Darren McFadden 19' Curt LaFleur 37' Jorge Sanchez 84' | James Clarke 17' Michael Coburn 50'
With six points and a grand total of 138 places in the World Rankings separating the two sides, it was always going to be a tough game for the Rampant Walrus. The last time the two sides met, in Liventia that time, it was a deserved 2-0 victory to the home-side, and there could be no arguments from the Nouvel Ecosse media. The story this time around, however, was entirely different. This time Nouvel Ecosse played well, and had a certain degree of luck. The fans were there in huge numbers, the hope was present, the crowd was behind the team. Norrie Stewart, in a press conference before the game, stated that "This game is the difference between qualification and desperation". And although there is still a long way until qualification, we can be reassured that it is still possible.
The match started doggedly, a few near the bone fouls just escaping punishment. Liventia won a dangerous free-kick on the fourth minute mark, Pierre Van Miller hauling down the dangerous forward James Clarke. Only the stretching open hand of vice-captain Zinedine Frazer, who has had a fairly good round of qualification so far, was enough to stop what would have been the opening goal.
But just over ten minutes later it was that dangerman again, James Clarke, who this time succeeded. Nouvel Ecosse had been enjoying a small bout of possession, pressing up high, when Jason Raynes won the ball off of of Curt LaFleur and with a high swooping loop found Clarke, who easily bypassed Everton player Dan Franklin in defense, and delicately cruised the shot past Frazer, who this time wasn't able to do enough.
It is a well-known fact that teams can often let their guard down after scoring a goal, and this was the apotheosis of examples of this. After kicking off from the restart, McFadden passed back to Sanchez, who then threaded a pass through to Di Nesbo. Di Nesbo delightfully powered down the left-hand side, before cutting and having a crack, which was parried away by goalkeeper Ross Ramsden, unluckily straight into the flight path of left-winger Darren McFadden, who found it almost to easy to score. The game was back at deadlock almost immediately.
This was followed by even more pressure from the Rampant Walrus, who like a shark nearing the kill attacked with ferocity unseen since their victory over Neu Engollon in the Baptism of Fire. Holt-Ash came close to snatching his first goal for his country with a swerving shot from 25 yards, however the post denied his clever work. On the thirty-seventh minute it was Endeavour Thistle midfielder Curt LaFleur who was the man of the moment, his free-kick from forty yards flying into the top corner, courtesy of a lucky deflection off the wall. Controversy surrounds the nature of the free-kick, awarded for a hand-ball which many claim to be non-deliberate, including the "perpetrator" Andy Davis.
Both sides went in at half time knowing that they could offer more, Nouvel Ecosse defensively and Liventia in attack. So it was no surprise then that, when the sides reappeared, it was Liventia who this time pressed, Clarke at the front creating the chances. On the fiftieth minute, Rob Grant fluffed his shot from ten yards, Frazer punched the ball out, and in what may be referred to as one of the best goals in qualifying Michael Coburn caught the ball perfectly on the volley, sending it shooting past Frazer, who could only gape at its majesty.
Although the game lost a bit of its edge after this moment, it reignited into flames once again at the seventieth minute, when Sanchez Reno looked to be unnecessarily pulled down in the box by an unknown arm during a corner, an action which the referee chose to ignore. Reno was immediately up in arms, shouting at the referee, and earned a deserved yellow card for his loss of temper.
Jorge Sanchez was the man, or should that be teenager (Sanchez is only seventeen), who earned the shock victory for Nouvel Ecosse in the eighty-fourth minute, when he scrambled the ball home from a corner. Although it took a few other touches, it was Sanchez who got most on the ball, and Ramsden could only flap an arm at it as it crashed home.
Liventia pressed for an equaliser, even bringing on Sean Edwards for Stewart Bailie, but it was not to be, and the stadium erupted when the referee called a halt to proceedings. The dream is still alive in the Nouvel Ecosse camp, and the hopes of reaching the World Cup continue. As LaFleur put it after the final whistle, "I've never seen our country so alive, so hopeful, so on the edge." Long may it continue!