Hello MISN,
On Tuesday September 25th we played game the SEMI-FINALS of the Summer 2007 Lachine indoor league, vs. Babylon.
Unlike what is usually expected in normal playoff pairings (where the 1st and 4th-ranked teams are placed on one side of the playoff table, and the 2nd and 3rd-ranked are placed on the other), Bryan has this very weird way of re-arranging the game pairs of each round to make sure that the 1st team always plays the team with the lowest rank. I know it sounds crazy and makes no sense, but that’s the policy. So instead of playing Babylon, the league champions Trakia played the lower-ranked Ukraina, while MISN Impossible had to play Babylon.
Our opponents for the day were a very good level team, one which perhaps made the most significant improvement in the last portion of the season. Ranking 5th in the final standings with 71 goals scored and 54 conceded, Babylon were one of the teams which gave MISN the most problems during the regular season. Our first encounter had ended 6-6 in difficult circumstances (we started the game 5 vs. 7 and went down a couple of goals fast, but then fought back to tie it in the 2nd half), while in the return leg our opponents inflicted a severe beating on the MISN team, outplaying and outrunning us to win the game 6-1. For this semi-final game, MISN Impossible vowed revenge.
Attendance-wise, we had an unlucky string of last-minute injuries, starting from Güven who got injured in his McGill Intramural game, and Kevin who was feeling nauseous. Also, Santi was still suffering from an ankle problem, and we couldn’t count on Imad (busy with his Ph.D thesis exam), the Nafee brothers or Ludo.
Fortunately, Bruno was back from Ottawa and Danny was finally able to lend a hand after an absence of almost two months. Also, Marco was back from suspension.
| 1) Absent long-term: | Saad, Renaud, Can |
| 2) Injured long-term: | Amer, Tevin, Santi |
| 3) N/A this week: | Nafee, Abbes, Kevin, Güven, Simiso, Sami |
Here was our line-up:
| Keeper: | |||
| Defense: | |||
| Offense: |
We started the game well in place on the field, building up our plays slowly and always remaining attentive in defense. We had limited attacking strength however, due to a lack of substitutes in the offensive area (as you can tell from the line-up table, Marco was even forced to play striker under the circumstances). As a result we weren’t very incisive in the first half, but neither were our opponents. Both teams’ defenses were keeping good guard and breaking down most of their opponents’ plays before they got into shooting range.
There were not many chances worth mentioning in the 1st half. A kick-in pass from Marco to Jon in the middle cleared our Canadian central-back for the shot, but his powerful drive was over the bar. A few minutes later, from a kick-in from the left wing Marco tried a direct shot to the far post, but the ball was intercepted by the defense.
An important point to be noted: for the semi-finals (and most likely the final as well) a two-reffing system was adopted, which kept the game well in check. The referees had in fact zero tolerance for even the slightest of touches, giving the foul to the opposing team the majority of the cases. The Babylon players were getting frustrated at the calls going against them though, and by the time 15 minutes had passed, they already had 2 players in the book with yellow cards.
Before the half ended, both MISN and Babylon tried their luck a few times from long range, but the shots either lacked accuracy or were easily neutralized by the keepers. Our first real chance came 5-10 minutes before the break, as we obtained a kick-in deep into the Babylon half. From the right wing, the cross was sent right to the head of Zaid on the 2nd post, but our Jordanian defender’s effort hit the bar and bounced away! So close!
The half came to a close on a 0-0 Half-Time score.
In the 2nd half Babylon started pushing up more, while at the same time consistently leaving two defenders in the back (for cover & to set up fast counter-attacks). On a few of these counters they almost created very dangerous one-one-one situations, but our keeper Jan was always ready to come off his line and neutralize the problem before it did any real damage!
Up on the other end Marco, Jonny and AC were pushing up, trying to exploit Bardia’s dribbling abilities in order to create some space, but the ball seldom reached our strikers for the finish. Eventually, our first good chance of the 2nd half came from a hard shot by Bardia on the keeper, on which AC grabbed the rebound and went for a powerful left-footed finish. His effort however hit the side netting!
With the game still tied and about 5 minutes left in the game, MISN obtained a kick-in on the right wing, 3 meters ahead of the halfway line. Danny & Alex both wanted to take the set piece, but Marco dropped back from his striker position and told Danny he’d take care of the shot. Assuring him he’d cover him in defense, Marco then told Danny to take his place up on the front lines.
After a short run, spotting Jon raising his hand on the far post Marco delivered an accurate cross for our tall defender. Jon jumped for the header across the goal, and the keeper was caught off balance: Danny stretched and managed to connect with Jon’s flicked pass!! The keeper managed the point-blank save, but wait! The ball had crossed the line, and one of the refs standing close awarded the goal!! 1-0 MISN!!!!!
The ensuing 5 minutes tripled in tension, but MISN held tight in preserving the lead. Our defense was attentive on every play, and AC, Bardia, and Jonny did a great job in keeping the ball up in offense, wasting valuable seconds. Eventually the ref called full time, sending MISN through to the Summer 2007 Lachine indoor league FINAL!!!
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1-0 final score
Scorers:
Danny
Yellow cards:
None
.
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A great battle throughout boys!! We played a very tight game defensively, not allowing our opponents to play their game like they had done in regular season. It resulted in a match with few scoring chances, but eventually we managed to grab the winner in dramatic style, scoring so close to the end on a beautiful set-piece play!! “A” for effort guys, in the final I want everyone to get an A+!
The FINAL will be played Thursday September 27th at 8pm. Our opponents will be the regular season champions Trakia (who beat Ukraina 4-1 in the other semi-final, but only by scoring 4 goals in the final 15 minutes). It will be time to get our revenge boys and prove that we are the better team!!
One more game to the CUP boys… MISN all the way!!!!
-Marco-
Posted in MISN Impossible |
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