Notes
The first player is the "home" player, the second player was the "away" player and had to use the small Subbuteo or Zeugo style goalkeeper.
Fri Feb 13, 09: Jason Mitchell 1 V Dominic Hutchinson 1 (HT 0-1)
Goals
First half
0-1 3:24 Dominic
Second half
1-1 8:21 Jason
Pitch : Mawra, Porter Ranch
Comments:
Jason: Hard game after two months out of action. Dominic was very good with his defensive play. I am happy with a point.
Dominic: I felt it was a close game with a few tense moments. Jason seemed to have improved since the last time I played him. I felt the little goalkeeper is hard, but a democracy is a democracy.
Fri Feb 13, 09: Wayne Smith 1 V Simon Hutchinson 1 (HT 0-0)
Goals
Second half
0-1 7:49 Simon
1-1 12:18 Wayne
The opening ten minutes of the first half was Wayne on the attack, but his final flicks and shooting let him down. Simon was on the attack for the final five minutes of the half winning three corners and forcing his opponent to make two saves.
The second half opened with even play and Simon start to reassert his dominance in the middle of the half Wayne's usually deadly flicking appeared to desert him.
Simon described his goal as one of the "weirdest" he had ever scored. The ball was on the top right corner of the penalty area, and his figure was level with the ball, with the figure to ball line being almost parallel to the goal line. He sliced the ball and it slowly rolled towards to goal, struck the inside of the far post and rolled into the goal to the surprise of both players. Wayne had not moved his goalkeeper, that was covering the near post, as in the past he had scooped "many" similar shots into his own goal.
From then on Wayne pressed forward with increasing urgency in his quest for an equalizing goal, but his flicking continued to desert him as he kept giving up possession at the critical time. Simon did have forays up the pitch but was unable to have another shot to threaten the goal.
Wayne's equalizer came from a fast break down the left side. He pushed the ball through Simon's defense and for once struck his shot perfectly into the goal between the small Subbuteo goalkeeper and the post.
Pitch : Fast pitch, Porter RanchComments:
Wayne: I the both of us had lots of trouble adjusting to the dim lighting because we both had trouble with our angles. Simon controlled he ball really well in the second part of the first half as I just could not keep possession, not just from poor flicking but from good defensive flicking. I hit three posts but none of them were really close to going in. Simon may not see it this way but the game saving play was a terrific save by his skinny [Subbuteo] goalkeeper on a hard shot to the middle of the goal.
Simon: Now we know that Wayne will not go through this season winning every game. I am very pleased with the result as I was using the small goalkeeper. He was definitely having an "off" game, but we all do, and I took advantage of it. I still cannot believe that I scored that goal. I can still see it in slow motion rolling towards the far post wondering why Wayne is not moving his goalkeeper. All in all a fair result for a great game.
Fri Feb 13, 09: Jason Mitchell 0 V Simon Hutchinson 3 (HT 0-1)
Goals
First half
0-1 10:45 Simon
Second half
0-2 2:35 Simon
0-3 8:21 Simon, Jason had stranded his spare goalkeeper
Pitch : Mawra, Porter Ranch
Comments:
Jason: I thought I dominated the first half eventhough I was one down. The second half was the other way around.
Simon: I finally got my offense moving. Jason came out fast and I weathered that storm. I felt from midway through the first half I started to dominate the game. After scoring the first goal Jason pushed more and more players forward into attack, with as many as six or seven players just outside by shooting line, and I had to defend in numbers. I could then win possession do a "route one" pass to a striker on the edge of his shooting line and get a shot at his goal.
It is nice to score some goals having not scored for the previous two weeks.
Fri Feb 13, 09: Dominic Hutchinson 0 v Wayne Smith 3 (HT 0-1)
Goals
First half
0-1 13:05 Wayne
Second half
0-2 3:11 Wayne
0-3 11:37 Wayne, penalty following a hand ball
Pitch : Fast pitch, Porter Ranch
Comments:
Wayne: At first my offense was as cold as it was against Simon. A small part of it was me, but most of it was really good defensive flicks by Dominic. I finally broke through with 1:59 left iin the first half.
The reason for the goal was Dominic tried to get a goal kick so he could reset his defense. Luckily for me he slammed the ball downfield it hit my goal post and went out for a throw in. That left his defense open for my throw in and goal.
The second half was a lot less frustrating for me. I finally got some open chances, scored a second goal. Then while shooting for a thrid the ball struck Dominic's hand in the penalty area. That was about it for my offense.
Dominic had three attempts at goal. Two narrowly missed the ball when attempting long flicks. The third my goalkeeper saved. That was another very long flick.
Dominic: What he said.
Fri Feb 13, 09: Wayne Smith 3 v Jason Mitchell 0 (HT 2-0)
Goals
First half
1-0 4:49 Wayne
2-0 7:49 Wayne
Second half
3-0 13:58 Wayne
Pitch : Fast pitch, Porter Ranch
Comments:
Wayne: My eyes finally became adjusted to the light, I pushed a light closer to the pitch and what a difference! My play was much better than the previous two games. I recall having most of the possession most of the time and got quite a few good shots. Jason used the skinny keeper well and made three excellent saves. I was nice that Jason let me win on my 500th game.
Jason: I am lost for words.
Fri Feb 13, 09: Dominic Hutchinson 1 v Simon Hutchinson 1 (HT 1-0)
Goals
First half
1-0 3:07 Simon
Second half
1-1 13:25 Dominic
Pitch : Mawra, Porter Ranch
Comments:
Dominic: I felt I played really absolutely horrible in the first half and absolutely brilliant in the second half. I felt my goal should have been score in the first half, but a goal is a goal.
Simon: A lucky shot by Dominic flew into the top of my goal over the small goalkeeper. I pressed and pressed all game and Dominic pulled off a string of saves after my first goal. I am disappointed that this game ended in a tie.
Fri Feb 20, 09: League Cup First
round first leg
Munir Merchant 0 V Simon Hutchinson 1 (HT 0-1)
Goals
First half
0-1 10:16 Simon. Shot from right, just inside penalty area,
chipped over goalkeeper.
Pitch : Drey, Maricopa, Simi Valley
Comments:
Munir: I thought the game was pretty even. I had some shots on goal but they missed. Simon had better shots and scored. The one Simon scored was the one I should have saved. I played pretty well, I should have been more aggressive.
Simon: I had a couple of good shots that Munir got in the way of. I thought I deserved to win as Munir did not have a shot on target. So I did not have to use the small goalkeeper. All in all a fair result, I got the "away" goal and win.
Fri Feb 20, 09: Dominic Hutchinson 1 v Kevin Nieman 0 (HT 1-0)
Goals
First half
1-0 9:21 Dominic. Ball was inside the shooting zone between
two of Kevin's defenders. Dominic made a long flick from his own shooting
line and struck the ball. The ball slowly rolled toward the far post.
Kevin attempted to save with the small goalkeeper but dragged the ball into his
goal.
Pitch : Rookery, Maricopa, Simi Valley
Comments:
Dominic: I felt the game was pretty evenly matched. I was shocked that I scored the goal. And pleased with the result.
Both players recounted that Kevin had not made any saves during the game.
Kevin: I was not paying attention for Dominic's goal. When the ball went towards the net I was really lazy. I watched the ball go in because it was painfully slow. Anybody could have stopped it, but I didn't that and that was the difference in the game.
Fri Feb 20, 09: Munir Merchant 1 v Wayne Smith 2 (HT 1-1)
Goals
First half
0-1 5:49 Wayne
1-1 12:30 Munir
Second half
1-2 9:52 Wayne
Pitch : Drey, Maricopa, Simi Valley
Comments:
Wayne: For the first ten minutes I completely controlled the game. I had six shots, Munir had three saves, I had two posts, and a goal. Then with two minutes left Munir scored. At 20 seconds [left in the first half] Munir shot and I was forced to make a save.
In the second half I tried to throw the game forward, but Munir played good defense and prevented any chances. My second goal occurred when I had seven figures forward and couldn't score. Munir pressed hard for the last five minutes. He forced two corners and one save. It was an excellent game.
Munir: I should have been able to block the second goal. I had two chances to block, but both were failures. That was the only thing I was disappointed with. Other than that it was a good game.
Fri Feb 20, 09: Kevin Nieman 0 v Simon Hutchinson 0
Pitch : Rookery, Maricopa, Simi Valley
Comments:
Kevin: Simon had more offense than I did. My offense could not muster anything here.
Simon: I did feel I had the edge and almost won it with my last shot. With less than one minute remaining I shot from a tight angle from the left. The ball struck the inside of the far post, the side Kevin's goalkeeper, and bounced out.
Kevin's offense was really non-existent apart from the last three minutes of the first half when he had three corners in a row. I did not have to make a save with my goalkeeper.
Fri Feb 20, 09: Simon Hutchinson 0 v Wayne Smith 2
Goals
First half
0-1 3:02 Wayne
0-2 12:02 Wayne
Pitch : Drey, Maricopa, Simi Valley
Comments:
Wayne: The game is a blur right now. The second half, as I remember it, was very even. The first half was not so much.
The second goal was off a defender, then off the goalkeeper, and in at the near post.
The first goal was in the third minute. It helped my game as I could relax.
Simon: The game started as all Wayne, as it wore on I was able to control the midfield and make Wayne do long passes from defense to attack. Two defensive errors with my flicks left the gaps for the goals.
I gave away a penalty near the end of the second half, and managed to save it as I anticipated where Wayne would aim for.