Hello MISN,
On Thursday September 6th we played game nº17 of the Summer 2007 Lachine indoor league, vs. Cyclone FC.
Continuing our 9-points-in-3-games mission, MISN came from a very convincing win the previous week (8-3 vs. MU1) which had brought our morale back up and given us the confidence that we needed! Our rivals Trakia had obtained a victory as well, unsurprisingly beating last-ranked Love-a-Life (albeit only 4-2), but their slim scoreline had given us a glimmer of hope towards the final rankings. As the first third of our mission was completed, we needed to win our remaining two games!
Our opponents for the day were Cyclone FC, the big rivals from our first ever Lachine summer season in 2005. Their ranking after game 16 was mid-table, with 68 goals scored and 52 conceded, and our first encounter with them this season had ended on a 6-1 scoreline (goals by Güven (2), Amer (2), and Can (2)).
Attendance-wise, a two-game streak of great player turn-out meant that we were officially out of the tunnel. Effectively, despite some remaining absentees, we were almost at full capacity.
| 1) Absent long-term: | Saad, Renaud, Güven, Can, Santi, Denis |
| 2) Injured long-term: | Amer, Tevin |
| 3) N/A this week: | Nafee, Danny, Zaid, Simiso, Sami |
Also, more good news: Alex was finally back from Greece, and occupied his place in the MISN defense, Kevin was now at full capacity following his foot injury, and our new recruit Jonny confirmed his presence for the remaining games!
Here was our line-up:
| Keeper: | |||
| Defense: | |||
| Offense: |
It makes every little bit of difference to have a team at full-complement, properly warmed up, and well-prepared at the time of kick-off. Usually, the “MISN starts” aren’t very glorious (despite we almost always seem to catch up in the end), but this time our team was cohesive from start to finish, and once we got a solid grip on the game we never let go.
It follows that we were actually the first to get on the scoreboard. With MISN in possession, our new recruit Jonny obtained the ball in the center of the field, and accelerated past a defender on the right wing. Continuing deep, our French striker got inside the box and ripped a low shot into the left bottom corner!! A powerful goal for the 1-0 scoreline!
Minutes later, we made it 2-0! On a turnover, the ball was fed forward to the center towards AC: our Turkish striker controlled, let it drop and fed a great through ball into space for Marco on the left wing. Lifting his head, Marco spotted Bardia on the far right, slid the ball across the center for him, and all our Iranian playmaker had to do was to apply the finish! 2-0 for MISN!
Scoring the first goal had a radical effect onto our opponents’ morale, because right from the get go we had set off to prove we meant business! Cyclone had had a bit of trouble to reorganize, and for the first part of the half our keeper Jan had a somewhat quiet evening. Things would be about to change however.
Our opponents suddenly injected more verve into their game, and instead of coming to pressure high on us, they decided it was best to wait into their own half, form a solid defensive block, and operate on counterattacks. This tactic proved to be quite effective, because as MISN set to push forward, we sometimes became too enthusiastic (our defense especially), leaving our backline vulnerable. On one such turnover, a Cyclone striker was left all alone on the right wing one-on-one vs. Jan, but with a great diving effort our Slovakian nº1 man parried the ball away!
The Cyclone players kept pounding at our defense however, and unfortunately found the break a few minutes later. On yet another good save by Jan (stealing the ball from the feet of a Cyclone striker, to clear into touch), our opponents obtained a corner-kick from the left. As the cross was delivered to the center, our man-marking got a bit lost in the process, and a Cyclone striker was able to adjust the header towards the first post, where another player simply tapped in from close-range. 2-1.
The Cyclone goal put the game back into balance somewhat, in terms of playing momentum at least. Both teams had a few more stabs at their opponent’s goal, but eventually the half came to rest on a scoreline of 2-1 for MISN. We had played well so far, with accurate passing and organized defending. A small mistake had cost us a goal on set pieces, but overall we just needed to maintain our current efforts and the game would be ours.
In the 2nd half, Cyclone tried their luck a few more times, especially from long-range since our constant pressure (from both defenders and strikers) gave them little space to maneuver, but their accuracy wasn’t too great. Besides, all shots that were on target were deftly neutralized by our keeper Jan. Eventually, it would be MISN to hit the nail in the coffin.
On a forward run, AC obtained the ball on the left wing and ran at the Cyclone defence. Spotting an opening in the goal, our Turkish striker decided to curl a low shot into the right bottom corner from long-range! The keeper went for the dive, but couldn’t prevent the ball from entering the goal! 3-1!
MISN finally had the break they needed, and could now play a little bit more relaxed. It wouldn’t be too long before the other goals came to finish the job.
On yet another turn-over, Bardia obtained the ball in midfield. Dribbling one, then two players to bring the ball forward, our Iranian playmaker found the space to slip the ball for an upcoming AC on the right wing. Our Turkish striker took a few steps towards goal, then slid the ball between the keeper’s legs. 4-1!
A few minutes later with MISN in possession, the ball was passed through on the left wing into open space. Bardia pointed the defender, brought the ball to the center back to his right foot, and fired a low shot into the left bottom corner! 5-1.
The fifth MISN goal meant effectively the end for the Cyclone team, who in the final 15 minutes had gotten increasingly frustrated at their lack of effectiveness (both defensively and offensively). No matter though, as MISN would have the last word in a dominated game: getting the ball from Jon on the right, our returning player Alex took a few steps on the left wing, and armed a powerful curling left-footer into the top left corner!! A nice finish to cap the game!
6-1 final score
Scorers:
Bardia (2)
AC (2)
Jonny
Alex
Yellow cards:
Marco
Abbes
Imad
.
.
Another great convincing win boys! MISN is back, and getting ready for our playoff adventure! We may not win the league (although there is still a very slight chance), but we all know we can take this cup in the playoffs!! We’re getting there people, only one game to go!
GO MISN!!!!
-Marco-
Posted in MISN Impossible |
Related Posts:
.jpg)
