On Saturday, October 18 it was finally time for our second match day of the season. After one game-free weekend and two more weekends of no league games due to the October holiday the stage was set for the match against Shooters who had drewn against Azzurri and Long Tang before. In the table Shooters were still ahead of us in points as they had one game in hand and were awarded a victory against Long Tang due to some registration irregularities on the Long Tang side.

The preparation was not ideal since last Wednesday we experienced a classic China moment where we got a last-minute notice that our training would be canceled due to a visit by You-Know-Who. Anyway after our test game win against Shooters in summer (3-2) we were very confident that this would be a very tough, but winnable game for us. Indeed it did turn out to be a game on a level playing field. Our line-up was Cody in goal, Thomas, Will, Seb and Essien formed the defense line, Luismi and Ronald started on the defensive midfield positions, Volker and Adam on the wings, Steve on his usual number 10 position and Tobi upfront. Latecomer Karsten, Ives, Hajo and new-kids-on-the-block Zack and Ben completed our team that day.

While Shooters were pressing us more in the beginning, it was us who took the lead: Volker put a high free kick from 30 metres right into the upper left corner of the goal – 1-0 ReUnited. Just shortly afterwards we were awarded another free kick on the right side. Luismi took the responsibility and put the ball in the centre of the box, where Volker headed it into the net for what we thought was a 2-0 lead. However, the ref disagreed and decided on offside. Instead of a comfortable 2-goal lead we had to go into half time with a draw, since after a free kick on our left side the ball got dangerously into our 6-yard box and Wilson Scott converted for the equalizer.

In second half most of the game took place in midfield, with not too many chances on either side. However after a great sliding interception by Will in our own half, Thomas’ pass found Steve who dribbled from the right side into the box. After some skirmish in the box with several Players from both teams the ball came back to Steve and he restored our lead to 2-1. Yet again we could not keep the lead for too long and after a high ball from the right side it was Zippy who put his name on the scoreboard and made it 2-2. This was also the final result of the day. As usual the day was rounded up with a round of beer in sunshine and blue skies in Waigaoqiao.