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YC&AC, Saturday 17th April.
Undefeated at home since 2008, YCAC have turned their home turf into a bit of a fortress over recent years. It was suprising then that coming into this fixture the Sala boys fancied themselves to win, and to score 3 goals in the process!! "Fools!" you would have cried. But, this is Sala 2010! Anyway, sometimes you just think it's going to be your day. And, straight from kickoff it was. With 2 goals, and a MOTM performance from Sam Matthews, and a spot kick from Lenny Tui, Sala scalped YCAC 3-2 for a deserved victory.
In the first few minutes, Guido, Scotty and Pete won a few tackles and played a few passes in midfield, before Masa diddled the YCAC left back with his first touch. Then, it was Ryotarou's turn as he dribbled through the middle of the defence and spanked a shot off the bar. All the early pressure was from Sala. And they got their just desserts soon enough after some good work from Stu down the left. He passed to Masa who flicked the ball past YCAC's defender, Dickie, only for the defender to flick a hand out at the ball. Penalty. Lenny stepped up (did the eyes as he later claimed) and swept the ball into the top corner. 1-0 Sala. Photographic evidence later proved Lenny's claim right. He did indeed give the eye to a hottie on the sideline. Dirty old dog.
Sala continued to press with Stu providing good hold up play again, and Sam looking more dangerous than a rattlesnake in your bed. Before long, Sam scored Sala's second and what an absolute pearler it was. Sam picked up the ball on the left, wriggled free of two defenders, then cutting in from the left wing he commited a YCAC centre back, skipped round him and pinged an unstoppable shot on the run straight into the far corner. The air whistled, the net bulged and the fans DIDN'T go wild, which was just perfect for us! 2-0 Sala. The word from Hollywood: Sam will be appearing in a remake of Denzil Washington's hit thriller 'Man On Fire' later this year.
YCAC immediately realised that they were in deep poop and started to fight back. They soon caused a corner, and under pressure from the deep cross, Sala were only bailed out by Lenny clearing off the line. But, at the other end, Sala were still threatening with attacks of their own, and indeed they looked the far likelier team to score, with Sam terrorising the YCAC backline at every opportunity. First, he was denied a one-on-one with the keeper for a soft foul on the last defender. Then, he was denied a stone wall penalty after jinking through the home defence.
Those decisions kept YCAC within touching distance, and they soon scored on a counter attack. Wether Sala's midfielders were still upfield, or covering for defenders who had pushed forward, the result was still the same. YCAC were able to switch play from the wing to the middle where there was a huge gap in midfield, which YCAC's Mikey Taw exploited. Taking the ball down he drove a low shot in from 25 yards which Taylor got a hand to but couldn't keep out. 2-1 Sala.
At this point, Sala 2009 would have collapsed like Roddy Charles after Hanami, or Clarkey after a minute on the pitch, but Sala 2010 are made of stronger mental and physical stuff. Thank the bloody heavens, as the whole of TML and Sala would have been raging if we'd thrown this one away!
And so it was that Sala soon restored their two goal lead. This time it was a lovely team goal. After some nice passing in midfield, Take collected the ball on the right, and with Pete screaming for a square ball, Take chose to flight a lovely pass over the YCAC defence instead. Sam ran onto it, and one on one with the keeper he kept his cool and finished with a pass into the net. 3-1 Sala.
Then, the whistle feeped for halftime.
YCAC started the second half well with Dickie scoring after a scramble from a corner.
3-2 Sala. But with midfield maestro Anthony Savage off the pitch for much of the second half, YCAC never really went on to threaten an equaliser. This was largely due to the fact that all over the park Sala were winning their individual battles with their opponents. Ian played very well against YCAC's top scorer, Yoshioka, and likewise, so did Lenny against YCAC's other dangerman, Mikey Taw, whilst Sam, Stu and Toby were always ahead in their duels against the YCAC defenders. Wether it was taking the ball to the corner, creating chances or dropping back into midfield they were always one step ahead. Indeed, when Savage did reappear, Scotty put in a few quality tackles to deny him space and with Guido switching the Sala formation to 4-5-1 at the right moment it was Sala who burst the title race right open and deservedly grabbed the 3 points and the beers at the country club bar. Sssssssweet!
Man Of The Match - Sam Matthews. Top class.
Sinner Of The Match - Taylor for forgetting Brookey's name. Top muppetry..
Report by Scotty "Redder Than Eyjafjallajokull" Thomson
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