A game Raiders usually live up to with a cocktail of anticipation, excitement and maybe a bit of fear: Hotshots have beaten us severely over the past few years, and are without at doubt one of the better teams in the SIFL. Finishing the league as champions two years ago, and running up last year, our own record of results would be considered a poor match in the eyes of any bookie, whether they are Vietnamese or honest. But ever so once in a while, the cosmos thinks differently, pieces of the puzzle fit, and something unexpected, magical even, happens. The account of what unfolded, as written below is accurate, I swear…

Coach Pat ‘the Chess master’ put down the pawns in the same way that saw us annihilate the Saints one week earlier, which meant: a solid organisation, double covered DM’s and fast flying wings that provide the bravado. The defensive void that was left by the absence of Olly, Jamie and Luke was filled by new summer transfer Eoin (Raiders pay well for talent), and the absence of Rich meant Stefan tied up with Nico in front. During the warm up it was already clear this was not to be a walk in the park. The hotshots are fucking huge. John Coffee huge. Cue nervous farts.

Kick off.

The opening of the game saw gritty play, with Daniel German and Craig bossing around the midfield, and Mike trying to skate through on occasion. There were some nervous attempts on either side of the pitch, and it looked like one of those games where the team with the bigger fire in the belly would have the edge.

15’ – the Raiders saw luck on their side when a sweeping ball in from the right wing was hand balled away by a hotshot that doesn’t know the rules of the game. A clear penalty, given without hesitation. Somehow not being phased by the circumstances and the massive crowd, Mike stepped up and scoffed it into the right corner, closer to the keeper than the post. Untidy, but they all count. 1-0.

Hotshots developed pressure from then on, which the Raiders elegantly brushed off thanks to commanding performances from Pete Bloor, Daniel Vo and Eoin in defence. It doesn’t seem a far past where the Raiders would have crumbled under such pressure, but things are different this season: Everyone knows their task, stays calm, the dynamite on the wings consolidates in defence, and it seems like better teams can have a go at the double belt, It won’t come down. And of course, there is no shame to count on individual sparks from people when we are porcupining. Barcelona does the same:

30’ Armitt with a muscly midfield header to Mike, who picks up on the left wing, finds himself in a pocket of space and decides not to pass to about 28 people that were free and in better positions; ‘Leave it up to Magic Mike’ must have been the thought, while striking from about 30 meters out, unleashing a screaming knuckle ball that broke the sound barrier and smashed into the top corner. The goalie, well positioned as he was, decided not to stretch out because he didn’t want to break his fingers. Two goalies wouldn’t have saved that, and in my opinion, even five goalies moulded into one superbig goalie wouldn’t have saved that. The only negative I can think of is that the league games are filmed with such poor quality cameras – you’d get better results with a potato – that the low frame rate will not do this peach any justice. Raiders 2-0 up with a couple of minutes before half time, things were looking sunny.

Hotshots were telling themselves ‘ve are only playing ze Raiders (they are predominantly French), and ve can come back from a 2-0 deficit Boyz. Allez’, and so they almost did:

40’: Deep ball on the right, where the 200 pound hot shot striker decided to instantly chip the goalie. Mirko stretched, came a nail short, just to turn around and see the ball die on the inside of the post. Safe to say the Raiders got away there, because that would have been a bummer, and a game changer for sure. After the minor scare Raiders were happy to reach half time with a 2 goal bonus. Details were adjusted, the second half began, and this I can only describe after taking a break and putting a finger up my ass to cool down the excitement.

2nd half (just washed my hands)

The raiders controlled the game and were outgrowing themselves. The flying wingers got deeper and deeper into the sweet zone, and started putting crosses in. One by one. The link up play was great, the strikers were holding on the the balls and laying off; Borja – back from Kolea on a holiday – proved why he was player of the season before he left, and Yoshi, much like an outgrown Tamagochi, seems to unlock new skills and tricks every time he steps on the pitch. Not to mention the debut of Frederick in goal, who has a wing span of an albatros. It was total football. Nothing more, nothing less.

49’ Chi, faster than a rice hat in a hurricane, with a incisive run down the channel to find no support. Going for glory, he rag dolls a defender, shoots to see his first attempt bounce back of the goalie, the second attempt stranded on the post. This could and should have been Chi’s first official league goal, but lets not despair. They will come. Many of them.

And when it rains, it pours:

58’ Mike in his usual elbow heavy dribbling got the better of about 3 Hotshot salt pillars by the far left corner flag, slotted in a low cross to the first post, and Roman connected with a difficult one-touch finish. 3-0 and Game over. It was not so much the score line that must have cut of the legs of the opponent, it was the allround dominant play. Hotshots to their credit continued trying, but their attacking play held as much venom as a 17 year old blind poodle that got bitched around by 3 defensive rottweilers.

62′ Dani Vo with a tenacious run on the left and a diagonal cross into the box. Stefan (another great performance in attack and on the wing) out-jumps their last defender, and leaps the ball over the goalie. From the bench it was clear that it was going wide, were it not for Roman’s poaching instincts. At the end of a ball like that you need a Suarez-like personality that chases down crumbs till the back line. An easy tap in with big merit, 4-0! I think from this point on tears were spotted in the hotshots’ eyes.

72’ Nico, up until then lacking pixie dust and just hard working for the team, found his second breath and came on to destroy the right wing towards the end of the game. (lovely to write these reports myself I must ad). A deep ball down the right was crossed with medical presicion towards Roman, who could sniff his hattrick. There was a scramble, a few nutmeg attempts, and the ball jumped off the goalie to land in the feet of Alex, who tapped the easiest goal in his career. 5-0, another debutant on the score sheet! The crowd got hysterical, the Turkey seemed to be flying.

One could argue that at this point in a  game, sportsmanship comes into play, and you just pass out the game. I think some of us on the pitch were happy as a clam, and with minutes to go, a certain victory was upon us.

Coach Pat’s verdict

Positives:

• six goals
• play on the wings (Yoshida, Chi, Ras, Alex) gave us width AND length
• subs: all came on and gave us a lift
• first ten minutes of the first half, got stuck in, won 50/50 balls and set the tone of the match
• defensive back line played phenomenal AGAIN, rewarded with another clean sheet

Negatives:

• too much shouting at the referee in the first ten minutes of the second half led to a few unwarranted yellow cards.