0-2 (HT 0-1)

Thanks to creative scheduling by Capital Football, our second meeting with Uni Bombers was only 4 weeks after the first, and with a couple of cancelled games as well, we had played only once in the interim. Consequently, there wasn't much difference in the way we lined up or our relative positions on the table, and the way the game progressed bore this out.

First, the excuses for why this wasn't a pretty game for the spectators (amazingly, there were some). The pitch at Nairnville was quite heavy and beginning to tear up, and the ball Uni provided had interesting aerodynamics, albeit only observable during the times it was on the field and not disappearing over the western fence which used to be protected by a solid line of macrocarpa. Neither side produced much fluent play, and a lot of time was spent fighting for possession along the sidelines with numerous throw-ins. Uni mainly used two youngish guys in the midfield (I'd like to see the birth certificate for one of them) and their tall striker when going forward, and their first-half goal was a classic piece of route-one football with a long ball which Steve couldn't get high enough to head away and which their striker ran onto and shot across Mike R. We had one potential opportunity a little earlier when Mike O played a low cross at the top of the box which Ian missed and which Dave R could not redirect with enough power. Paul B went closest with a well-hit curling shot from outside the box which their keeper fumbled but regathered before Ian could follow up.

We had the wind behind us for the second half, and Dave D tried a shot from the kick-off as the pitch is quite short, but went wide. However it did mean that Uni had to start from the back, and we kept them penned in their half for a good period. But we had only one decent chance when Cliff played a ball in from the right for Ian to run on to and push wide of a defender and shoot, but it went straight at the keeper. We forced a few corners, though the ones from the left were ineffectual thanks to the strategically-placed sandpit a metre from the flag. We paid the price of not creating any genuine shooting opportunities when late in the game we got caught out again by some very direct play from Uni which led to a goal much like their first.

Although our recent matches against top-of-the-table teams have been close, we still haven't got many points from them, and the matches against lower-ranked teams are coinciding with cancellations. It looks like there will be more lost weekends in the next few weeks, so we might have to wait for the post-season Masters tournament to restart on a figurative and literal level playing field.

Ian