Match Reports 07/08 2
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Match Report GAS - Rangers 4-1 (3-1)
Line Up:
Goalie: Phillip von Wiese; Libero: Madse Demichelis; Defenders: Rino Zerus, Schoko Schacher; Midfield: Thomas Valderama, Heigö Maradonna, Sascha Möller, Hermann Hasselhoff, Benjamin Hitzlseberger; Strikers: Mischa Häßler, Sascha Hanke;
Subs: Florian Gomez (45´ for Sascha Hanke), Phillip Odonkor (69´ for Hermann), Frank Mill (85´ for Thomas)
Goals: Sascha Heussler (22´, 42´pen.), Sascha Maric (39´), Florian Schmidt (85´)
Unbeaten GAS attempt continue surge up the table
The GAS came into this game realizing that wins in our last two games (Rangers, Hollandse) would propel us into 7th place. The GAS are now unbeaten in the last two months ever since Jeorg has taken over. Having said that, the team that was put out by Jeorg for this second last test of the season was Phillip v.P who started in goal (All our other goalkeepers were away!) Madse, Steffen and Rino formed the defense. Thomas and Heiko were stationed in the middle as usual with Hermann and Benni on the wings. Sascha H “Dr Cha Cha” supported Michael and Sascha M upfront.
The match was evenly poised for the first 20 minutes. Both teams began probing each other for any potential weaknesses. Sascha H came close but his shot was well saved by the Rangers goalie. However, Rangers took the lead after a defensive error after about 20 minutes.
We equalized almost immediately after that. Michael’s through ball found Sascha H who rounded the goalie and despite being off balanced managed to poke it into the net. It looked as though it would be a draw during half-time but the GAS had other ideas. A quick counter attack started by Sascha H and Michael, after a Rangers corner, was finished off by Sascha M to make it 2-1. Moments later, Michael seemed destined to score after being played through by Sascha H but the Rangers goalie brought him down. Penalty!
Sascha H stepped up and coolly converted. 3-1 was the half-time score.
The game opened up in the second half, Rangers looking to get back into the game and the GAS looking to score one more to seal the game. We should have done that midway through the second half. Once, Heiko picked up the ball in midfield and bulldozed his way through the entire Rangers defense only to shoot wide when one-on-one with the Ranger’s goalie. A long ball from Rino was controlled by Michael who had a one-on-one situation but his shot was well saved by the Rangers goalie.
We finally sealed the win 5 minutes before the end when Sascha H’s through ball found Florian who rounded the goalie and slotted it into the net. MOM goes to Heiko who won every tackle all over the pitch. Well done, Mr. CFO. Two more wins in the next two games and we might be 7th in the table and with some silverware as well. Not bad for a team that was in the bottom four for the most of the season!
Written by: Cyrill Binder
Match Report Nippon - GAS 1-6 (0-4)
Line Up:
Goalie: Klaus Burdinski; Libero: Marcus Beckenbauer; Defenders: Rino Zerus, Benni Letzermann-Hackentrick; Midfield: Thomas Gullit, Madse Schwarzenbeck, Sascha Terry, Phil Atio, Volker Riedle; Strikers: Mischa Völler, Sascha Polster
Subs: Florian Lauth, Phillip Eggimann, Heigö Allgöwer (all 45´ for Thomas, Sascha G., Rino)
Goals: Volker Giebitz (2´; 59´), Michael Klemm (4´, 90´), Sascha Heussler (20´), Sascha Maric (35´)
Easy win for GAS
After last week's plate semi-final heroics, it was back to business in the league. A bottom of the table clash with
The GAS were 2-0 up within five minutes. First, a corner by Michael was headed in by Volker. Sascha H then found Michael in the box who twisted and turned to rifle home for the second goal.
All substitutes came on at half-time. Heiko for Thomas, Phillip R for Rino and Florian replaced Dr Cha Cha.
The GAS continued to dominate play in the second half but we let ourselves down with some really poor finishing. Jeorg was on the brink of pulling out his hair on the sidelines when Volker chipped the Japanese goalkeeper to make it 5-0. Both sets of players hardly seemed interested after that point, the match turned into a Sunday football kick about. Some sloppy defending gifted Nippon a goal at the closing stages when the
GAS could (should?) have been punished for the poor finishing on many occasions and will have to improve on this for the remaining fixtures including the plate final. Nevertheless, a good win and three points against a
The GAS team traveled to Bintan the following day to visit an Orphanage there. The team built a decent pitch with goalposts before distributing GAS jerseys and balls to the boys. The day was capped of with a fun filled friendly game between GAS and the Indonesian orphans.
Written by: Cyrill Binder
Match Report GAS - Hibs 3:1 (0:1) (Plate Cup Semifinal)
Subs: Phillip Ziege (Phillip), Benjamin Jansen (Hermann), Sascha Scherz (Volker), Florian Tarnat (Thomas)
With both our regular goalkeepers away, 20 year old Melvin, on loan from the Singapore Army commando unit, was tasked to safeguard our goal. The solid trio of Marcus, Rino and Heiko made up our defense. Thomas and Madse started in the middle of midfield while Phillip v.P and Hermann covered our left and right wings respectively. Volker played in behind forwards Adrien and Michael. There was also a very capable bench consisting of Sascha M, Florian, Benjamin and Phillip R. A healthy number of supporters turned up as well all contributing to the ‘Teamgeist’.
We started very well putting Hibs under constant pressure with some good passing and movement from the midfield and forwards. However, we couldn’t convert any of our chances especially from a few corner kicks. Hibs hardly managed to trouble Melvin as we continued to dominate possession. Hibs were quite content with playing long balls to their big forward at that point, but it was their left winger who opened the scoring after a good solo effort with about 25 minutes played.
1-0 Hibs at Half-time
We started very well again in the second half, pilling up the pressure on the Hibs goal with the intent of finding the equalizer. About 10 mins after the restart, it was all square, after Volker (again!?) headed in from a corner kick to make it 1-1. Barely 5 mins later, Michael was brought down in the box by a Hibs defender. The Hibs defender was sent off as well as he was the last man. Volker stepped up to take the penalty and coolly put the GAS into the lead.
Despite being in the lead, we continued to look for that elusive third goal to complete the job, but were unable to. Hibs started to push us further back, but our solid defense held on. We managed to score with a counter attack when Captain Michael sprinted past a few players and scored a fine solo effort.
MOM goes to Volker. He scored again today when it really mattered, something he has been doing all season long. Well Done!
Congrats also to our new Coach Jeorg who must be delighted with this win. I am sure inspite of Frank Rijkaard’s and Hans Meyers recent availability, the management team is happy with him! Last but not least, a tribute to everyone who played or came to support; another super team effort!
Thanks also to the Hibs for a very competitive but fair game.
Written by: Cyrill Binder
Match Report Casuals - GAS 2-2 (1-0)
Team Line-up: Goal - Daniel Thomforde; Libero - Madse Herget; Defenders - Schoko Schacher, Rino Pflüglerli; Midfield - Thomas Scholl, Heiko Nerlinger, Matthias Plattinski, Hermann Blackeye, Volker Riedle; Forward - Adrien Anelka, Michael Podolski
Subs: Phillip Kaltz for Hermann (18.Min!!!), Florian Einwurf for Matthias (46.), Mike Kuffour for Schoko (70.), Jens Schlaudraff for Adrien (80.)Goals: Volker Giebitz (65.), Rino Binder (90.)
Fantastic headers from legendary veterans earn GAS valuable point
It’s never an easy game against the Casuals, reigning Cosmo league champions, a team that has yet to be beaten this season. The All Stars clearly the underdogs for this one, but were motivated as always. Especially even so because it is Joerg’s first game in charge as the new coach. The board of directors has demanded a strong finish to the season with the plate semi-final coming up as well and the players were eager to ease the pressure on the coach with a good solid performance.
Daniel started in goal again, defensive trio consisted of: Madse, Steffen and Rino, while Thomas and Heiko were in the middle, Matthias S and Hermann started on the wings, Volker as offensive midfielder, new captain Michael accompanied by Adrien upfront.
The game started as expected with the Casuals attacking, probing for that first goal. For almost 20 mins the all stars could not really pressure the Casuals backline. Casuals dominating the game but didn’t really test Daniel in goal as often. The all stars were forced to make an early change when Hermann couldn’t continue after about 20 mins. The Casuals score after their constant pressure paid off.
It was only after Casual’s first goal that the all stars started to play and venture into the Casuals half. On two occasions some really good movements and play by the midfield and forwards created the chance for Michael to shoot but the excellent Casuals goalkeeper denied him.
1-0 to the Casuals at half-time but the game was far from over. The all stars obviously still determined to get something out of this game and some of the chances in the first half proved that it could be done.
About 10 mins into the second half, a Casuals player was sent off. It looked like a harsh decision but nowadays you cannot trip somebody and then push him. The ref took a while before showing the red card so he must have thought about it. Anyway, this spurred on the all stars even more.
With a man advantage, the all stars were now pushing Casuals back and even created some good chances for ourselves. We finally managed to score the equalizer when Michael lost his marker superbly on the right and delivered a cross into the penalty box, where Volker was waiting. Volker, back from ‘retirement’ this season is currently also the team’s top scorer and when he heads the ball it usually ends up in the back of the net. 1-1 and game on!!
Casuals scored again via a corner kick. Joerg changed the formation and bought on fresh players in a bid to salvage a point. But as the clock ticked down, it seemed like GAS hearts’ would be broken.
But we pushed on and 2 mins into injury time we got a corner kick. As Michael was jogging over to take it, the entire team including Daniel the goalkeeper came forward for this last attempt.
Wild celebrations followed after ‘superhuman’ Rino, the oldest man on the pitch, possibly (surely?) even in the league, at 52 years of age, darted to the near post and his glancing header found the back of the net.
Once again, Man of the match was a difficult decision. Everyone played their part, helping one another and most importantly played as a unit not 11 different players. Daniel played well in goal making several fine saves; Madse were strong in defense. Volker certainly scored a fine goal. Michael had a hand in both goals as well.
In the end, Joerg decided that we should give it to Rino, not only for his goal but also for his superb defending and man-marking. He keeps himself very fit and loves to play football every Saturday. Don’t be surprised if you still see him running around the pitch when he’s 59.
Thanks to Casuals for the very competitive game and also to the ref, Alex who controlled the game quite well. The season is far from over for us, with 3 more games + a plate semi final, we can still win silverware and climb above teams in the standings. And looking at previous games’ performances, we can do it. So common, Jungs!!!!
Written by: Cyrill Binder
Match Report GAS - Lions 7-3
Line up: Daniel Schumacher, Marcus Beckenbauer, Steffen Kohler, Rino Helmerli, Thomas Netzer-Gullit, Heiko Jeremies, Benni Feuerstein, Madse Möller, Volker Bäron, Sascha Jancker, Michael Kirsten
Subs: Hermann Gibmal (for Rino), Phil Beckham (for Thomas), Adrien Ribery (for Volker)
After last week's rather "stale" performance against the Vikings, Coach Martin demanded a much better performance and 3 points especially since it was his last game in charge before leaving for Vietnam. Some of the all stars were also determined to win in order to enjoy the farewell BBQ party later on, while others were eager to impress the new coach who was seen watching on the stands.
Daniel started in goal again; Marcus, Steffen and Rino formed the defensive trio. Heiko and Thomas were in the middle, Madse on the left, Benni on the right, Volker as offensive midfielder with Sascha and Michael upfront.
Just as three weeks ago when we beat the Lions 4-1 in the Plate Quarterfinal, we opened the scoring very early with a little help from the Lion's defense/keeper. Sascha managed to steal the ball, knock it past the keeper and score. Within 10 mins, we were 2-0 up when Michael received the ball in midfield and his raw pace helped him to skip past one, beat their last man and then the keeper to finish off a great solo effort. The pace of Michael and Sascha were giving the Lions problems the whole game. The Germans continued to dominate as the midfield gained more possession. About 20 mins into the game, rain poured down from the heavens and later lightning forced Ganesan to stop the game.
After a 15 mins wait, play was resumed. It took a while though for both sets of players to get into the tempo of the game again after the unexpected break. Just before half time though, Madse found Sascha on the left. He managed to beat his marker and delivered a beautiful cross to Michael who controlled the ball with his right, moved the ball to his left foot and scored. Ice cold!!
So 3-0 at halftime.
The game continued with the all stars playing some good football. And on one occasion good play on the right by Benni found Sascha on the edge of the box. His low shot to the bottom left corner made it 4-0.
The Lions continued trying to score and they did when a cross was headed in by their forward. Any hopes of a comeback were soon squashed when a deep cross by Phil went over everybody including the keeper. Sascha though sneaked in at the far post to head home. Lions managed to pull another one back, another header, this time from a free kick.
Sascha popped up again to score his 4th goal of the game to make it 6-2. New French signing Adrien managed to get himself on the score sheet when his flick on from a corner found its way into the back of the net. The Lions did get another goal right before the end. A free kick on the edge of the box led to a penalty when Ganesan claimed one of the all stars players used his hands to block the shot. Strange, considering the shot went straight into the wall.
This was a really good performance by the team with several players performing well like Michael. But the MOM award will have to go to our captain, Dr Cha Cha for his 4 goals, assist and work rate.
Anyway, a great victory and the perfect farewell gift to Martin. We very much enjoyed your BBQ party even though there was a lack of toilets! (ask Daniel) Thank you very much for your contributions and "innovative" tactics. Hope to see you again soon!
Match Report Vikings vs GAS 1-3
Goal GAS Thomas Berner
Klaus, Marcus, Rino, Heiko, Sascha, Matthias, Benjamin, Mathias, Volker, Thomas, Mike
Good things first – this time we didn’t lose in a devastating manner, but there are many other words to describe it, one being offered in the header. We’ll get to that a little later.
Not much happened after that, occasional chances on both sides but a rather slow game with little excitement. Volker had a nice chance after a good cross from Rino and Madse could have scored on two promising shot opportunities.
Overall, both teams lacked creativity and finesse to get the decisive edge over the opponent. In other words, a boring first half for the crowd in the stands.
The trade paid off as we established more ball control and a better Aufbauspiel. Still not too many great chances, but the overall performance seemed to have improved.
It was just then that the Vikings scored the equalizer on a free-kick from some 30 meters away.
So we had an open game again, but we tried everything to re-establish our lead. Unfortunately, all of our efforts ended at the box and we didn’t really have another clear chance despite appearing to be in control of the game.
Two minutes before the end of the game everything looked like we were going to share the points, but then the above mentioned generosity came into play.
A long ball into our half was easily taken up by the defense but somehow landed at the Vikings striker – under circumstances which are still under investigation. The striker didn’t hesitate long and netted in easily to give the Vikings the lead. Speaking of circumstances yet to be investigated – the 3-1 right after the GAS kick-off was even more mysterious. The Vikings striker stole the ball from the kickoff point (!), ran towards the goal and lobbed it in for the final score.
Alright, let’s cut the crap now – it’s not generous, it’s stupid! And when acting that stupid you simply don’t deserve to get anything out of a game.
Unfortunately, sloppiness in defense has been too big of a problem for us all season and that’s why we stand at the bottom of the table.
Thanks to the Vikings for a fair match and a lesson in cold-blooded efficiency.
Match Report GAS vs Lions 4-1 Cup Plate-Quarterfinal
Goals GAS: Mike Gyasi, Michael Klemm, Matthias Bertl, Philipp von Pein
Daniel, Marcus, Steffen, Heiko, Sascha, Thomas, Joerg (Phil), Matthias, Cyrill (Florian), Mike, Michael
Bad vs. terrible at ITE Bedok
Franz Beckenbauer once called the UEFA-Cup the “Losers’ Cup” and one could say the same about the Plate round. Proving the Kaiser right on a beautiful Saturday afternoon were the German Allstars and the Lions.
In a painful to watch 1st round Plate trophy game the Germans kept the upper hand after 90 minutes of destructive play of football. While the Lions were obviously missing a number of regulars, there is no excuse for our poor performance. Besides our goalie Zafer (who was well replaced by Daniel Toni Schumacher), only Volker was missing (apparently he is not easy to replace – we clearly lacked the experience and skills he usually provides in midfield). Apart from the last 25 minutes when the Lions consistently pushed through our midfield the game was played without using midfield. Kick and rush at its “best”. But let’s start from the top..
It took a while until everybody had found the right ITE pitch, but we managed to gather everyone after all.
We started with Toni Schumacher in goal (solid performance from him), Steffen Huth and Heiko Jeremies as fullbacks and Marcus Beckenbauer as last man. Center midfield was covered by Joerg Sparwasser and Thomas Effenberg while Matthias Schweinsteiger and Sascha Ballack played on the wings. Cyrill Barnetta started out as our offensive midfielder with the task to set up Mike Yeboah and Michael Littbarski.
Early in the game GAS delivered a couple of nice plays with Joerg giving a solid comeback in midfield. Too bad he had to be substituted after 30 minutes due to knee problems (Phil replaced him). When Joerg left we were up by two goals because the Lions proved to be friendly hosts. They turned the ball over twice and Mike and Michael cold bloodedly accepted these presents with respective lobs over the goalie. Those two goals were pretty much the only scenes worth mentioning – no other clear chances on either side. The only thing worth mentioning was Heiko who had a strong showing in defense clearing numerous dangerous balls.
As mentioned before – and even more so after Joerg came off – midfield was literally non-existing, losing balls rather than initiating plays.
Nevertheless, GAS seemed to have more possession and more dangerous approaches, so the 2-0 halftime lead was somewhat deserving.
During halftime we talked about stepping up our play in midfield to stay in control of the game. Matthias moved to center midfield with Cyrill returning to his right wing position. Phil shifted to left forward.
But the opposite came true – the Lions started to gain an overweight, especially in midfield. Even more balls were turned over and we were literally begging to concede a goal. As the Lions apparently wouldn’t make it on their own, we decided to help them: Marcus delivered a nice pass to their striker who didn’t hesitate to take advantage of this blunter – so the lead was cut to half with some 25 minutes left to play.
The Lions stepped up their efforts and continued to push for the equalizer thus providing space for German counterattacks.
The only nice play that we showed in the second half led to our 3rd goal when Michael neatly set up Matthias who lobbed it home for the match winner.
Phil scored the 4th on another GAS counterattack shortly before the final whistle.
Everyone was happy when the ref ended the game after 90 minutes, especially those watching from the sidelines – a truly poor performance from both teams or as the Kaiser once said “this was like Untergiesing versus Obergiesing”.
Man of the match – Heiko as he was the only player who delivered an above average performance (at least in the first half).
Written by
Martin
Match Report GAS vs Gauloises
Goals GAS: Volker Giebitz 2, Michael Klemm 2, Philipp von Pein, Cyrill Binder, Heiko Pohland, Sascha Heussler
GAS Line-up:
Klaus, Philipp (Sascha), Matthias, Marcus, Cyrill, Thomas (Frank), Heiko, Mathias (Benjamin), Volker, Phil (Daniel), Michael
Man of the match:
Michael Klemm
Marcus Beckenbauer was last man with Matthias Pfluegler and Philipp Vogts on his sides. Heiko Jeremies and Thomas Effenberg acted as the “double 6” while Mathias Schweinsteiger and Cyrill Barnetta covered the wings. Volker Overath, Phil Toni and Michael Littbarski represented our offense.
The Germans went up by one goal after some 20 minutes. Volker delivered a nice deep pass to Phil who missed the goal on a one-on-one with the goalie but managed to get ahold of the ball again at the goal line. Volker was waiting in the box and converted the return cross for his first goal of the day.
The second goal came about ten minutes later when Michael broke through the French defense, fired a shot which was deflected, but only to land in front of Cyrill who had no problems converting from close range.
The game went on at a very slow pace with Gauloises having more possession of the ball but without posing a real threat. That changed shortly before the halftime tea when a long throw-in crossed the GAS box without being challenged by the defense. The Gauloises striker took advantage of our sloppiness and converted on his second attempt (his first header hit the crossbar).
Halftime saw everyone looking for a place in the shadow, and the auntie selling drinks reported record sales.
The second half started out exactly the way we didn’t want it to start: A severe individual mistake by our defense allowed Gauloises to score the equalizer and make it an all-even game again.
Fortunately, we managed to reply quickly by scoring two goals within five minutes. Phil and Michael took advantage of confusion and growing fatigue in the French defense and made for a comfortable lead.
When Gauloises scored on a free-kick from way downtown it seemed like it might get close again, but GAS showed the same reaction as before. Two quick goals – a nice strike from Heiko after a deflected corner kick and a shot from Michael – made sure that the Germans wouldn’t let anything “anbrennen”.
Michael raised his count to two with a superb solo run (and some support from the French defense) to make it 6-3 and Sascha added one more to make it 7-3.
To make it a dozen, both teams scored one more each – for the Germans with Volker converting a beautiful free-kick from outside the box.
So 8-4 was the final score – hard to believe we’re talking about a football game here, but the score could have been ever higher as we wasted a handful of other clear chances.
The result should not fool anyone into thinking it was an exciting and attractive game – in fact, much ado about nothing!
We’d better gear up for next week’s game against the Lions!
Written by Martin
Match report GAS vs SCC 1st of March
Goal GAS Mike Gyasi (2)
Zafer, Steffen, Marcus, Rino, Sascha, Heiko, Matthias, Cyrill, Volker, Michael, Mike
SCC keep the upper hand
Despite this tough draw we were confident to get something out of it.
Because Cup games are always special and different and because we had presented ourselves in good shape lately.
And another goodie was presented to us last minute: Instead of playing in Tampines we got to play on the
Never mind, spirits were high and we went into the game with great motivation.
The game began very fast with SCC chasing us up and down the field. But we adjusted just as fast and a very physical game was set to go.
SCC delivered great pressure especially from their ever-strong offense which forced a couple of German turnovers. One of these turnovers led to the 1-0 after some 15 minutes of play. A nice cross from the left caught the German defense off guard and the SCC striker headed it home for the 1-0 lead.
Just minutes after the SCC lead the number of players was reduced by one each after a little Greco-Roman wrestling action on the field. A SCC midfielder ran into Rino, landed on top of him and grabbed him. Rino realized right away that this was his chance to catch up to his son in the family disciplinary ranking. Cyrill had pulled almost out of reach with two red cards for the season, so urgent action had to be taken. And action followed – SCC’s #7 and Rino showed a wrestling performance which left the referee no chance, both players were sent off.
Tension and spirits remained high though with several tough challenges on both sides.
SCC was dominating the game at this point, so it came as a surprise when GAS scored the equalizer. Volker delivered a deep pass to Michael on the right wing who sent a cross to the box where Mike was open and volleyed from short range. Well done, Mike!
We now tried to hang on to the draw, but SCC kept on pressing. After another crucial fumble in midfield, SCC ran a counter attack and scored the 2-1 on a nice connection from their strikers.
While SCC had more chances to pull away but wasted them all, GAS scored again on what must have been our second opportunity. Michael and Mike connected up front with Mike taking a shot from outside the box which landed in the back of the net.
2-2 it was at halftime.
When the game started again, both teams seemingly suffered from the first 45 minutes of fast pace football and the game slowed down a bit. Most of the play took place in midfield without too many chances being created. A beautiful free-kick from some 25 meters gave SCC the lead again with another 20 minutes left to play. We hoped to give a straight answer as we did before, and so we pushed forward. However, a couple of good opportunities were wasted (Mike, Daniel) and sloppy defending eventually destroyed our hopes. We lost the ball deep inside SCC territory and a fast break resulted from it. Instead of chasing the SCC striker, Matthias tried to push him out of bounds – with little success – so off he went and delivered a nice cross to the right-winger who didn’t have much problems converting. Down by two and less than 10 minutes to go was a tough situation and it eventually proved too tough. Even though we tried everything we couldn’t get any more out of it.
All in all, SCC deserved to win as they dominated the game and had several other good scoring opportunities.
Thanks to SCC for a tough and interesting game and also thanks to the referees for a good job.
Written by Martin
Match Report GAS vs Hotspurs - Feb 23rd
Result 3-2
Goals GAS: Mike Gyasi, Sascha Heussler, Michael Klemm
GAS Line-up:
Zafer, Heiko, Matthias, Marcus, Sascha, Cyrill, Volker, Michael, Markus H., Steffen, Johannes
Man of the match: M&M's - Mike & Michael
Comeback Kings!!!
With Coach Martin away this week, I will be taking over this week’s match report for the first time and I hope I don’t disappoint. So here goes:
The All Stars of recent weeks have been rather inconsistent with good results one week and a poor one the next. Also, we have always conceded the first goal of the game for the last few games and thus made life very difficult for ourselves. Today this was again emphasized during the pre match talk by coaches of the day Jeorg and Thomas. Zafer started in goal as usual. The defense consisted of Heiko, Steffen and Johannes. The wings were covered by Marcus H and Cyrill. Matze, Sascha and Volker were in the middle while Marcus K and Michael were upfront.
Unfortunately for us (again), this time within 10 mins we were 1-0 down. Soon the Rangers added a second, and it was not looking good for us. Although we managed to create a few chances, we couldn’t convert and at times the final ball to the forwards was not good (guilty myself). So 2-0 it was at half-time.
Jeorg and Thomas “Chief Motivators” changed things with big Mike coming on for Marcus H and playing upfront while Marcus K went back to his usual defensive role. Heiko pushed up into midfield with Sascha moving to the wings. Their team talk (and the ice cold towels) obviously worked wonders because a totally different German Team walked onto the field for the second half. The defensive was locked and the offensive was robust. Slowly we started to dominate possession and soon a through ball split the Rangers defense and Big Mike shrugged off his defender to finish it off. 2-1 and the game very much alive.
From this point, it was only going to get better and a “cross” from a throw-in found Volker in the near post who flicked it on to the far post where Sascha flew in to head it home. With still a significant amount of time left, we obviously believed that we could find that elusive winner and we did. Big Mike with a very inviting pass to Michael who sprinted passed his marker and calmly knocked it past the Rangers ‘keeper. After that, it was about getting the points in the bag and although we could have added more goals it didn’t really matter.
We would like to thank the Rangers for a very competitive but fair game with the no cards being shown to both sides.
Many players played well especially in the second half, so I think personally that the “Men” of the match would probably have to be the all stars players that walked onto the pitch for the second half believing that the game was not over against a very good Rangers team.
We have to bid farewell to two players who are going back home. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank Johannes and Chris for the great commitment and service to the GAS on and off the pitch. Good luck for your future endeavors and of course hope to see you guys again soon ;)
Written by Cyrill Binder
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