Match Review: German-Swiss All Stars vs 1TM Latini FC

• ST Diyar Mailepessov
• -- Fumiaki OGURO
• -- Thomas Suess
• -- Victor Walz
• -- Florian Gädke
• -- Raphael Mencher
• -- Thommy Lim
• -- Jan Wiechmann
• -- Robert Wieseckl
• -- Michael Klemm
• -- Teo Premto

• DF Daniel Grueber
• MD Lucas Cochrone

Good comeback after a poor start

Despite having multiple missing first team players, GAS were able to put out a strong squad out for the Friday night encounter against Atletico Ma- err, 1TM Latini FC. We had a less than impressive start to our campaign so far, and we really needed to win the game to try and get our season back on track. We faced stiff opposition tonight in a well drilled Latini team who have had an impressive start to the season. Latini started out the game dominating most of the ball in the early phases without really making much of it, and there was a lot of sideways and backwards passing. However, one long ball up front was slightly misjudged by Teo who missed his header and the ball fell to the Latini striker who cut in and produced a neat finish into the far corner to make it 0-1 and ensure that our challenging start to the season continued. Soon after, the Latini striker produced another good run and took a shot only to be denied by the outside of our post. We took a while to get going in this game, and just as we started to gain some tempo and rhythm, a defensive mixup led to the Latini striker beating the offside trap and being clean through on goal with acres of space, to produce a neat finish to make it 0-2, and now we were really up against it. Despite the bad start, the attitude in the team has remained positive and today we were not to back down without a fight. We dug deep and started dominating the ball more towards the end of the first half. A long range strike from Viktor which took a slight deflection halved the deficit and made it 1-2 and suddenly there was a momentum shift in the game as we started playing the ball around with much more confidence. Shortly after, Micha and Thomas combined down the right in a neat move and Thomas took the change to make it 2-2. Overall, Ogu and Thomas had a pretty good game with their pace and ball control making life very tough for the Latini defenders. It ended 2-2 at half time. The second half turned out to be a slightly indisciplined affair with Robert picking up a soft second yellow and we were down to 10 men at the very beginning of the half. Despite the disadvantage, we held our shape and defended well and had a few promising moments on the counter attack with Thomas coming close on a couple of occasions. There was also a good free kick by Micha towards the top right corner which produced a good diving save from the Latini keeper. An interesting incident happened with around 10 minutes left on the clock. Latini's striker swung his arm blindly in the air after missing a header and it unfortunately caught our keeper Thommy in the face. It was a straight red card for their man and it was 10 vs 10 for the remaining duration of the match. It was a very even and end to end game at this point with both sides moving the ball well without any real end product, which was contributed to by good defending on both sides. Towards the final whistle, Latini had a dangerous counter attack which led to a cross from the right wing being cleared very well by our debutant Raphael, without whose touch it would have been a certain goal. We also had a couple of half chances but nothing really opened up for either team and it ended 2-2. An eventful and entertaining game. Considering that we were 2-0 down and played with a man down for around half an hour, the 2-2 draw is more of a point gained for us than two dropped. We showed good spirit today and if we keep up the way we are playing, the victories will come eventually. But tonight, it was not to be. Anyway, thank you Latini for the exciting game. MOM GAS: Plenty of fine performances, but Thomas with a good goal and giving their defence a wretched time all game takes it for me. MOM Latini: Number 6 controlled the game well

• Pete O'Brien GK
• Andrew Mollitt DF
• Jonathan Lukito MD
• Jamie Townsend MD
• Luke Townsend ST
• Daniel Gregson --
• Tom Beattie --
• Max Fouracre --
• Darren Wareing --
• Lewis Wood --
• Mark Raven --

• John O'Neill --
• Jon Kelly --
• Luke Diaz --
• Pete Mills --

Frantic Friday

Another Episode of Friday night lights (FNL) and the result was not in favour of 1TM Latini. A strong squad was in place. First 20 started well for 1TM Latini, moving the ball around nicely and keeping control of the game, whilst dominating possession. The Germans tight lines stopped any forces from breaking the deadlock. It was an ‘over the top’ long ball which created the first real chance, a much improved kick & assists from the Gigantic put Duplo through, an excellent touch inside the defender and a tap, yeah.. a ‘tap’ over the keeper for a poetic finish into the far corner. With the momentum fully swinging in 1TM Latini’s direction and Duplo missing a chance to double his tally and the lead denied by the post it was Beats (by drake) to set out the blocks and slot home comfortably, 2-0. Just as we thought this would be our day, another solid performance and the 3 points we wanted our hopes were shot down by the Germans. A quick comeback with a long range deflection getting the better of POB & a tidy move & finish made it 2-2 & all to play for at the end of the first half. No changes at the break and the second half was not one for the photo album. There were two red cards involving both teams with one freak straight red for Zoo – a complete accidental smack around the GK’s head. You can’t make it up! JK also had a total comedy wipe out. The Germans started with some momentum until they lost their first man and the game turned into frantic back and forth counter attacking football. FT 2-2 which felt like 2 dropped points for 1TM Latini. Thanks to GAS for a competitive game and also for joining us for HV waterfalls. Good luck for the rest of the season. MOTM Latini: Darren Wareing (Captain Eyebrows) MOTM GAS: No 10 (Thomas we think)