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Hachioji Park, Sat 13th Jan. Great day for a game and the perfect pitch for it, distances and time traveled to get to the turf in Saitama are always forgotten once play gets under way. The game started with the Geckoes clearly looking intent on getting a result with the Swiss not being comfortable under the pressure. The Geckoes midfield worked hard and they produced a goal about 10 minutes in. Good passing and a clever chip over a stranded stand-in keeper, King Karl, meant that the Swiss were going to have to raise the bar. Fortunately, they were able to do so when a cleared corner kick found its way back to Aoki on the side, he sent in a beautiful cross which Kirk was able to get a head to and put it over the keeper to draw the teams level.
The game was quite open with the Geckoes more direct, sending long balls out of the back to Kazu up front and down the wings. The Swiss marking was a little soft in midfield as well so Mikel found a lot of room to maneuver, the Geckoes also had a nice Japanese player out of the back who did well to shut off the Swiss attack. The Swiss tried to pass it around the back and work it up to the forwards but the passing was lacking quality and they rarely produced much in terms of chances. The tie was broken when Aoki sent in another nice corner kick which Kirk rose to head home off the cross bar about 25 minutes in. The half finished 2-1 with Karl going out with a strain in his calf while in goal – fortunately the real keeper arrived just after that.
The second half was also very open but the Geckoes deserve credit for working hard to grab the equalizer. At times they pinned the Swiss back and pushed 8 men into the final third. It produced a few close chances and a couple of free kicks but the Swiss always found a way to escape. Raffaelle and Shio were good in the back while Dave P. tracked back to clear things out as well. With the Gecks pushing forward, this opened themselves up at the back and Kirk was sent through for a 1 on 1 with about 20 minutes gone, he was able to put it by for a 3-1 lead. Kirk started picked up the ball on a counter attack as well and fed Dave on the left who passed across to Yuji who side footed into an open net with the keeper beaten. The Geckoes howled for offside in spite of their own linesman keeping the flag down – Ricky held firm and the goal stood. Then, in the final 10 minutes, Aoki pushed a nice through ball to Kirk for another 1 on 1 chance which luckily went in. It looked like it would finish that way but the Geckoes kept battling and knocked in a nice goal in the final 2 minutes. The final score was 5-2. The Swiss are doing their best to keep up with the league leaders but they will have to beat one of the teams in the top half of the table to mount any real challenge. That opportunity presents itself vs. the YCAC next week.
Report by Cap'n Kirk
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