DBFC 4 : 1  J-Leaguers

3 December 2016, 16:30 KO

Happy Valley Pitch 2.

Squad: Martin Yu, Robbie Bacon, Martin Rigby, Ben Roberts, Simon Yuen, Matt Hoare, Dom Polisano, Matt Zoeller, Jordon Brown, Dan Keenan, Scott Holmes, Dave Rollinson, Reto Schefer and Tom Halder.

Scorers: Matt Z, Jordon, Scott H and Dom.

 

So the big game finally arrived. A win for DBFC would mean we will be looking pretty going into the Xmas break.

With that in mind, everyone got to the pitch nice and early so we could get changed and have a warm up. Or at least we thought we were early… by the time a handful of us had arrived, the J-Leaguers and their 9 subs were already warming up whilst taking instructions from a white board. Clearly up for the big game.

DBFC got warmed up and coach Gaz announced the team: Martin Yu (GK), Simon (LB), Riggers and Bert Bacon (Right and Left CB), Ben (RB) Dan (RW), Dom (CM), Matt H (CM), Jordan (LW) with Scotty up top and Matt Z in the hole. Subs: David, Reto and Halder (who advised he would be late). Matt Z was to take the captaincy until Captain Tom arrived. The midfield were asked to keep compact and close down the ball quickly to disrupt J-leaguers, Scotty was asked to put in a full shift in first half, defending from the front closing down J-Leaguers’ defenders quickly. DBFC were to focus on their passing game and move the ball quickly.

The game started well for DBFC. J Leaguers were pushing hard from the first whistle and closing down fast, but were not really troubling us. After the first five minutes DBFC began to assert themselves on the game and were getting a lot of joy down the wings. The opening goal soon arrived from this avenue – Dan Keenan drove down the right and got tackled in the box, the ball broke to Scotty Holmes who tried to pass it to Matt Z, but was intercepted by the J Leaguers defender who failed to clear the ball and passed it directly to Matt Z. Matt Z had a shot which the keeper saved, but Matt was on hand to fire in the rebound – 1-0 to DBFC.

DBFC soon doubled their lead when the ball broke to Bert Bacon at CB. With the vision of a hawk, Bert steadies himself, sees the run of Jordan and flights an excellent ball over the top between the keeper and the defender. The keeper rushed out to beat Jordan to the ball, but Jordan comfortably got to the ball first and rounded the keeper to score. 2-0 and DBFC were flying. Well, flying as far as an extremely emotional (and bias) referee would let us. Dom already yellow carded, two clear penalties disallowed and the most ridiculous free kick against Scotty Holmes. It was all too much for Dom so he lay down on the floor, head in hands and moaned with displeasure…

Things were also getting interesting on the sidelines – an amateur match reporter (from the “MoreChaos” website) came up to Gaffer Gaz and asked if he could take photos of the game and put a report on his website. In addition our Captain, Halder, arrived in a typical sour puss mood. All you could get out of him is “I hate Tai Tam”, “I need Haribo”, “Feed the bear”.  Come up with some interesting chat for once, Tom.

After the second goal, J Leaguers started pushing a lot more and DBFC were forced to defend. A succession of corners came to nothing and Martin was largely untroubled, but we were still playing in our own half much more than we wanted to. And then it all changed. Up steps Scotty Holmes. Like a tiger shadowing its prey in the forests of Bengal, Scotty pounces on a J-Leaguers defender on the half-way line. Unawares, the surprised J-Leaguer relinquishes his hold of the ball. Scotty has the ball, options all around him, Scotty doesn’t look up so he doesn’t know the two Matt’s are having a hissy fit asking for a pass. Scotty is forty yards out, sees the keeper off his line, Scotty shoots with his left foot (he’s a right-footer), the keeper back pedals, everyone follows the ball – ‘can it go in?, ‘Will it go in?’ they all wonder. The ball is nearing the cross bar, angles have to be perfect, gravity is playing its part but is the ball dropping fast enough? Yes it is! GOAL! DBFC are 3-0 up and soon after the half time whistle is blown.

The team talk at half time focused on how well we played, but also to avoid doing ‘a DB’ and taking our foot off the pedal in the second half thinking it’s a breeze. Scotty Holmes comes off for Halder, who goes in the hole with Matt Z moving up top. Reto comes on for Dan Keenan at RW.

The second half started more or less how the first half ended. J Leaguers had a lot of the ball but were failing to do much with it. DBFC were defending well and Martin only had to make one save of note. Dom and Matt were largely cleaning up in midfield and Zol missed an absolute sitter when Halder played him through one-on-one with the keeper after an excellent turn on the ball. However, Zol nearly made amends, when he got on the end of a through ball and was taken out by the keeper. Whilst Zol made the most of it, with a well-executed squeal and swan dive, it was definitely a penalty. Unfortunately his penalty wasn’t as good as his diving, and it was at a good height for the keeper to save. Fortunately Dom was on hand to hit in the rebound.

After the 4th goal, J Leaguers heads dropped and didn’t have much of the ball. They did however score from a last minute penalty which Reto was unlucky to give away.

This was a good game with a good result for DBFC.

MOM:

Bert Bacon and Riggers were excellent at the back. Dom (when calm) controlled midfield and Scotty Holmes scored a peach. Jordan was also class. However this week the award goes to Matt Hoare, who put in a shift and a half – passed the ball well and was constantly tackling.

DOD: Scotty Holmes is a contender for shooting when he should have passed. Matt Z for a shocking penalty. Dom for showing he could have had an excellent career as an actor in an up and coming drama. However, DOD goes to Tom Halder, for spitting his dummy at the end. You just need to smile more, Tom!

Reporter: David Rollinson