Match Review: Gaulois Sports Club vs 1TM Latini FC

• GK Fahmy Rahman
• DF Ivan Gosio
• MD Javier Calvo
• MD Ifan Michaud
• MD Jean-Baptiste Bois
• MD Enrique Sanchez
• MD Inaki Moreno
• MD Unni Kazhakkumara
• -- Hugo Tauler
• -- Arnaud Darde
• -- Francois Pannetier

• DF Natnael Getu
• -- Santiago Sanguinetti
• -- Julien Paublant

A highly anticipated match for OGS against the league leaders

With blue skies and scorching hot weather, the already challenging task was going to be even harder. The match started with an intense tempo: we focused on keeping our shape and passing the ball around. We were able to control the midfield for the majority of the first half and created chances but 1 TM were first to draw blood with a counter attack after we lost the ball in attack. We managed to equalise almost immediately thanks to a long ball from our captain Iñaki to Kike who managed to slot it in the net. 1-1 at Half time. The second half proved to be more difficult with the weather and fatigue taking its toll on both teams. Nonetheless in the dying minutes of the game, 1TM hit the crossbar after a corner kick and we hit the post after Hugo's strike was deflected from an impressive reflex save by the 1TM keeper. 1-1 at full time. A fair result for a great match with lots of quality. Big thanks to 1TM and best of luck for the rest of the season.

• Pete O'Brien GK
• Ben Tomlinson DF
• Jonathan Baker DF
• Fraser Anderson DF
• Jonathan Cloak DF
• Samuel Taylor MD
• Nathan Bryer MD
• Jamie Roberts MD
• Salvatore Adaldo ST
• Jacob Saurin ST
• Yuto Nagai ST

• Hiromitsu Nakaue DF
• Ismail Bardach MD
• Jamie Townsend MD
• Jonathan Lukito MD
• George Parrott MD
• Hezekiah Pinkrah ST
• Nick Verill ST

TIRAGE AU SORT

Tactical Tally was on a scouting assignment in Bali so the managerial reigns were passed onto Captain POB and Jamie ‘Witness the Fitness’ Roberts. 1TM could boast a strong squad with the more sensible players feeling well rested after the two week break, whereas the others had only recently recovered from the exploits on Sharples’ Stag do. The game kicked off in the relentless heat, which immediately had an impact on the speed at which the match played out. Both sides were relatively tentative in the opening exchanges, but 1TM slowly began to get some joy in wide spaces and began to create some half chances. The first real chance came when Rat Rig moved the ball forward from right back and played a delightful ball over the top for the in-form and in-the-clear Flat White to run onto. He drove into the box and unselfishly squared a pass to Salvo and the Italian Stallion made no mistake from 6 yards out with a great finish. 1-0. A key moment in the first half saw Digit produce one of his trademark pings over the full back which gave Yuto something to chase. As he headed the ball to evade the defender, Yuto was met with a size 10 in his face from the recovering full back and unfortunately had to go off and onto hospital with the injury. Rest well and wishing him a speedy recovery. 1TM lost some of their momentum and the key danger players for the French began to grow into the game. A cutting ball through our defence, saw a French striker one on one with POB but the 1TM captain did well to tip over the half volley. It was another ball over the top that allowed OG to square things up. The ball landed inside the box to Kike, who twisted and turned and finished calmly into the bottom corner. HT 1-1 We know that we finish matches strongly so we were confident going into the second half. We were almost rewarded straight away after good work out wide from Gerbil saw us win a corner. From the resulting passage of play, the ball was fired across goal and Gerbil couldn’t quite control the ball to finish at the back post and the ball went looping over the bar. OG were able to soak up 1TM pressure and break quickly and they responded with a couple of good strikes on goal. The weather was energy zapping so it made the amount of running that both sets of players did to win the game all the more impressive. Special mention to Ruby on his first game back, TInks and Nate who all put in an incredible shift in midfield in tough conditions. In the last couple of minutes, both sides could have claimed all 3 points. First, a big punt up top saw the ball bounce around inside the OG box and eventually came to Hezzy, who connected well with a strike on goal and the OG ‘keeper produced an excellent stop to deny 1TM taking the lead. Then, Rat Rig delivered another great ball to Frando, who arrived at the back post and his header hit the underside of the bar. From there, OG broke and Hugo found himself with space in the box. The former 1TM midweek league striker nearly haunted his old teammates, but POB was able to push his effort onto the post and Rat Rig tidied up before any OG player could capitalise on the rebound. Full Time 1-1 In the end, nothing could split the two sides and this season’s first draw in the Cosmo League was probably a fair result. Special thanks to the whole 1TM squad who came down today. It's so tough when subs don’t come on but those that didn’t play today demonstrated such a positive attitude. Thanks to Sharples and Racky for coming down to watch along with Team Lego. Thanks to the match officials for their part in today’s match. MOM French - Inaki MOM 1TM - Ruby DOD - Hezzy for having his mobile glued to his hand all afternoon. KIT & Balls - POB