Team WoW 4 - 3 Back Handed Panthers
(Gale 2, Scott 2)
Team WoW have given their finals chances what may prove to be a decisive push tonight, prevailing against top of the table Back Handed Panthers in a hard fought match. Key players in the Team WoW squad had themselves labelled the game as a 'critical fixture' in its lead up, suggesting a loss could put them out of contention all together. Adding to the drama, Team WoW were missing several important squad members. Robbie Schaap, Sol Foster and Wil Darling were all absent. Andy Thompson was significantly late for the game for unknown reasons. Despite the odds being stacked squarely against them in this must win game, Team WoW pulled together to produce a performance to remember.
Team WoW were the first to draw blood on the night. After some fast-paced attacks from BHP, Phil Gale took the ball in defence and ran it up the line; evading several defenders before smashing it into the back of the net within the first minute. Many feared it would just be an early consolation goal for a Team WoW side looking a little thin on paper. They fought hard, however, to keep BHP out at the other end - that is until a fairly tame shot from half way was fumbled by keeper Michael Riske into his own net. The German-Filipino had appeared to put such rookie errors behind him this season, but the goal proved even the best can make mistakes when the pressure's on. Unfortunately for him, the blunder ruined his chances of taking the prestigious man of the match crown, which he certainly would have won based on his performance for the rest of the game. Team WoW bounced back well, producing some exciting attacking plays. They paid rich dividends close to half time, when a squared ball from Gale found Jordan Scott outside of the box, who curled the ball into the net first time. The keeper got hands to the strike but its quality was sufficient to find the bottom corner. The half ended at 2 - 1, with Gale and Kidd working hard to prevent some promising attacks in the closing stages.
The second half picked up largely where the first left off. Team WoW managed to retain the intensity that allowed them to fight very worthy - and quite physical - opposition. 2 - 1, however, was not a very comforting scoreline for the boys in black, who went in search of a third. It came early on in the half with a stunning piece of play from Gale. He passed the ball to Bryan from the defence, who brilliantly dummied the pass. Gale himself ran on to the loose ball and fired past the helpless keeper. BHP weren't quite out of it yet, however. They rallied and managed to find a second to keep the game interesting; 3 - 2. Scott spurned a couple of good chances at this point. One notable one involved an irresistible give and go between he and Bryan that resulted in a one on one for Scott. The vice-vice-captain struck the post with his sliding effort. Thompson arrived finally for the game with all of 11 minutes remaining. Bryan made way for the Canadian, but was back on the field relatively quickly, relieving a possibly tired Scott. Scott replaced Bryan five or so minutes after. The dangerous striker was given his second quick substitution of the match shortly afterwards, as Team WoW management hurried to get him back up front; he was back on the field after a minute, taking off Alex Kidd. Meanwhile, Scott managed what would be the winner. A squared Thompson ball found him one on one with the keeper. He smashed it home, in the process actually chipping the keeper for greater humiliation to make it 4 - 2. BHP scored shortly after, however, bringing the deficit back to 1 with 3 minutes left on the clock. Scott heroically saved what looked to be a certain goal when he scrambled back to stop a vicious BHP counter-attack that had drawn Riske out of position, putting his body on the line for his team. The last two minuets saw some solid defending from Gale and Thompson - and some superb saves from Riske - which were enough to deny BHP a full comeback. 4 - 3 it stayed.
"We played a solid game here today," captain Andy Thompson commented at the close of the game. "We all worked as hard as each other and each of us was prepared for this one." Jonathon Bryan was invited to discuss his antics on the substitutes bench and asserted that he "Wanted to give Jordan [Scott] a rest." Scott maintained he didn't want a rest, nor did he give any indication that he did. Scott himself praised the officials in post-match interviews, labeling the game "one of the best-reffed in recent years."
This result puts Team WoW back on top of the table. Only one game remains before finals. See them next week; same place, same time.
No comments:
Post a Comment