| German's | 2 (1) | Golden Eagles | 0 (0) |
| Batchelor | |
| Humphreys | |
Golden Eagles....Don't you just hate them?
This is the team that got some really weird refereeing decisions in our all-important league game last season -- Moses and Rico sent off for not swearing -- and were also the team at the six-a-side tournament this summer that wanted to gang up as a team against the lovable Bruce Shek.
Therefore going into this game the German's were under orders to keep it cool. The league were paying attention, and if anyone would get it in the neck for bad behaviour it would probably have been us (despite the fact we have not had one red card this year).
The team line-up saw Andy Davison keep the centre-half position after last weeks good performance, while Andy Batchelor started up front and Nick Park playing central midfield. Andy Batchelor, the German's answer to Dion Dublin, played up front again with Will absent.
It nearly went horribly wrong in the first minute of the game as a Golden Eagles cross came off the top of the bar and onto the other side of the goal. The striker at the far post chipped back across as everyone tried to cover only for it to hit the crossbar again before being scrambled clear.
The German's were really not switched on in the first 20 minutes of this game, and it seems to be a feature of every Golden Eagles / German's match that we have to try and survive an early 1st half burst as they try and score early. Which they nearly did when a cross ball from the right should have easily been collected by Stephen Harris, but instead he stayed on his line and the Eagles striker just failed to connect.
The German's had a sickening blow when Wayne Bradshaw went into a challenge on a Golden Eagles player, he fell clumsily and didn't get up again. "U-Boat" had damaged his knee and the ambulance that arrived speedily took him to nearby Shatin Racecourse where he was later shot.
After the lengthy wait the game restarted and Andy Dixon found himself clear in the Golden Eagles box, but his shot was straight at the Golden Eagles keeper.
The German's had another let-off when a Nick Park passback was picked up by the off-form Harris. The free-kick, however, was ballooned well over the bar.
It was obvious at this stage that Golden were playing the better football, but their number 16 was not helping their cause by trying on several occassions to get a penalty by diving. Fortunately the referee was having none of that nonsense.
The German's themselves got a free-kick at the end of the second half which Simon Humphreys lined up to take. His shot was powerfully drilled past the Eagles wall and could only be parried by the keeper. The ball fell to the incoming Andy Batchelor who had the whole goal to aim at. Of course, in these situations a German striker is supposed to miss, but Batch broke with tradition and scored.
Against the run of play, the German's went in at half-time 1 - 0 up.
The second half started with Golden Eagles trying the long ball and chasing through on the German goal. This was having no success with Andy Davison and Alan Pengelly covering most, while a more confident Harris was coming out and getting the rest.
The German's could, and should, have made it 2 - 0 when a high through ball was met by Batch's head but he could only guide it wide of the post. This was rectified soon after, however, when a long cross-field pass was brilliantly controlled by Simon as he turned with the ball as it landed at it's feet and ran through clear on goal. A well placed shot in the bottom left-hand corner gave the German's a 2 - 0 lead and some generously received breathing space.
Obviously looking to hold the game, Oliver was having a great game in tackling the opposition, both winning and controlling the ball. With a two goal lead it was good to see "Iron Legs" keep it calm at the back and get the ball quickly out of danger. Not bad for the only German in the German All Stars.
As the game came to a close Golden Eagles were deined twice by Harris diving to his right and then left to make two good saves (Shut it!!) and keep the German's third clean sheet in four games.
A great result see's the German's move up the table. Not the best performance from the team in the first half, but it really came together in the second. The only bad note of the day was obviously Wayne's injury, but he is now back home from hospital, and while he will probably be out for a considerable time we don't have a game ourselves for another month.