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Hachioji Park, Saturday 15th October. BFC and Swiss Kickers both lined up with under strength squads at Hachioji Park on Saturday, 15th October, due to injuries, illness and work commitments, however even on their worst days both teams have a veritable selection of quality players to choose from to do more than an average job.
On the back of two wins from two games and with the Swiss having been somewhat humiliated by Hibs in the weeks prior to this game, BFC were looking for a result from this fixture. Equally the Swiss were keen to get their season back on track and knew that a convincing win over BFC would go a long way to silencing their critics.
BFC started off the livelier of the two teams with Evans and ex-Stockport County striker "Pink" Neil forcing good saves from Peter Pauli. BFC continued to run at the Swiss from midfield, but seemed reluctant to further test the keeper from range. The Swiss began to find some form and started threading some good balls from defense to the feet of sharp-shooter Ian Brown-Peterside, who was dropping deep to pick up the ball, causing a stir at the back for the BFC defense.
It wasn't until an injured Jon Day hobbled on to the pitch 25-minutes into the half that the game took a turn. A free kick taken on the right-flank by dead-ball expert Rio Yasunaga was expertly flicked on by BFC midfield-dynamo Pablo Pomares into the path of Jon Day in full hobble, whose first touch took him away from the defender and second touch found the angle to beat the keeper. 1-0.
The second half, in stark contrast to the first, saw the Swiss building momentum and aggressively chasing an equalizer. BFC defended resolutely and broke up numerous Swiss attacks. Both teams were quick to attack on the break, making for some entertaining end-to-end football. Half way through the half and a free kick awarded on the edge of the BFC area could have led to the equalizer the Swiss were now desperately looking for, had it not been for an acrobatic, two-fisted save from BFC No. 1 "Beef" Jyurki, to direct Swiss skipper Kirk's pinpoint free kick safely over the bar.
The final fifteen minutes saw BFC with two chances that would have killed the game off. Pablo Pomares was put through on goal by a well-timed Jon "Hop-along" Day pass that caught the Swiss defense flat-footed. Instead of burying the ball in the back of the net, in his usual manner, he uncharacteristically blazed the ball wide. Moments later and BFC striker "Pink" Neil broke free on the right and rifled the ball past a flapping keeper and against the opposite upright.
The Swiss continued to play their route 1 football, with long balls being pumped from the back to their front men Ian and Angelo, in the hope that they could work some of their former magic.
In a final desperate assault in the dying minutes of the game one of Kirk's long balls fell to the feet of Angelo who was already in full-stride and goal-side of the nearest defender inside the BFC box. As Angelo cut in front of the defender (as a good striker should do), some contact was made by "Birthday-boy" Jon Best, who had defended determinedly throughout the game, Angelo went down and the referee pointed to the spot. Kirk stepped up and confidently smacked the ball past Jyurki into the right-hand side-netting to end the game 1-1.
BFC will feel hard-done-by with the result, but the Swiss will maintain that, on balance, they earned the draw. BFC now look forward to playing against their former teammate "Old Skool" Sid Lloyd when they come up against Sala this weekend. The Swiss will go on to play newbies KGFC. Both teams would like to thank stand-in referee Ged "No-nonsense" O'Connell for his stellar performance.
TML
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