FCB Sala started the new year with a disappointing defeat to table toppers O’Neils Celtic.
Match report from Captain Ollie Hamilton
“It was a tough start to the new year for the sala team, as after their opening two games were postponed due to lack of available players, they took on top of the league O’Neils Celtic. To add to their troubles, a last-minute bout of the sh*ts (don’t worry Carlos I won’t say it was you) left the team with only 5 players and no subs. The spartan line-up included 3 regulars, Ollie, Jed and Fred, and 2 new signings Julien Chapu and Ridan Muradov.
The game started at a frantic pace, with the opposition going close a couple of times, only to be foiled by some good defending from new boys Julien and Ridan. And in fact it was FCB that got the first goal on the scoreboard after about 6 minutes – the ball seemingly stuck to Ollie’s boots as he weaved between two opposition players and smacked it into the back of the O’Neils’ net. It’s a good bet that he won’t score another goal like that for the rest of the season, if ever. However, the whole team knew it was going to be an uphill struggle, and so it proved, as O’Neils swiftly pulled back two. Some decent play from Britanico’s resulted in good but missed chances, and two goals on the break for O’Neils made the score 1-4. A ray of hope came about 10 minutes from the half, as some great passing play was sweetly finished by the ever reliable headless chicken that is Jed. Unfortunately, our tiredness started to show and O’Neils put two goals away before the half to make it 6-2 (they did have 5 subs you know).
Having caught a little breath over the short half-time period, FCB looked stronger and were linking up well, at the same time trying to slow the play a little as to not tire out too quickly. It didn’t last long though, and after some clinical finishing from the opposition we found ourselves down 2-8. Both Ollie and Jed scuppered one-on-one’s with the keeper (he was a big bastard alright), but they managed to redeem themselves as Jed’s well-placed corner was met by Ollie’s boot, putting the score at 3-8. Fred and Ridan also saw chances go just wide, and the punishing pace of the game meant cracks in the FCB defence had turned into canyons, O’Neils making the score 3-11 by the merciful final whistle. Certainly not the best result, but the team can be proud of themselves for playing some good football against a top side and basically running their a*ses off.”
