The Champions Prove their Point
Time: 10am, March 21st, 2010
Venue: Bai Ling Bridge Riverside Park
By Michael Christie
On a warm morning, with a sandstorm blowing in from Mainland China, Taipei City faced Fritz Air in their penultimate game this season. Missing their influential contingent of Gambian students, City nevertheless assembled a strong eleven, albeit without regular goalkeeper, Dale (who turned up after the final whistle), obliging Spencer to put on the keeper’s jersey and gloves. Spencer did very well in goal, but Dale was undoubtedly missed. (Thank you, Spencer, for your generosity. In the event, we were missing a little bit of the teeth in the outfield which you usually provide.)
The starting eleven unchanged throughout the match was Spencer Pangborn in goal; John Phillips , Tim Murphy , Oliver Harley and Ross Conlon in defence; Niklas Denser, Michael Christie, Mike O’Gorman and Ed Cartee in midfield; and Alex Ramirez and Dan Calvert up front. The first half saw City keep most of the possession. Fritz Air were content to sit back and wait for opportunities to counter-attack. City played with patience and put together some good moves, but rarely shifted gear. Possibly City showed too much composure on the ball. City played the safe balls and didn’t pass quickly enough, so there wasn’t really much pressure being put on Fritz Air.
There were not too many chances for City in the first half – there were even fewer for Fritz Air – so everybody was relieved when a shot by Conlon from a narrow angle broke the back of the net. For the record, this was not “the luck of the Irish” but a brilliantly executed trick. Fritz Air had their best players out and so were able to play some skilful football at close quarters, but they rarely got near threatening the goal. Cartee was involved in both of City’s brightest moments in this game. His dummy for O’Gorman and angled run created a chance he only narrowly missed. And, an extremely impudent pirouette on the ball started a dribble which saw him beat four men. Both O’Gorman and Denser sustained injuries near the end of the first half. They were playing with an intensity matched by few other City players. 1-0 at the end of the first half! While the City players were not thrillled with their performance, nobody was too worried either. In retrospect, this might have been our undoing.
The first ten minutes of the second half continued in the same vein as the first half. Both teams played neat if not always incisive football, and neither looked like running away with the game. During one spell of Fritz Air pressure, in clearing the ball Harley made contact with a Fritz Air player. The referee somewhat harshly decided this was a penalty and after this was duly converted, Fritz Air scented victory. With no substitutes available, City still looked solid but hardly imposing. Fritz Air used four substitutes and now often looked a little sharper than the opposition. They maintained a good tempo and kept the City defence on their toes. City had some good pressure of their own at times, but as Calvert said didn’t play the final ball quickly enough. With only seven or eight minutes to go, a hopeful punted free-kick from Fritz Air found a Taiwanese head and now it looked like City were heading for defeat! But with just four minutes to go, Ramirez yet again proved his worth by winning a penalty. Up stepped Murphy to put it away.
Taipei City 2, Fritz Air 2
In summary, City didn’t play anywhere near their best but still deserved at least a draw. Ed Cartee stood out on the day for his consistent speed of ideas. Everybody needs to be better if they are to do themselves justice against Fritz next week.
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.
Taipei City ground Fritz Air
On a surprisingly cloudy day, Taipei City assembled a surprisingly small squad to give Fritz Air a surprisingly good game. Played on Bai Ling B, the surface was uneven in places but still allowed for good football.
With several defensive specialists missing, the Taipei City starting line-up looked attack top-heavy. The biggest shock saw Dan Calvert play as the sweeper. (Yes, that’s Dan Calvert playing as the sweeper!) With the ever-reliable Sam in goal and John and Christie either side, the defence was by no means weak. Canadian Olly in his first game for City was holding midfielder in front of Ebu and Paco. Alex and Steve were the wing-backs on the left and right, all aiming to feed Dawda and Gustavo up front.
After the first ten minutes settling into the game, the first half saw City play some of the best football the side has played in a long time. There was a lot of fluidity in midfield, with Canadian Olly always in the right place to take the ball and dictate the play from deep. His ability to flight diagonal balls was very important. Ebu and Paco were also a joy to watch going forward with their close control and neat passes. Their runs and short passes to Gustavo and Dawda caused no end of problems for Fritz Air. The sharpness of the front two enabled them to latch on to just about every loose ball, as well.
From a tactical point of view, what was most satisfying about this first-half performance was the width utilized. Alex and Steve frequently received the ball from the centre and so they were able to make clear openings into the Fritz Air back line. The passing was snappy and City looked a notch superior to the opposition. Paco scored twice and Gustavo once in the first half. The City back line contained most threats well enough, except for the time when their best player was not closed down quickly enough when he shot and so scored. City deservedly went into the break 3-1 up.
Knowing that they needed to fight their way back into the match, Fritz Air came out sharper in the second half. They succeeded in putting City under more pressure although City still had pressure ourselves. The difference was that now the two sides seemed to be playing at the same level. City held their shape and defended doggedly. It was now that Dan, John and Christie did more work. Fritz Air were able to feed the ball to their forward line quick but the City defence didn’t rush in and so the midfield had time to run back and help out. The work-rate of the two wing-backs, Alex and Steve, was particularly impressive at this time.
After a few close shaves, Fritz Air finally succeeded in getting a goal with about twenty minutes on the clock. Now it was 3-2 and the situation had changed. Creditably, City didn’t panic but continued to work openings. Perhaps the threat was a spur to the City attack, because City now played more tidily. Cometh the hour, cometh Paco to complete another hat-trick! Danny came on for his debut replacing Gustavo late in the game and played well. At the final whistle, Dan and Ross had every reason to feel pleased with the performance – isn’t that right, lads?
Photos courtesy of www.taiwanfootball.tv
Overlooking the pitch and river.
Gustavo accelerates
Paco and Michael Christie
Dawda Fatty winds up for a shot
Fritz Air No Match for Taipei City
Coming into the game after a surprising loss to the Red Lions, Taipei City had to muster up a fighting spirit to defeat Fritz Air. Final score 4-0 for Taipei City with goals coming from Dan Calvert, Gustavo Lopez, Chris Grimaud, and Spencer Pangborn.
Lining up against the air shipping division of the Fritz Company
Gustavo Lopez and the 2-0 scoreboard
Dawda makes a pass forward