This was the first time since 1968 that United and City had contested a Manchester derby with both teams in contention for the premiership/championship title. Ryan Giggs at 37 years of age was playing in his 34th derby, and Paul Scholes was not far behind in the longevity stakes. Curiously, the teams decided to play a similar formation comprising a five man midfield with one man upfront. Even more surprisingly, the free scoring Berbatov, United’s top scorer this season, was left on the bench.
The first 30 minutes resembled two prizefighters sizing one another up with neither prepared to make any mistakes, and then Ryan Giggs defied the advancing years and produced a sublime pass for Nani to open the scoring. City eventually responded with an equalizer early in the second half with United’s penalty area resembling a pinball machine. David Silva was credited with the goal, but knew little about it until the ball ended up in the back of the net.
For all intents and purposes, the game was drifting towards a draw until Wayne Rooney conjured up a moment of sheer magic. Nani motored down the right flank looking for an opportunity to place a telling ball into City’s penalty area where Rooney was lurking. The ball was zipped across the penalty area at shoulder height slightly behind Rooney who, in a blink an eye, turned with his back to goal and propelled himself into an overhead scissors kick. Rooney made exquisite contact with the ball which flew into the top right hand corner of the net leaving City’s England goal keeper, Joe Hart, looking on helplessly.
By his own standards Rooney’s season has resembled a curate’s egg; good in parts so bad in other places. But arguably, he scored the goal of the season by the use of tremendous technique and skill which only world class athletes are capable of executing. Needless to say, a goal of such rich quality deservedly won the game for United; cementing their position at the top of the table. Rooney ran towards the corner flag and raised his arms aloft and milked the roar of the crowd like a gladiator in the Coliseum. His disappointing world cup, the tabloid revelations about his personal life, and his threats to walk away from Utd in a pursuit of a fatter contract were all forgotten in one moment of sheer wizardry.
Across the pond (the Atlantic) my attention was drawn to Murryfield, Scotland where Wales were taking on the home side. Both teams had lost their championship openers, but Scotland had shown some promise against their opponents, France of better days to come. Wales had not savored a victory in their last eight matches and were desperate to register a win to bolster their confidence in world cup year, and give their long suffering legion of fans something to cheer about.
Head coach, Warren Gatland had responded to public opinion and moved James Hook to fly half for the game against Scotland following their abject performance against England the previous weekend. It didn’t take long before the positional change paid dividends. Hook made a sublime break through Scotland’s defense and glided towards the goal posts only to be tackled tantalizingly short of the try line. At the point of tackle he managed to slip the ball back to the mercurial Shane Williams, hovering at his shoulder, who duly delivered his 52nd try for Wales.
Wales extended their lead to 16-0 and were in total control until two of their players almost simultaneously committed silly fouls and were sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes. Fortunately, despite tremendous pressure from the Scots, they only managed to score 3 points when Wales were reduced to 13 men. Wales regrouped in the second half and ran out comfortable but unexpected winners 24-6; thanks to a second try by the incomparable Shane Williams. Shane is only 5’7” tall and 176 pounds which by international rugby standards places him in the midget category.
What Shane lacks in size he truly compensates by the sheer brilliance of his play. For a man of his limited size to compete and be so successful in the cauldron of international rugby is truly remarkable. He is a try poacher second to none, and his cavalier play places him head and shoulders above the round heads of modern rugby’s sterile lateral imitation of rugby league.
He has earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as the legends of the golden age of Welsh rugby: Edwards, John, Bennett, Dawes, Gerald Reames Davies, JPR and latterly Jonathan Davies, the likes of whom we are unlikely to see again in our lifetime. James Hook reminded us ever too briefly that Wales still has the potential, and more importantly, the responsibility to play with flair in the manner that Brazil carries the flag of excellence in association football.
Congratulations to Wayne and Shane for making a couch potato jump out of his chair with breathtaking moments of virtuosity.
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