pm they took the lead for the first time when DG’s contribution made it 15-14.  This only seemed to rile the fans of Byrne & co and by half-time, at 6pm on Thursday, they had opened up a substantial lead with the score being 27-20 in their favour.

The Heads came out after the break looking to kill things off and scored the next three goals; the difference was now 10 and seemed unassailable.  The Lobsters, however, came back under the cover of darkness with five unanswered goals between 11pm and 4am – the gap was down to five with only the final third of the game left to play.

The boys from the small town a few miles south-west of Glasgow set about their task and momentum seemed to be on their side and  three Friday night goals saw the margin down to just one as we entered the final 60 minutes…..during which, incredibly, nobody added to their tally.

The final whistle brought an enthralling and exciting match to a close, with the scoreboard showing :-

Talking Heads 31  Close Lobsters 30

The New Yorkers, despite scoring only one goal in that final third, had managed to hold on.  The decisive intervention came at 6.37 pm, with Ian saying ‘Talking Heads. Back of the Net.’ 

Talking Heads would go on to defeat Massive Attack in Round 1 and Kitchens of Distinction in Round 2 before losing out to The Housemartins in Round 3.

JC