Ikes
Facing the first place team in the league, we knew it would be a tough match. We started with Peps in goal, Ketz, Kenny, me, and Garrow in the back, Howard, Shaka, Justimn, and Ced in the middle, and Kai and Pete up front.
For most of the first half, Spartans dominated possession and were able to keep us from putting any series of passes together with their physical play. However, they had no real strong chances until their right back hit a long ball from right in front of the half way line, and then, proving the truism that white men really can't jump, I jumped all of one inch off the ground and let the ball go right over the head. Their striker got the ball and then despite a valiant attemmpt by Peps to stop him, he was able to poke the ball through. 1-0. We became a little more aggressive after that and started to push the ball into their half more. Unfortunately, one of the only players on our side who was playing in top form, Ced (aka Zidane), collided heads with a Spartans player on a free kick and had to temporarily leave the game to get some amateur stitching.
In the second half, Mauritius Dave came on for Ketz. Possession was more even in the seccond half and Spartans were a lot less threatening up front. Play wasn't really going either team's way until the Spartans kicked another long ball down the pitch, with Kenny successfully shielding their striker from touching the ball and letting the ball pass over the byline. Unfortunately, the ref (who later admiited not being in a good position to see the play) called a corner. The corner, passing the face of the goal, was tipped out by Pepe, but all our players in the area had followed the ball, so when it was tipped out, one of the Spartans was able to head the ball in unmarked. 2-0. During the rest of the game, we were able to keep the ball in their half and had a few good chances (including a series of consecutive shots which their defenders and goalkeeper stopped right on the goalline).
Overall, we played hard, and although the Spartans were the better organized and physical team, they did not have that many threatening chances and ultimately both teams ended up with an equal number of good chances to score. Unfortunately, they were able to put their chances in and we weren't. The key thing to take away is that when playing well organized teams that know how to move without the ball, we need to be able to mark those players and stick to them or otherwise they will dominate possession.
