Coach Pat’s report

Ky Hoa might as well have been Binh Duong on a dark and stormy Saturday night.  The Raiders ready to go against their rival Sa*nts in a match where they hoped to avenge the loss from two weeks ago where the Sa*nts danced in our defeat then invited us for a delicious dinner at their bar.

Anyway, we soon found out how the Sa*nts organize themselves administratively, and that is clearly with a wee bit too much influence from the queen if you know what I mean.  An hour and a half after scheduled kickoff time, the game began… but clearly one team was rattled by the delayed start and disorganized administrative responsibilities.

Early on the Raiders looked like the stronger team, and indeed they were.  The Raiders dominated possession and the aerial game, where they had struggled in the Ashes. About twenty minutes in, the Sa*nts, clearly overwhelmed by the pressure the Raiders put on them, gave away a goal, a gift per se, to the cheese-head, 1-0 to the Raiders.

It didn’t take long for the Sa*nts to begin to look promising.  The manager was ensuring his team’s legs were fresh for the second half and insisted upon a solid rotation throughout the lineup in the first half.  The bench came on and gave a great 15 minute rotation.  Highlighted by the most remarkable 3-minute stint any Raider will ever have.

No need to get into details, carry on…

Close to the end of the half, the incident we’ve all been waiting for.  Gattusso reincarnated blatantly kicks our humbled newly returned striker through the knees and takes him out for the remainder of the game.  Volunteer referee is non too pleased and decides upon a yellow card.  In disgust, the Raiders’ boomerang tells him to “go away” and earns himself and the team, 5 minutes of fitness on Wednesday.

The match carries on and the previous incident was truly the turning point.  The centre attacking midfielder channels his inner Viet Nam and screams after getting chopped down from behind by, yup, you guessed it, Gattuso’s reincarnation.  Penalty, the lad steps up, and it’s pure as Da Lat wine.  Raiders 2-0.

At this point it must be, it needs to be, but the Raiders are conceding too many free kicks outside the box!

Nonetheless, the reinvented Nicorerian striker has altered his game and he is not to be reckoned with. (I truly don’t remember how this goal happened so maybe someone can fill in the blank.)

As his teammates jumped into his arms they knew, this was it, the Raiders’ first victory of the season, an enjoyable moment for all, but still much work to be done.

On to Hotshots.

MOTM: Nico

Goals: Nico (2), Mike (1).

 

Positives:

• clean sheet
• three goals
• controlling the air
• no turkey moments!

Negatives:

• not celebrating goals very creatively
• over celebrating a routine victory – act like you’ve been there before
• the organization of the pitch and referees
• the redundancy of this match report and manager notes.