DBFC Vets 1 – 1 Godfathers
Venue: King George 5th School Field, Ho Man Tin (KGV)
Date: Monday 4 October 2021
Kick-off: 21:00
Squad: Travis, Riggers, Wakas, Sam, Morse, Nik, Cian, Chris, Crommy, Pierre, Stephane, Jevon, Pedro, Neil L and Brendon.
Scorer: Sam Riley
There were some missing DBFC Vets team regulars for this game, notably injured Bradders, Tita and the Chinese contingent; San, Ping, Nin, Pui, Kwai, Dog. However, in stepped Travis, Chris, Cian, Riggers, new guy Wakas and Sam to capably fill their places. So DBFC Vets had a strong squad of 15 players to line up against a very strong Godfathers squad.
The game kicked off at a fast pace and the senior citizen match officials found it difficult to keep up, so lots of infringements were missed and a number of those called were plainly wrong. This poor refereeing was the same for both sides, so the players got on with playing the football in a generally good spirit, which was very competitive and both sides having a clear desire to win. It was Godfathers that had the slightly better opening period with pressure on the DBFC goal and they managed to get the ball in the net from a header, only to be correctly ruled offside (no fuss made). DBFC then came into game and pressured the Godfathers goal with a number of crosses creating great chances that should have been put away. Pierre at centre forward was getting a lot of attention from the Godfathers centre backs, clearly he was seen as DBFC’s main threat to score, but the referee wasn’t interested / didn’t see. Pierre got given some thumping challenges that were clearly sending a message and close to hurting him. DBFC had three free kicks outside the 18 yards’ box but failed to really test the Godfathers keeper. The first half finished 0-0.
The second half started with DBFC getting further on top of the game, pressing forward with some decent football and this pressure lasted the first 25 minutes, creating chance after chance with crosses mainly from Nik Light on the left. Pierre was always a constant threat and Godfathers defenders continued with special attention. Crommy, Chris and Cian all had chances that just didn’t connect or were blocked. During this period Godfathers had switched more to the long balls forward to try catch the DBFC defence, but as all match Riggers and Wakas were sharp to the threat. At 25 minutes a long ball by Godfathers was collected in the middle and played to their left side, where Riggers had come across to cover Brendon. The winger got around Brendon and launch a high cross over beyond the far post that Morse and Wakas failed to deal with. The bounce fell for the lone Godfathers attacker and he shot it back across goal into the corner of the net beyond the stretched arms of Travis’s dive. DBFC were gutted to concede against the run of play but refocused to press for an equalizer. DBFC players were finding the extra energy and effort to push themselves further and it was 10 minutes from the end that this extra urgency made Pierre’s frustrations boil-over. He received the ball and drove forward with determination into the Godfathers 18 yards’ box to be firmly tackled, resulting in an unpleasant incident between Pierre and the Godfathers centre backs. Captain Crommy intervened immediately by shepherding Pierre over to Gaffer Gaz at the side line for substitution, in a move to defuse the situation. Sam Riley came back on to play more advanced on the right and within 5 minutes got on the end of a bouncing pass to let loose a half volley from about 20 yards out that dipped over the Godfathers keeper to strike the underside of the bar and come down behind the line. The line referee flagged immediately for a goal. This was 1-1 and DBFC smelt a winner but Godfathers defence held strong, which they had done (to be fair) throughout the game.
MOM: There were many steely performances throughout the squad but it was Riggers that shone as a strong, solid and focused Centre Back. After many weeks out of football because of injury he stepped into this game and produced a top level performance; Riggers of old was back!
DOD: This is Pierre for losing it in the last 10 minutes of the game with an unusual uncharacteristic show of anger and frustration resulting in a war dance and Gaffer Gaz substituting him.
