Saturday it was time for the fourth and last encounter this season with Big Bamboo Shooters. So far the results were balanced with one win for us, one draw and one defeat in the cup. With a victory we would shift this balance again in our favor and also secure the second position in the league. However our target is higher than that and we saw it as the first of four finals until the end of the season.
Our starting 11 was Cody in goal, Seb and Will in centre defense, Thomas and David on the fullback positions. Karsten, Lucas and Rob started in midfield, and our attacking line was Adam, Alex and Steve. Eitel, Sebastian Andersson, Junior and Felix started as substitutes.
We were determined to reverse the result from the cup defeat against Shooters. Even there was not that much change in players in either team, from the first minute it was clear that it was a whole different game. We controlled most of the action in midfield and created a few chances. Shooters were dangerous mostly through long balls on their striker and set pieces. However in one of our strongest moments we almost received a critical blow. Adam dribbled quickly into the box and crossed the ball towards the goal line, where Alex did not reach the header but touched the ball with the hand. Initially the referee wanted to show Alex a red card, however after consultation with the linesman he – correctly – reversed it into a yellow card. Just three minutes later we made it better: Lucas dribbled into the box, passed two defenders and put the ball into the net with a strong strike towards the far post – 1-0 ReUnited. Shooters afterwards created some danger with a cornerball that went with the help of the wind dangerously close to the goal, but Cody safely caught the ball right on the goal line. 1-0 it stayed at half time.
In the second half Shooters started strongly and pressed for the equalizer, however our midfield stopped most of their attacks early on and we managed to hold on to our lead. Some 15 minutes into the second half we found our momentum again. Yet it took us until minute 75 to convert our dominance into a second goal – what a goal it was though! Steve dribbled all the way through the box, then once he reached the goal line on the left side of the box everybody expected a pass to Seb Andersson, but Steve managed to shoot a high ball from an impossible angle into the upper far corner of the goal. This was the decisive moment in the game. From that moment we created more and more chances and just a few minutes later it was Steve again who received a long ball from Rob, outdribbled the keeper and put the ball into the goal for the final result 3-0.
It was a convincing win and a strong sign to our main rivals for the title that we will fight for it until the last minute of the season!
Reeeeeeeeeeeeeee
