For the first time this season Carnage turned up to clear skies and 3 subs to face RHOBA.
Right from the start Carnage were in control earning an early short which Kenzo pushed narrowly wide of the post. An early press saw Dirty intercept their 16 hit and he pushed it back into the D towards the back post but unfortunately none of our forwards reacted so it was a chance lost.
More pressure saw the ball pushed to Poppet in the D with his back to the goal. He pushed it back out to Pepe unmarked on the edge of the D for a sweet first time strike which was goal bound before Vulture popped up at the back post to touch it in. 1-0.
Once ahead, the team settled and kept 80% of possession with simple transfers across the back although too often the ball was given away via a hail mary pass and our defence had to work hard to win it back. RHOBA won a few shorts but with Tim YIp and Fungus sprinting out they had no chance to score from them. Half time saw Coach Mark encouraging more transfers and fewer hail marys and a defensive restructure.
The second half saw Carnage doing exactly what Coach had instructed with more transfers and fewer random hits up the field except this time the ball rarely crossed the half way line and the forwards' leads were to no avail.
It took a RHOBA goal to shake us out of the comfort zone. A goalmouth scramble saw Pumpy save the first shot but the second was pushed at the back post were Vulture managed to get in front of it to concede a stroke. Pumpy got close but not close enough and RHOBA had equalised with 5 mins remaining. More Carnage domination of possession except this time with more attacking spirit and the ball was soon in the opposition D for a sequence of half chances. Better, but still not good enough. Steven VdB had a good game in the middle and unfortunately fell foul of some strange umpiring decisions as he mazed his way into the D. Finally a decision went his way as he was cynically hacked on the edge of the circle and Carnage were awarded a short corner as the final whistle blew.
A neatly executed push and trap saw Kenzo hit towards the back post where a defender managed to get a stick to it but only as far as David 'Q' Quach who pushed it in for his first Carnage goal. The relief was audible as Carnage recovered all three points to keep their winning momentum going.
Next up is HKFC D at Football Club next Sunday 3rd Oct at 12.30.