City Make Light Work of Air
On a cold morning,Taipei City engaged with a depleted Fritz Air team. The kick-off was put back thirty minutes to allow enough Fritz Air players to get out of bed. This was frustrating for City given that everybody had assembled right on time. Dawda led an excellent warm-up at 9.45, but the game started at about 10.30. When the game finally started, City fielded an exceptionally strong eleven against a team of eight. The starting line-up was Matt Wharton in goal; a back four of John Philips, Tim Murphy, Yunusa Njie and Ross Conlon; Ed Cartee and Steve Reymond on the left and right flanks, with Mike O’Gorman and Ebou Njie in centre midfield; and, Badou Njie and Dawda Fatty up front. The new, experimental formation was looking for a real test, which the opposition didn’t really provide. Nevertheless, to their credit City took the game seriously and played well from the whistle.
With only eight players for the first twenty or so minutes, Fritz Air defended en masse, blocking out space in their own penalty box where they were happy to sit. City piled on the pressure looking to get the goals, but needed some time to warm up properly again themselves (having waited half an hour after their pre-match warm-up). Pinned back, Fritz Air were obviously waiting and hoping for their team-mates to arrive. Ironically, in the course of the first half as more Fritz Air players turned up City just kept getting better. The first half saw great goals from Yunusa, Tim and two from Badou. With the score 4-0 at half-time, City were satisfied.
The second half saw Alex Ramirez come on for Mike in midfield and Matt Wharton moved out to defence to replace Ross with the arrival of regular keeper Dale Neal. Later, Christie came on for Ebou. Fritz Air scored a quick goal but then City very quickly scored some more. One of the best goals ever scored by a City player was a Dawda chip over the head of the diminutive Fritz Air goalkeeper. The ball literally sailed into the top of the net. Then, a little later, an equally memorable goal was scored by Badou, who fabulously tackled a Fritz Air defender desperately trying to clear and saw the resulting ball somehow curl into the top left hand corner. At this point, Fritz Air knew this wasn’t their day.
The game finished at 10-2, a comfortable victory for City. Now the real challenge is to come.
San Chong Salvage Point
Time: 1pm, December 13th, 2009
Venue: Bai Ling Bridge Riverside Park
By Michael Christie
On an extremely hot day, with the sun beating down from a high place, Taipei City kicked off against San Chong. Ross had warned everybody before the game that San Chong had recently strung together some good results against the better sides in the league, so they would not be the pushovers remembered from previous seasons. He was right. The starting line-up was Dale Neal in goal; Alex Daly, Tim Murphy and Matt Wharton at the back; Spencer Pangborn and Ed Cartee in the wide positions; Mike O’Gorman, Michael Christie and Alex Ramirez in midfield; and, Stevey Reymond and Niklas Denser up front.
Right from the whistle, San Chong were determined to put pressure on the ball at all times. The ball went from San Chong to Taipei City and back again quite often in the first five minutes and, a little worryingly, Taipei City seemed reluctant to exert themselves fully in that time. There was hesitation in the challenge and indecision in possession from everybody but Mike OG. Possibly encouraged by City’s anaemic start, San Chong pushed forward energetically. Their speed and sharpness was such that City had no choice but to respond.
From the ten minute mark, the City players began to warm up properly and put in some hard work. (Those great days when you discovered you were nimbler and quicker than the older and bigger boys playing for the opposition were dimly recalled. Now the City players were one and all older and bigger than the whippets of San Chong.) For the next ten to fifteen minutes the two sides more or less shared the spoils of a keenly contested game. There was some good possession football from both sides and while the game wasn’t an “end to end” classic, both teams had pressure and chances in front of goal. Notably, Dale made a wonderful save at the feet of a San Chong forward when he was clean through on goal, the one time in the game the City defence was properly breached.
The deadlock was broken around the twenty minute mark by an own goal resulting from a low near post cross from Ramirez. Oddly enough, Tim and Steve took turns to jump over the ball before the unlucky San Chong defender stroked it home from three yards. City were determined not to rest on their lead, but now San Chong had their tails up so they played with real discipline and force.
San Chong ran City ragged for about fifteen minutes of the first half. Their teamwork, discipline and fitness shone through as they passed the ball through and around a hard-working but tired City. The pace of the game was getting too much for City at this stage, which with mistakes in technique and decision-making, foreshadowed a potential defeat. (The San Chong boys train up to four hours a day. Let’s be honest, they only lack the height and weight to be clear favorites to win the BML now.) To City’s credit, San Chong weren’t allowed an opening. Eventually, however, justice was done. San Chong were a little lucky but got the goal their dominance deserved.
Obviously disappointed, City had about ten minutes left in the first half to do something. With San Chong still pressing, a great breakaway move ended with Stevey Reymond’s precise curler into the top corner of the net. Somehow, Taipei City had finished the first half ahead 2-1!
Taipei City put Conlon on in place of Daly during the interval, so Matt shifted to the right side of defence. 
The second half was to be more comfortable for City, partly because San Chong couldn’t sustain the movement they’d shown in the first half. Still, quite early on Dale had to react very quickly to tip a deflected shot over the bar. Dale was busy at other times, coming off his line or making more routine saves, too. And, City were still regularly conceding corners. Nevertheless, City were able to fashion more attacks and looked the stronger team in the second half. Ross and Ed combined well down the left, both contributing plenty of good crosses. San Chong defended deeper so there was less pressure on the midfield, meaning the other midfielders didn’t look so poor in comparison to Mike OG. Mike O’Gorman confirmed to everybody on Sunday that he is surely the best foreign player in Taiwan at the moment.
With better decision-making and more luck in the final third, City would have scored two or three goals against a tiring San Chong defence. As it was, the City cogs aren’t quite yet in alignment. Still, City forced the San Chong keeper to make some good saves and otherwise put the ball in some tricky places for San Chong, so could have…. Could have, but didn’t!
Taipei City showed impressive endurance and work-rate for eighty minutes of a hard game, but didn’t know when to ease back and that was the killer. Playing on very tired legs for the last ten minutes, some City players, notably Christie, persisted in pushing forward when the only sensible choice was to play deep and grind out the result. San Chong ably exploited the gaps in midfield and again justice was done when a speculative shot from an unmarked San Chong midfielder hit the back of the net! The game ended 2-2 and that was that!
Dentway Gets a Drilling
Time: 3pm, December 6th, 2009
Venue: Bai Ling Bridge Riverside Park
By Michael Christie
On a warm and sunny day, Taipei City easily overcame the resistance offered by Dentway but only came away with five goals. The first clean sheet of the season was possibly more important than the margin of victory, if City can build on this performance.
The first half started with Alex Moga in goal; a back three of Matt Wharton, Tim Murphy and John Phillips; a five-man midfield of Spencer Pangborn and Stevey Reymond on the right and left flanks, and Oliver Harley, Michael Christie and Ebrima Njie in the middle; and, a forward pairing of Dawda Fatty and Dan Calvert.
In the first ten minutes City were ragged but working hard to impose themselves on the game. Dentway were pushed back inside their own half. Thereafter, Dentway were determined in defence but lacked the confidence to attack with any conviction. Apart from their forwards, Dentway seemed happy to spend the game playing in their own half of the pitch. So, the first half fell into a familiar pattern of Taipei City keeping possession and sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly probing for openings.
The passing was sometimes slow and sluggish from City but there was always a lot of space. The ball was played into feet quite often so with the class of the City forward pairing it was not long before City scored. Receiving the ball ten yards from the penalty box, Dawda turned, beat two men and weighted a perfect pass for Calvert to run on to and finish with aplomb. The second goal started with Oliver playing a one-two with Ebrima, receiving the return and surging into the opposition penalty box. He drew a number of defenders before sliding another perfectly weighted pass to Calvert, who this time from a tightening angle finished with force.
The second half started with Badou Njie on for Oliver. A little later, Nicklas Denser came on for Stevey, and later still Ramirez and Daly replaced Dawda and Matt. Moving and jumping for the ball, Spencer scored a superb header from a corner. Then, Dan’s cross found Badou who volleyed the ball into the far corner of the net – a spectacular finish! It was in the second half that City enjoyed their best spell of football with Ebrima especially impressing. The passing was sharp and quick and there was more movement and zip in the build-up play. Near the end of the game, Dan claimed a fifth for City and a hat-trick for himself.
In conclusion, this was not the hardest opposition, but on the day Taipei City did a good job.
Every (Under)Dog Has Its Day
Time: 3pm, December 5th, 2009
Venue: Bai Ling Bridge Riverside Park
By Alice Davis
Was there the air of over-confidence amongst the Taipei City team on Saturday afternoon? Were the players expecting Rogue FC to succumb to their playful fancy tickles, roll over, and die? Only City’s players can answer that, but one thing was evident. Rogue ain’t no poodle. Baring row after row of jagged teeth, Rogue’s seemingly (and suprisingly?) well-rested players snarled and grimaced their way through all ninety minutes of a toughly-fought match. Their fearlessness seemed to take City by surprise, and almost every attempt at their usually stylish fashion of play was torn apart from the inside by the pitbull opposition who incessantly snapped at their heels.
It would not to be fair to say Rogue created many chances of their own, but they did, critically, prevent City from ever getting together any serious attack. With City posing little danger moving forwards, the minutes ticked by to reveal the side was lacking much of a striking threat at all. Rogue’s determination built, and some might say it was just a matter of time before their resilience was rewarded. At the half-hour mark, Andy Rodgers capitalized on a “moment of shortsightedness,” worming his way past the last standing defender to take on the goalkeeper from a pretty fair distance. Did even he think such an audacious shot would hit the back of the net? The point is, it did. 1-0 to the Underdogs.
The City response was negligible, if there was one at all. And, if Rogue were the Underdogs, City were the Sleeping Dogs and seemed happy to let themselves lie. The hardy opposition, buoyed by their goal, scored again. Paul Cartstairs added a second just minutes before the halftime whistle. Another charming shot, one of the few aesthetic moments in what was generally an eyesore of a game. Were Rogue as stunned City were? Only the Rogue players can answer that, but the silence from Taipei’s dugout in the break was as deafening as the noise coming from the leading side.
The second half was barely under way before the wagging-tailed Rogues had a third goal to their name. A scruffy battle in the box compounded Taipei City’s problems, an own goal adding to City’s misery. Russell’s yells of, “It’s still nil-nil, lads. It’s still nil-nil,” may have confused some of the fans, but seemed to be working. At three-nil down, it probably sounded like sarcasm.
With twenty minutes left to play, only a superhero would have a chance to turn the game around. Tim Murphy’s presence as he moved up front was dominating, but it wasn’t his day to score. The defence and midfield play was certainly improving—or maybe Rogue had begun to stop heeding Russell’s determined shouts. With the delayed arrival of Dan Calvert, could he feel the burden on his shoulders? Had he painted a red-and-yellow ‘S’ on his chest? Could he score a hat-trick in less than twenty minutes?
As it turns out, the answer is, almost. Having bombed it over to Bai Lin Bridge in a Danmobile that was running on sheer willpower rather than fuel, the super sub made an immediate impact on the game. With their feathers finally ruffled, Rogue were forced to step up their game to contain a City side that finally appeared to have woken up. Dan scored moments later, a scrappy header from a corner. And before too long, another beautifully placed shot into the top right hand corner.
But time was running out, and any dying attempt to equalize was thwarted. As the final whistle blew, Rogue’s cheers echoed around northern Taipei. A dejected City team, saved from humiliation by Dan’s late goals, were left with the realization that, in football, nothing is for granted, even if you think you’re Top Dog.
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