Match Review: Gaelic Lions FC vs 1TM Latini FC

• DF Rob Church
• DF Wilfried Lapierre
• MD Jean-Baptiste (JB) Bois
• MD Petesy O'Brien
• MD Rich Sexton
• -- Shane Buttimer
• -- Simon Lloyd
• -- Ken McGeough
• -- Anders Jensen
• -- Stephen Moran
• -- Brett Bowman

• MD Stephen Swords
• -- Conor King
• -- James Devane
• -- Neil Corrigan
• -- Allan O'Donahue

Lions versus Latini

Well if i ever need lesson in never giving up then Latini have provided it. It's clear to me, after just three games in charge, that the never-say-die attitude gets you a long way in this league. After a convincing win last week, it was important for us to keep our foot on the accelerator and the first half did not disappoint. Both teams were at it from the opening whistle but the style of football differed significantly. Latini looked like Wimbledon of old playing 'Route 1' football and almost bi-passing the middle of the park. In the first half alone their goalkeeper launched a dozen plus balls deep into our half but the boys dealt with it admirably. We, on the other hand looked to link up play but were often forced to play deeper to deal with the long ball. A looping over head kick, following a corner saw us go behind, from what was their only chance in the first 45 minutes, however we stuck to our game plan and scored after terrific work by Petesy O'Brien, saw link up play with Rich Sexton draw us level. The second half remained high octane and eventually we went ahead from a JB corner which was met by Shame Buttimer with such pace the goalkeeper didn't stand a chance. Butters was outstanding both defensively and offensively and deserved his 'man-of-the-match' As the match went on we sat deeper and deeper, as a combination tired legs and indecision saw Latini push for an equalizer. This came with few minutes to go, following a mix up at the back. Sometimes you take a draw, when you are not fully at the races but i could tell the boys were gutted not take all three points, which in my opinion they deserved. Still the tempo, commitment and passion shown by both teams exemplified why the Cosmo League is regarded so highly.

• Pete O'Brien GK
• Andrew Mollitt DF
• Ben Tomlinson DF
• Jamie Townsend MD
• Jacob Saurin ST
• Luke Townsend ST
• Darren Wareing --
• Abdul Zaki --
• Lauritz Ritter --
• Max Fouracre --
• Lewis Wood --

• Jonathan Lukito MD
• Tomoya Fujikawa --
• Charly Geddes --
• Mark Raven --
• Colin Meehan --

It’s always a high octane battle when you play the Gaelic and Saturday was no different as 1TM-Latini snatched a late draw from the Lions mouth. With a few absentees from our decent victory last time out against OG, Tally showed off the strength in depth by bringing in young cubs Zaki and Jacob up top. There was also a welcome back to Singapore for Hector who slotted straight in at right back after agreeing to re-join 1TM on a 2 month loan deal after struggling in the English non-league scene. The pack was shuffled early on after Dazza was injured after showboating in his own 18 yard box (he's watched a few episodes of ‘Man City: all or nothing’ and is basing his game on John Stones this season) Versatile TARD came in at LB and put in an assured display. 1TM-Latini took the lead in a scrappy 1st half after an acrobatic flying overhead scissor kick from our leading marksman Pep (that’s 3 in 3 now for the veteran center back, like a fine wine……) Gaelics leveled up just before HT after a LONG ball that 1TM-Latini would have been proud of found Petesy in on goal and his shot come cross was turned into his own net by TARD (who I’m sure won’t be bringing to the attention of the dubious cosmo goals committee.) HT 1-1. The Gaelic’s had the Lions share (I’ll grab my coat) of the ball again in the 2nd half and looked to be taking the 3 points when they scored from a corner. We didn’t let our heads drop however and pressed on in search of an equalizer. We reaped the rewards with a last gasp strike from our Big Argentine Puma Charly. After playing an array of cultured through balls the entire game POB finally registered an assist after a mix up in the lions defense allowed Charlie to tap into an empty net. FT 2-2. Cheers for JR and Wag for coming down and thanks to the Lions for a great battle and look fwd to the return. No game next week. MOTM 1tm-Latini – Pep MOTM Lions – Petesy DOTD – Tally Kit – Pep Balls – Pet Shop