Match Review: FC Nippon vs Hotspurs FC

• -- Ryo SUZUKI
• -- Tetsu KAKIMOTO
• -- Kei YAMAGUCHI
• -- Seiichiro OIYAMA
• -- Yu TAKADA
• -- Makito NAKATA
• -- Seiji DAIKUHARA
• -- Wataru HASEGAWA
• -- Minato HORIUCHI
• -- Takuya ASUKABE
• -- Takuya TAKAHASHI

• -- Daisaku YOSHIMURA
• -- Yusuke WATANABE
• -- Yoshiaki MOTOHASHI

No way to win

The score tells everything. This game was our only chance to obtain 3 points. We gave two goals in the first 20 minutes. Two goals are kind of our silly blunder. The game was set already. I couldn't see any sign of goal at all. We were just doing punch-drunk football 90mins. A bit sad to write this report.

• Aaron Jones DF
• James Keane DF
• Barry McVeigh DF
• Tom Hine DF
• Ali Roseburgh MD
• Lionel Kong MD
• Fu Cheng Wei ST
• Nick Kouvaritakis ST
• Thomas Greene ST
• Chris Street --
• Matthew Shoult --

• Charlie Moss DF
• Tom Gamby --
• Duncan Elias --
• Nick Keong --
• Stephen Stork --

Fu at the double as Spurs win again

Following on from last week's morale-boosting victory over Hibs, player/manager Tommy Greene made sure that the squad was under no illusions as to the importance of beating Nippon on Saturday. He wasn't disappointed. Even with a couple of attempted suicide passes within the first 5 minutes, Hotspurs were 2-0 up before the drinks break and in control. The first came straight off the training ground (those 2-a-side Tuesday night training sessions really beginning to pay off) - Nick K's strict instructions followed to the letter, as Lionel's long-throw was deftly nodded into the bottom corner by talisman Ali Roseburgh, taking his tally to 3 for the season. The second goal followed shortly after, as Aaron "Ozil" Jones, fed up with Tommy Greene being given off side for the 12th time in as many minutes, and looking to prove his worth in his much sought-after centre-midfield spot, took the game by the scruff of the neck. Nimbly latching onto a through-ball from the back, Jones (by his own description) expertly assessed the situation in front of him, drew in the defenders, and slotted a beautiful ball to Fu to finish smartly under the onrushing keeper. 2-0. Nippon's peculiar tactic of "pump it long into the corners and see what happens" did in fact eventually pay off after drinks- their striker rising like a salmon to head home a neat cross from the left, after Hotspurs had failed to clear. 2-1, and game on...at least for 10 minutes or so...until the energetic Fu latched onto a Nippon error, rounded the keeper and slotted the ball into the empty net for his second of the game (3rd in 2 games), restoring Hotspurs' 2-goal lead in the process. Despite a small wave of Nippon pressure early in the second half, Hotspurs remained largely untroubled, with the ever-present Chris Street shepherding the defence well. Man of the match Lionel Kong bagged the 4th, latching onto another Nippon mistake, rounding the keeper (who by this time was probably pretty fed up with the afternoon's events), and rolling the ball across the line. Manager Greene had been able to ring multiple Mourinho-esque changes shortly before the goal (a luxury not often afforded to him in recent weeks) and the fresh legs really made all the difference. The substitutes were making an impact all over the park (Stephen "Hardman" Stork in particular seemingly determined to pile further misery on the Nippon keeper), but although the chances continued to rain down on the Nippon goal, Hotspurs had to settle for the 4-1 victory. Most importantly, the win sees Hotspurs clamber up to 11th spot and even further away from the -1 point which had been haunting them for the last month. Despite being subsequently coined by their opponents as "the only team we [the Japanese] had a chance of beating", this was quite frankly a clinical performance from BHFC. The game in numbers... 5 - The number of touches striker Nick K (by his own admission) had with his feet over the 90 minutes...135 fewer than with his head 4.6 - The total number of kilometers the ball traveled in the air from Lionel "Delap" Kong throw-ins throughout the game 8 - The number of 'no-look' passes executed by Fu in first half alone 32 - The number of kilometers manager Tommy "Tiny" Greene decided to run at 4.30am on Sunday, despite playing 70 minutes on Saturday 1- The number of people who watched our Facebook Live post during the game