Mens F 2 - 2 Police A

02 May 2010

Dear F Team,

Well on the hottest day of the year so far, there was a mass assembly of players, that was either a display of great team spirit and comradery, heeding the call to arms in our desperate fight to stay afloat in the 3rd Div, or just merely the fact the was FREE BEER for once ordered and pitch-side ! In all 20 came, which even prompted Chappie to wander off and get a camera to record the event for posterity. So we had a full 16 and supporters of "Where's he been" Lyle, "Black-eyed" Bertie, "Wasabi Keeper" Kubo and "Hamstring" Steve.

A delayed start for watering saw the F's calmly take to the field, only for the Police to take the ball forward, surge down the field, past 2 midfielders, flick the ball that bounced past the sole defender and a high shot from the right of the "D" pass Jeroen deep into the top corner, to see us 1 - 0 down in just 15 seconds !!! Well that woke us up, and we settled down to take the game back to Police. It wasn't long before our solid midfield of Chris, Ali-G, Thorsten and "newboy" Philip S were driving up field and putting pressure on the Police defences. Hard balls in caused several good chances, with Oscar and Tom both in the thick of it and not long past before the ball came back to Philip just outside the "D" for him to move in and strike a direct shot low into the goal for a deserved 1 - 1 comeback score. Before long both Police and Club were getting short corners and both had chances well saved. Then, a push out saw the WMD slip left to Philip who control the ball and again rifled it under the keeper for 2 - 1 !

Regular subbing due to the heat brought in David G who combined well in midfield, with both Anthony and Pete. At the back, the constant attacks saw Fergus gainfully employed and doing a solid job all game, as well as Tim, David W and Walter as ever catching most dangerous moments, but there were enough close calls to know Police were a threat. Finally their tally of short corners saw a good strike go wide of Jeroen, but despite David W's best effort to take it off the line it was in for a 2 - 2 score line. The half ended for as much needed respite.

The 2nd half saw much of the saw, but Police were certainly out for win and we had lost a bit of pace and they seemed to have the edge in tackles and 50/50 balls. Although all forwards had their chances there were no real openings that didn't have a mass of police defenders inbetween, and they counter attacked very fast. Luckily one such move saw them well past everyone and a goal bound shot was deftly cleared inches off the line by Fergus ! Not so long later, Tom "Dog" Young was taken out of the game with a wrong sided tackle which must be one of the few times in F Team history a small, younger and MUCH thinner opposition player came off best to a Tom tackle. Dermot moveds in, Chris moved up front, a slowing WMD was rested, and we moved forward again but couldn't get that breakthrough. Then, 2-goal hero Phil won an excellent tackle in midfield, which was immediately blow against him, and his "comment" on the referee being able to identify his father with any certainty*, was taken by the ref as rather personal, so he was given a nice coloured card and decided to 'rest' for the remainder of the game, giving advice to Jeroen on positioning and technique while behind the goalline !! All brownie points lost + straight into Dermot's little black book not doubt as a serious misdemeanour..not only in Hat-trick avoidance but also in not buying the "team" the obligatory Champagne. Rules are Rules !

Struggling to the end, it was a close run thing and Police had several more short corners, as did we, but luckily they did not score, and unfortunately neither did the F's. So it closed out as 2 -2. Probably fair on the day, a little lucky even but also disappointing as it had been a 'winable' game.

Thanks to all. Hard effort, 1 more point to our 3 Div salvation and 2 less for Police so it all helps.

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RESULT : DRAW

SCORE : 2 - 2

GOALS : Philip Spanton 2

MVP : Philip Spanton

* Phils "actual" comment was unheard by the "author" but poetic licence is allowed in the interests of the readers !

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NEXT GAME SUNDAY 9th MAY. HKFC vs CSSA. 18.30pm. ANOTHER "MUST WIN" GAME !!

Have a great first week of May ahead.

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