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unitedbydevils · 3 months ago

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Match Review: Barnsley 2-3 Manchester United U21

We love a good United comeback at the death, and that's exactly what Jack Fletcher delivered - and in front of his dad!

United began their cup run in the EFL Trophy poorly, conceding to Barnsley striker Vimal Yoganathan after just 10 minutes and giving the young Welsh striker his first senior goal for the club.

A poor backpass from Harry Amass (the second in two games 👀) to a ball-watching Tyler Fredricson left United at the mercy of Kyran Lofthouse - who squared neatly to an unmarked Yoganathan. Manager Travis Binnion will be disappointed in the other centre back Louis Jackson too, who was several yards upfield and either not aware or not respecting the danger Barnsley's strikers presented.

Both sides kept the game going at a good pace; end to end football even despite the torrential rain that swept in midway through the half. Barnsley struck again though in the 37th minute; again through Yoganathan and again assisted by a Lofthouse cutback. Frustratingly for the manager, United had 7 in the box - plus the keeper - versus Barnsley's 3.

2,638 turned out to Oakwell for the evening game, including Martin Devaney - Barnsley assistant manager and United player Jacob Devaney's dad. In the stands were United's technical director Jason Wilcox, deputy football director Andy O'Boyle, interim director of recruitment Christopher Vivell, academy director Nick Cox, and ex-United star & Scotland international turned first team coach slash... some sort of first team/academy transition role? It's Darren "i've got twins smashing it for the academy" Fletcher.

Of course, it would take until late in the second half for the attacking twin - Jack - to show up and show off, subbed on in the 57th minute for Ruben Curley.

Barnsley flashed one across goal straight away in the second half, but following the introduction of Fletcher it was one-way traffic in United's favour; the attacking mid seeming to unlock Barnsley and unleash Ethans Wheatley and Ennis respectively.

Ennis finally got United on the scoreboard thanks to a lovely one-bounce low cross from James Nolan on the right wing, deep into the middle of the box and curled home into the mid left of the net.

Goal number two was a WORLDIE from Jack Fletcher. The socials blew up as three minutes later Harry Amass won an aerial ball, spun past the next man, and before he could touch it again Jack Fletcher hits a sumptuous volley top bins, upper left corner of the net, with Ben Killip at full stretch and unable to do anything.

Victory would come ANOTHER three minutes later with Jack Fletcher the man of the moment. A good throw-in from the right sideline found Fletcher in decent space, who then for some mad reason was left to drift across the box before hitting a cute left-foot finish back across his body, through the Barnsley defensive crowd, and in low at the keeper's near post before he could even see it. 3-2 United, comeback complete.

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There was a little extra drama in the final moments, with Harry Amass going down after a challenge from Corey O'Keefe - RCM for Barnsley. The match camera didn't show the incident but Amass gestured that he'd been elbowed in the head, and moments later the referee sent O'Keefe off - seconds before the end of the game.

A disappointing end for the young Barnsley side, but a good comeback for United's youth in a tricky away game off the back of a rough defeat to Arsenal.

The next cup tie is another away trip in late September, to Doncaster Rovers, but for now the lads prepare for a home game in the league against Stoke City at 7pm on Friday.

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summer-in-florence · 13 days ago

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Choices

Dungeon Meshi OC: Daylily Mills x Oakwell Ferns (mine) Side characters written all belong to WAREG

When all comes down to it, people have two choices. Yes, or no. Alternatives are foreign concepts made by people with too much pride—sadly myself too have been—and as you repeat enough cycles around the sun, even those with too much hubris will eventually learn that this world is made out of compromise.

Isn't it funny? That I spent years trying to run and still get caught midway? And in the form of someone I don't despise, someone I had buried incomplete hatchets of.

Oak sits in the far corner of my tavern. He's not alone, there's a kobold with him that's probably his guide through the terrain. He's enjoying his meal that Iris made, in his fancy clothes from fancy imported textile, shiny hydrophobic leather boots that's far more useful worn at sea than these caverns. He looks out of place.

The only half-foots around these areas of the dungeon are the scrawny guides and young trafficked lures. While him and his kobold exudes the opposite vibe, him the master and kobold the servant; there aren't many half-foots that are masters in general. Mickbell and Kuro, was it, would fare the same as he does and his companion, but the former two hail to another leader of their own—and are obviously not as lavishly dressed as Oak Fernbys and his roan-coloured companion.

He smiles and waves at me occassionally. I ignore him. I continue to ignore him.

"Hey, Lily? You're going to crack that mug if you keep wiping it like that." Iris' face comes into periphery. She tries to steal the glass from my hands.

"My bad," I say, too strained to sound apologetic. "Raku, take over cleaning these for me."

Thank Raku and their casual obedience, they immediately move back into the counters and do as I wanted them. All while I find something to distract myself, like the cashier, so his piercing eyes won't bother me for the next hour or so. I still have a business to run. I simply can't let the semantics of Oak's presence disturb me.

That, only lasts for ten minutes. Because Raku notices Oak staring at me, and knowing Raku, they won't zip it. "Am I crazy or is that guy staring at you?"

"You know what? I think he does," Iris pitches in. "Lily, you know that guy?"

Headaches, swirling. "Which guy." My eyes haven't left the bag of coins I'm counting.

"Half-foot, actually really tall for a half-foot. As tall as that Mr. Tims guy that you said is running the union. Locs for hair... I think it's tied to the back? Can't see it from here."

"An exotic red-fur kobold with him, though I'm not sure if they're with him or just sitting on the same table."

I sigh. These two... they're allowed to gossip on the job, but I'd prefer them talking discreetly. Is subtlety a rare skill in ogres? Oak is still a half-foot. He's sure to hear them, these two hulking ogres whispering to me over the cashier with their normal inside voice.

"He is. Don't pay him any attention." Iris gets a pinch to her elven ears. "Get back to work, please."

"So you do know him!"

"Excuse me." Oh, just great. I can tell Oak's voice from a mile. Even now without me looking, I know he's approaching the cashier.

Iris receives him, smile in her voice and a sing-song cheer, saying, "yes, how can we help you, Sir?"

"I'll get the bill, but is it possible for my party to rest here for a while? My kobold friend needs to lay down, so I was wondering if there's a room available for the night."

Raku leaves the station, whistling tunes and away from the awkward pause left hanging in the air. I think they're fetching Oak's finished plates from the corner. I didn't ask them to, but it's better than have their nose in the space when I don't need it. I can handle situations by myself. And sometimes, Raku loves butting in.

Iris purses her lips, because she can't give any say about the state of our rooms' availability. Any rooming orders must go through me, the owner. Out from the corner of my eyes I can see her going back and forth from tentatively trying to ask me, to Oak smiling knowingly across the booth, to Oak's kobold partner afar.

Chiquita isn't home, so there's a spare room open for Oak to rest himself. But I don't think that's what he's getting on. I don't think it's all that simple, it's Oak.

I look down. At him. Pissed. "I charge triple for each rooms."

"Lily!" Iris squeaks.

"No problem. But I was hoping that it includes a conversation with the owner." His grin is sly. He may come off unorthodox for a half-foot, but he's still one to his core.

Sly, cunning, cheat.

"You're welcome to wait until after hours," then, I tug on Iris' apron, defeatedly. "Iris, can you help me show the hound his lodging?"

Gold coins jingle on the counter. He spends it as easily as kicking rocks. If my senses ever deceives me, his own behaviour is unmistakable. And when he touches my hand in between, he knows that I understand what his arrival means.

Team meeting. Iris, Raku, and Rufus who had just returned from delivering to the orcs, huddling together in the pantry because I said so. Their larger bodies cover the threshold so that no sound may leave the tight space. It’s convenient, but it also means that I only have several minutes to explain the situation before suffocating from the lack of air. “I do not want any misunderstanding while that guy is here, okay?”

Raku bumps their head on the ceiling, groaning.

“Who are we talking about?”

Rufus groans too. The back of his head slapped by Raku and their giant palms. They murmur, “the guy in red, bro! Get on with it!”

“Shit, I just got back! You don’t have to hit me like that!”

Iris pinches both of the boys’ tummies. “Pipe down, you two! Let Lily speak!”

“Thank you.” Now that the two have settled down, I clear my throat. On normal days, I wouldn’t have ever told them, but his appearance in this island itself is abnormal to its extent, let alone here out of all places. I begin, “that man in red there, his name is Oakwell Ferns. You three should refer to him as Ferns—by half-foot honorific custom. Even if I call him Oak, you three are not privy to calling him Oak, okay?”

Rufus tilts his head. “And that means what, exactly?”

“He’s, um,” how do I even say this. How do I even say this without freaking them out, exactly. I raise up a finger, square to the front of my lips, as my other hand waves to get the three’s attention. “Oak is my… fiancé.”

The next minute is spent with falling boxes and dustbunnies flying up the air. Because of course, these three of my friends are not to be trusted with such information without coughing up a storm. They bump and hit each other whilst their heads struggle to stay inside the small storage. And then they hack their lungs out from inhaling cobwebs, and need to take a small water break before I continue.

“If you three are done, yes he is my fiancé. I’m trying to tell you the whole story here.”

Iris protests, “but! But I thought we’re sharing crushes on Kabru!”

Rufus chokes.

“I’m sorry?”

Before I know it, I’m already blushing. The warmth seeps upon my face and making this tight space a little more airless. “It’s… the same situation. I need refreshments too, you know? Same reason why I collect Himmel’s pictures from Chiquita.”

“But you sound so serious about him…”

I mean I guess I understand why Iris would be upset about it. Rolling the words on my tongue a little bit, it does sound like this whole bond we have from admiring the same man was made up, like it was a lie I forged just to get closer to her, as sisters. Regrettably, I should have told her about this sooner.

I take her soft, manicured hands, caressing the knuckles in reassurance. “Trust me, I would be serious about him if I’m not haunted by this Oak situation. Just as you would.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Lily. I trust you.”

“Am I the only one that’s losing the plot here?” Followed by a grunt; Raku elbows him by the gut.

I clear my throat again. “Anyways. Oak and I got engaged by our parents back in Kahka Brud, right before I ran away to this island. You guys know the story. I tried to become a singer here, then failed, then found the dungeon and here I am.” It’s hard to not shrug telling a story like this. I always prefer to keep private lives private, as it would burden people with the knowledge. “But I was only able to run away because I made a deal with Oakwell Ferns, my fiancé.”

Their first noise from the minute is all but a sympathetic croon. Raku mumbles, “yikes, Lils.”

“Yeah, yikes. You see, Oak is a shipman, so he’s rarely on-land anyway.” Details like how a half-foot like him was even able to become a shipman is best left behind for their own thoughts—in all honesty, I do have every sense of respect and awe for that fact about him itself. I sit criss-cross atop of a crate. “So I told him if he lets me leave, I’ll go back to him when the time is right.”

The realisation dawns on the three. First excited, now staring at me with giant watery eyes like kicked-up puppies on the side of the road. Their sunken faces make me feel just as terrible as the reality is.

I know the things they might be thinking. That I’ve given them a home. That I’ve given them a purpose. A place to stay. Things to do. An atonement for their past. ‘What about Chiquita? She’s not here to hear the news’ they might throw at me, and they would be correct. ‘You’re just going to leave this life behind?’

I’m fairly mature now for a half-foot. I grew up exponentially faster than Raku, Iris, and Rufus had, because not only that I, by age, are several years older than them, I was also groomed into surviving for myself.

I know, very intimately, that when all comes down to it, life only gives you choices spanning around yeses and nos. And they might not be able to savour either sensibilities yet, but they will come to learn. Myself, in particular, I’m just happy to have spent time with them. It’s a comfort that I want them to understand too.

But perhaps not now. Not yet. Chiquita isn’t home and she should be when it comes.

Reaching up, I try to pat their giant heads. “This isn’t the ‘right time’, if that’s what you guys are worried about. He’s just here to remind me. Oak is still going to be really busy, honestly. There’s no shortage of merchants to assist with exporting goods across the ocean any time soon.”

“Lily!”

Three messes of hair assault me in an instant. I don’t know how they did it, but somehow they all managed to hug me. Folding limbs and bruising sides just to nuzzle on this short half-foot sitting on a low stack of crates on the floor.

“Ah! Please! That’s why, I want you guys to let me handle things with him! Ah, get off!”

It’s not strange for me to bring him a pint of beer—in the standard half-foot serving, but big enough to make a lightweight go tipsy. This brings back memories, sort of. I used to serve him his drinks too back then, when I was younger.

What is definitely strange about this is the backdrop of it all. Kahka Brud is a relatively big place, with its townscape bright and illuminated by the reflections of its coastal perimeter. Back then, there would be stars when I brought him his liquor, and on the bottom of our sandals would be reminiscent with sands from a long day by the sea. Dry sandy hair wafting on the warm pelagic breeze.

This tavern is nothing like that.

Dark, and cold, mouldy by the corners. There isn’t any light here if not for Iris’ spells. When I first got this quarter, I was making do with makeshift candelabras from pieces of metal ingots dropped by passing miner dwarfs. It’s quiet here, and there isn’t a sense of safety like being on the surface gives you. It’s quiet, and there are monsters lurking somewhere.

The fact that I still get into this routine with him even now is tugging on my heartstrings. Unnecessary sentiments.

“So, is that a new partner?”

Oak laughs. “Who? Alpine? No, he’s a friend I met from the west. He said he’s willing to be my guide here, so we came together.”

“Hmm. Figures.” I try to drown myself in the beer—impossible, because he knows that I’m just as a heavy drinker as he is. All these possible solutions and not enough doors.

He gulps his own pint as well. From the eavesdroppers’, it’d look like we’re sharing a moment. However I can’t even ascertain what it is that we share in common nowadays. I haven’t seen him for so long, and he’s still carrying the load of that silly little lie I told him years ago, while I’ve looked forward too far to be told that I haven’t moved on.

Have I? I would be lying if I stopped expecting it. Somewhere along the way I dug up holes to leave old possessions behind, but his hand stuck out from the uneven mud. I just tried to forget it, but never fully ready to bury it down.

Oak shuffles in his seat, reclining just a little deeper for him to get comfier. It’s a trait I still recognise from him; all that height gave him a bad back. He breathes better as he’s settled. “What? You know I don’t like breaking promises.”

And I do? I can only glance at him for that comment. “I never asked you to hold it this long. You’re free to do whatever, honestly.”

“Well, I want to. I still kept your mother’s heirloom ring. That’s how I tracked you, by the way, thanks to my friend Alpine upstairs.” Another swing on the beer. He nearly finished the whole glass. His voice drops, saying, “just ‘whatever’ isn’t going to work on me, Daylily.”

“Oh, please. You’re saying like there aren’t any other youth out there. I know what mariners are known for, hello, my useless father was one.”

I roll my eyes at him, then clink my glass with his. Really, he makes me nervous when he gets serious, so I try to lighten the mood. It really was meant to be a sombre joke. Oak, however, isn’t having it.

He frowns, only for a split second, just to reprimand me to not drive the conversation that way. Then he starts again, “nice place you have here. I thought you wanted to be in a troupe?”

“C’est la vie,” I shrug. “That plan backfired so I tried building a career from odd jobs. The dungeon in this floor is pretty docile, so I tried doing what I could. Half-foot girls are better appreciated as beer maids than performers.”

“What’s so different from Kahka Brud then?” Or in other words, ‘you can just do this at home if this is what you end up being.’ Which is logical. Oak is always logical.

I pull my legs up and hug them, curling into a ball. A ball of a not-quite-drunk halfling girl, desperately trying to appeal to someone who wouldn’t get it.

“Difference is I get to make my own choices here.”

My own place, my own path. My own chosen people. My own family.

Is it so bad for one to want freedom like that? I want to tell him, ‘you live in the sea, you can’t even begin to fathom how life is like on land.’ Society and all of its unwritten rules, aren’t we all just running from it? Him, to the oceans, and me, underground. We both chose things we wanted.

“You’ll make more doing this in Kahka Brud.”

Then the tears just… run. Bursting out of its seams. I can’t stop it. I reach across the table and grab him by his fancy woollen shirt, water dripping into its fabric, drawing dark patches of me on his stomach. “I don’t care about money! I have people to shelter now, okay? I have sisters, and siblings, and there are people that depend on this place to continue their journey and that’s all I want! It’s something that I want!

“If, if you’re going to berate me, on how I’m an avoidant liar, fine,” my sobs overtake the air. “But don’t compare this place to Kahka Brud. There was a reason I ran away, Oakwell, I’m trying to run away. Why do you keep catching up? Why does this stupid ‘Kahka Brud‘ keep catching up?”

Oakwell lets me soak his shirt, pulling me into his lap while I ride the waves of grief that materialises in the form of his face. He pats my back, not unlike how a big brother would console his baby sister. It’s comforting. I’ve grown too used to being the responsible one here that such simple solace makes me yield.

See, I never hated him. I have never in my life resented Oakwell Ferns. Through the matchmaking, through the engagement, he’s simply just a victim of the same circumstance. One that because of chances, got off more easily than I did. We had a bond to share because of that.

It was always more to our parents. Oakwell was never home, so I had to deal with this soon-to-be joint family’s wiles more than he did. They were the ones who decided everything, blindsiding the both of us with news too big to process for two youth that just started having a life.

I called him unfair for making me the punching bag of this relationship, and he said I could ask him anything to make us even.

“Still calling off the thing?” Oak cackles to the state that I am now. Foetal on his lap, drenching his clothes into one giant puddle. I hit him weakly.

“It’s never off,” I sob, sitting up to gaze at the man. “I just don’t want to settle down with what I don’t like.”

He wipes my face with his thumb, and I instinctively lean into it. “Something tells me you don’t like me enough yet. Who is this ‘Kabru’ guy I heard?”

Wonder is, laughing is easy now. I tell him, “nobody. Your competition is not him.” Gesturing to the supposedly empty tavern, I know the lot are listening in to our conversation. “It’s actually those guys.”

“Say bye to Mr. Ferns, guys.” I wave at him, and the gesture is followed by Chiquita who stands next to me—she just got home, so she’s plenty confused. Iris offers the leaving men her eastern sensibilities, and the two others just stand to accompany me.

Oak shouts, “I’ll visit again next year!”

“Please don’t!” And the both of us laugh.

The tavern is closed for the day because I can’t handle it, outbursts like yesterday demands from me a proper sleep before I can continue running this whole thing.

Once we’re back inside, it’s Rufus’ turn to talk. “You’re engaged engaged to him, huh, boss.”

“Huh? So why aren’t you married, Lily?” Chiquita yelps.

I tell her, “just made a choice. That’s all.”

#fics by summer #orisinil by summer #summer owns this oc tag #oc: daylily #oc: oakwell #oc: wareg quartet

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