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TML organizers resent the inferences made in these reports and would like to make it clear that all the draws in this and previous competitions have been entirely random (for definition see below) as witnesses can and will attest and are 100% objective. Having said this, the current league form of both teams in question suggests that both teams were possibly looking at exiting this competition earlier rather than later!! FJ ; )
ran·dom - adj.
1 Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective: random movements.
2 Mathematics & Statistics Of or relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution.
3 Of or relating to an event in which all outcomes are equally likely, as in the testing of a blood sample for the presence of a substance.
Oi Futo 2, Sat 11th Feb. Late Sunday night at Oifuto, Swiss and Hibs lined up for their quarterfinal of the Cup – no one there to see a game that was billed as “one of the biggest games of the season”. It is immensely convenient that the league organizer – of Sala - scheduled it as a quarterfinal thus easing his team’s entry into a semi-final as they are likely to beat middle of the 2nd division Mauritzio; but, it is the Cup and you do have to beat everyone to win it, some just have an easier path than others.
The Swiss, with 4 members of Sunday night’s squad having been members of the 1991 British Football Club, knew when they saw the size of the pitch during warm-ups that it was going to be a long day. The Hibs sit in back with 4 defenders and move it up to speedy midfielders and attackers who carry the ball well. It meant a lot of running and it is tough to keep up with the little guys who did a great job of screaming when touched as well. A ref with an easy whistle meant every collapse and scream of “itai” resulted in free kick gift. One sees what happens when players trained in such an environment go overseas as the Urawa Reds were pummeled in recent friendlies with Bayern and “powerhouse” Salzburg Red Bull. It is a shame there aren’t more referees like Ricky to deal with the problem children of football – no comment about wilting “Sho” from the BFC in this brief write-up.
Anyway, regarding the game, it was a pretty dull encounter with some nice passing but few clear chances on goal. The Swiss had a couple of early chances but couldn’t get anything to trouble Hitoshi. The Hibs on the other hand used their speed in midfield as I don’t believe a defender left their half the entire night and created a few chances. The first goal came from a free kick as a Swiss defender was late to cover the Hibs attacker who had dropped off to pick up the ball at the top of the box – the defender over committed and took out his legs. The resulting free kick was put over the wall into the left hand side of the net. 1-0 to the Hibs. The Swiss tried to push forward more quickly in the 1H but were too careless with the ball as the defense just sat back and picked off many of the passes. The Hibs had the better of the half but the Swiss were starting to come together as the half came to an end.
Unfortunately, the second half started brilliantly for the Hibs with their first touch of the half going up the left hand side, a beautiful cross behind the back tracking Swiss sweeper and just in front of the keeper allowed the center forward (Kunii, Fujii, Tomo, Sono, Ano, Soko, Doko – could have been any of those) to get a touch to it and knock it by the keeper for a 2-0 Hibs. lead. This should have been the end but the Swiss did manage to raise their game and started to generate some attacks. Dave P. coming through the middle and Suzuki and Aoki overlapping did well. The Swiss eventually got one back with 20 minutes to go when Pratt picked out Kirk in the left corner. Kirk pulled it back in the middle for Mori to send in a screamer in the lower left hand corner. The Swiss fought for the equalizer and had a lot of balls in the box. Dave P. had a header just tipped away by Hitoshi and Suzuki had a free one as well that was missed. In the end, it was for nothing as the clock struck nine, the lights went out, and the Swiss’ reign as Cup champions ends at three years. It is tough to do with so much player turnover and I doubt it will happen again in the league. The league has tried their best to dethrone the Swiss for fear of things getting boring and well done! mission accomplished, now all they have to do is pair up the BFC against the Hibs in the semi to allow for Sala to defend their way to a 0-0 game and a PK filled final.
Report by Cap'n Kirk
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