Interesting how many meetings, obligations, and unavoidable engagements people have at the end of a football season as opposed to the beginning. Back in February there were complaints about playing time. Last Sunday from a roster of 25 players the Harriers could only muster 8 (7 of them sober) in their contest with Cheongju which resulted in a 2 – all tie.

If only the Harriers could use their poor turnout as an excuse. When they arrived their hosts graciously allowed them to bolster their ranks with two local players who ended up playing a better game than the majority of the regulars. Cheongju themselves had some new imports and had to do without Jo Jeongi in the third period. Of all the Cheongju players Jo Jeongi has come the closest to filling the shoes of Logan, Cheongju’s star midfielder from last season who has returned to the land where men are men and the sheep are nervous.

After the game, on the way home at around 8pm (I’ll get to that…), one of the guys felt that Cheongju deserved the win. No one argued with him. Unless there is a huge gap in ability so much of success depends on which team wants the ball more.

The Harriers didn’t seem to want the ball at all. Their challenges were half-hearted and their passing -- a recurrent problem with the team -- was erratic at best. It’s almost as if it’s an affront to one’s talent to make a safe pass instead of dribbling through or trying to “thread the needle” a la Dennis Bergkamp to Vieira in the game against Leicester (what a brilliant pass that was!). Apart from the author of this report, the Harriers should not attempt passes like that.

The spirit that existed on the Harrier team when it was first formed is also missing these days. Perhaps it’s the ever-changing roster or the cycle of frustration from losing games to teams below us on the table; whatever it is, there’s a lot of bickering going on between team mates. One man’s constructive criticism is another man’s nagging. Let’s just say that Didi, one of the Harrier’s best players, is very “constructive” during a match. What’s that Guns and Roses song?... “I used to love her, but I had to kill her”?

Joel, Didi and Evan played well but about the only Harrier who raised his game when the chips were down was Sebastian in the center of the pitch. He was everywhere: passing judiciously, dribbling when necessary, and urging the team forward. His movement off the ball was faultless, making him available for the pass whenever a team mate found himself in trouble. He earns Man of the Match honors for this game.

When the Harriers first arrived at the pitch a huge crowd was in attendance – doubtless to witness some high caliber football between two teams at the top of their game… NOT. It turned out that Cheongju University was having their festival day and would be requiring the pitch for “15 more minutes” in order to finish up a tug-a-war.  An hour and ten minutes later, after the tug-a-war, a quiz, and some sort of awards ceremony, the game began. Gracious as ever Cheongju offered the Harriers the win but the visitors declined. It wasn’t their fault. As the Great Buddha once said: “S—t happens”, (or something like that). Anyway, this is the only exercise most of us get all week.

Nevertheless, Cheongju striker Matt Adam’s goal on twenty minutes had many Harriers ruing the opportunity they had to take the points and run. Adam Sainty dribbled his way from the right corner of the pitch into the box then abruptly cut the ball back to a waiting Matt Adam who coolly slotted it past Trent Anderson, the Harrier’s fill-in keeper for the evening.

In the second period the Harriers evened things up after Didi delivered a perfect long-range cross to Evan who somehow managed to hit the ball with both his head and his shoulder at the same time with the result that it looped into the top right corner of the net (he meant to do that).

That ball may have surprised Brian Fingler, the Cheongju keeper, but little else did. The Harriers shot ratio was higher than Cheongju’s but Brian’s brilliance in net rendered that stat insignificant.

Just before the end of the second period pub crawling Harrier defender Randal Smith and Cheongju striker Matt Adam found themselves in a footrace for a long overhead ball. Matt gained a step up on his marker -- enough space to deliver a devastating blast to the top right corner of the netting. It was the best goal of the match…

…Certainly better than the Harrier’s tying goal. After a brief pause at the break both teams rushed back to the pitch to take advantage of what sunlight remained – which wasn’t much. Sebastian touched the ball over the legs of two Cheongju defenders to Evan on the other side. A third defender lunged in, made contact with Evan’s knee, and Evan went down. Penalty. Evan casually popped it into the side of the net, evening the score.

Apart from a dramatic moment when the Harriers’ Lawrence Heavey headed the ball off the goal line, the rest of the game was uneventful as 22 players fumbled for the ball in the growing darkness. After twenty minutes all agreed the game should end. 2 – all was a fair result

Many thanks to Cheongju for hosting the Harriers and partially subsidizing their trip back home. Thanks also to the tall Korean gentleman who reff’d. He did a great job. Next week: the UK Expats, for which the Harriers have but 6 players confirmed. Anyone fancy a game of footie this Sunday?

Scorer: Evan Hale (x2)

Man of the Match: Sebastian