FMF Friendly - Hamland v Cräiteland
Re: FMF Friendly - Hamland v Cräiteland
Hamland 4-6 Cräiteland
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=Z0EUWSXB
In what was the biggest game yet to arrive in Hamland, both the Craitish and Hammish both put their world cup signals out following a high scoring result which ended in a narrow defeat for the home side. With the world cup a few weeks away, Hammish fans can look further to having a big stage in their nation, with a few more games to happen next month right at their doorstep.
With Hamland having the advantage of the home fans, they took the early advantage. Both teams started off battling within the midfield, before a mistake from Tommy Hjansen allowed Hamland to gain possession before a pass to Benjamin Craig who squeezed past a gap between defenders Jón Hjansen and Paulio Demhivo to breakthrough and slot it into the back of the net beyond Jack Vorgensen's reach.
With Hamland one up within 6 minutes, the pressure turned to the former double world champions to deliver with Hamland having the option to sit back or advanced to get a second. Straight from the kickoff, Cräiteland unsurprising hitback. Poor defending allowed Tommy Hjansen to run at the defence before a heavy challenge allowed the ball to bounce away but only to the feet of Freddie Gaärsen. Renouned for his pace, Gaärsen effortlessly ran past the defence before slotting it to draw level.
With an immediate response and the game back to square one again, the question was who was to make the next move. The Gaärsen goal made the home crowd pretty quiet and with both teams grabbing a goal, the Craitish were the ones looking to score another. A wasted opportunity for Freddie Gaärsen shortly occured, after being played offside by a steady Hammish defensive line, although the vision and the control of the Craitish attack was still there. With the defence now alert with the Freddie Gaärsen threat, it seemed very quiet for a period as the striker was running into a cul-de-sac out wide, with his only option playing back to Markko Edmildón or crossing, eventually opting for the latter.
The Hammish managed to clear and had a break on the move however they lost the ball in the middle of the pack and allowed the Craitish to get back at them. The lost in possession allowed Toby Vorgensen to run and counter the attack, but the defence remained strong and stopped him. However a nightmare moment for Jamie O'Hara after he allowed Freddie Gaärsen to tackle him in his own box after dwelling on the ball, and undoubtedly was punished with Freddie Gaärsen having an easy shot on goal and blasting it into the top corner at the 15th minute. His second goal of the game.
With Cräiteland now on the upper foot, it was for Hamland to respond, however with the defensive mdifielders dropping back, neither George Johnson or Benjamin Craig could roam into their opposition area to score. The Craitish looked to attack to score again and 7 minutes after taking a lead, a series of shots from Tommy Hjansen and captain Manta Pellegrino tested goalkeeper Rodney MacLeod, with MacLeod coming out on top by preventing his side from going down by even more goals.
The corner that followed proved to be another undoing in the Hammish defence, with a short corner being deflected off for another one. The second corner also caught the defence, with Manta Pellegrino being allowed to cross from the right towards the far post for Toby Vorgensen to nod it into the net after Ben McVeigh lost his man and was drifting further towards the post, allowing the Craitish number 8 to roam free and nod it into the back of the net.
With a two goal cushion now, the Craitish seemed very comfortable, and the question was: how many more are they going to score? And it wasn't long until Yaqin Senovichi finished off another Craitish buildup, with Freddie Gaärsen nor Tommy Hjansen finding the space due to being crowded out. The crowding out proved to be a wrong move for Hamland's defence, which left a gap for Yaqin Senovichi to collect the loose ball, break in the net and narrowly beating goalkeeper Rodney MacLeod to put Cräiteland up by three.
Jules Scott found some space to have a shot from distance past the half hour mark, however a defensive rush blocked the shot and the attack came to nothing. Hamland continued to attempt to counter, hoping that they will eventually be rewarded for their efforts. After Markko Edmildón's run was halted by a combination of defensive and goalkeeping help, the game restarted with a throw out to the left back, who sparked the best Hammish attack yet. Following a one-two pass, the ball was forwarded on to George Johnson, who managed to lose his defender and continue down the left channel before a high cross allowed Jules Scott to head it downwards, with the ball taking a bounce to beat Jack Vorgensen and go behind into the back of the net. It might be late in the first half, but Hamland were back in with a shout. They now had to go out and grab a few more goals.
Cräiteland try to respond rapidly with a cross towards Freddie Gaärsen, who headed it inches wide away from goal. And just before the end of the half, a bust up happened on the pitch after a heavy tackle by Ray Kartiskti, with the victim of the clash Markko Edmildón being far from happy with the challenge. Another attack allowed Vorgensen to run before the ball bounced off the defence to Freddie Gaärsen, who blasted another shot wide, slightly a little too eager to claim his hat-trick. However a poor goalkick allowed the Craitish to come back to attack and the invitation resulted in another goal before the end of the half as Tommy Hjansen squeezed a through ball past the defenders for Freddie Gaärsen to power it into the bottom corner and claim his hat-trick. 5-2 Half Time, and who would expect more goals for the second half? We all were.
And that didn't look likely at the start of the second half, with neither teams able to create any chances and the game seemingly appeared to have died off. That wasn't the case though as the game picked up again with a goal for Hamland after 66 minutes as a triangle play of passing between George Johnson, Jules Scott and Benjamin Craig allowed Craig to claim his second of the game, positioning himself between the defenders again, and having a clear 1-on-1 with the keeper before repeating his first goal by placing his shot into the bottom corner beyond the goalkeeper's reach.
Goals don't stop there though, Freddie Gaärsen added to his hat-trick with a fourth goal by skinning Ray Kartiksti and leaving him to dry before running into the box and blasting it into the corner again.
Hamland managed to grab a late consolation goal with Benjamin Craig finishing off his hat-trick after continuously battling with the defence, before going around them and placing his shot again.
So the final score was 6-4 to Cräiteland. Although the Hamland population may be slightly dissapointed with the result, everyone can admit that the high scoring game was enjoyable to watch. But the Hammish should look down on the result against what looks to be the favourites for the world cup, as they managed to create chances and score goals.
The post match debrief saw Ronald MacLeod venting his anger in the press conference, though not at the team but at the ball. The new Jabulani ball to be used in the world cup is seen to be the roundest ball ever, but with greater swerve and more unpredictable movement, the goalkeeper was far from happy with the amount of goals in the game.
The Hammish captain said, "The ball was moving so much in the air, it was hard to judge where it would go. I'm sure my counterpart agrees with that but the amount it moves is so hard to predict and it was hard to stop. It's good for the fans and strikers because it gives more goals, but it is absolutely rotten for us goalkeepers."
There have been worse excuses, but I'm sure that the best thing to do is to ignore comments like these and focus on the game itself. It's been a tough day for both teams, but it shows us what these two teams can do and I am sure both have proved themselves as serious contenders for the world cup. It's only a matter of days now as Hamland and the World Cup awaits.
Match Stats Coming soon.
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=Z0EUWSXB
In what was the biggest game yet to arrive in Hamland, both the Craitish and Hammish both put their world cup signals out following a high scoring result which ended in a narrow defeat for the home side. With the world cup a few weeks away, Hammish fans can look further to having a big stage in their nation, with a few more games to happen next month right at their doorstep.
With Hamland having the advantage of the home fans, they took the early advantage. Both teams started off battling within the midfield, before a mistake from Tommy Hjansen allowed Hamland to gain possession before a pass to Benjamin Craig who squeezed past a gap between defenders Jón Hjansen and Paulio Demhivo to breakthrough and slot it into the back of the net beyond Jack Vorgensen's reach.
With Hamland one up within 6 minutes, the pressure turned to the former double world champions to deliver with Hamland having the option to sit back or advanced to get a second. Straight from the kickoff, Cräiteland unsurprising hitback. Poor defending allowed Tommy Hjansen to run at the defence before a heavy challenge allowed the ball to bounce away but only to the feet of Freddie Gaärsen. Renouned for his pace, Gaärsen effortlessly ran past the defence before slotting it to draw level.
With an immediate response and the game back to square one again, the question was who was to make the next move. The Gaärsen goal made the home crowd pretty quiet and with both teams grabbing a goal, the Craitish were the ones looking to score another. A wasted opportunity for Freddie Gaärsen shortly occured, after being played offside by a steady Hammish defensive line, although the vision and the control of the Craitish attack was still there. With the defence now alert with the Freddie Gaärsen threat, it seemed very quiet for a period as the striker was running into a cul-de-sac out wide, with his only option playing back to Markko Edmildón or crossing, eventually opting for the latter.
The Hammish managed to clear and had a break on the move however they lost the ball in the middle of the pack and allowed the Craitish to get back at them. The lost in possession allowed Toby Vorgensen to run and counter the attack, but the defence remained strong and stopped him. However a nightmare moment for Jamie O'Hara after he allowed Freddie Gaärsen to tackle him in his own box after dwelling on the ball, and undoubtedly was punished with Freddie Gaärsen having an easy shot on goal and blasting it into the top corner at the 15th minute. His second goal of the game.
With Cräiteland now on the upper foot, it was for Hamland to respond, however with the defensive mdifielders dropping back, neither George Johnson or Benjamin Craig could roam into their opposition area to score. The Craitish looked to attack to score again and 7 minutes after taking a lead, a series of shots from Tommy Hjansen and captain Manta Pellegrino tested goalkeeper Rodney MacLeod, with MacLeod coming out on top by preventing his side from going down by even more goals.
The corner that followed proved to be another undoing in the Hammish defence, with a short corner being deflected off for another one. The second corner also caught the defence, with Manta Pellegrino being allowed to cross from the right towards the far post for Toby Vorgensen to nod it into the net after Ben McVeigh lost his man and was drifting further towards the post, allowing the Craitish number 8 to roam free and nod it into the back of the net.
With a two goal cushion now, the Craitish seemed very comfortable, and the question was: how many more are they going to score? And it wasn't long until Yaqin Senovichi finished off another Craitish buildup, with Freddie Gaärsen nor Tommy Hjansen finding the space due to being crowded out. The crowding out proved to be a wrong move for Hamland's defence, which left a gap for Yaqin Senovichi to collect the loose ball, break in the net and narrowly beating goalkeeper Rodney MacLeod to put Cräiteland up by three.
Jules Scott found some space to have a shot from distance past the half hour mark, however a defensive rush blocked the shot and the attack came to nothing. Hamland continued to attempt to counter, hoping that they will eventually be rewarded for their efforts. After Markko Edmildón's run was halted by a combination of defensive and goalkeeping help, the game restarted with a throw out to the left back, who sparked the best Hammish attack yet. Following a one-two pass, the ball was forwarded on to George Johnson, who managed to lose his defender and continue down the left channel before a high cross allowed Jules Scott to head it downwards, with the ball taking a bounce to beat Jack Vorgensen and go behind into the back of the net. It might be late in the first half, but Hamland were back in with a shout. They now had to go out and grab a few more goals.
Cräiteland try to respond rapidly with a cross towards Freddie Gaärsen, who headed it inches wide away from goal. And just before the end of the half, a bust up happened on the pitch after a heavy tackle by Ray Kartiskti, with the victim of the clash Markko Edmildón being far from happy with the challenge. Another attack allowed Vorgensen to run before the ball bounced off the defence to Freddie Gaärsen, who blasted another shot wide, slightly a little too eager to claim his hat-trick. However a poor goalkick allowed the Craitish to come back to attack and the invitation resulted in another goal before the end of the half as Tommy Hjansen squeezed a through ball past the defenders for Freddie Gaärsen to power it into the bottom corner and claim his hat-trick. 5-2 Half Time, and who would expect more goals for the second half? We all were.
And that didn't look likely at the start of the second half, with neither teams able to create any chances and the game seemingly appeared to have died off. That wasn't the case though as the game picked up again with a goal for Hamland after 66 minutes as a triangle play of passing between George Johnson, Jules Scott and Benjamin Craig allowed Craig to claim his second of the game, positioning himself between the defenders again, and having a clear 1-on-1 with the keeper before repeating his first goal by placing his shot into the bottom corner beyond the goalkeeper's reach.
Goals don't stop there though, Freddie Gaärsen added to his hat-trick with a fourth goal by skinning Ray Kartiksti and leaving him to dry before running into the box and blasting it into the corner again.
Hamland managed to grab a late consolation goal with Benjamin Craig finishing off his hat-trick after continuously battling with the defence, before going around them and placing his shot again.
So the final score was 6-4 to Cräiteland. Although the Hamland population may be slightly dissapointed with the result, everyone can admit that the high scoring game was enjoyable to watch. But the Hammish should look down on the result against what looks to be the favourites for the world cup, as they managed to create chances and score goals.
The post match debrief saw Ronald MacLeod venting his anger in the press conference, though not at the team but at the ball. The new Jabulani ball to be used in the world cup is seen to be the roundest ball ever, but with greater swerve and more unpredictable movement, the goalkeeper was far from happy with the amount of goals in the game.
The Hammish captain said, "The ball was moving so much in the air, it was hard to judge where it would go. I'm sure my counterpart agrees with that but the amount it moves is so hard to predict and it was hard to stop. It's good for the fans and strikers because it gives more goals, but it is absolutely rotten for us goalkeepers."
There have been worse excuses, but I'm sure that the best thing to do is to ignore comments like these and focus on the game itself. It's been a tough day for both teams, but it shows us what these two teams can do and I am sure both have proved themselves as serious contenders for the world cup. It's only a matter of days now as Hamland and the World Cup awaits.
Match Stats Coming soon.