Week 13: Game of the Week

North Bank Guns v FC Cosmos (Division Three)

North Bank Guns’ manager Rich Burge went into the game hoping to carry on their impressive home form of late and push towards a promotion place. A win today would move them ahead of visitors FC Cosmos. Mr Burge selected the same eleven that played in last week’s Friendly Challenge, while Joseph Burridge sprang a surprise with a switch of formation. Tobikuma Zero and Kerrea Ridler selected ahead of Mateus Jacomossi and Kutukutu Tamarama in what was a more attacking looking side.

The inclement weather of recent days had left the pitch very wet, but with dark grey clouds over Armoury Stadium, the game started on time in front of a crowd of just under 40, 000. The early play was very cautious as both sides tried to feel each other out. The pitch played its part and Brazilian referee Romualdo Arppi did well to try and let the game flow. Christopher Nations had a good chance after twelve minutes, but saw his drive from the edge of the box clip the bar and sail high into the travelling Cosmos fans, much to the relief of Redding Fairfax who watched the shot fly past him.

An even game was getting bogged down in midfield and with both defences looking comfortable, it was going to need some inspiration to open the game up. Cosmos’ midfielder Tychon Vanderflore provided the spark that lit things up. His wonderful cross-field pass released rampaging Pablo Lopez who crossed first time to Thor Johansson. The Swede reacted quickly to flick a header that looked bound for the top corner before Hieronim Gusty stuck out his left hand and somehow got enough on the ball to send it past the left hand upright. The resulting corner lead to the deadlock being broken. Ardaz Nelz rising highest to plant a bullet header downwards past Gusty and into the net. This was the big Brazilian’s first goal for over a year and his Samba style celebrations were greeted with glee but the Cosmos’ fans.

They say you are at your most venerable right after you have scored and yet again the old premise was proved correct. Straight from the kick-off Lombardo Martinez beat two hapless challenges before flicking the ball to Nations. The American striker cut inside another weak tackle from Zero and curled a wonderful 30 yard effort just inside Fairfax’s far post to restore parity less than a minute after going behind.

Both sides were now in the mood for a game and it was classic end-to-end stuff for the remainder of the first half. Half chances falling to Nations, Vasco Di Corbacho and Montegho but their efforts all proved fruitless. Di Corbacho found his way into the referee’s notebook 5 minutes before the break when his protests for a penalty after he thought he had been fouled by Chuco Pena became a little too vocal.

Half Time: 1-1

Rain greeted the players when the came out to start the second half. This would make an already soggy pitch even more difficult and some feared the game may be abandoned as large pools of water appeared in a couple of places.

The North Bank Guns players slowly started to get a bit of control of the game and despite even possession they had the best chances to take the lead. Nelz was commanding in defence for Cosmos and somehow he was always in the right place to sweep up, make a tackle or clear the ball. His goal line clearance on 72 minutes after Manuel Meier’s snap shot was top class as he threw his body in the way of the goal bound effort. Replays showed just how well he did to get to the ball and not handle it; something Meier was convinced he did and his complaints saw him become the second player booked for dissent.

A long Martinez ball over the back four of FC Cosmos towards the run of Vanderflore looked very dangerous but Fairfax came quickly out of his goal to dive on the ball. His momentum in the wet conditions saw him slide outside the area, however and a free-kick was rightly given for handball. Mr Arppi only produced a yellow card despite the protests of the home players and fans alike – probably the correct decision under the circumstances. The free-kick was wasted by Philippe Pauchard who was soon substituted after a disappointing all round display.

The game appeared to be heading for a draw as FC Cosmos sides struggled to overcome the elements and the Guns could find no way past the excellent Nelz. Nations, however had other ideas and it was his run past two players followed by a neat one-two with Martinez that saw him fire a shot from the penalty spot goal wards. Fairfax looked to have is covered but a lunge from sub Ximi Zubizarreta in trying to block only succeeded in diverting the ball just enough to wrong foot the young English keeper and give the home side a vital win.

Nelz’s display on the losing side was the only real compensation for a disappointed Mr Burridge. The defender rightly winning the league Player of the Week award and proving he is the man Brazil should look to in order to restore past glories.

Full Time: 2-1

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Game of the Week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.