Much sweat was broken, old scores were settled and a few dollars was raised for charity at the same time.
Not a bad evenings work for all concerned in what could later be known as the Annual Battle of the Bs soccer challenge.
In a bid to put an end (for a week at least) to trash-talking, two Steveston business owners The Barber Shops Iain Mackelworth and Bean & Beyond Cafes Davood Khatami went head-to-head in a 6-a-side game at Sportstown last Saturday.
And it finished with an 11-8 sound thrashing, as described by Englishman Mackelworth, for his Barberlona team against German-supporting Iranian Khatamis Beanfica side.
Although, according to a few spectators in the 100-plus crowd, some of the tackles were a little tasty at times.
When you get a bunch of dudes together in a room, its going to get a little bit competitive, said Mackelworth, who also batted off suggestions hes brought in some ringers to ensure victory.
I can assure you everyone on my team were customers, none of them played professional thats for sure.
And in an obvious dig at his rival, the Steveston barber added, I think it should be remembered this was a soccer match first and then kind of morphed into raising some money for charity.
What I will say is this; winning is easy, but it takes a real man to accept defeat.
All joking aside, it was a great night and I hope we can maybe make it an annual event or something.
Not wanting to talk too much about the result, Khatami said he wanted to especially thank the players and fans who turned out to swell the pot of money raised in aid of the Richmond Society for Community Living.
Ive still to count it, but it could be more than $1,500, he said.
Although not everyone turned up, we sold 118 tickets for the post-match burger and beer.
The pair had traded insults and wagers in the lead up to the big England vs. Germany game at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
It culminated with Germany winning in controversial circumstances and Mackelworth having to don lederhosen and do a Bavarian dance of sorts, all while waving the German flag in the middle of No. 1 Road and Moncton Street.
