Match Report Valley D vs. Sirius A

Yesterday was the first league game in over 90 days and it was good to see everyone rock up early for pre-game warm up and banter - save and except for Guy who apparently was detained by the bouncers at HV who demanded he download and install the Government’s spyware / tracking app before letting him in.

We were very fortunate to have Coach Kelsey with us yesterday and her brief to us was simple: (1) keep the shape; (2) set up the screens early; and (3) hold the ball.

The general mood of the team while elated to be playing after months of hiatus was also a sombre one as this was the first match we’ve played since the passing of SuperFaya. Everyone was determined to make him proud - or at least less pissed off at us, knowing he must be watching us from above while having a braai.

First Quarter

As soon as the whistle went Damage was all over Sirius A like a bad rash. Gareth’s (still need a nickname for him) dominating presence in the centre mid stopped most of Sirius’ attempt to cross the half way line and on the few occasions where they did manage to enter our 25, our solid defence consisting of Munzy, Vulture, Guy and Mikey were quick to snuff out any of their attempts to take a shot on goal. In fact, our defence played so well during Q1 that I don’t think they even managed a shot on goal whereas our attacking combo up front - of G, Mudge, and Dave - were generating plenty of opportunities and had earned 2 short corners in quick succession.

Unfortunately there were still plenty of cobwebs plaguing our attacking play and Damage was unable to capitalise on the PCs and the numerous chances that we had generated. Q1 ended in a goalless draw.

Second Quarter

The second quarter saw Sirius A upping both their tempo and passing play and the age gap of (10 - 15 years (?) between us and them began to show - in Vulture’s case, I am guessing 30 - 35 years). Their one-touch game was proving to be quite effective in cutting our midfield apart although credit goes to the industry of George and Cedric (both still nicknames needed) as whenever they were beaten they did well to run back and cover the defence.

As fatigue began to set in, we were feeling more and more frustrated at not being able to crack into Sirius’ D who, in all fairness, did very well in terms of zone defence to deny Damage any meaningful shot on goal. Q2 also ended in a goalless draw.

Third Quarter

As we approached the peak of exhaustion, the third quarter proved to be most challenging for Damage Following a string of bad calls from the (older) umpire (who Vulture “affectionally called a **** out loud) and disingenuous dives from a particular Sirius A player, Vulture underwent a full-blown dracarys moment when he “kindly” offered in his characteristic “soft” voice to call an ambulance for a Sirius A player who found himself rolling on the floor after tripping on his own stick. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and no one was sent off for mouthing off - although later in the game G did find himself booked by the (younger) umpire who even apologised to do so but G’s slightly late tackle gave him no other option.

As we approached the hour mark, a momentary lapse of concentration from Damage left two Sirius A players open on the right hand side of the D and they managed to convert from what was, at the time, their first real opportunity on goal. Sirius A’s second goal came shortly after again as a result of a player left unmarked in our D who (luckily for him) had topped the ball resulting in it bouncing awkwardly into our goal. There was nothing which GoalieGuy could do save as to mutter „putain“.

Fourth Quarter

True to Damage fashion, there was no better wakeup call than to find ourselves chasing a game 0-2 down. The last quarter saw relentless effort from everyone on the pitch to chase down every ball and cover every angle on the screen.

Special shout goes to Munzy who must have gone slightly hockey mad from months of parenting, was fully engaged in defence (disarming the attackers in several one-on-one situations) as well as in attack where he had strung several wonder passes that were just narrowly missed by our strikers. Including one of the most „romantic“ passes ever after having like 2 minutes deep eye contact with Mudge just to find him completely unmarked right in front of their goal. Sadly one of Sirius’ defenders decided to crash that candlelight dinner moment in the very last second.

Another break in the last 5 minutes of the game with a slick short corner “routine” resulted in Dave “passing” the ball to Coco on the base line before passing it onto the P spot for George to slot into goal.

Unfortunately for all, Damage was not able to score another goal before final whistle and the match ended in a 1-2 loss to us.

- Key Takeaway –

So the biggest takeaway from me is that while I think we play very well up until the point of the opponent’s 25, we (and I am definitely guilty of this) tend not to impart the same level of care when we are passing / dribbling the ball into our opponent’s D. For the next game, we should certainly aim to pass / dribble smarter when making that push into the other team’s 25 and if need be to swing the ball around back and back again to make sure we are playing the ball into better space.

That said, yesterday was a great performance from all concerned and I have no doubt that while Faya might not have been super pleased with our outcome, he would nonetheless have approved the effort everyone put into yesterday’s game.

Training is on Thursday and a huge game coming up this Sunday.

- written by Coco -