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Hachioji Park, Saturday 20th September
To say the Swiss have suffered from the loss of key players recently is like saying that global financial markets are currently experiencing a bit of a rough trot. While two seasons ago the Hibs lost a large chunk of our electrifying 05/6 five goal a game squad, we were very fortunate to recruit some great players to step in soon after. The Swiss have lost Trevor Vail, Dave Speirs, Kai, Dave Pratt, Angelo and most notably the intrepid Kirk and his little black book of Japanese pros in the last two seasons and new manager Raff has soon come to realise how tough it is to find good quality players ready and willing to turn up regularly – particularly foreigners…
After the debacle that was the Hibs round one v the Lions when we were about to head in for the kill, a late arrival from Jay saw a re-shuffle of the starting line-up but when the Swiss lined up with 10 men and few recognissible faces, we were hoping for a good result. The early exchanges frustrated the boys in Green as the Swiss proved very resilient at the back and our forward play consisted mostly of running it into the corners and whacking a ball in towards the six yard box without much thought of whether a Hibs-man might be able to receive it.
Thirty minutes in and it was still 0-0 although the Swiss had rarely threatened going forward – Karl struggling as a lone striker against Ike and Jay. After about six corners delivered directly into the keeper’ Peter Pauli’s hands; Tomo decided to take one and lofted it back post for Kuni(?) to head back into the mixer and as the keeper called for it and came flapping over his own defender, Yama got air-time and flicked it over his head into the net. One nil you could feel the pressure lift.
Into half time and we were confident the Swiss would tire in the second half and we expected more goals. Andre had received little possession in our flanks-directed attack in the first half, but soon showed his danger by turning his man and shooting into the side netting. He then got a dubious penalty call as his marker got between him and the ball and both players went down. Most onlookers were surprised when the ref pointed to the spot. Andre duly finished the job. That effectively killed the game as the Swiss went down to nine men. Mike McGirr tried to cripple poor Frenchman JP when he kicked his thigh as hard as he could despite the ball being at his feet. Revenge for those South Pacific nuclear tests in ’95 I say. Kuni K got free and lofted one over a sliding PP, Andre, Yama and Tomo got on the scoresheet again, but I can’t remember the details. I do remember they were all quite pretty though.
Although very disappointed not to be on six points...watch this space on that issue... we're confident we'll be there in the pointy end agin this season.
Report by Bevan Colless
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