Flavovespia 4–6 Torisakia
After the disappointment of the result against Ko-oren, many looked at the positives that could be taken from a spirited performance. However the result against Torisakia today has been described as a complete calamity and a defensive diatribe. Sure the 6th goal can't be blamed on anyone, given the last-minute circumstances it happened, nor the well struck free kick from Gregory Franklyn, but multiple goals came from major defensive errors.
Both teams lined up in their home kits for this encounter inside the enclosed City Arena, with #1-11 starting for Flavovespia again. Immediately Flavovespia looked to assert themselves at home, and it only took the 4th minute for the first goal of the game. Ramon Martin used his pace to streak clear of the Torisakia defence, before a pull back to Andrew Mason who's accurate low drive was beyond Mitch Issacson. 1-0 to the Hornets.
The lead however, lasted all of 11 minutes. Unlike the later goals, this one was more skill from Torisakia than any real fault of Flavovespia. Derek Lovel played a deep cross to the right hand side of the box. John Calvert couldn't get there with his head, and Johnny Kelso nodded it home past David Meehan. 1-1, and the Ice Birds celebrated their first goal of the qualifiers.
The Ice Birds took the lead at the half-hour mark, with the first signs of the Flavovespian defence beginning to struggle. Syarhey Sweetcloud had been looking weak coming into this game, but held off Ronald Maddox as he surged into the box. His shot was parried away by Meehan, but Neil Wright's attempt at a clearance smacked into Jordan Kallian as he blocked it. The Torisakia striker was probably looking to control the ball, but a somewhat fortuitous bounce off the kneecap saw the Ice Birds take a 2-1 lead.
Torisakia would have desperately wanted a lead at half-time, but in the final minute of the first half, Flavovespia got an equaliser. James King with the corner found Henrik Jensen, who's header was well placed into the corner of the net, beyond Issacson and the defence in the box. 2-2 it was at half time, and the game was becoming an enthralling encounter.
If the first half was entertaining, the second half was much more of a spectacle in many ways. Andrew Mason was nursing a minor hamstring injury in the first half, and his Stanmorn teammate Scott Coleman replaced him for the second half. On the 52nd minute, this looked to have paid off in spectacular fashion. A decent Flavovespia attack saw a Jonathan Feld shot punched away out of the box. Coleman saw the ball all the way to his position 25 metres away from goal, and hit the perfect volley, the swerve and dip on the ball making it unplayable for the defence. 3-2, and the Hornets had the lead.
It became 4-2 just after the hour mark. Good build-up play in the midfield saw King and Coleman put Feld through on goal. His 1 vs 1 shot was blocked by Issacson, but the rebound was reached by Hall first, who tapped it into the opposite corner, before Issacson could get back in position. The lead for Flavovespia was now 2 goals, and some though they now had points on the board.
The 70th minute however, saw things turn bad. A back-pass by Maddox saw Meehan slip over. He scrambled to his feet and managed to hook the ball away, towards Stephen Shepherd. Shepherd however, paid little attention to Lovel who ran in, got to the ball, and had pretty much an empty net to shoot into. Lovel made no mistake, putting the ball into the opposite corner of Meehan, trying desperately to recover his position. 4-3 now, and Flavovespia had 20 minutes to hold a lead.
That lead lasted only another 6 minutes. Faron James held off subsitute Simon Davison through the midfield, and to Kelso. Kelso managed to juke past Neil Wright, and Calvert didn't have the pace to close down the angle. Meehan tried his best, but the 1 vs 1 situation was too tough for the Flavovespia goalkeeper, as Kelso buried his shot into the back of the net. 4-4 with 15 minutes to play, and either team looked poised to take it.
Sadly for Flavovespia, the 84th minute proved to be a farcical way to concede. With Sweetcloud closing in, Maddox seemed to try and play the ball parallel to the 18 yard line to Wright or Shepherd. However his pass was completely scuffed, despite his attempts to claim Sweetcloud got a hand on it as he slid in to block. The ball looped agonisingly towards the Flavovespia net. Meehan was backpedalling all the way to try and reach the ball, and Wright ran in to attempt to clear it off the line with an acrobatic clearance. The #4 missed the ball however as it bounced off the post and over the line, and the keeper fell on top of him, as he clawed the ball back across the line. Meehan's protests were futile, the ball was over the line, and Flavovespia were down 4-5. To add further insult to injury, the game was delayed for at least 2 minutes, to untangle Meehan, Wright and the latter's shoe from the net, and the centre back looked to be limping slightly as well, with all 3 subs used up.
Flavovespia threw the kitchen sink at Torisakia. In the 96th minute, a corner saw all 10 Flavovespians other than King in the Torisakia box. It was do or die as the corner came in. Calvert got the initial header, but it was knocked away. Kanta Serafin got to the ball first, about 25 metres away from the Torisakia box. He needed no invitation to simply hit the ball with all his might. The ball flew to the Flavovespia penalty box without bouncing, and rolled into the empty net, before Coleman or substitute Guoliang Fu got there to knock it back downfield. That was the last kick, 4-6 it finished, with Flavovespia suffering an embarrassing capitulation in the final 20 minutes.
Annoyed with the defence, and somewhat his attack, Nick Cole has moved to a 3-5-2 for the next game, and made 6 changes to the starting 11. The line-up for the next game is pictured below. Conor Harrington comes in as the new man between the posts, John Calvert is the only defender to retain his place, and Feld and Martin drop to the bench, thanks to the performances of Scott Coleman. Conor Harrington, Mark James, Tony Gardner and Charles Winward are uncapped, so it will be interesting to see their debuts away against Dreamplanet
Domestic News
The biggest transfer news is the lack of a transfer happening. Waldster have announced that they are no longer pursuing Scott Coleman. The manager of Waldster, Nathan Kent, has described the potential transfer as “no longer in the strategic interests of the club”, although some are suggesting that’s a polite euphemism for the player being too expensive for them to pursue. Interestingly Stanmorn themselves are linked with another striker, Apsbrooke’s young talent Sean McClafferty, although with a price tag of at least £20m, it would be a big expense for a team already talented up front to spend.
St Astons City failed to make the top half after expecting to challenge for the Globe Cup. They’ve looked for an additional attacking option, and for £21m, 21 year old Marc Sharratt of Sporting Towerhaite will move north and don the navy kit of the Saints for next season. Linking up with national team attacker Guoliang Fu, St Astons City will look to be much improved up front for next season.
Sources have also suggested transfer offers have already been made to Malcolm Mackay, although Butterfield Rovers have refused to acknowledge these rumours publicly. There is also talk that their striker John Lawler could be linked to a move to Waldster, since the Scott Coleman transfer collapsed.
Away from transfer news, the Flavovespia Football Association will convene with the 64 league teams, 96 “non-league” alliance and also delegates of the cup competitions and amateur and grassroots football to discuss future development plans. Discussions of the league structure will likely see it remain as it is, but the big change could be in the Flavovespia Gold Cup, with a real ambition to try and open it up to more teams.
