Round 11 Report - 14th June 2014

WU Elite 3 - TFTs 2
Scorers: CJ (2),  Flemo

Write up by Cory

The Mighty Elite 3 - 2 the Greek-less Greeks: The Great Escape!!

So on Friday night while I was sitting helping Dave fold the Elite Special Edition programme for the upcoming game against the Greek-less Greeks, I was thinking about the three previous battles we have had with the Greeks since I’ve been part of the Mighty Elite. Three really physical hard fought games and I’m thinking tomorrow’s game is going to be a nightmare to ref. What the hell was I thinking??

So it’s game day and instead of watching my usual Vinnie Jones videos I’m watching Refereeing video’s – in hindsight probably not the best choice. Sorry guy’s... May have lead to my 2 soft penalty decisions.

The new gaffer sends out his weekly fire up text. A little tame after last week’s but I’m hoping it has the same effect on everyone.

For the second week in a row we are back at our beloved Newtown Park. Can we continue our unbeaten home run and keep moving our way up the table?

The match began with our the Elite settled well and getting on top of the Olympic boys early, showing patience when on the ball and fighting hard for the 50/50s when at other times this season we hadn’t. For the first 25 minutes we did really well to keep the Greeks out of the game. The best chance up to this point going to the shins of Pete Archer. But mid-way through the first half we started to lose some of the control we had established. The Greek’s slowly started to come into the game. It took a brilliant save which was seen very late by Big Dave to prevent the Greeks taking a first half lead. Just after that the stand in referee Cory “Yuichi Nishimura” Taylor made what could have turned out to be a massive error when he didn’t call what was apparently a clear off side decision when Andrew was put through on the wing and crossed to ‘Shins’ Pete Archer. Luckily Pete missed the open goal. Disaster averted. Thanks Pete.

Not long after that the Elite missed their second open goal opportunity when a great cross came in from the right and Nik missed the header at the back post. To be honest I think his fringe got in the way. Elite’s best chance of the first half came from Andrew who turned his marker and had his shot saved by a desperate save from the Greek Keeper. The rest of the first half went without incident. Half time 0-0.

Could new Gaffer Adam’s men rue their failure to score in the first half? They were repeatedly denied by not the opposition keeper or the wood work but by the lack of killer instinct in front of goal.

I’m not sure what the half-time message was but the Elite boys came back onto the field looking very serious and ready for war. Whatever was said worked as right from the kickoff the Elite players were on the charge. Starting the better of the two teams and we kept the ball in the Greeks half for the first 10 minutes or so. The Greek’s first attack into the Elite half lead to Dec’s catching the Olympic striker on the back of the heel although the striker went down like a sack of potatoes and made a meal of the tackle there was still contact from behind. Direct penalty awarded. And although Big Dave made a valid attempt to save the shot the ball ended up in the back of the net. 1 - 0 Olympic.

The Elite player’s regrouped quickly and went on the attack. And not long after that a clumsy tackle from an Olympic player was enough to earn free kick. CJ bellowing orders from the back line that he is taking free kick. Every Elite player knew what is to come. CJ only had one thing on his mind. To shoot!! The free kick was a brilliant shot over the wall that left the Keeper diving at thin air as the ball was already in the back of the net. 1-1.

Seconds later...Disaster struck. Don’t know if his mind was still on the great free kick he had just taken or whether a touch of old age played a part but the usual reliable CJ had a Stevie G moment and make an uncharacterized error. From the defensive mistake the Greeks striker ran the ball in on goal and shot the ball pass Dave to put the Greeks up 2 - 1. For the next 10 minutes or so the game went back and forth with neither team taking the advantage. With about 20 minutes to go though there was an urgent defensive clearance from the Elite box. Which lead to a superb run by Andrew who beat the Greek keeper (who should have never come out for the ball) with a header and then slammed the ball into the back of the Greek goal. Despite the complaints from the Olympic players that he had fouled the Keeper. 2 - 2. Game on Boys!!!

Still there was more to come...Not long after the second Elite goal the Greeks had yet another appeal for a penalty which was waved away by the referee when the clumsy Greek striker (screaming blue murder in the process) tumbled under a fine Elite tackle. As play continued I could hear Dave in the back ground giving the striker a mouth full of get the **** up. Not long after this the Greek midfield broke away and forced a corner. After a great header clearance from the OLD gaffer CJ a rocket of a shoot came in hitting Adam in the face and despite the calls for a hand ball the guest referee yelled No in a loud voice. Apparently Adam was a tad lucky though as post match discussions revealed there may have been a hand defending his face in the box . But play went on...

After constantly pressuring the Greek goal for about 5 minutes after that the flying Ginga Chrispo makes a darting run into the Greek box and is hacked from behind. The call-in referee blows his whistle to award his second direct penalty of the day. Despite the whines of the Greeks about him NOT going down (bloody go down next time mate and make the referees job easier) the ref sticks to his decision as there certainly was contact made. Up steps the Silver Fox and hits a screamer of a penalty. 3-2 to the mighty Elite!! Well done lads.

MVP Points

2 - Adam 
Controlled the midfield well. Made several big tackles and lead team by example.

2 – Andrew
Made a nuisance of  himself upfront all day. Set the tone for the team at the start of second half. And scored a cracker of a goal.


1 – Pete
Played out of position and covered a lot of ground. Got himself in position to score twice.

1 – CJ
Scored a great free kick. Took charge of the defence. Made two crucial defensive clearances.

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