By Michael Christie

On a smooth, dry Taiwanese riverside surface, two tough expat teams faced each other in the season opener.TaipeiCitywas the favorite to win, but Rogue had a new team and was looking for an upset. Wily manager Ross Conlon opted for a 4-4-1-1 formation to start. As usual, Dale was in goal. The back four, from right-back stretching to left-back, was Ricardo Abrego, Tom Clarke, Karim Cham and “Dapper” Daniel Wilkinson. The midfield, from right stretching to left, was Danny Weir, Brian McGuinness, Michael Christie and Ross Conlon. Alex Ramirez filled the hole behind beefy target-man Dan Calvert.

The opening ten minutes were critical for both teams.TaipeiCityhad more urgency and worked hard to close down space. Working hard helpedTaipeiCityplay at a tempo that was slightly too quick for Rogue.

As the game wore on, City managed to dominate possession. The City forwards and midfield put pressure on Rogue and forced Rogue on the back foot. However, though Rogue was organized in defense they never pushed up enough to make life uncomfortable for the City midfielders and defenders. City could always pass back safely to Ricardo, Tom, Karim or Dapper at the back.

The new-look Rogue was often clever in possession and threaded some nice passes together, but they were unable to sustain anything for very long. City always had a good outlet, especially on the flanks where Ross Conlon and Danny Weir made themselves available.

Rogue defended stoutly and withstood a lot of pressure but ultimately found the City forwards hard to manage. The breakthrough first goal came when Alex Ramirez found Danny Weir in the channel down the right flank. Weir crossed low for Calvert who beat the defender (ex-City stalwart Alex Daly) to the near post and hooked a fine half-volley with his right foot into the far corner. Later, Dan Calvert scored a less memorable but just as effective goal from sustained City pressure.

2-0 up at half-time, City had worked hard but could not claim to be brilliant. During the break, Stoyan Todorov came on for Abrego at right-back and Luis Mayorga came on for Dapper Dan Wilkinson. Ross Conlon dropped back to left-back, Brian McGuinness moved to left-midfield and Alex Ramirez came into central midfield. Luis Mayorga slotted into the “hole” behind Calvert, of course. After the break, the game picked up where it had left off with more City possession. After ten minutes, the spent Christie was replaced by Gustavo Maffio. Maffio came in at right-midfield and Brian McGuinness moved back into central midfield with Danny Weir, who was electric all day switching to the left flank to terrorise the Rogue right full back for a while.

A number of other City players had very strong games, including Karim Chan, Alex Ramirez and Brian McGuinness. Brian McGuinness deservedly got on the score-sheet with an opportunistic strike to make the score 3-0. He later made way for Matt Wharton, who gave a good cameo performance. Then, the last twenty minutes were all City. Having acquitted themselves well for over an hour, the Rogue players were exhausted by the end of the game and couldn’t raise themselves for a final push. City continued to probe for holes in the defense and found them. Dan Calvert completed his hat-trick with a well-taken first touch, turn and left-foot shot into the far corner after good build-up play and Alex Ramirez fittingly made it 5-0 with a fine shot finding the corner of the net from distance.

This was a good job on the day. For their part, Rogue are sure to improve. City will also naturally look to improve as the season progresses. City looks set for a good season so there is everything to play for.

TaipeiCity FC 5 – 0 Rogue FC

By Michael Christie

The last time City and Rogue met, in November, produced an upset and the only loss City have suffered this season. The Rogue were without Canadian Andy, scorer of a spectacular goal in the earlier game, but still assembled a good, determined side. For their part, the Taipei City management team of Ross and Dan urged every every player to maximize their effort levels, and only then would football skill and know-how decide the result. The starting line-up was Alex Moga in goal; Yunusa Njie, Matt Wharton, Tim Murphy and Mamadi Colley at the back; Steve Reymond and Ed Cartee on the flanks with Mike O’Gorman and Ebrima Njie in centre midfield; and the in-form strike partnership of Dawda and Dan (DAD).


The first five minutes were all City. Looking strong and hungry, City put pressure on the Rogue goal. There were good short passes and quick balls to the flanks in equal measure. City were winning all the tackles, too. Still, something clicked for Rogue after five minutes and they proceeded to dominate the next five minutes. They had three or four strong attacks in as many minutes. Undoubtedly the closest they came was when Ian Edwards, cutting in from the left, contained but not muzzled by the shadowing Matt Warton, laid on an inviting ball for Russell Curtis to crack against the bar. The question at this stage was would this become a game of two equally matched teams both attacking with penetration? Unfortunately for Rogue and impartial spectators, this was as good as it got. City started dictating the pace again and after another five minutes Rogue were panting running after the ball, a pattern that would continue to the end of the match.

Calvertn opened the scoring with a near post header from a corner flighted by Reymond after twenty minutes. Then, on twenty-five minutes Calvert returned the favour, laying on a square ball for the incoming Reymond to finish clinically. Not long after that, again through a combination of strength and astute positioning, Calvert was able to lay on another square ball, this time for Dawda to finish coolly with his left foot. All this time the defence and midfield were functioning very well, keeping the ball, making very few mistakes and displaying a considerable amount of flair in some tight situations. Rogue were running hard, determined not to make the game easy for City. Still, they had to contend with an attack of DAD, Cartee, Reymond, O’Gorman and Ebrima all in good form, not to mention City’s defenders, all capable of using the ball well. Not surprisingly, Rogue were tired.

At half-time, two of the best performers of the first half, brothers Ebrima and Yunusa Njie, made way for Michael Christie and Alex Daly respectively. Alex Daly surprised a number of people with his skill and dribbling close to the Rogue box. Christie did not make an impact until a Rogue defender crashed into him! Christie was winded and saw stars, but the Rogue man came off worse because his head smacked right in the middle of Christie’s sternum. Luckily, neither player was seriously hurt.

Calvert made it 4-0 to City with a turn and powerful low shot past the Rogue keeper halfway through the second half. By this time, City were benefitting from their higher fitness levels. Apart from a few good moves involving Brian McGuinness, Gerry McNally, Russell Curtis and Carl Blundon, Rogue were spent as a cohesive force. City were simply enjoying being on top. The biggest scare City had at this time was a ball kicked with force into Mike OG’s private parts, inadvertently of course. The pain was obviously real, but O’Gorman ran it off to complete another excellent performance for Taipei City. Near the end of the game, Calvert took his hat-trick with an overhead flicked volley from a Reymond cross. This was the goal of the game. Possibly City could have scored more, but the new Rogue goalkeeper made some good saves and the Rogue defence played with passion.

In the end, City played a good game with discipline and control. Three points secured.

Taipei City 5, Rogue 0

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.

Taipei City came out strong against the boys over at Rogue FC, scoring a goal in the first 4 minutes of the game.  Steve crossed to Dan for the easy put away, 1-0.

Moments later another goal was in the back of the net, again from Steve crossing to Mr. Calvert again,  2-0.

Later in the half Matt Swift from Rogue scored an own goal, 3-0.

Then Paco scored a nice header that lofted in from the left side of the field, 4-0.

Then another goal from Dan before just halftime, 5-0.

Halftime water break.  Michael Christie replaced Spencer in goal…clean sheet for both keepers.

The 2nd half saw 3 more goals, 2 solid finishes by Gustavo and 1 more by Dan.

All in all, it wasn’t a very challenging game for Taipei City but still a pleasant way to spend Sunday morning.

Final score: Taipei City 8, Rogue FC 0.

The opposition but they’re also our mates (most of the time)

Shaking hands like gentleman do

Steve crosses one in on the Rogue defense

Alex Daly and Ibu in the mix

Dan runs towards the goal

Tim and Chris solid in the midfield

Taipei City won 5-1. Goal scorers were Dan Calvert with 3 and Dawda Fatty with 2.

Stretching before the match.

Nice sunny day

Spencer Pangborn running down the line

Tim Murphy sends a free kick up to the forwards.