Match Report:

Les HAN RIVER HARRIERS 2 - 0 U.K. EXPATS FC

Sunday, September 19, 2004

 Our defense once again managed a clean sheet and one of our strikers scored a quality goal (the other was by a midfielder), but the real story behind the Harriers?2-nil victory over the Expats last Sunday was our midfielders who had the stamina and touch to maintain possession throughout the match. Because of them, Evan, Guillaume, and Jean Blaise each had several excellent opportunities to score while our defensemen received constant support when the Expats went on the counter-attack.

 Things have changed since the Harriers?loss to the Celtics four weeks ago. At that game the team was disorganized and lacked motivation. Everyone except Trent played badly. Nowadays, a steady diet of beer and Jo-Jo’s excellent rye bread together with regular Wednesday night training sessions are paying off, especially for our midfielders who have to do most of the running. With the possible exception of Karl, players turn out early for games; we know our positions well beforehand, we know the game plan, and we get in a decent warm-up. And as a coups de grace, we usually have either Phillippe or Sylvain coaching us from the sidelines and running substitutions.

 To be fair to Karl, this was his first game back with Harriers after a long leave of absence. Not surprisingly, he didn’t have a banner game -- instead of his usual brilliance he was merely ‘very good? His first few touches were tentative and there were one or two giveaways, but once he got his sea-legs back he began to perform his patented chip-shots to perfection. Over the opposition they would go, dropping directly at the feet of our forwards. We’re glad to have Karl back in the line-up. On a good day he’s twice as good as most of us on a bad one.

 As I mentioned, we often have some sort of plan going into a game. The plan for this encounter was fairly strait-forward: stop Jackson Koffi. He was closely man-marked throughout the entire game; by Markus for the first 60 minutes, then by Randal. So effective was Markus in stifling Koffi’s attacks that at one point the Ivory Coast striker turned on his German tormentor and shoved him to the ground in frustration. Koffi received a yellow card from Chuck the referee while Markus earned himself ‘man of the match? honors from his team mates in recognition of his selfless efforts. Man-marking can be a drag as any defender will tell you.

 With the exception of that minor outburst, Koffi played a very clean game and was one of the first to congratulate the Harriers after the final whistle. His sole scoring opportunity late in the game occurred when he somehow managed to ankle-flick the ball backwards towards the Harriers?net while bracing his back against Randal who was marking him at the time. Had the angle been less stingy he may very well have scored but as it was, his shot ricocheted off the post.

 The Expats didn’t have many opportunities to score, but the few attempts they made were spectacular. Koffi’s back flick has already been mentioned, but there was also Stewart (#6) who plays midfield for the Expats. It was late in the game and the ball seemed to be rolling into touch until Stewart popped out of nowhere. Sliding in from the right, he connected with the loose ball and hammered it just over our crossbar.

 Other Expats who deserve mention are ‘Bower?(#15) and Jason. Bower was one of the few Expat midfielders who avoided dribbling and instead distributed to his forwards with quick one-touch passes and difficult to intercept lay-off passes. In contrast, Expats ‘Alex?and ‘Freddy?were easier to contain despite the superb ball handling skills they exhibited.

 Jason was a towering presence in the Expat back line. Like our very own Kevin Cowell, Jason sticks to the simple things, but he does them effectively and rarely makes mistakes. He is difficult to get around and his size means he’s not easily knocked off the ball.

 Markus had some competition for man of the match. In the first 30 minutes of the game Christophe played some of his best football all season, combining stamina and the superb ball-handling ability for which he’s renowned. Judging from the goal he scored it looks as if he’s found his shot as well.

 Joel was the other contender. In fact, any time Joel suits up for the Harriers he’s a contender for man of the match. Ruthless in the air, strong on the ground, an excellent passer and cool under pressure, Joel is a mainstay of the Harriers?back line.

 Nevertheless, it was the Harriers?midfield who contributed most to our win, and appropriately, it was a midfielder, Christophe, who scored the first goal for the team in the 11^th minute. Guillaume down the right found himself cornered without a clear view of target so he faked a shot then passed the ball square to meet Christophe and Greg racing unchallenged down the middle. Greg didn’t arrive on time but Christophe did, and kicked the ball strait into the onion bag before the Expat keeper had time shift his attention from Guillaume. Afterwards, “Co-co’s?intense celebration startled several school children.

 The second goal followed closely upon the first. Christophe spotted Evan poised just onside along the Expat back line. His perfectly weighted through-ball was pounced upon by the burley striker and hammered home. Rack another one up for Evan who is well on track to double figures once again this season.

 By the end of the match Evan and Guillaume would both hit the wood several times. Gregoire also had an opportunity to score when he used his speed and low center of gravity to run strait at the Expat defense, feint one way, feint the other, split the defenders and take the shot. Unfortunately, the finish was just wide. Even Randal, a defender, got a shot in. Gregoire had the corner and saw his defender creeping up the sideline unnoticed, so instead of dumping the cross into the box he passed it up-field. Randal’s one touch left-footer just cleared the top of the crossbar.

 Gregoire took a few corners and free-kicks as did Christophe, but if you ask any Harrier whom they consider the team’s resident spot-kicker the name you’ll get is Didi who demonstrates an uncanny accuracy with long balls.

 Aside from goals, the Harriers strung together some nice plays. In one, eight consecutive passes were made. Michael, the Harriers? keeper, passed the ball to Randal, his left back. Randal passed it laterally to Joel who had migrated from his center back position to the left. Spotting a poaching opportunity, Koffi bore down on Jo-Jo but the Frenchman kept his nerve, pivoted and passed back up to Randal. By this time other Expats were closing in. Thankfully, Didi had come back in support. A give-and-go between Didi and Randal put the ball back at Randal’s feet. He passed the ball up to Phillippe who neatly side-stepped his marker and squared the ball to Jean Blaise in front of the net. JB got a foot on it but because he inadvertently struck it with the top of his foot the ball spun wide.

 Following the match Jean Blaise expressed disappointment at some of his misses during the game, in particular a one-on-one with Jin-Han the Expat keeper that he felt he did not react to quickly enough. Jin-Han had just enough time to dive at Jean Blaise’s feet and scoop up the ball, a brave move that spared the Expats a goal.

 As far as the Harriers?defense was concerned, Jean Blaise was being too hard on himself. He was constantly coming back to bolster the back line. On one corner kick he leaped up and headed the ball clear, thereby denying the 6 foot-plus Expat center-midfielder a sure chance at goal.

 On the odd occasion a Harrier suffered a lapse in concentration around the net the offending player would be sure to get an earful from Michael, our keeper. Just ask Christophe whom Michael scolded for not marking closely enough. When it comes to all matters defensive, we listen to what Mike has to say, and rightly so, considering he’s been technically superb between the posts this season. Mike’s one of the few keepers you can feel confident will handle a pass-back. His size also provides a key advantage. He was able to leap between two Expat strikers (Koffi and Blaise) to punch away the ball bouncing its way in high arcs down the center of the pitch.

 Lawrence was on his way to one of his best performances thus far in what has been a stellar season for him until he marred it with a temper tantrum. The incident which sparked the outburst began when Lawrence was dueling with Blaise from the Expats. Somehow Blaise managed to kick Lawrence in the cheek despite the fact Lawrence is almost two feet taller than his diminutive opponent. Lawrence rounded on Blaise, put his chest in Blaise’s face and started screaming blue murder even though the high-kick was clearly inadvertent. Fortunately, Captain Christophe was there to intervene before Blaise retaliated. Chuck intended to award Lawrence a penalty for the high kick but rightly rescinded the decision and carded him instead.

 As I said, up till that point, Lawrence was having a great game: passing to feet, tossing long accurate throw-ins, heading the ball safely back to Mike, and intelligent defending all round. What a pity most people will remember his outburst over those efforts.

 Another piece of bad news was that Trent’s meniscus continued to plague him throughout the game. It got so bad he began limping and had to sub himself off. After the match, team managers, Evan and Christophe, made the difficult decision to give his knee a rest and leave him out of our important encounter with Seoul United.

 Our upcoming game with Seoul United, and later, our game against the Jokers, will be the two biggest challenges of the Harriers?season. If we keep the form we’ve had in our last two games we think we have a fighting chance of producing a result. Predictions anyone?

Man of the Match: Markus Hatzelmann

 Goals: Christophe Garnier, Evan Hale

 Assists: Guillaume Cario (re: Christophe), Christophe Garnier (re: Evan)

 Cleansheet: Michael Cop (keeper), Markus Hatzelmann, Joel Vial, Marco Faba, Randal Smith, Sylvain Bredin, and Lawrence Heavey

 Yellow card: Lawrence Heavey (verbal abuse)