The Raiders were going into their league game on a high after their recent thrilling comeback against FCFC to maintain their good start to the league. They were coming up against a Sporting side who had also picked up a couple of wins but were a bit depleted on numbers. Raiders knew it would be their last game before the Christmas break and that three points were absolutely vital.

It was a cool 57 degrees Celsius out with absolutely no shade and a limited supply of suncream. Perfect conditions for a game of football. Thankfully the Raiders had brought a strong 17 with a talented bench ready to make an impact as Sporting hopefully tired. The Raiders lined up with Mirko in his between the sticks, looking almost brighter than the sun in his latest luminous kit. Gary and Scott would play either side of the back three with Scott ready to go after several routine pre-match trips to the bathroom.

Stephan slotted in at centre back between them ready to deal with any ‘’puta madre’’ that crossed his path. Vincent lined up on the right of midfield looking to make some dominating runs into the space behind. Ben M played on the opposite side where he would he try to help the Raiders keep possession and break down the Sporting defence. Nikolai would start in midfield alongside Tam, who was struggling a little to come to terms with the intense heat and hangover combo. Clem took his place in behind the two strikers. Emma was up top and alongside him was Hoggy who completed the attacking trio. Hoggy had assured Colin that he would say only nice things to the referee today. Pat, Pierre, Florian, Adam, Jonas and Fernando made up the Raiders bench. Craig had shown up to support the Raiders and hoping he could finally get Gary voted as the turkey after two and a half years of non-stop trying.

The game began as a relatively cagey affair with both teams misplacing passes and struggling to build up any consistent control of the game. Both sides continued to try and set off their quick attackers with balls in behind and over the top, however, both defences were initially on top of things. At this point the ball was controlled out wide by the left winger who calmly slotted the ball through the legs of the onrushing Gary and Craig let out a sigh of relief that he may finally have something to use in his ongoing efforts.

After a much needed water break the game began to open up and the Raiders began to carve out a few chances. Scott’s throw in found Clem who linked up well with Hoggy, before eventually shooting just wide to the left. The Sporting striker continued to threaten and found himself in lots of space as left back Scottio Ramos had decided to move into a left attacking winger position for the opposition kickout, a tactic often used by him in Fifa also leading to a very poor recent losing streak. Mirko was thankfully equal to it and the Raiders immediately went up the other end to attack again. Emma and Clem were both unable to convert after good spells of quick incisive passing but it was clear the goals were coming if the pressure could be kept up.

Steph broke well again from the back and played Emma in who couldn’t find the target but a few minutes later he made no mistake. After Hoggy’s shot was parried to the keeper’s left, Emma picked up the ball before it went out and as usual left a confused defender on the floor before placing the ball into the roof of the net past the hapless keeper.

Sporting were now on the ropes and Raiders hoped to capitalise further before half time. Jonas had come on and was ready to put pressure on the now tiring Sporting backline. A brilliant Raiders move saw the opposition goal kick being picked up by Nikolai, the ball was moved back to Gary and onto Clem who found Vince in space on the wing. The big German had a look up and played a great ball over the top into the path of the other big German Jonas, who calmly slotted the ball past the keepers. The Raiders maintained the pressure but had Mirko to thank after a great save from a header kept Sporting pulling one back before half time.

The Raiders had made one sub bringing on Pat for the tiring Tam and the team had come out for the second half confident to continue the momentum. Unfortunately complacency had crept into their game. Within a minute Sporting had got their goal after a corner was poorly dealt with as Gary explained(calmly and politely as always) to the referee that shirts had been pulled. As others also went to sleep the pacey Sporting striker found himself unmarked on the back post to smash a good volley into the roof of the net. 2-1, the Raiders needed to wake up, and quickly. Sporting smelt blood and were eager to get the game going again.

Steph started to win some good ball at the back and began a few moves out into the space ahead as the Raiders started to get a bit of a control back in the game. Fernando had also entered the game and started to get on the ball more. Pat was winning some good ball back in the centre as well. The second half had somehow seemed to be even hotter and the game was stopped for another water break, but not at a good time considering Sporting had just won a free on the edge of the box. Thankfully the freekick was put well wide and Raiders pushed on again.

After a scramble up near the Sporting box they were awarded a free. Emma then carried out one of the Raider’s most dangerous and feared tactics of ‘’standing over the ball’’ but unfortunately after being provoked and pushed by the opposition centre half Emma accidentally swung his leg very powerfully in an effort to avoid the vicious attack. It (un)fortunately struck the knee of the opposition player who went down just in time for the referee to turn around and immediately brandish a straight red for innocent Emma. He had contributed a lot already by scoring the opener and making it to the pitch in time for kick off but now the Raiders would have to see out the game with 10.

The Raiders reorganised keeping Hoggy as a lone striker. Florian had been brought on to the left side of midfield and began to link up with the rest of the midfield. He was put through in a good chance but shinned the ball over the crossbar, knowing that the goal would be given to Luke McDonnell regardless, who apparently scored a fantastic goal against FCFC the previous weekend, while sat at home on his couch. The Raiders had another further chance soon after but Clem almost had too much time and the keeper managed to keep Sporting in it for one final set of attacks.

The game had gone into a couple of minutes of injury time when Scottio felt there was plenty of time to push the instructions of tackling hard and early a bit further. As the Sporting player held the ball with his back to goal near the touchline, Ramos came in at record speed and charged straight into the back of the winger bundling him over and giving the surprisingly decent referee and linesmen an easy decision to make. The free was cleared and Raiders were happy to hear the final whistle which soon followed. Not one of the best performances but an important three points nonetheless. Stephan was deservedly given man of the match while Craig jumped out of his seat to finally send the turkey Gary’s way. Raiders sit top of the league at Christmas with 13 points from 15 and will come back ready to run off the turkey in time for a big game against the S***s in January.

 

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