Match Review: Singapore Vikings FC vs German-Swiss All Stars

• DF Matthias Berthelsen
• MD Thomas Domino Andersen
• MD Casper Toennesen
• ST Ales Melechovsky
• -- Tjalfe Paulsen
• -- Michael Dragsbaek
• -- Andreas Kristensen
• -- Mark Van Dalen
• -- Jules Busser
• -- Magnus Mernild
• -- Mikkel Madsen

• DF Magnus Walling Hansen
• DF Lasse Lund
• -- Mark Crouch
• -- Mark James Raven
• -- Maahin Bose

Beauty is in The Eye of the Beholder

This was by no means a game for the purist but I’m sure those in attendance would agree there was an abundance of effort, grit and determination shown by both sets of players - the game may well have lacked in quality but this was made up for with the fighting spirit demonstrated by both sides. Vikings started the brighter and dominated the early play, the reshuffled backline looked strong and the addition of debutant Mikkel furnished the Vikings with a young man who is both comfortable on the ball and willing to do the dirty stuff when required. Domino and Casper filled the customary centre slots and they quickly took a stranglehold on the game; both orchestrating our early attacks which came down both flanks through Tj & Busser. GSAS struggled to cope with the speed of the game and found themselves penned back in the first quarter but much to their credit they reached the water break with the scores even. Vikings felt that we needed to maintain the same game plan and exert as much pressure high up the park as possible; as is only to be expected when employing this tactic we got caught a couple of times and got hit on the break when some of our passing went wayward. Luckily for us Drags in nets had arrived home before dawn, with not too much of the loopy juice inside him, and was able to come to our rescue when needed. The deadlock was broken around the half hour mark when our well rehearsed corner was finally rewarded as Busser poked in for his third goal in as many games, this after an excellent header from Mathias. It could have been the opening of the floodgates, especially as within moments of the restart Tjalfe found himself in acres of space but unfortunately for us the chance came to nothing and the gates remained closed. GSAS composed themselves and started to play the ball around, creating some good chances of their own in the latter stages of the half but alas the score remained 1-0 as we went to half time. Despite not being happy will elements of our play, particularly some of our sloppy passing, we were content with being in front and felt it was only a matter of time before we added to our lead. While this eventually proved true there proved to be many hurdles to overcome during the second period. GSAS found their step and started to get forward with greater fluency, the introduction of a pacy right back afforded them the opportunity to play higher up the pitch. For a majority of the second half a fair and physical battle took place, and it is worth mentioning at this point that it was excellently managed by the three officials. There was nothing between the teams and it felt like the game could swing either way - Meli had a goal disallowed for offside and GSAS had a few half chances. It wasn’t until another well worked corner was netted by Mikkel that the Vikings felt safe. The last 10 min or so were played out with not too much tension and Vikings secured the points that they needed to keep in touch with the teams at the top. Thank you to GSAS who really could have got something from this game after a spirited second half performance, they are a great bunch who play hard but fair and in the manner of the Cosmo league - good luck for the remainder of the season fellas. Worth mentioning again the solid performance of the officials, often it is easy to criticise but I thought today they were spot on. It’s nice for us to bounce back from last week’s disappointment and it is testament to the team’s character to win through despite not hitting the peaks we desire. Sometimes winning is not pretty but 3 points sure looks more beautiful than none in my ageing eyes! MOM GSAS - Bastian Keller - who epitomised what it is to give your all for the team - commanding at the back and a problem to contain when playing forward MOM Vikings - Casper, just didn’t stop all day Thanks to our supporters who came out in numbers to cheer the guys on - it really makes a difference.

• Marius Teich DF
• Nice De Mello DF
• Nick Hennies MD
• Diyar Mailepessov ST
• Anthony Wilson ST
• Ayhan Ertogul --
• Joe Giani --
• Florian Aubert --
• Bastian Keller --
• Mark Leonhardt --
• Jan Wiechmann --

• Laurent Brutsch DF
• Oscar Moreno --
• Simon Murtagh --

Unfortunate defeat against Vikings

The first match in 2020 started under pressure for the GAS. Vikings always try to play long balls to their striker which has caused some problems for the GAS. Even these longs balls we tryed to played too but without chance due to Vikings are to good in the air so they often got the high balls. After 20 minutes GAS got a big chance 1 vs 1 even the last defender fouled Nick without getting a red card... unlucky for GAS And it was a corner kick with much luck for Vikings which was responsible for our first conceding goal. At the half break we decided to play short combinations instead of long balls. So GAS started with pressure and a lot of ball possession in to the second half. We'd tryed and created good chances but our shots on target were horrible this day. One of Vikings less chances in the second half was again a Corner kick which found the way in our goal. Final Score 0:2 unlucky result for the GAS. It was a good and intensive match from both sides. Thanks Vikings, have a good rest of the season!