Young Guns keep going: Match Report against Riversdale

Young Guns vs. Riversdale 23.05.09 (H)  -  6:0 (1:0)

To give the Young Guns a bit of a polish for their ball skills we had scheduled an indoor training session during the week. And after another convincing performance in their third game of the season we have to say it might have paid off. The passing game topped by a few one-two-combinations and great goals was very pleasing to watch. Playing against a less experienced first-year team from Riversdale, the Guns demonstrated good spirit, not playing to simply outscore the opponent by kicking goal after goal. They clearly focussed on keeping the ball in their own possession, carrying it forward over both wings, and almost always looking for the boy in the best position in front of goals. The result of 6-0 seems very clear and one-sided; but considering the half-time result of 1-0 after 25 minutes, it is obvious that this game was not just a walk in the park. The boys again worked very hard for their 3^rd win in a row. Playing at home in front of their strong supporter base for the 3^rd time this season might have helped them as well.

With a loud and clear “Gooooo Young Gunnnnnnnssss” we started the game out of a very compact backline in front of goalie Moritz who took a bit of a rest at first after helping out for the Soccerjoeys before together with Josh and Justin. The defence was built around skipper Corey, tackling machine Nick, No. 10 Josh, and allrounder Ryan. These fabulous 4 hardly left any ball through towards our own goal, but constantly fed our midfielders and attackers with great balls to work with. Further up the ground we had Alex, Victor, and James over the wings, and Justin and Callum as dangerous spearheads.

Riversdale not only started the game with a tightly knit backline themselves, they also had a real devil in goals in the first half. We started attack after attack, Victor had a few rocket like crosses from the left only missing the strikers by a few inches. Alex worked his way through of the right side, and later over the left side, again and again. Callum, Justin, and James did their bit to keep Riversdale defence busy all the time. We had corner after corner, but the ball just did not want to go pass the goal line. Then it was up to Corey to steal the ball from a Riversdale forward and quickly tip it on to Josh. His shot from half right into the high left corner was a stunner that even left the Riversdale cheer squad clapping respectfully. With that relieving 1-0 lead the Young Guns went into the halftime break.  

As always we turned the team upside down for the 2^nd half. All the midfielders and forwards from half 1 went further back, the defenders found themselves in the attacking line. Victor put on the No. 1 jersey as well as the goalie gloves. Alex in the engine room organized his backline with Justin, Callum, and James. As before the break, this last line of defence proofed to be too solid for Riversdale to score.

Riversdale, worn down by the constant attacks in the first 25 minutes got more and more tired soon after the break. The Guns’ 2^nd strike couldn’t be far away. After only a few minutes Moritz put down the ball for one of the plenty corners. Like in training just 2 weeks ago the Guns sprinted into the box once the ball flew into the center, and with a classic finish Bobby Scholes tipped the ball pass the Riversdale defence. Shortly thereafter Justin won the ball in the back and quickly passed it on to James who in his trademark thunder sprint carried it forward over the left wing. His assist reached Ryan just at the right time. With all the coolness a forward needs, he left the other keeper with no chance and put up his hands to celebrate the 3-0 for the Gunners.

The next 2 goals probably made up the draw for the “goal of the day award”. First Moritz went down in a tough tackle, but quickly found his feet again, won the ball back and sprinted down the left wing. A few centimetres before the goal line he turned the ball around and passed it into the center where Nick had already positioned himself to bomb it first-touch into the net. 4-0, and the Guns’ supporters were contemplating to start a Mexican wave around Larpent. Good that they didn’t, as there was another highlight to come just a few moments later. Josh and Moritz tanked their way through over the right side with 2 or 3 one-two passes in a row until they came so close to Riversdale’s goal that one of them had to take the shot. Both were hesitating a bit, being more keen to get an assist marked down next to their name rather than finishing this outstanding combination. Finally it was up to Josh to leave the goalkeeper with no chance with a decisive strong shot into the lower left corner. Last not least, with only a few minutes to go, Nick van Persie put Moritz into action who this time couldn’t find a better positioned team mate. So there was no way around for him to add the icing to his superb performance today and add the 6^th goal for the Guns to their scoresheet.

Let’s have a quick look into some of the highlights of our cracks:

Moritz: With 3 brilliant assists in today’s game he put his tally in this category to 8 after only 3 games. It is great to watch him how he enjoys putting his friends into scoring position. This is what we call “team spirit”.

Nick: 4 majors after only 3 games. The Dutch defending specialist slowly but steadily mutates into a very dangerous attacker, equalizing his goal counter from last season already after 3 rounds. He must have inherited this killer instinct from dad and assistant coach Guus.

Josh: If we can rely on one thing in 2009, then it is the precision of Joshi’s shots. 8 goals after 3 rounds is certainly an outstanding record. But it is not only the number of goals, it is the “style”. I often compare him with the Argentinean Lionel Messi from CF Barcelona – this is not only because of the No. 10 he’s proudly wearing.

Corey: As skipper he lead our team into this game with a great performance. It was not only the way he kept his positions, it was also the constant determination to win the ball and put momentum into the flow of our game, that let him appear as real role model today. His assist to our first goal basically broke the willpower of Riversdale defence.

Ryan: After one or two nervous kicks he found his rhythm very quickly keeping his calm and passing the balls with lots of skills down the line to our forwards. This calmness has also become very handy for Ryan when he fronts up again the opponents’ goalkeepers this year. 2 majors after 3 games are the well-deserved result.

Alex: The Young Guns’ powerhouse has a name: Alex! It’s not just the unstoppable runs down the right or even left wing. It’s also the tackles and even more so the grenade-like shots that he keeps firing. Today one of these shots from the halfway line even went over the crossbar. Lucky crossbar, or lucky goalkeeper, that it did J

Victor: One is the powerhouse, another one is the synonym for speed and stamina. Little Victor races over the pitch like Speedy Gonzales, wearing 4 opponents down at the same time. And it’s amazing that he still has some power left in this left foot to cross the ball in like torpedos from the left wing.

Callum: He clearly enjoyed himself today being right into it from the very first second. His speciality today was kicking our corners from both sides. 2 or 3 of them, flying high through the Riversdale box, nearly led to scores for our team. However, it was probably not only the opponent being stunned by the strength of his kicks, they also flew pass our diving forwards.

Justin: Week after week the confidence of our first-year recruit Justin grows and grows. Boosted by a goal for the Soccerjoeys in the game before he went into his tackles with a big smile, fearless and with lots of skill. It is amazing how quickly Justin integrated himself into our squad being a very important part of our weekly line up.

James: Bobby’s absolute strength is his passion for the game. When others get tired he is only about to recharge his turbo. His goal after our first corner in the second half was like from the famous “soccer tactics almanac”. If his spitting image Paul Scholes is on fire as bobby is, then our team executive director Fergie doesn’t have to be worried about his beloved ManU going down to Barca in the Champions League Final this week.