DBFC 3 – 0 Mes

13th January 2018 at Po Kong Village Road Park pitch 2 with 5:30 pm kick-off

Squad: Toni (keeper) David and Matija (CBs) Morse (LB) Ben (RB) Kieran R (CM and Captain) Christian (CM) Che (LM) Darius (RM) Matt O and Scotty (forward) Subs: Tom (to arrive half-time) and Rolph

Scorers: Matt Orr x2 (assists Darius and Tom) and Tom Halder (assist Che)

We struggled to pull a squad together for this game but finally ended with 13 players (only 5 of who played last week) when a couple of the Vets players came to the rescue (Matija and Toni). Also, luckily, Ben and Matt Orr are still in Hong Kong on their Xmas break from Uni, Tom made arrangements at work to get there for the second half and Scotty pushed for half a game with his recovering calf injury. No matter the difficulties at times the depth of resource that DBFC have is a vital ingredient in keeping the team firing.

The first half saw DBFC take control by battling hard in midfield, keeping a well-structured defence and showing some nice footy and movement, particularly down both flanks, involving Darius and Che. However, an opening goal for DBFC remained elusive and although the DBFC defence kept it tight and Toni had little to do, the boys had to be careful not to give an opening to Mes from a defensive mistake. The only half chance Mes got was exactly from a defence mistake at the byline when a Mes player broke free and pulled the ball back to his forward who didn’t connect with the ball properly and messed his shot for it to roll safely in to Toni’s hands. DBFC had at least 6 corners in the first half but they couldn’t convert any; David was the closest with a glancing header that went wide of the post. Despite many breaks down the flanks and resulting crosses into the Mes box, DBFC did not time a players run to meet that cross. The half finished 0-0.

At half time Gazza praise the work rate from everyone and asked for more of the same football because the goal will come. He ask the defence to play clean and not take chances and for everyone to dig deep because of one remaining substitute, as Scotty needed to come off with his recovering calf muscle and wouldn’t re-enter, leaving only Rolph as cover. Matt replaced Scotty as the striker and Tom came on to play behind Matt (No. 10).

The second half kicked off and again DBFC got the upper hand, getting Darius involved on the right. After 10 minutes DBFC finally got the break to score and go 1-0 up. A good run by Darius down the right, showing his skill to go around the Mes left back and get to the byline and put in a good cross, which was met by Matt and a Mes defender at the same time in front of goal. The ball bounced up high off the defender and Matt adjusted to shield the ball with his back to goal and then flicked the ball back over his shoulder and into the net. Great skill from Matt and his mum was thankful for all those ballerina lessons proving worthwhile.

Mes then pressed for an equaliser and in doing so left lots of room at the back that Darius, Che and Matt were always threatening on the break and missed some great opportunities to extend the lead. DBFC defence was brilliant and the midfield duo of Christian and Kieran worked none stop. The second goal came after 20 minutes of the 2nd half when Che broke away down the left and crossed the ball in front of goal for Tom to dash into the box and meet to tuck away and make it 2-0 to DBFC.

Mes pushed even harder to get back into the game but the DBFC defence was strong and disciplined and worked hard for the clean sheet. Again many chances were missed for DBFC on the break before the 3rd came with 10 minutes left. Tom played the ball through the Mes defence to the right for Matt to collect near the byline and this is when his ballerina lessons really kicked in! Matt dribbled past 2 defenders with ease to get to 5 yards out in front of the Mes goal post with a Mes defender in the way. He showed him the ball before executing an exquisite “Marseille Roulette” that both Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane would have been envious of and ended looking at the goal to slot the ball past the Mes keeper. The crowd was in awe (Matt Orr) at what they had witnessed.

There were a few more chances for DBFC but none converted, so the game finished DBFC 3-0 winners. A job well done that came about through good battling team work from every player who did not give an inch and then let the moments of DBFC talent shine to get the goals. 7 of us made it back to the Pier bar to enjoy a well-earned beer and look for Tom’s footy boots that he’d left there last week (unfortunately someone had taken them, presumably to sell on eBay sometime in the future when the legend that is Tom makes the big time).

MOM: Many players get a shout for this; Matija with a strong performance at CB, as did David. Ben for being solid for a full game (yes a full game), Captain Kieran was relentless in the middle of the park and Christian stepped up brilliantly to do an unfamiliar midfield role. The two wide guys Che and Darius were always causing problems with their pace and skill. However, this week the manager’s choice is Matt Orr for his work rate, silky skills and two great goals.

DOD: No stand out contenders this week but outside chances go for Christian for having to be told to take-off his hoody in the line-up for the team photo, Tom for losing his footy boots, David for buying footy boots too small for his feet and Ben for not drinking a beer at the Pier Bar. Not really worthwhile for this prestigious award so we’ll give it a miss this week.