Match Review: 1TM Latini FC vs FC Nippon

• GK Pete O'Brien
• DF Fraser Anderson
• DF Jonathan Baker
• DF Jordan Laing
• MD Jamie Townsend
• MD Joe Moriarty
• MD Sam Balls
• ST Mike Sharples
• ST Ben Marshall
• ST Jacob Saurin
• ST Yuto Nagai

• DF Hiromitsu Nakaue
• DF Taishi Fukuda
• ST Nick Verill

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Saturday’s 5pm kick off saw 1TM face up against Nippon. Nippon are on a great run at the moment and have the ability to cause so many problems for teams so we needed to be at our best today. Unfortunately, we were effectively without our outfield spine as Didge (holiday) and Tinks / Duplo (selfish golf) were unavailable for selection so Tactical Tally drafted in Yuto San and Sherlock to cover. The biggest hurdle for the squad to overcome was from DBS and Paylah crashing all over Singapore so a lot of begging bowls were being raised in taxis as the team made their way to the Turf. The game started predictably with 1TM happy to allow Nippon to have possession in their half and pressed hard when they entered ours. In the opening exchanges, there were few chances created by both sides. On 7 minutes, some space was found down the right as Boggy picked up the ball and drove to the touch line. The young winger showed great skill to find a yard on his defender and even better composure to play an inch perfect cross to the far post for the waiting Sharples. Sharples effortlessly controlled the ball, struck it well across the keeper and into the bottom corner. 1-0. Nippon continued to press with the ball but didn’t create a clear chance as 1TM remained dogged in defence. It continued to be a half of few chances but 1TM nearly extended the lead when Sharples cut inside and his effort hit the bar. HT 1-0 The second half was slightly more open with 1TM growing as a threat on goal. Nippon continued to keep possession well but had limited chances. A key moment happened just before the water break when Nippon’s number 39 brought down Yuto for a second time and gave the ref no other option but to show him a second yellow. The final moments of the match saw 1TM enjoy more possession as we made use of the extra man. On 86 minutes, some nice interchange passing on the halfway line saw Yuto San played into goal by Gerbil and he ran across his man then finished well when 1v1 with the ‘keeper. 2-0 FT 2-0 Credit to Nippon who were excellent opponents today and gave us a really tough game of football. Thanks to the officials for their part in the encounter and massive thanks to lucky charms, Sharples Snr and The Anderson Clan for their support. Nipp MOM - Itchy 1TM MOM - Yuto San 1TM DOD - Racky Kit - ?

• Kento Joko GK
• Katsumi Oku DF
• Yuki Ichikawa DF
• Hiromasa Tanaka DF
• Inaki Moreno MD
• Ashwin Unnithan MD
• Enrique Sanchez MD
• Seiji TACHIBANA MD
• Takuya Hagino ST
• Seito Yachimoto --
• Jo Kagitani --

• Takaki NAKAMURA GK
• Jaume Ferrer MD
• Ryuhei IKEDA MD
• Koichiro KOSUGI --

Quality performance

The Japanese team started the game with a very fit squad with a good mixture of Japanese and non-Japanese. Inaki joined us from the OGs and appeared in the starting eleven. Latini is well known for its goal-getting capability, so we paid utmost care when starting the game. The first 5 minutes was very much even, both teams trying to grab the control of the game. Nippon leveraged short and accurate passes while Latini put strong pressure on us. When the team started to feel that we had a good start, we were punished by a counter attack- Latini gained the ball in the midfield, quickly fed it to the right side dribbler, boggy, and he delivered a superb cross where Mike was waiting free. His right foot fired a strong and accurate shot and that was the opening goal. 0-1 The rest of the first half was again almost even. Nippon reacted very well and controled the ball making use of its quality passes. Jo beamed a great middle shot and Kike made numbers of threats from his magical left foot but Latini's keeper denied all of them. Latini also created a threat from its corner kick but Nippon's keeper, Joko, made a super save. In the second half, Nippon replaced Seiji with Jaume, Tanaka with Adachi and relocated Jo to the left side. The change made a positive impact and Nippon managed to regain the control of the game. However, they struggled to breakthrough Latini's vital zone. Nippon replaced Kike with Ikeda in early second half and made good efforts, but Latini defence remained focused. In the 20th minute, an unlucky foul led to Inaki's second card, and he was unfortunately sent off. Losing a fighter in the midfield was definitely a crucial loss for the team, but they remained strong and reacted very well to the situation. Latini may thought the game would have been much easier, but it didn't turn out to be so. Yes, Latini's opportunities slightly increased and their possession obvisouly went higher, but Nippon never gave up to win the game and actually made numbers of attempts. A free kick in the 14th minute hit the wall and almost slipped into the goal, but Nippon didn't have the luck today. In the very last minute, the exhausted defense line was trying to build up when Latini's speed star, Yuto, stealed the ball and carried it with him, won the 1 vs 1 with the keeper, adding a goal to the game. This was decisive and Nippon couldn't make a big change after this. 0-2. Nevertheless, it was a great and competitive game and we believe it was one of the few games Latini struggled to get 3 points. Well done to both teams and especially Mike and Yuto who scored important goals. MoM: Mike, who scored the opening goal and made numbers of threats MoM: Yuki, who saved the team many times with his intelligent positioning