Swalings Intertops Cup: Week 3

Match Report from February 13, 2009

This round would be known for making Swalings Intertops Cup history for the right and wrong reasons.  In the two games we would see the first ever hat trick (which is three goals by one player in one game), by Bashire Joseph, the first ever 5 goals scored in one game, by the Swalings Panthers, the first ever Swalings Cup transfer market play, and — unfortunately — the first two yellow cards.

Swalings Titans vs. Swalings Superstars

This game didn’t take long for Bashire to get his first goal, with only two minutes on the clock. Bashire Joseph and Sergie Cheremeteff  playing a well worked a one two, Bashire hit the ball first time, like a rocket on a mission to break the speed barrier, straight into the top left corner.

The second goal didn’t take long to follow — only another minute had passed when Brandon Hadeed chased the ball to stop it going out on the left, turned and passed the ball forward to Bashire who cut infield and shot the ball low between the keeper’s legs.  The frustration was showing on the old league leaders’ faces, the Swalings Titans.

It didn’t take long for the frustration to boil over. Michael Josiah stuck out a leg and helped guide Bashire Joseph over it with a shoulder — the referee could do nothing but show him the yellow card for misconduct. The free kick resulted in a corner which led to a penalty from an infringement inside the box. Bashire Joseph, who could have taken the penalty, let Jay Boswell step up to take it.  Jay unfortunately did not connect with it cleanly and hit it straight at Jacob.  This started a period in which Jacob made 4 top saves, but first he threw the ball upfield to Michael Josiah who turned inwards after controlling the ball well. He shot at goal, however it hit the inside of the post and came back out for him to tap in — however, because he had entered the box, it was not allowed.

The ball was played wide to Tonaj Francis who played the ball to Bashire, whose shot was denied by Jacob as he threw himself to the ground to get to the low shot. The ball came out of his hands to fall at the feet of Jay Boswell, whose shot was tipped over the bar as Jacob was getting back onto his feet.  The corner was then taken short by Sergie passing to Bashire, who put in a floating cross to the back post. However, it was cleared after the shot was fired into Ethan Bento.

The hat trick was coming and it finally came. Bashire took the ball on the right of the pitch and cut infield towards the centre spot. He skipped passed Jonathan Coghlan gracefully, then poked the ball past Jacob into the far corner. The hat trick was complete and history was made.

Michael Josiah almost pulled one back before half time when a close range volley was saved by Justin Bento with his head, although I think Justin didn’t have much say in the matter!

So at half time, the score was 3-0 to the Superstars.

After the half time talk, the Titans grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and got stuck in. They started playing the ball out wide and made the Superstars work for the ball. Although they had a lot of possession in the first 5 minutes, they weren’t do much with it and the Superstars keeper, Brandon Hadeed, only had to deal with a few deflected shots.

However, with 7 minutes gone, the Titans managed to get their goal, through Jacob Knoll. The ball was played long up field to Jacob, who flicked on to Tyler Neal, who passed to Jonathan, who has the knack for long field passes. He heard Jacob screaming for the ball and lofted the ball with precision for Jacob to control and shoot across the goal past Brandon Hadeed.

The game was now much more open, with the ball being pinned around by some fantastic passing and with lives being thrown on the line to stop any more goals, especially by Amer Hourani of the Titans, who was diving left, right and centre to break up the Superstars play.  However, the game only offered a couple more shots at either goal with both teams trying to pass and move at pace, but superb defending from both sides when the ball got into a dangerous position snuffed out any problem with well-timed tackles.

So the ending result, 3-1, was a well deserved victory for the Swalings Superstars, yet with the Titans making sure that they had to defend well to keep that win.

Swalings Panthers vs. Swalings Strikers

Another game of firsts, with Swalings Panthers scoring 5 goals (3 of them being ‘unstoppable shots’), the first international transfer, and also for the hand ball incident which saw another yellow card.

Panthers started the game with Jesse Frankel passing to Matthew Massiah. The game didn’t take long for the Panthers to start to dominate and get on top of some poor defending by the Strikers, however Alex Bento was keeping the Strikers in the game with some firm saves getting his body behind the ball.

However the goal eventually came with 6 minutes gone on the clock. Andre Amour picked the ball up and squeezed the ball through the Strikers defence, with the ball going just wide, diverted by a full stretching Matthew Massiah who managed to poke the ball with his toe past the clutches of the Swalings Strikers’ goalie.

Now the Panthers really turned up the heat, with wave after wave of attack. The next goal came shortly after with Luciano Anacreonte, on loan from Arsenal Youth Squad. The ball rebounded from the save and Luciano took the ball under control, skipped passed the oncoming Jerry Aska with the skill of the Dutch Master, Dennis Bergkamp, and placed the ball past Alex into the far corner.

With the only real attack of the first half, The Swalings Strikers were denied, however the referee saw an infringement in the box by a Panther player, so the referee points to the penalty spot. Jerry Aska steps up, and his shot is hit so furiously that on its way in off the post, it snapped the post in half — literally. Thank goodness Cool and Smooth have sponsored new goals for next season.

However, the Panthers didn’t let this affect them and kept the pressure on. Andre Amour collected the ball in the centre of the park, saw the opening and blasted the ball into the top right of the Strikers’ goal. This goal  will be on most people’s minds when selecting for goal of the season. Richard Coghlan, the Panthers goalie, hasn’t had any pressure on his goal since the penalty, and takes this opportunity to sit down and examine his nails to the astonishment of his coaches and team mates!

So as the first half comes to an end the Panthers are in the lead 3-1.

Only a minute of after the restart, the Panthers steal the ball from the Strikers and play the ball through to Matthew Massiah, who skillfully slots the ball past Tony Hourani. The Panthers started the game where they left off.  Matthew, now on route for his hat trick, is about to shoot when Jerry Aska slides into deny him with a beautifully timed challenge. Andre Amour, now knowing the distance it takes to score, winds up another power house shot past the clutches of Tony to get his second for the game.

With a comfortable lead, you would think that The Panthers would take their foot off the gas — however, with both Matthew and Andre looking for hat tricks, it was not to be the case, mounting attack after attack on the Strikers goal. However, Tony Hourani had had enough and was doing a fine job of denying them any more chances by making fine saves in both corners. Without these, the game could have easily reached double figures.

With minutes left on the clock, Tnoiy Charles had a moment of madness when he must of thought he had the goal keeping gloves on — the ball was lobbed up the pitch by Sean Janosek, looking to set Alex Bento free; however, Tnoiy stuck up his arms, grabbed the ball and threw it up the field to Jesse Frankel.  The referee had no choice but to book Tnoiy for the mindless error.

So the game came to an end with the Panthers having been a whirlwind of terror for the Strikers, with the game finishing 5-1.