Match Day 2 – 10/05/2008 – C’s

MAY

13

After a dramatic week of injuries and absentees the FC Adelaide C’s squad was decimated, with just barely 11 players able to make the trek up the freeway to face Strathalbyn on their own paddock. Confidence was low with the team being very conscious of having no subs.

To their credit the boys got off to a flying start, with Fernando “Pipa” Murray scoring within the first 5 minutes. It seemed like slow motion as he paused and chipped the ball delightfully over the keeper, with the ball dropping in off the crossbar. The spirit of the entire team was lifted from that point as FC Adelaide began to take control of the early attacks.

James ”Bruce” Li was unlucky to see an effort flash just wide of the post on 10 minutes, as we seized control of the game. Pipa was involved in everything good when FC Adelaide was going forward, he and Lingam combined superbly down the right getting good support from Sam “the Godfather” Tronnolone.

After half an hour we began to look a bit shaky in defence. With the team tiring and Strathalbyn seeming to have 4-5 players camped up front at times, the game began to open up.

A good spell of pressure from Strath saw them force a corner which came to nothing. As the half neared completion FC Adelaide missed a couple of golden opportunities to go 2-0 up. Lingam missed a golden opportunity to score when, after managing to round the keeper, he fired into the side netting with the goal wide open. Strath was clearly rattled at this point, and Evan  “The Veteran” Jackson couldn’t believe his luck shortly after when the Strath keeper accidentally threw the ball straight to him on the edge of the box. But he couldn’t find the target with only the keeper to beat.

Half time was blown with us having a 1-0 advantage.

The second half began with controversy. With our defence failing to clear from the box, a penalty was awarded when Petros “The Enforcer” was tackled by a Strathalbyn player who somehow went down in the process. It was unclear as to what the penalty was for with The Enforcer being the player in possession. The FC Adelaide players felt they had been harshly dealt with. Tass “The Angry Dinosaur” protested colourfully and got himself booked for kicking the ball away in disgust. It was almost a relief to see yellow at that point, as a Red card would have been a complete disaster.

The Strath number 10 coolly slotted the ball home to make it 1-1.

After a couple of minutes of arguments, football karma gave us the break we needed.

Almost immediately Sam somehow managed restore the advantage. After a good attacking run down the right wing, Sam saw the keeper off his line and struck a breathtaking shot from the Tony Hall pocket which went in off the far post. 2-1 to FC Adelaide.

As the game wore on, our boys began to tire. Evan “the Veteran” was forced to play the entire game with no subs available, he held up his position admirably as Strathalbyn began to rotate their players through the bench.

The second half was pretty even from this point with some dubious off side calls preventing some promising attacks by Lingam. He did still manage to make one more good chance for himself, but couldn’t find the target in a 1 on 1 with their keeper.

In the end the ref blew the final whistle leaving FC Adelaide to enjoy the long drive back to town claiming the 2-1 victory.

The boys displayed great courage given the drama’s surrounding the team selection this week, the coach is very proud of their efforts.

By Leigh McGillick