MUFC grind out draw at Coral Sea
Well it felt like Christmas would arrive before we played our second comp game after the extended break due to Easter but it finally arrived and we were within 10 minutes of recording our first victory of the season, but nevertheless a 1-1 draw was a satisfactory result.
Our first half was superb, we were all over Queens Park as we defended well and created several chances and unfortunate not to have put more than 1 goal away but the goal we did get through Tom was well - almost like poetry in motion!! We will need to look at ways to exploit Tom's ability to beat his defender as he did this with ridiculous ease on some occasions - I think we may need to look at providing him with a speedy partner to work off him and now that we should have our full complement of midfielders coming back I may revert back to a conventional 4-4-2 structure.
The half time break appeared to have suited Queens Park more than us, as we went into our shells and let them control the second half with their long ball play which tired us out. Our defence however, held up strongly against their countless attacks and it was unfortunate we lost half of our "Bash Brother" Partnership in Peter (who was working tireless in defence) before succumbing to a hamstring injury... Team, I tried everything to get him back on even saying "its just a hamstring...you have another one!" but unfortunately that didn't work.....just joking Peter!!
Special mention also has to go to our fill in keeper Russell who was immense in goals with a string of fine saves that are generally reserved for the English Premier League and it took a quality strike to beat him in the end.
Special thanks also goes to our re-enforcements in Terry, Kevin and Alex for backing up from their respective matches to help out. All 3 provided an important contribution to the game and Kevin almost got onto the scoresheet for us if it was not for a brilliant one handed (dare i say flukey) save from their keeper.
Also like to thank Dennis for supplying the beer yesterday and as the supplier you will need to send through your Players Player of the Year 3,2,1 votes directly to our Manager/Auditor Wayne only to keep the tally.
Team Sheet:
Russell, Peter, Dennis, Geoff, Frankie, Jason, Scott, Rod, Alex, Wayne, Tom. Subs: Nelson, Terry, Kevin
Lastly, training is definitely on this Wednesday so please make the effort to be there at 6:30pm or text either me or Wayne if you are not available.
Thank you everyone!
results for round 2:
ReplyDelete1 Coogee United FC vs Queens Park FC R 1
3 Waverley Old Boys def. Lokomotiv Cove FC 2
2 Pagewood Botany FC B def. by Redfern Raiders 3
2 Pagewood Botany FC A def. Maccabi Hakoah 1
Notes from Game 2
ReplyDelete• The teams we have drawn with have won their other games, so encouraging sign.
• All games were drawn or 1 goal wins, so the comp is very even so far.
• We really worked to cover for each other.
• We can question our fitness and ability, but not the effort.
• We had Keith and several other midfield and attcking options out.
• Injured players still to return fully fit like Nelson/Russell. These players will assist us create more attacking opportunities.
• More fit players will equal more rotation and less fatigue late on in games.
• We had several Greeks overweight because of Easter!
• We fought the 90 minutes out and even on empty we held on for a vital point.
• Head up. Could be a crucial point at the end of the season and still unbeaten.
Next two games both 3pm: coming Sunday at Coral Sea v Coogee; then at Turruwul v Redfern...
ReplyDeleteI reckon if we win those two , we go to first or second!
Another strong performance earning us an undefeated start to the season. Well done lads. We proabably sat back & tried to protect our lead a little too much in the 2nd half but as we build our combinations & confidence we'll be looking to convert more chances in the future & put these teams away. Great effort team!
ReplyDeletehere's a link to last years final table thanks to Redfern
ReplyDeletehttp://redfernraidersfc.wordpress.com/table/
Nice table Frankie. Can you hack into my wife's credit card statement next!Seems like QP have swapped names for sure. I saw their other team and they didn't play as intense as this side we played. Waverley is a good side too this year.
ReplyDeleteIt should be very even at least for the first round till injuries set in and squad depth is tested.
I'm keen for any run-around, outdoor or indoor, on Wed..see you then, Justin Paoloni (aka Pao)
ReplyDelete