Swalings Intertops Cup: Week 4

Match Report from February 20, 2009

The start of the rematches.

This week was the start of the second matches against the teams who had already played each other, so all teams were out to better the first round’s scores.

Swalings Super Stars vs. Swalings Panthers

This match would prove to be an important game.  If Panthers won, they would go 5 points clear at the top of the table and leave everyone chasing them; if the Superstars won, they would be league leaders by one point with two games left. GAME ON!

Swalings Superstars took the kick off. The ball was being passed around rather carelessly as both teams just wanted to get the ball into the back of the net. However, after about 3 minutes, both teams settled down and the passes started to make their targets.  The Superstars started building pressure on the Panthers’ goal but were unable to find the killer pass, due to some good defending by the Panthers which, in the end, lead to the Panthers’ goal.  The Superstars were pinging the ball around the box, trying to find the opening to shoot, when Jesse Franker got his foot in the way and the ball fell to fellow team mate Andre Amour.  Andre looked up and saw Luciano Anacreonte screaming for the ball — he received the ball facing goal, checked inside of the onrushing Superstars defender, and thumped the ball with his left foot into the top left of the goal, way beyond the reach of the Superstars goalie. 1-0 Panthers.

Later, the ball was thrown in by Brandon Hadeed to Sergei, who played an inch perfect pass to Bashire on the right hand side of the pitch. Bashire went screaming down the right with the pace and skill of Theirry Henry. You would have thought that he had overran his run, when he looked up and fired in a shot from the most acute angle — in fact, if he had been any more acute, he would have been off the pitch — and the ball zipped in through the open legs of Justin Hadeed, the Panthers goalie. 1-1.

The rest of the half went by in a flash, with both teams attacking each other’s goal like lions attacking their prey.

Half time score: 1-1

The second half started in the same fashion as the first half, with both teams being sloppy in their passing, both looking for a goal. The second half went by just as fast as the first half, once the passing got under control and both teams were kept to long shots, with particularly good defending by Tonaj Francis and Justin Bento of the Superstars and by Jesse Franker and Tnoiy Charles of the Panthers.

Luciano, who took a leaf out of Andre Amour’s book, was taking shots from within his own half trying to look for the winning goal. However, it was the Superstars that came closest, with a break down the middle of the park and a shot fired in by Sergei Chermeteff, denied by a quick reaction save by Panthers goalie Nashaun Matthews, who directed the ball onto the post with his foot then dived on it to smother the ball and make sure it didn’t get back out.

The final whistle went, with both teams being tired from giving their all to win the match; however, it ended in a fair result of 1-1, which kept the title race open for any team to take top spot.

Swalings Strikers vs. Swalings Titans

With the Swalings Titans having won the first game, they were looking to make it 2-2. However, the Swalings Strikers — coming off their 5-1 hammering last week — were looking to make amends and get their first win of the season.

The Titans took the kick off with Michael Josiah and Jacob Knoll. After some good passing between the Titans, Ethan Bento fired in a quick shot from close range only to be denied by Chris “Safe Hands” Khouly.

The ball was being passed around with both teams stepping up their game with some good exchanges at either end, but the next chance that came close to taking the lead fell to the Strikers. Jerry Aska collected the ball in the Strikers’ half, and laid the ball up field to Tony Hourani who “salad” Tyler Neal and smashed the ball into the Titans’ post, leaving the goals shaking.

From the resulting goal kick, Jonathan Coghlan sent the ball sailing upfield to Michael Josiah, who cut it across goal to Jacob Knoll, who must have lost his bearings and managed to hit the corner flag with his shot.

Some good saves by Jonathan Coghlan and Chris “Safe Hands” Khouly kept the sides at bay. Alex Bento was the next one to go forwards trying to break the deadlock; he went on a dazzling run down the pitch, and when he came up against his big brother, Ethan Bento, he poked the ball one way and ran around the other leaving his brother rooted to the spot like a statue. However, his shot let down his amazing run and was easily snuffed out by Jonathan.

Tony Hourani charges down on Michael Josiah. Michael stayed so calm that you would have thought he was taking a Sunday walk, and performed a drag back Cruyff pass to Amer Hourani, whose sizzling shot fires just over the bar.

The score at half time was 0-0, which was a fair result as both teams showed solid defending and some flair going forwards, but lacked the killer instinct to get the goal.

The second half started poorly for the Swalings Titans, as Michael Josiah made a silly tackle from behind, which resulted in his second yellow card of the season.  The ball went off the pitch for a Strikers corner. Jaiden Wulliez sent in a teasing cross to Jerry Aska, whose shot was fumbled by Jonathan Coughlan and came out to Tony, who fired in a shot whichbounced of Jonathan’s chest and bounced up for Sean Janosek. His volley went as fast as a firework, and exploded into the back of the Swalings Titans net. 1-0 to the Strikers.

After the restart between Tyler Neal and Ethan Bento, Jerry wasted no time in winning it back, with his massive tackle on Ethan, to go on a dribble. Jerry unselfishly passed the ball across goal to Jairo Bailey, whose shot whizzes over the crossbar.  Jonathan sends up a long field goal kick to Amer Hourani, who performs his famous backheel to set Tyler Neal free, who skillfully put the ball into the path of Michael Josiah, whose shot skidded along the ground. But Chris once again lives up to his name of “Safe Hands”, and smothers the ball like a mother smothering their baby with love.

With one minute left on the clock, Ethan Bento collected the ball out wide with his back faced away from the goal, when — for some reason — Jairo Bailey must have thought Ethan Bento was wearing red, because he charged at him like a bull at a red flag and slid in from behind leaving Ethan on the floor in a heap. The red that Jiaro saw in his eyes could have been that of a card from the referee; however, the ref, standing at a good angle, must have seen that he got the ball and only produced a yellow.

With seconds on the clock and Titans in range to let in a dangerous free kick, Michael Josiah lofted the ball infield for Jacob Knoll to try to pitch in a last minute equalizer. However, it was denied by Chris Khouly once again.

The full time whistle, and Strikers had managed to seek revenge from the last time these two sides met. People might say a draw would have been fair, but I’m sure Chris “Safe Hands” Khouly would disagree.