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Horisaki Koen, Sunday 7th February.
The division 3 Omiya derby always seems to provide an exciting encounter and this Sunday`s match was to prove no exception to the rule. On a freezing cold,and windy evening Shane FC and King George FC met with both teams looking to claim maximum points from the encounter in order to close the gap on Division leaders Jets 2nds. More than 3 points though both teams wanted to be hailed as the top dogs of Omiya and get one over on their cross town rivals. Shane came into the game on the back of a desperate and hard fought 4-3 win over Pumas and with a new found confidenceand the realisation that the team`s new purple kit wasnt actually cursed (it took about 8 games to finally bag 3 ponts in it) the team was in fine spirits. King George however were going to be no push over but without their Captain James Bates - well know to the Shaners as an all round good egg and midfield play maker - Shane could at least put aside any potential problems his presence may have caused.
The first half started with Shane FC immediately pressing and within the space of just 2 minutes or so Shane had carved out a corner. With clinical precision Shane captain "Rolls" Riaz Donaldson sent a high cross into the George area and squarely onto the head of Edson "The Beast" Ruiz - the teams 6 foot plus tall centre back. The bullet header was unstoppable and the defense could only watch as the ball powered into the back of the net, the keeper having no chance to save. 1-0 up in the opening minutes! It was a position Shane had been unacostamed to during the first half of the season, in fact more or less upto the previous game where 2 goals came in the opening exchanges.
Shane maintained pressure following the goal and both the midfield and defence worked well to maintain control and restricting the George build up. About 10 minutes into the game left midfielder Victor was the unfortunate recipient of a nasty "chalky" (a dead leg) and was forced off to recover. In his place came "Yaki" Toru and it was to be Toru who set up Shane`s 2nd goal when he sent an awesome through ball pass on the left wing that unleashed the team`s "Quiet Man" and fast forward Hikaru. Running onto the through ball the youngster looked up, placed his shot and sent the ball curling up and over the hapless George keeper - who again was powerless to stop the shot. The goal sent Shane into raptures and as onbe of the Shane subs commented from the sidelines "there was never any doubt it was going in"! Hikaru, true to form celebrated his goal in his own quiet way and quickly got back into position. 2-0 to Shane.
At 2-0 up Shane were in control of the tie no doubts and looking good for the full 3 point haul and the bragging rights. Things are never that easy for Shane and as the bitter wind kicked up so did the George`s pressure and the Shane defence were worked hard to maintain the advantage. On the accasions George did get through they found themselves thwarted by the goal keeping heroics of Chris "Banksy" Anderson. Despite the pressure }Shane went 3-0 when a speculative shot from Dave "D-Razz" Bennett was spilled by the George keeper and that man again the "quiet man" himself found the ball at his feet for a tap in poachers goal. So now 3-0 up and it not even half time Shane were cruising and switched off for a moment, not a wise thing to do in a derby match and the temporary lapse gave the King George a goal and a glimmer of hope at the end of the first half. 3-1 at the interval.
As halves go Shane had definately had the better of the first half and the 2nd was begun with hopes for more of the same, yet it was the King George who came out of the blocks spoling for a match and from the outset of the half pressured and pressed Shane relentlessly. As the George attacked it was Edson the centre back who seemed to be everywhere at once, his spindling spider like legs getting in the way of many attacks and his tenacious tackling proving a nightmare for the George boys, there was even one amazing tackle where he somehow rotated himself a full 180 dregrees on his back to get a second tackle in on a man who had seemingly got past him. Of course it wasnt just Edson who kept the Shane advantage and special mention goes to the ever reasuring presence of Shane`s MVP Masa, "the Sherriff" Robbie Marsh and Dan "Danny Boy" Kelly who all proved reliable in holding off the attacks. The pressure eventually told though and with Shane unable to deal with a ball in th box the George clawed their way into a 3-2 position and very much looking to push for an equaliser. It was getting tense and jittery for Shane.
With rested legs and eager to get into the fray substitutes Graeme "Ironman" Gilchrist and "D-Dazz" Bennett came onto the pitch and despite the pressure Shane began to rally and the nertves and jitters began to ebb away. The team bounced back from the relentless pressure and the game became more even again. Shane came close to putting clear daylight between the two teams when a recovered Victor sent a thunderous shot bouncing off the crossbar/ Shane began to take the inititive once more and a number of other chances came their way some of which went agonisingly close. On the right wing Edwin Gombya caused all manner of problems for the defence and led the defenders on many a merry dance. Still though the score remained 3-2.
The breakthrough came when "D-Razz" Dave, keen to make his own lasting mark on the result, delivered a sublime corner deep into the opposition box, the cross was met by Giles "the Bull" Mitchell who headed home a strong shot to put Shane 4-2 up. It was the Bulls 3rd goal in 2 matches and any doubts about his confidence due to a dry spell earlier in the season were quickly blown away. With that goal Shane breathed a sigh of relief and a much steadier Shane FC ran down the final minutes without major concernt to the 3 points. With the final whistle Shane found themselves on top of their longest winning run of the season so far, an impressive 2 games and being crowned the derby winners of Omiya was a sweet reward for the persistance and and effort of the lads in purple.
Report by Mark Gardner
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