August 3, 2014

Hi Guys,

Although it was even more brutally hot than our last match, Compass came out with a much more complete side today and played as a team to get us back on the winning track.

It is unlikely that we could have survived without subs today, given the 35-degree temperatures (for once, no one minded being subbed out). We were very happy to have our two central midfielders back with Arnaud and Lukas, and also were delighted that Caleb turned up after a long hiatus. Helping in a big way was defender Rafael (on loan from Tubbies) and first-timer forward Michael, who many of you will know from our games against Chung Hsing University. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of both Caleb and Michael in future games.

The Chiayi team showed up with almost two teams' worth of players and gave a good account of themselves, showing some skills and speed. However, it seemed clear that--perhaps more used to 5-on-5 matches--they needed better organization.

Just shy of two minutes into the match, Marin put a high lobbing cross onto Marty, who scored a nice opening goal. In the 21st minute, Arnaud created a variation of this when he put another high chip from the right wing over onto the left, where Cesar collected the ball and put it over the Chiayi keeper in an one-on-one. There were a number of other opportunities that were just unlucky not to go in. This was particularly true for Michael, who finally put a nice hard shot into Chiayi's net in the 33rd minute. At the 52nd minute, Marty had another good goal that the referee very belatedly called as off-sides (very debatable).

Following his earlier assist, Arnaud finally got his own goal in the 67th minute. A couple minutes after this, one of Chiayi's fastest forwards got into our box as our defensive line was a bit out of balance. As he was lining up, Chris charged in from behind to strip him of the ball and appeared to get an own-goal. It was a good defensive attempt to stop an almost sure goal anyhow.

That would be the only goal Chiayi got, as Cesar quickly racked up a hat trick with two goals in the 77th and 80th minutes. Michael got our final goal (and his second) four minutes from the final whistle, leaving us with a 7-1 victory.

We certainly aren't fully back to where we should be as a team, but today was a good start in that direction. I'm not sure about this coming Sunday but will let you know if anything turns up. At this point, the best possibility is the Thai team.

As I noted after the game today, I have signed Compass up for a Jhubei FC eight-team invitational tournament on the weekend of September 13-14 (in Hsinchu/Jhubei). I probably won't be available that weekend so I will need: a) someone to take over my managerial responsibilities; b) some of you to volunteer to drive players up to Hsinchu. Please begin letting me know if you are IN or OUT for this tournament.

Good job, men!

Doug