 |
Horisaki Koen. Saturday 17th October..
Pumas got their 2nd straight win as their aging striker, 'Silver fox' scored a late winner putting them above opponents King George in the Division 3 tables.
It's great to turn up to play and find the pitch is a beautiful 3rd Generation astroturf surface, it makes the hour trek there all worthwhile. And then it decides to start raining. Still no cancellations with the astroturf, but it does make control difficult as the ball zips off the slippery surface. Thankfully the rain decided not to hang about for long, so Pumas and King George got their match underway in the cool autumn evening.
It was the cats who pounced first, James S sliding in a perfectly weighted pass for Mark Ralph to run on to as the KG defence was split apart. He made no mistake as he guided the ball into the bottom right corner past the on-rushing Keeper Jaz, who stood no chance.
1-0 Pumas and just 4 minutes gone.
James bates was doing his best to rally his troops, throwing himself about in midfield winning many a ball. It was a tough match up in the middle of the park as he faced off with Ian Warner and some of the challenges brought a grimace to the faces of onlookers, the slick conditions not helping matters. Still no one complained and it came as quite a shock when after one crunching encounter the ref showed James a yellow, not for the challenge but for taking the kick without his permission or that he'd given the kick the other way - still not sure on that one but it was the only card of the game!
Pumas had a few more chances on goal, but the shots were off target. At the other end of the park, things were kept relatively quiet as Dave C marshaled the defence for Pumas with Romen looking very comfortable in his new centre half role and Kev (Right Whinger) Gray moving into the fullback role from where he could mount marauding runs down the right flank.
It was King george who scored the next goal however, a speculative free kick was floated into the box from the halfway line. A shout of "keepers ball" was heard but the head of Ben Steinson got there first, tipping it over the keeper and into the net.
1-1 and thats how it stayed until half-time.
The second half saw pumas applying pressure but not really creating many good chances. Mikhail was working hard down the left, linking up with James F but couldn't penetrate the KG back line. Scott's pace certainly penetrated but all to often the ball sped off the end of the pitch with the slick surface. It was King George who came close to going ahead mid way through the half when someone hit a pile-driver from about 35 yards out. Many a puma thought it was destined for the back of the net but young Irish keeper Kieran must have thought it was a pint of Guiness rather than a ball by the way he plucked it out from under the crossbar and held it tight.
The winner when it came will go down as a bit of a controversy, due to the buildup not the goal. Following a King George attack, Pumas broke quickly with James S taking the ball out through midfield. Seeing how much space he had to break into, one of the KG midfield lunged in for a tackle, tripping James but as the ref half blew his whistle for a foul, James was back on his feet again wanting to play the advantage, which the ref decided to do shouting 'play on'. He passed the ball out wide to Kev G on the right who continued towards the byline beating first 1 then a 2nd defender. Finally he whipped a cross into the box that should have been cleared by the first defender but instead of getting it out, he deflected it past the keeper and other defender so it came straight across the 6 yard box. Lurking near the back post was Pumas aging striker Sid, who suddenly realized the ball would come infront instead of behind him. In a flash, his zimmer frame slipped from beneath him and as he toppled forward his head made contact with the ball sending it in the bottom left corner. A younger player would have claimed it was a good diving header but the silver haired predator who'd just celebrated his 47th birthday 2 days before would never be so audacious!
Still that was 2-1 to Pumas with 10 minutes to play despite all the protestations.
King George went immediately back on the attack, but Romen & Dave were having none of it, calmly sweeping their lines. When Mister Bates pulled himself off with a dodgy leg a few minutes later the fight seemed to go out of KG and Pumas had a couple of chances to increase their score, but more poor shooting let the Saitama boys off the hook.
So 2-1 to Pumas it ended, which sent them to the dizzying heights of the top half of Division 3 but having played more games than most!
Report by Muddy Boots
|
