2009/2010
the premier amateur football league in singapore
matchreport - 31-Oct-09 - hotspurs v. swiss
Team
Swiss
Author
Urs Brutsch
line up
Crawley, Hakim, Brutsch, Garatti, Christen (Tsalkitsis), Buchmann, Steinegger, Anthony, Schultess, Williams, Zul.
Late drama at Dempsey
If anyone had offered me a draw before the game I would have accepted without hesitation. For a number of reasons (injury, travel, IT testing, low blood pressure, mother arriving at the airport, girlfriend's mobile phone battery went flat etc) our squad was reduced to its bare bone: only 12 players, but at least all with a properly numbered shirt.
The game plan was clear: keep it tight in the back and frustrate Hotspurs and wait for the counter attack. After 10 minutes Zul finished off a corner kick for a surprise Swiss lead. When Evan Williams doubled the lead on 20 minutes finishing off a quick passing move the Hotspurs started to get a bit agitated. They did have more possession of the ball than the Swiss, but on many occasions the last ball was not good enough. The Swiss were lucky when the goal post saved on two occasions. Otherwise Bill was commanding in goal. The makeshift defense held off Esad, Abbas & Co successfully. 2:0 Swiss at the break.
The game plan for the second half was simple: keep a clean sheet for as long as we can and then Hotspurs will have to push players forwards and our fast forwards can strike on the counter attack. Well, that plan did not really work for long: Abbas was given acres of space and his delicate chip over Bill reduced the deficit. With about 20 minutes to go the inevitable happened: Hotspurs equalized, but with a rather scrappy goal that just barely made it over the line...2:2 and Hotspurs in the ascendency.
With about 5 minutes to play the Swiss were awarded a freekick and captain Heinz Steinegger let fly from 30 metres. A thunderbolt that Jan Arne Riise would have been proud of. Andrew in goal could do very little. 3:2 Swiss! But the inevitable happened again and Esad was not to be denied: he headed home from a corner kick with two minutes to go. The match ball then fell to Francis who dribbled past half the Hotspurs team but by the time he was alone in front of goal he had run out of gas and scoffed his shot.
If you lead with 3 minutes to go you would consider a draw two points dropped. However, considering the lack of a bench and on the basis of the 90 minutes we can be pleased with the result, but even more with the hard work of all 12 players involved.
Man of the match is a tough one: The strikers always looked dangerous and both of them scored. In the middle of the park Heinz and Francis were running off their socks and the Christians (nothing religious here) were covering the flanks well and worked hard defensively, too. The "new" defense was compact for much of the game, but the envelope goes to Bill Crawley for some superb saves that kept us in the game.
Overall, a good competitive game with no problems for the referee. The only unnecessary excitment was when the Swiss team managers on the sideline got irritated by some trash talking on the pitch and went into a frenzy. The referee and some cool heads on both sides calmed the situation and the game (on the pitch) continued to be played in good spirits.
The game plan was clear: keep it tight in the back and frustrate Hotspurs and wait for the counter attack. After 10 minutes Zul finished off a corner kick for a surprise Swiss lead. When Evan Williams doubled the lead on 20 minutes finishing off a quick passing move the Hotspurs started to get a bit agitated. They did have more possession of the ball than the Swiss, but on many occasions the last ball was not good enough. The Swiss were lucky when the goal post saved on two occasions. Otherwise Bill was commanding in goal. The makeshift defense held off Esad, Abbas & Co successfully. 2:0 Swiss at the break.
The game plan for the second half was simple: keep a clean sheet for as long as we can and then Hotspurs will have to push players forwards and our fast forwards can strike on the counter attack. Well, that plan did not really work for long: Abbas was given acres of space and his delicate chip over Bill reduced the deficit. With about 20 minutes to go the inevitable happened: Hotspurs equalized, but with a rather scrappy goal that just barely made it over the line...2:2 and Hotspurs in the ascendency.
With about 5 minutes to play the Swiss were awarded a freekick and captain Heinz Steinegger let fly from 30 metres. A thunderbolt that Jan Arne Riise would have been proud of. Andrew in goal could do very little. 3:2 Swiss! But the inevitable happened again and Esad was not to be denied: he headed home from a corner kick with two minutes to go. The match ball then fell to Francis who dribbled past half the Hotspurs team but by the time he was alone in front of goal he had run out of gas and scoffed his shot.
If you lead with 3 minutes to go you would consider a draw two points dropped. However, considering the lack of a bench and on the basis of the 90 minutes we can be pleased with the result, but even more with the hard work of all 12 players involved.
Man of the match is a tough one: The strikers always looked dangerous and both of them scored. In the middle of the park Heinz and Francis were running off their socks and the Christians (nothing religious here) were covering the flanks well and worked hard defensively, too. The "new" defense was compact for much of the game, but the envelope goes to Bill Crawley for some superb saves that kept us in the game.
Overall, a good competitive game with no problems for the referee. The only unnecessary excitment was when the Swiss team managers on the sideline got irritated by some trash talking on the pitch and went into a frenzy. The referee and some cool heads on both sides calmed the situation and the game (on the pitch) continued to be played in good spirits.
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