Seoul Super 6's
Futsal Tourney
Goyang, Ilsan
(Aug. 13th/14th, 2005)
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Christophe in action against SBFC
Christophe (again!) in the final against Dream Time
Our first game was an easy one, a 6-0 romp of Real Samgyupsal. We played well, moved the ball well, and had time to get the feel for this new style of play.
Our second test was against Osan. They were a much stronger team, and we played a much worse game. We tried out a new formation that we all agreed didn't work (after the game). After several chances in the first half (a few posts and lucky bounces for the keeper), Sean finally converted one for us. We seemed to settle a bit after that goal. However, not too long after that, Osan had a break down the wing and managed to beat Dean with a well placed shot to the top corner. Christophe responded shortly after that with a low canon that their keeper got a good piece of, but the sheer velocity and power of the shot carried the ball over the line. We held on for the win, but agreed it was not our best effort.
Sean, Francesco, Jean, Christophe, and Dean taking a 'much deserved' break
The last game of the day was against Gecko's. Things got off to a slow start, but eventually it was Christophe who opened the scoring yet again. Shortly before the half, Sean took advantage of a bad back pass to poke the ball past the keeper, who had come out of his area to play the ball. The second half, we were a little lazy, knowing we had 1st place in our group sewn up, and not wanting any injuries for Sunday.
Overall, a good day for Han River. Three games, 3 wins, and only 1 goal against. However, on Sunday, we were set to play in the Cup Quarterfinal against Incheon (2nd in Group C). A win would put us in the Cup Semi-final, where we'd likely meet SBFC, and a loss would put us in the Plate Semi-final, where we'd likely meet either Dream Time B, or Loko Goyang.
Han River vs. Incheon Red Dogs
Sunday morning saw Han River set to meet Incheon at 11:30 in one of the Cup quarterfinals. Spirits were high even though Jean Blaise couldn¡¯t join us, as Martin was present on Sunday. We were somewhat surprised to see Incheon¡¯s regular keeper, Darren, between the sticks, as there had been no sign of him on Saturday. However, Han River was given a quick penalty, converted by Evan, and that started the floodgates. When the dust had settled, Han River walked away the victors, having outscored Incheon 10-0, for our third (and final) clean sheet of the tourney. This great start was an indication that we stood a good chance of winning the tourney. We knew that if we kept up the form we had in this game, we¡¯d be competing for the title.
Any wonder Dean wasn't at all interested in going to penalty kicks? Damn that ball's close!
We knew the next match, the Cup semifinal, would be a battle. We¡¯d known since we looked at the brackets on Saturday night that we¡¯d probably be meeting SBFC in the semis. Deciding to employ some game-specific tactics, it was decided that Francesco would shadow SBFC¡¯s biggest threat, Miles. And he did a wonderful job. Han River struck first with a goal from Martin. Shortly afterwards, Miles managed to partially get by Francesco. That was all he needed to beat Dean between the legs. However, Francesco was not done, and continued to mark Miles, not giving him any room at all. To top it off, Francesco managed to score on an absolute canon of a shot from the right side. SBFC mananged a couple more chances, one Dean stopped and then had to scramble to cover the rebound. And seconds before time, he managed to get just enough of the ball to defect it off the crossbar. A few seconds later, the ref blew his whistle, and Han River was through to the Cup finals!!
On a side note, we all enjoyed the antics of the former Harrier, Didi. It was very nice to be on the ¡®other side¡¯ of his verbal tirades. Another interesting note...the rest of the SBFC team stayed behind to watch the finals, yet there was no sign of Didi at the end of the day...
As you can see, we were all on 'pins and needles' as we awaited the finals.
The last match of the day was played (mercifully!) on a shady pitch, getting underway sometime after 5 pm. It had been a long two days, with a lot of waiting around in between games, but we were determined to finish what we started. Instead of having a powerful goal scorer like Miles to deal with, we were faced with the threat of Dream Time A¡¯s crafty forward, Denilson (Dream Time had an ¡®A¡¯ team and a ¡®B¡¯ team entered in the tourney). Again we opted to have Francesco mark him, and again he did a wonderful job. This was a back and forth affair. Three times Han River took the lead, and three times we let Dream Time back into it. When the final whistle blew, the score was tied at 3, and it was on to penalties.
Now, for those of you who have never taken/witnessed penalties in Futsal, they¡¯re not for the faint of heart; not for the keeper, nor for the shooter. For the keeper, the ball is placed 6 meters in front of him. He then has to face shooters taking long run ups and striking the ball with enough force to take the keeper¡¯s head off (well, maybe not THAT hard, but you get the point). For the shooter, being faced with a much smaller net, the margin for error is much smaller. Not near enough the post, and the keeper will likely get a piece of it. An inch too far left or right¡¦.and disaster.
Dean's worst nightmare came true and we headed to penalty kicks in the final. Each Harrier stepped up and smashed their PK's firmly into the back of the net.
Han River won the SEOUL SUPER 6'S TOURNAMENT!!!
PK's: Sean, Christophe, Martin, Francesco, and Evan
Evan with the final penalty kick, after Dream Time put their fifth kick off the crossbar.
Definitely a good warm-up to the 2005 fall season in the SSFL, especially after our disappointing performance during the spring season. With a roster of 25 to choose from, it looks like Han River is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the league this year. Everyone at the tourney put in a solid performance, and let¡¯s hope that we see more of it in the league. Christophe and Sean combining to score numerous goals, Markus and Francesco and their tenacious defending, Martin and Aiden working well in the midfield, Jean using his power up front, and Evan¡¯s knee well on the way to recovery, were all signs that this year is going to be one in which the Harriers challenge for the title. Let¡¯s take the momentum from our wins last season, combined with winning this tourney, and really make a run for it in the league this year.
C¡¯mon Harriers!
Han River Harriers
Seoul Super 6's
Cup Champions!!!
Aug. 13th/14th, 2005
Back L-R: Aiden, Sean, Francesco, Markus, Dean
Front L-R: Evan, Sam, Christophe, Martin
(missing: Jean)
Goals For: 25
Goals Against: 5 (3 clean sheets)
Goal Scorers:
Sean – 10
Christophe – 5
Evan – 4
Francesco – 3
Martin – 2
Aiden – 1