Match Report:

Les HAN RIVER HARRIERS 5  - 1 INCHEON RED DOGS

Sunday, October 3, 2004

 Had Incheon and the Harriers agreed to play without strikers last weekend their match would probably have ended in a draw.  Incheon’s midfield and defense were at least as strong as ours.  Tom, the Incheon keeper, was athletic and fearless between the posts.  Simon combined hard tackling and intelligent playmaking in the Incheon backfield.  Finally, Dunkin, probably Incheon’s best player, played havoc with the Harriers' midfield and defense, combining speed with excellent dribbling.

 But the game was played with strikers, and ours were in devastating form.  The final score was 5 to 1.  Evan earned a hat-trick and an assist while Guillaume’s tally amounted to two goals and two assists.  Barker was the lone scorer for Incheon.

 Guillaume’s attacking prowess should not overshadow his conscientious defensive play.  Trent, the Harriers injured midfielder and an astute student of football, noted how the French striker would rush back to cover for Karl whenever the defender made an advance.  Guillaume’s work ethic has added much-needed flexibility to the Harriers counter-attacking game.  For that as much as for his scoring, Guillaume is the man of the match.

 The game began with the familiar sound of Michael, the Harriers keep, barking at his defensemen like Captain Ahab from the poop deck.  He’s definitely the boss back there.  Often keepers are judged solely by their shot-blocking, but this is a mistake.  Almost as important is the ability of a keeper to marshal his defense and keep them vigilant.  In this respect Michael is without peer (although Darren of the Celtics is no wilting violet).  I know I’m bias, but for my money Michael is the best all-round goalie in the league.

 Twenty-five minutes of back-and-forth football passed before Evan broke the deadlock.  Didi crossed to Guillaume who one-touch passed to Evan coming in from right.  His low hard strike made its way through a crowd of legs and nestled in the lower left corner of the net.

 Goal number two came after the ball popped out of a scrum in front of the Incheon net and bobbled towards Kevin.  The defenseman ripped a shot just under the Incheon crossbar.  Tom made the stop but the ball smacked off his palms.  Suddenly, from the left, Guillaume came leaping in and surprised the keeper by heading the ball just over his outstretched hands and into the net.

 Confidence among the Harriers was high in the minutes leading up to half-time.  As long as our defense held firm we could sit on the lead till the final whistle.  But Incheon had other ideas.  One of their players popped a perfect lob over Karl’s head.  It was spinning wildly as it descended and Lawrence misjudged the trajectory.  Incheon forward, Barker, made no such mistake.  Weaving his way through his markers he pounced on the loose ball and wrong footed the keeper to give his team a goal and ruin the Harriers' hopes of a third consecutive clean sheet.

 Incheon’s goal rattled the Harriers' nerves.  Coming off the break many of us wondered if they would come back against us as so many teams did last season.  So it was that Evan’s next goal occasioned a collective sigh of relief among his teammates.  Guillaume forsook a shot on net to send Evan through to a one-on-one with the Incheon keeper.  Keeper and striker then stood before each other for what seemed an eternity, sizing each other up.  Finally, it was the keeper who blinked.  He planted his feet and Evan duly sent the ball through his legs for the goal.

 The Harriers' next goal wasn’t so elegant.  It began with Jean Blaise dribbling his way through the midfield.  He chipped a defender ran around and then tried another chip on the keeper but Tom read the play and tipped the ball away.  The ball hit the post and looped back to Jean Blaise, who attempted an ambitious bicycle kick that sent the ball careening in the wrong direction, away from goal.  Evan happened to be standing by and brought the play to a close with an emphatic shot on net.  The score was now 4-1.

Despite a lopsided score-line, the game continued to be played at a relentless pace.  Chances were taken at both ends of the field.  Guillaume laid the ball back for Didi who made a long distance shot that Tom dove for and saved.  Incheon’s number 15 then collected the ball, passed to his number 11 who, in turn, shot just wide of the Harrier net.  At the other end, Kevin hammered a shot that rebounded to Didi who headed the ball, only to see it curve wide.  Marco had a throw-in to Evan who booted the ball out of the air at the net.  It was on target but Tom was there to collect it.  Evan had another opportunity from one of Kevin’s long-distance throw-ins.  The ball fell in front of goal and Evan cheekily headed it backwards at the Incheon net.  Tom reacted just in time to avert a goal.  The last good chance by Incheon ended after Markus kicked the ball off his goal-line during a scramble in front of the Harriers' net.

 The final goal of the game seemed emblematic of the complementary partnership between the Harriers' two marquee strikers, Evan and Guillaume.  An indirect free kick had been granted very close to the Incheon net.  Evan lined the ball up while Incheon set up a long wall in front of him.  When the whistle sounded Evan made to kick at the net then blithely tapped the ball to his left where Guillaume had been waiting.  Guillaume’s kick went high and hard just over the line of Incheon defenders running at him.  It slammed into the back of the net and put the game out of reach.

 Scorers: Evan x3, Guillaume x2

 Assists: Guillaume x2 (re: Evan); Evan (re: Guillaume); Kevin (re: Guillaume); Jean Blaise (Evan).

Man of the Match: Guillaume

Play of the Game: Evan and Guillaume combining to score goal number four off a beautifully coordinated free kick

Yellow card: Lawrence (delay of game)