Written by this week’s Turkey moment owner, Mike Owen.

With the Thu Duc pitch resurfaced beautifully, the Saigon Raiders continued their pre-season friendlies against a small, overweight and very audible Vietnamese team. It was looking like a nice cool day for a game of fitba and expectations and positivity was high. The game started that way – albeit without their sexy Scottish midfielder who was busy searching for a shitter to take a boozy dump… It was rough…

The passes were flowing for a full 2 minutes until the heavens opened and quickly turned the pitch into a waterlogged mess (a bit like my dump). The ball was stopping short and playing our trademark tiki taka style was near impossible. The rain didn’t dampen the Raiders spirit and we were soon 1-0 up thanks to a goal from Henri. The weather was so bad, that it was almost
impossible to see the goal from the stands, but I’m pretty sure it was a 20 yard screamer, not a 2 yard tap in.

The Raiders continued to dominate all over the pitch, especially in midfield, where Craig was running about like a mad man closing down the pregnant midgets superbly. Mike was pretty good too… The team was solid at the back, with Rich and Bloor dealing well with the conditions and the strikers continued to battle up front. Play was extremely difficult on the deck, so the
ball was being booted into the air to avoid the puddles. The route 1 football was working and after some neat interchanges between the front 3, Henri was released again to make it 2-0 to the Raiders. A cool finish and a 2nd for Henri. Nice!

The Raiders were lucky not to concede just before the interval as the Vietnamese caught us on the break, but a goal-bound shot was stopped just before the line by a puddle. The football gods were on our side! Or were they…

The Raiders tempo dropped in the second half and the fatties came out with 4 up front desperate to get something out of the game. Their efforts were rewarded when old man Bloor and jet lagged Luke were caught napping at the back. The ball was floated into the box where one of the healthy looking Vietnamese lads connected cleanly with it and sent the ball passed Mirko into the top corner. A pretty sweet finish!

The Raiders couldn’t keep the ball well in the second half and as our legs tired, Mirko was called on a lot to keep the Raiders ahead. First he saved a penalty after Luke had CLEARLY handled in the box, and then blocked several one on ones brilliantly. Roman, Nico and Rayan were still on the hunt up front and the Raiders almost went 3-1 up but Nico couldn’t convert after being
played in deliciously by ME. He blamed the tame shot/pass-back on the roars from the stands

…understandable!!!

Soon after Real Midgets got a free-kick on the edge of the box and the ball was smashed through the wall (with no one to blame!) and passed Mirko to make it 2-2.

The Raiders played well in the first half, despite the typhoon, but fell off the pace after the break. This is an area Pat the Stack will want to amend before the Ashes next month where a win is a MUST! The Real Midgets gave us a wee test, and 2-2 was probably a fair result, but the Raiders should have left Thu Duc with a win after being 2-0 up at half time! However, there are definitely signs we could have a decent run in the league this season.

Man of the Match: Craig: Bossed the midfield like a man possessed!

Turkey Moment: Mike: It was wet…

Yellow cards: 2: Who cares…

Attendance: 7: Not including Pat or Mr. Hung