Match Review: Casuals FC vs Gaulois Sports Club

• GK Razli Bin Rahaman
• DF Frazer Young
• DF Lee Scurr
• DF Mark Stead
• MD Will Patz
• ST Kazuki Sato-Brennan
• -- Ben Smith
• -- Paul Cowie
• -- Angus Buttar
• -- Lee Dae Hee
• -- Jake Taylor

• MD Rich Simmonds
• -- Tom Lees
• -- Alistair Wood
• -- Douglas Palmstedt

Kaz-abian

Another strong squad assembled back at UWC for our first Friday night fixtures of the season against the always difficult French. A few players missing, hero Andy was still crippled, Pat was where he was told to be, Harry was at a Bunga Bunga party but with lemonade and crisps and Greg had a little scratch on his knee – that said the squad looked hungry and with new keep Razli in we were very confident of keeping a clean sheet. Gaffer made a few changes to the team with Fraze starting after last week’s sulking and texting the gaffer all week promising he’ll last more than 50mins – Captain Sgt Angus turned up on time so replaced the still injured hero Andy and Ben ‘will you start the fans please’ Smith came in for Dogge aka the new Cowie. The game started will no real rhythm with both team seemingly happy to let each other play around the back and only press when past the half. We were always wary of the French threats especially Remi who on his day can be a wonderful player to watch. As the half went on we started to take control of the game a little more with the boys in the middle now on top lead by The Supreme Leader and Jakey Poos up top. Déjà vu? Almost identical? Not sure but Casuals took the lead after some great pressing leading to Jakey Poos chasing down a back pass and again robbing the GK to slot in to an empty net! 2 in 2 for the wee man and 1-0 Casuals. Couple of chances for both sides with Remi testing Razzle Dazzle a couple of times who expertly dealt with them. Angus had a great drive and finish with the GK tipping it around the post for a goal kick….strange and Cow Pants (much to Andy amusement) had time to put in another crap free kick. Half time 1-0. Chat was to have a little more quality on the ball and to transition slightly faster, the boys were confident and playing reasonably well but pleasingly had a lot left in the tank. Scurr adjusted his period pants, took the role of Captain Mainwaring and lead his army out for the second half. We again started well and continued to dominate the midfield backed up by the silent assassin Kaz-abian who apparently once said Hello…to someone….sometime…HONDA. Ben ‘will you start the fans please’ looked menacing at left back…quite literally menacing. Fraze missed time his challenge by a fraction of a second just outside the box, clear free kick maybe a yellow but certainly not the red card the cuddly #5 was screaming whilst ‘sprinting’ from the half way – side note, it’s always very disappointing to hear the opposition constantly call for cards and the #2 and #5 do it constantly much to the embarrassment of a few of their own team! We made a few changes to freshen up and make sure we continued to dominate the game although with no real chases for either side. Dogge aka the new cowie, new boy Tom (offensive nickname to come), Weird Ali and small hairy Rich all came on and slotted in seamlessly. Looking comfortable but without really testing the GK asides from 2 free kicks from Jake Poos. That was until Kaz-abian provided the first real bit if quality in the game, think Giggs in the FA Cup Semi-final. With energy and pace to burn Kaz-abian who had for the past 2 years been protecting our shores from the bad guys picked up the ball just past the half way…..ducked in between 2…..continued with balance and pace…round another but on his left now…..still in control….last defender, a little static? Doesn’t matter Kaz-abain skipped round the last defender and hit a thunderous left foot shot in the bottom corner! GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL Rumour has it in amongst the cuddles, high 5s and ‘hell yeahs’ Kaz-abian spoke….a myth? Who knows. The game ended 2-0 for the Casuals and what was a relatively comfortable victory. Lots of positive performances, new GK Razzle Dazzle kept a clean sheet and controlled the game well at important times, Captain Mainwaring rolled back the decades, Capt Sgt Angus turned up on time but MOM has to go to one man! Kaz-abian! Not only did he score a wonder goal, not only did he defend and keep their best player in his pocket but…but apparently he spoke! Well done to the French, competitive as always and with the like of Remi will always carry a threat. Ref was excellent – in my humble opinion by far the best we have in the league.

• Christophe Aprile GK
• Oussama Labib DF
• Nordine Talhi DF
• Andy Dyne MD
• Francois Bazin MD
• Lionel Bastos --
• Remi Tache --
• Maxime Kleszcz --
• Samuel Heraud --
• Maxime Segura --
• Maxime Galinier --

• Francois Casimont DF
• Arman Aymond --
• Mab Dousen --
• Ali Fatni --

Close but not good enough

A close game against a very well organized and much improved Casual side who played some good football all around the pitch and took their chances well. Not real chances in the first 20min with both teams trying to settle and keep the ball to move the opponent block. After 20min and a back pass to our Goalkeeper Chris, the striker put pressure on him which lead him to try to dodge the striker. Chris walked on the ball and the striker had all the pleasure to take it and put it into the back of net. After that, OG tried to pressure higher but never really put a feet on the ball. We did create a few chances from long striker, especially one from Remi (from his right feet) which went just under the bar but was well tap over by Casuals keeper. Casual had another long striker going straight into the bottom corner but this time Chris made no mistake to deflect it. 1-0 HT. At this stage we where quite confident we could come back, reshuffled the team a bit. But 2nd half was the same story. A battle in midfield fairly won by Casual overall. Not real chances for both teams apart from a ball wandering around the 6 yard box that Remi was a foot away to tap it over the keeper. A few other long distance strike, but really not enough to create trouble against this well organized team. On the other end, in the last 10min Casuals winger decided to take the ball, go across half of the pitch width without been really challenged and shoot into the first bottom corner. 2-0 Casual on there 3 chance of the game. We kept trying but the game play was not really there today. Too many easy passes missed, no crosses (maybe 3) and that is it. Overall a disappointing performance that we could have gone the other way with a bit of luck, but, Casuals took the best of us in midfield and that what made the difference tonight. Committee warning for fairplay table was well received by Casual. A very fair and enjoyable game. Well done Casuals. Good game from the ref overall. MOM: Max K for a solid performance at center back. MOM Casuals: We do not know the name of the new faces... UPLOAD PICTURES :)