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YC&AC, Saturday 22nd October. The Swiss, still seeking to find some consistency in terms of line-up and playing style, came up against recently promoted but struggling KGFC. The game started slowly but KGFC showed off its skill in midfield by moving the ball around nicely from side to side, they had trouble getting by the Swiss back four and were limited to shots from distance which didn’t trouble Peter in goal. Coming back the other way, KGFC seemed to overload on attack and left themselves vulnerable to counter attack, willing to trust a great deal to their center back – supposedly of professional stock. KGFC did have the occasional corner as well but the clear height difference for the Swiss meant high balls did little to trouble the Swiss back 4.
Going the other way, the Swiss started to send in a lot of balls to the box with Ian picking them up or crosses coming in from Koi, Aoki, and Kai on the left. Kirk had a couple of easy headers missed, Angelo had a clear shot from 15 yards out that just went wide while Daniel was set up beautifully on a 1-2 from Ian only to send his shot over the on-rushing keeper from about 6 yards out. The ground was starting to get bumpy as the players churned up the mud – hopefully the grounds keepers will do something to flatten it out or else the rest of the games to be played there will be a bouncy travesty. The first half ended 0-0 with the Swiss nervously wondering if the goal was going to left beckoning for the full 80 minutes.
The 2H started well with the Swiss showing a little more intent, one beautiful cross from Aoki just barely missed by both Karl and Suzuki. However, fortune was to be on KGFC’s side with the Swiss right back caught out of position. A cross from the right fell to the center forward and he spun and shot into the lower left hand corner. 1-0 to KGFC on a well taken goal against the run of play. This seemed to switch some of the Swiss players on and the defense started to get more aggressive to cut off the passes out of the KGFC half. One corner kick was knocked on only for newcomer Cho to smack an effort off the post. Ian started to take more shots from distance, pulling the defense out and that opened it up for more runners through from midfield. A ball into the box with a rebound out (supposedly hitting Ian’s face and claiming an assist) led to a great equalizer from right back Koi, a 20 yard shot going by the stranded keeper. With the equalizer, I expected more from KGFC but they maintained the same pace to their game and the Swiss seemed more intent on going for the winner. They were eventually rewarded with an unusual goal from Angelo. A deflection into the air found Angelo with his back to the goal, he flicked it with the outside of his foot towards the goal and surprised everyone when it went in for a 2-1 Swiss lead with 15 minutes to go. The Swiss seemed to pull back a bit with Kirk asking for a firmer defense, especially as KGFC pushed 3 men forward. KGFC had 2 glorious chances to tie up the game, one from about 6 yards out only for the shot to clear the crossbar over Peter as well. It was to end on a bad note for KGFC as their start center back picked up a red card for a pointless foul in the last 2 minutes.
Overall, good game with a fair referee, made it worth the long trip for the Swiss. KGFC on the other hand, saddled with bad luck due to a lack of players have left themselves a large wall to climb to take the title, especially with the Hibs. being gifted the trophy with only 6 games played.
Capn Kirk
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