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.

By Ed Cartee

With 3 games left in the season, City knew that 2 wins would clinch the BML title; but the way to that goal lay first through the San Chong boys, one of the more impressive possession-oriented sides in the rest of the league, so City had to be fully focused and honed in on the 90 minutes before them.  Game-time conditions were very hot, and the Bai Ling fields are starting to show the accumulated wear-and-tear of the season, so both teams wondered if the passing game would be affected by the bobbly ground.  City lined up with Dale Neal in goal, Tim Murphy sweeping and Hans Rempel patrolling in front of him, Mamadi Colley at left back, Matt Wharton at right back, Mike O’Gorman and Ebou Njie in the center of midfield, Ross Conlon at left mid, Ed Cartee at right mid, and Badou Njie and Dan Calvert up top.  The strategy on offense was to increase the speed of play from the standard in the past couple matches, and the strategy on defense was to apply aggressive pressure on San Chong in their own half.  In the first 15 minutes City was executing the game plan pretty well, but to San Chong’s credit, rather than folding under the higher pressure, they responded and matched the intensity and tempo which City were setting.  Nevertheless, San Chong’s only chances of the half were two shots from distance which were both safely wide.  Dawda Fatty came on for Conlon at left mid partway into the half.  When they could, the San Chong defenders were holding a high line, but City almost made them pay for this on a few occasions, as Calvert got behind them several times off of early balls from the flanks which bent behind San Chong’s backs.  When City established a rhythm of possession, San Chong compacted the center of the field and made it difficult for City to combine in small spaces and break through to shoot. O’Gorman once found Cartee open at the top of the box, but Cartee passed it off instead of testing the San Chong keeper from second distance.  The game had evolved into a midfield duel, a hard-fought battle “between the boxes”, and going into half-time with the score locked at 0-0, it looked like the 2nd half would be a war of attrition pitting City’s resources against San Chong’s youth and fitness.

At half-time the management team of Conlon and Calvert  switched City’s outside midfielders, moving Cartee to the left and Dawda to the right, and everyone did their best to hydrate so as to avoid cramping as the game wore on.

The 2nd half picked up where the 1st half left off in terms of intensity, but the game began to be more spread out; when San Chong had the ball they stretched the field with an expansive attacking shape, and City began using the counterattack more effectively to quickly pass San Chong’s midfielders out of the play and force their back line to deal with players running at them.  As both teams tired, neither team was able to pressure the ball as effectively and disrupt the other team’s rhythm of possession, and more chances were created at both ends.  Both teams’ instincts were heightened to sense the opportunities and dangers resulting from every slight momentum shift in the contest.  But it was City who broke through, recognizing when the game tilted their way after a few dangerous attacking sequences in succession, and capitalizing on the narrow window of opportunity before it was lost.  The City attackers created some confusion in the box for the San Chong defenders, and Dawda swept the ball across and Calvert finished – yet another clutch goal from him.  1-0 City.

San Chong came back at City relentlessly.  The combination of their pace and the heat was pushing City’s defenders to the limit, but City’s back line showed their mental toughness, with determination being the key factor as they stayed sharp to intercept passes, use their physicality to body the San Chong kids off the ball, and come up with a few clutch tackles.  San Chong had their best chance of the game when a midfielder struck a great shot from outside the box, low and hard and destined to tuck inside the far post, but Neal made a tremendous diving play to push the ball wide, saving a certain goal which would have radically changed the game.

Calvert came off and Dawda went up top when Michael Christie came on at right mid, though he and Cartee switched sides a couple times.  Though he roved a bit, Christie’s hustle gave City a lift, and soon after his entry, he was a difference-maker.  Getting on the end of a long ball, he initiated a neat wall-pass which played him into space for an unopposed service into the box.  City had talked before the game about high crosses to capitalize on their height advantage over San Chong, and though Christie’s cross floated a bit beyond the far post, Dawda accelerated and got on the end of it; Dawda headed the ball back across the face of goal, past a helpless keeper to a waiting Badou, who tapped in to give City the 2-0 advantage.

Though San Chong kept their composure and maintained their offensive pressure, City knew what they were playing for, and they weren’t about to let the San Chong kids steal the game back.  The final score was 2-0, making City’s record 14-1-1 and bringing them within one victory of a league championship.  Though so close to the objective, City will have to remember that it’s still up to them to take care of business, with 2 more opponents eagerly awaiting their last chance to spoil City’s season.

At least one of Taipei’s amateur soccer leagues will be decided tomorrow as Da-an face the Red Lions needing to win by at least three clear goals to snatch the Carnegies Premier League (CPL) title at 1pm at Taipei’s Dajia Riverside Park.

Across the city at Shilin’s Bai­ling Bridge at 4pm, expat team Taipei City can take a huge step toward clinching their second Businessman’s League (BML) trophy when they take on Sanchung High School.

In a bittersweet twist that is sure to leave many players questioning their loyalties, however, it turns out that the Taipei City squad is composed almost entirely of players who also play for Da-an and the Animals — the very team that Da-an will need to finish above if they’re to steal the CPL crown.

Da-an captain Alex Ramirez — who is also a City player — says the competition has always been good-natured and that “the rivalry is completely forgotten about once we don the Taipei City kit.”

The rivalry does have its downside though. Both leagues play on Sundays, which means players sometimes have to play two full games in a single day.

Ross Conlon, who manages Taipei City and plays for the Animals, says having the players competing against each other in the CPL has made it harder for City to be competitive.

“Toward the end of the season, both sets of players have been going all-out to win the CPL, so by the time they turn up to play for City they are already tired,” he said.
If Da-an do snatch the title, it will be an outcome few would have predicted. They have yet to occupy pole position. The current leaders, the Animals, have been on top since last summer, but the loss of some key players and a dip in form have left the door ajar for Da-an to win by the slightest of margins.

With the Animals having already completed all their games for the season, Da-an go into tomorrow’s game knowing that a victory by three goals would put them level on points and goal difference, but would see them crowned champions for their superior tally of goals scored.

In the BML, Taipei City face Sanchung High School knowing that three points would leave second-placed Fritz needing snookers to retain their title. City returned to action after the Chinese New Year break with 11-3 and 2-0 wins against the bottom two clubs Southeasterly and Dentway respectively.  Now with three games to go, City are nine points ahead of Fritz, who have a game in hand, and City’s goal difference is eight better, so a victory would mean they just need to avoid defeat in one of their last two games. Defeat could mean a big finish, with City and Fritz meeting on the final day.

By Michael Christie

Agreeing to put the start of the match back to 5.30, the match referee wasn’t very sympathetic to the eight City players kitted up at 5.25 when asked to delay it further. Still, within seconds of a 4-3-0 formation taking the field, Dawda, Tim, Mamadi, Ebou and Yunusa arrived. Niklas also showed up, but he’d lost the keys to his rooms so he didn’t have a kit and had to watch from the sidelines.

The starting line-up was Matt Wharton in goal; John Phillips, Tim Murphy, Mamadi Colley, and Yunusa Njie at the back; Spencer Pangborn, Oliver Harley, Ebrima Njie, and Ed Cartee in midfield; and, Stevey Reymond and Dawda Fatty up front. The Lions started the game with hard running. City kept the ball a lot but the passing was slow and often predictable, so the game was even for the first twenty minutes. Worryingly, Onur Dogan was in good form and looked threatening every time he had the ball. He was an effective outlet for the Lions, carrying the ball into the penalty box. One time he outpaced everybody and only a memorable tackle from Murphy stopped him.

The City attack created some openings in the first twenty minutes but rarely tested the Lions keeper. The wide players were not used enough, and the Lions were content to soak up pressure through the centre. With about twenty-five minutes gone, Onur Durgan was through again and this time he got a hard shot off which Wharton palmed away. The ball bounced back to the Lions ten yards from the box, where City conceded a free-kick. Driving hard and low, the ball took a deflection off the wall and Volker Nagel was in the right place to poke it home past Wharton. This was a lucky goal for the Lions, but no more than they deserved.

City came back with conviction but made no new inroads after the goal. City kept the ball well, but were restricted to long shots and corners. Shortly before the half-time whistle, Dan Calvert came on for Spencer Pangborn.

Begining the second half, Michael Christie replaced Oliver Harley. There didn’t seem to be much happening when, without any great effort, the Lions threaded the ball through to Onur Durgan at the edge of the penalty box. His curling shot took a slight deflection off Murphy before it found the net. (Whether or not his shot would have beaten Dale Neal or Alex Moga is a moot point. Matt Wharton did everybody a favour by volunteering to keep goal in the absence of a regular keeper.) About five minutes later, Wharton’s goal-kick was uncharacteristically short and, unluckily, came straight to Onur Durgan who controlled and shot quickly. 0-3!  With the game seemingly beyond City’s reach the Lions begin to defend and soak up the pressure and see the match out. A moment of madness from Jan Meidinger cost the Lions a defender. Swearing aggressively at the referee for a questionable decision over a corner kick, there was no question of a card. Was it going to be yellow or red? When the referee was finally given enough room by Lions players to take out a card, sure enough it was red. At this juncture City saw fit to switch to an attacking 3-5-2 formation with Alex Ramirez replacing Mamadi Colley.

City refusing to accept defeat began to apply the pressure. The Lions obviously thought differently, though, because they took off their best player and concentrated on defence. As a result, City soon had the Lions on the back foot.
Still, the Lions didn’t look like conceding. The Lions keeper, Rob Fowler, held on to most of the City shots on target, and the Lions defenders put enough pressure on the City forwards to make shooting difficult. There was plenty of pressure but nothing to show for it until Alex Ramirez tried to cross the ball on the volley, but hit it higher and closer towards the goal than intended. The ball took one bounce in the no man’s land between the defenders and the keeper and then bounced higher than Fowler, expected – over his head and into the net. Now it was 1-3.

A quick check with the linesman confirmed there was twenty minutes remaining. Clearly unnerved, the Lions decided to camp in their own half. Newly encouraged, City pressed forward. With attacks down the flanks, City looked to get the ball behind the Lions defence. (Some of the central City players were even complaining they were not getting enough of the ball at this point.) Finally, a move involving Yunusa, Ebrima and Reymond finished with Dawda in space just inside the box. Dawda swung his right foot in a smooth arc to bend the ball past the flailing arms of Fowler, the Lions keeper, into the bottom-left corner of the net. 2-3.

There were only about fifteen minutes of the game remaining now, so how would the teams play out the game? The Lions had dug in their heels and now they had no choice, really, but to try and weather the pressure. But how much did City have left? Too much, in the end. Yunusa and Reymond were now running the show on the right flank, and Phillips and Cartee were almost equally superior on the left. A driving run down the right beating three players and a perfect pass from Reymond made it easy for Christie to finish from six yards. 3-3!

“How long?” was the question. “Eight minutes,” was the answer. Now feeling utterly deflated, the Lions did not know how to respond. With just a few minutes left, a quick pass from Cartee gave Ramirez the chance to flight a lovely cross to Calvert, who calmly swiveled and flicked the ball home. It happened so quickly nobody had time to enjoy it. 4-3. And, after a couple of minutes of keep ball, that was that. City Get the Last Laugh.

Taipei City 4, The Red Lions 3

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 John Phillips

An understrength Taipei City side overcame a spirited performance by Bulien to maintain their challenge for a second BML crown. In the end the scoreline flattered Bulien who scored their second goal with the final kick of the game and never looked likely to upset a well-drilled City side.

Missing regular starters Calvert, Ramirez, Christie, Conlon, the Njie trio and both goalkeepers through a mixture of injury, suspension and other commitments, City shuffled their pack but still had enough firepower to see off a Bulien team that worked hard but rarely threatened from open play. With defender Wharton taking responsibility between the sticks, City brought in Mamadi Colley to fill in at left back in a new look four-man defence, while Oliver Harley returned for a rare outing in midfield.

City dominated the opening exchanges but had to wait until after the half hour to open the scoring. Good work by Denser sent wing back Cartee through on goal and the American kept his composure to slot the ball neatly past the keeper.

Following the goal, City continued to create chances, but the game’s moment of controversy came at the other end. A speculative ball by the Bulien midfield appeared to find their striker a meter or so offside, but the linesman’s flag stayed down as the striker bore down on goal. The decision was immaterial as the striker fluffed the chance but City’s players and management were incensed and made vocal remonstrations.

Leading 1-0 at the break, Daly made way for Pangborn in defence leaving City with no cover on the bench. Bulien brought on Wang to strengthen their forward line, and the rotund striker showed some good touches in the opening exchanges. But it was City who doubled their lead on 50 minutes with Dawda Fatty popping up with a poacher’s goal from inside the penalty box.

And by the 55th minute City extended their lead to three goals with a finely worked goal. O’Gorman’s through ball found Denser in an offside position but the young German smartly let the ball run through to Cartee who had advanced down the left wing. He swung in a pinpoint cross to the far post for Steve Reymond to nod home a rare headed goal.

The game swung decisively in City’s favour when a seemingly innocuous challenge on Pangborn resulted in a straight red card for a Bulien midfielder. But the red card seemed to galvanise Bulien, as the ten men upped their game in search of a consolation. They were duly rewarded when a corner was played in low to the top of the box. Bulien reacted quickest and in the resulting melee, the ball was poked home past a helpless Wharton.

Any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed when Dawda Fatty got his second of the game with a tidy finish to make it 4-1. And with the clock running down and the victory safe, all that was left was for Bulien to grab a consolation from a scrappy corner, but it was too little too late and City got the win that keeps their title challenge on track.

Taipei City 4, Bulien 2

By Alice Davis and Michael Christie

With lashings of rain for a week beforehand, some doubted if the game would go ahead. But the skies cleared on Friday afternoon, so it was surprisingly warm and dry when the top two teams of the BML took to the field at 7pm on Saturday evening. The preparations were good by all the City players, Dan and Ross gave a serious team talk before the game which was just what everybody needed. The starting line-up was Dale Neal in goal; a back four of John Philips, Tim Murphy, Yunusa Njie and Matt Wharton; Ed Cartee and Ross Conlon on the left and right flanks, with Mike O’Gorman and Ebrima Njie in centre midfield; and, Dan Calvert and Dawda Fatty up front. The new, experimental formation wasn’t really tested last weekend. Nevertheless, the management stuck to their strategy of providing more cover in defensive positions and nicking a goal at the other end rather than being drawn into a straight shootout with Fritz.

From the moment the game kicked off it was evident that both sides meant business, as did the referee who had awarded Ebrima a yellow card for a crunching tackle on the opposition before the first 60 seconds were up. Fritz looked commanding at first, but City didn’t lose spirit. Early shots from Dawda and Calvert helped the Blues reinforce a confidence they needn’t feel guilty of showing, and they had taken the reins from the champions by the end of the first ten minutes. Fritz, however, are not easy to tame, and the sides settled into a lively game at tempo, both looking for the attacking advantage.

Fritz took the first corner of the game, which was well-handled by City’s defence, but they kept possession and Fritz’s 18 tried his luck as he shot just over the bar. City persistently worked away at the opposition as Fritz tried to build up momentum. Their persistence prevented Fritz from taking the initiative and, apart from an edgy moment when a Fritz free kick went close at the 20-minute mark, City can be proud they looked like a strong, calm, organized team even under pressure.

The result of this was a string of chances, with almost everyone on the City side being able to have a go at goal. Dawda and Calvert kept up the pressure, and a long, low shot from Cartee skimmed the woodwork. But with nothing yet to show for their perseverance, frustrations were becoming visible as halftime grew nearer. As Calvert and Conlon tried to keep City from losing their calm, a couple of great saves from Dale ensured City hadn’t conceded as they walked off the pitch at 45 minutes. But they hadn’t scored, either.

At halftime, Alex Ramirez replaced Conlon on the left wing, but the game re-started mirroring the first half, this time with a Fritz player notching up a yellow card for a tackle on Ebrima in the first minute. City kept looking to score, and though the second half saw fewer shots than the first, play remained organized and the defence and midfield kept working hard to create the canvas for a goal.

An interesting piece of refereeing saw a Fritz player booked for shirt-tugging incident, but then, as if to balance out the punishment, the free kick was awarded to Fritz. As the referee grew more myopic the game became more heated. A foul near the City goal was so blatant everyone looked to the ref for the whistle. The whistle failed to sound though, and Dale was lucky Fritz did not manage to capitalize on his lull in concentration. He soon made up for the error as he was forced into making a couple of saves. At this stage Michael Christie replaced Ebrima who had worked tirelessly covering ground in the midfield all day.

At around 20 minutes, City finally reaped the rewards they had been working so hard for with a goal. The prolific Calvert guided a fine header into the Fritz net from a long speculative cross. Ten minutes later, Dawda and Calvert went close, but it was Ramirez who knocked in Fritz’s third failed attempt to clear the box to sew up what was certainly a deserved victory. Mamadi Colley replaced Calvert in the final minutes giving the Fritz defence more fresh legs to worry about. Solid teamwork was the backbone of this display, and all City’s players ought to congratulate themselves on a motivated, confident performance that had plenty of moments magic. A well-earned three points puts City two points ahead of their skilled opponents.

The defence held strong and the midfield always provided the cover to stifle the Fritz forwards. The spaces were unusually restricted so both teams had to be precise with their passing in all areas of the park. Eventually, Taipei City showed more dynamism and had more of the element of surprise going forward. Taipei City were the better team on the night. With a performance like that, some people were asking how we lost to Rogue earlier in the season. The answer is Rogue were the better team on the day, a lesson in preparation that City need to take into every game they play.

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.

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!

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.