It was the first pre-season game of season 22/23. 

With 27 sign-ups not a bad start to the season. Coach Colin picked both teams and set up both formations. However, since he can’t divide himself into two coaches for a match, interim coach Chris made an appearance and took the black team. 

Kickoff. The red team started strong and, after the first 10 min, went up 1:0. Confusion and not clearing effectively in the black defence helped the red team to score. Head of defence, Jimmy Q, didn’t get the back organized enough, so GK Hank was left with no chance. 

Just minutes later, one of the black defenders kicked the ball too hard, and the red team was awarded a free kick from a good position. 

Magnus stepped up and prepared for the cross. The red strikers were ready to head the ball. Unfortunately, Magnus didn’t hit the ball right, and it was untraceable for the whole red team. Luckily for the Reds, the cross was unreachable for Gk Hank as well, so it fell into the back of the net. A perfect summary of what you can expect playing at Tri Hai. Getting a free kick for nothing and messing up the crossing equals a 2:0 lead. 

After the initial shock, the Blacks finally bought up, started pushing and played some good combinations and crosses. The red defence was still capable of defending everything effectively tho. 

Almost 1/3 time. The first of three 30 min thirds was about to end when another dangerous crossing came in. Red defender Aron didn’t know what else to do but clear the ball with his right hand. 

Penalty. Rising star coach Chris asked me to take all penalties that day. So I stepped up to the spot, closed my eyes and hit the ball as hard as possible. Luckily Red’d GK Khang jumped out of the way, and we shortened the lead. 

Break. 

After the break, the black team pushed and kept playing better. Some dangerous situations in the Black’s box were safed by Hank – no thanks to Jimmy’s defending. 

The Black team kept pushing. The ball dropped in front of my feet inside the box. I took the shot, and yet again, the Red defence didn’t know what else to do but protect the goal with their hands. This time it was Tom Champion (not today) who stopped the ball and assisted my day’s second goal. GK Khang thought he learned from my first penalty and stayed in the centre of the goal. Not this time – I placed it in the bottom right corner. 

2:2 

The game kept going, and I guess you could say it was entertaining. The five people watching certainly seemed to enjoy themselves. 

Flashback – Dinner the evening before: 

After spending the whole day at the drawing board, interim coach Chris founded a focus group to test his strategic ideas. He presented his idea: 

Chris: “So yeah, when we have the ball, then you come and receive it “(I nodded) “…then we can play it in the run of somebody “(Flo nodded) “…and then we can cross it and goal… easy “( Sven approved) 

Said and done

Last third: Chris advised the whole team to finally do what he said – and the team listened. I came in short, turned, and passed into Jamie’s run; he took it down to the goal line, crossed it to Ed, and Ed scored. Easy indeed. 

2:3, the blacks have turned the game around. 

Afterwards, it was more of the same blacks kept playing. The reds kept defending. 

Another attack ended with Ed having the ball at his feet and passing it into my run. With ice where blood should be, the goalie was megged, and the lead extended to 2:4. 

The final accent was another mistake in the Black’s defence, and Chris Hallett shortened it to 3:4. 

All in all a successful day for the Raiders. Even if you were on the Red team, it was definitely good exercise for the day. 

Thanks for the read 

Jonas