Match Review: Hibernians FC vs Swiss FC

• DF Joe Poulton
• MD Julio Vasquez
• -- Andrew Knott
• -- Niko Rieder
• -- Elfryani Donohue
• -- Roger Milburn
• -- Heljar Havnes
• -- Mark Bufton
• -- Thorin Duffin
• -- Luke Liperis
• -- Mark O'Halloran

• -- Andy Pether
• -- Andrew Talbot
• -- Osawa Saturo
• -- Ben Raper
• -- Colin Gray

Duffin Em Up

Thorin's brace along with goals from Buffy and Colin secured a much needed three points after the disappointment of last week's point. It was one of those rare weeks where 18 players made themselves available and it was the squad that got this result. It wasn't a pretty first half and The Swiss had some nice passages. Joey's famous rocket-pack pace saved Heljar an early bath, but it was a grim half. Oh, Thorin's hot streak continued as he skewed an effort in. Two changes at the break for Hibs, but The Swiss had a good sight of goal but Elf stood up well to save and almost immediately, broke and Lippy eventually released a pass to set Buffy free to score the one-on-one. The Swiss were on the ropes and Thorin and Colin scored and then Talbot and Lippy started having a chipping competition. Neither of them could hit the target and Hibs settled for four and a clean-sheet. MOM for The Swiss - their young keeper Hibs MoM - Thorin

• Nice De Mello DF
• Cyrill Binder DF
• Paul Le Helloco MD
• Felix Reike --
• Mohamed Aly --
• Sean Sukarman --
• Hilo Fujimoto --
• Mostafa Alzyat --
• Gordon Cyr --
• Ivan Gomez --
• Lennart von der Luhe --

• Laurent Brutsch DF
• Takayasu Yamamoto --
• Talant Begaliev --
• Urs Brutsch --

When you are with the back against the wall...

After the Arsenal vs Tottenham clash on Saturday, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said: "I do not need to say anything. It was obvious for everyone here and watching at home”. Since the Cosmo League is one of the few leagues not yet shown live on TV in Singapore, we are forced to describe the situation. On 10 minutes, Mostafa played a beautiful ball into the back of the Hibs defenders. Sean ran onto the ball, made a couple of touches, and about 8 metres outside the box, straight on his way to goal, the Hibs number 18 took him out with what can only be called a very agricultural challenge. None of the Swiss players asked for a red card, because that was the only choice the referee had, as the Hibs defender was the last defender and no other Hibs player had a chance to catch up with Sean. But the referee thought otherwise and rewarded the Hibs player with a yellow card. After the game, the official tried to explain the situation: the Hibs player was going for the ball, so it was only yellow. Yes, he was definitely going for the ball, but he did not even get near the ball and looking at Law 12 of the FIFA rules there was only one possible sanction. Red card. He most definitely denied the Swiss a goal-scoring opportunity. That decision was awful, and it would have made the game an entirely different one. To the game itself: the first half was very balanced and both teams created a couple of chances, but it was mostly a midfield battle (mind you, the midfield at PSA is the size of a full pitch). The only goal of the half came courtesy of a cross which went totally wrong, but ended up in the back of the Swiss net. The mood in the Swiss camp at the half was one of optimism, because the young team had put in a very good performance, there was no difference between the two teams. The second half started well for the Swiss, who had a great chance to equalize, but Sean’s effort was saved by the keeper. On the counter attack a Swiss defender just moved up a split second late and played the Hibs player onside. He completed his run from the halfway line with a clinical finish. Swiss heads dropped for five minutes, which was enough for two more Hibs goals for the final result of 4:0. The result does not reflect the difference between the teams. Hibs took their chances, while we did not – but that is football, and that decides the games. Well done Hibs. To close with the quote of the day (courtesy of the referee, referring to the controversial decision after 10 minutes): “ your striker would not have scored anyway if he had not been brought down – you saw how he missed a chance in the second half”. We will motor on. At some point the football gods will be nice to us. We need to continue to work hard and force luck our way.