Match Report: Tuesday 4th November, 2008. Pitch1. The Catalysts V Soccer Dubai. K O – 8:30pm

Final Score: Soccer Dubai 4 – The Catalysts 1.  Woman of the Match: Erin Kiem.

In the absence of Captain Frog, soccerdubai turned up one by one to the pitch side.  With our captain and strongest player out for the game, there was an air of apprehension about what lay ahead.  Nerves twitched as we received the news that Jones was unlikely to show due to an incident involving sushi at 2pm, and sushi and the toilet combined at 7pm.  The team warmed up with a gentle jog.  The warm up was cut short however when they realised they didn’t have a ball to play with.  Adrian said they could play with his…?  His generous offering was declined.

soccerdubai identified the other team with a couple of minutes to spare.  An unlikely looking bunch with a striker that bared a similar resemblance to Sponge Bob Square Pants, but soccerdubai was not intimidated.  Once Kiem had returned from the changing rooms (the grass was wet and she couldn’t possibly have put her boots on whilst sitting on it!) we had a full squad out, and in position.

soccerdubai started well, stringing pass after pass and they surged forward as a powerful and positive unit.  The ball remained in the Catalysts half for the first 10 minutes, with Soccer Dubai biding their time.  Garner received the ball from Kiem before releasing Germany who sprinted towards the goal.  Germany was mown down, mid flow and the (soon to be whistle happy) ref blew for a free kick. This decision went Soccer Dubai’s way.  Garner stepped up as Graham, Coetzer and Aston hovered around the box.  The ball was delivered and bounced on the penalty spot.  The Catalysts struggled to clear the ball to safety as it pin balled around the box.  Graham caused trouble whilst the ball came to Germany and she hit it hard and fast into the bottom left…. GOAL.  (Erm, excuse me but I didn’t actually see who scored, I was too busy admiring my free kick, I think it was Germany?)

soccerdubai moon-walked all the way back to their own half, ready to kick off again.  Wow, they were one-nil up. 

The next 15 minutes went by quite slowly, The Sponge Bobs, although not particularly talented in their approach, built up some momentum and troubled Soccer Dubai, who were desperate to keep hold of their one goal advantage.  Kiem put in some good blocks, clearing the ball frequently to Aston, whose presence was being felt by the Sponge Bob’s defence.  Aston laid the ball on to Graham who went on a few penetrating runs dribbling the ball past1,2,3 sponge bobs before a sweet right footed strike flew over the cross bar.  Graham came straight back at them, passing out to the right wing for Coetzer to carry the ball further up the line into the right hand corner.  The whistled was blown for half time.With no subs, Soccer Dubai replenished their systems with Pocari whilst discussing tactics for the second half.  Garner warned that soccerdubai needed to remain completely focussed for the first 10 mins, as this was crucial, to protect their lead.

The second half commenced, with The Sponge Bobs using a wider approach to attack.  Graham, who was sweeping as well as attacking found herself embroiled in a tangle with Sponge Bobs small right winged player who hit the floor dramatically as a result of her own stupidity of running into Graham, who held her ground.  As she tumbled to the ground kicking and screaming, Graham protested to the ref.  The ref, who seemed to thrive on the drama awarded the Sponge Bobs a free kick, despite the use of bad language and a strange comment which was heard to be…..”she was all over me, she was trying to undo my bra…?’  (Did I imagine that?!)  Tempers rose as the free kick turned to nothing and it was Connelly’s turn to take command and start play over, passing out to Germany who skied the ball to Aston.

The Sponge Bobs countered, with their No6 player streaming down the left wing.  The soccerdubai Defence was stretched immediately a strong diagonal pass was received by a Sponge Bob forward, the ball was miss-hit, and as it bobbled along the ground it plopped over the line, in spite of Connelly’s finger tip contact.  One all.

In a haze of confusion and a temporary lack of concentration soccerdubai found themselves deep within their own half with the Sponge Bobs progressing forward.  Sponge Bob herself turned the last man and it was a one on one situation where Connelly boldly put herself between Sponge Bobs shot and the goal, clearing the danger at point blank range.The ball was collected by The Sponge Bobs, who squared it to the left hand side.  It was picked up and the No6 poked the ball into the back of the net.  Two-One to the Sponge Bobs.  Before Soccer Dubai knew it, a couple more scrappy goals had been put away.  Soccer Dubai saw their heads drop temporarily before regaining their composure and paying some nice simple football, with Coetzer giving and receiving some accurate passes as they worked the right wing.  A few more direct runs from Nicole resulted in a few near misses, but time was running out.  The final whistle blew to the score of 1-4.

In spite of the result, soccerdubai showed great composure and resilience, right up until the very end, playing some of their best football in the closing minutes which was encouraging step to league domination, or at least a winning streak which is both brewing and deserved.  Onwards and upwards.

Dubai Women's League

Match Report: Tues 28th October 2008. Pitch 1. soccerdubai vs Canon. KO - 8.30pm.

 Final score: SD 2 CAN 2 - Woman of the match: Kerry Graham 

soccerdubai headed out for the fourth game, for the first time donning a full squad. The new signing Patsy Aston was warming up alongside Robinson who we haven’t seen much of this season due to work commitments. Lüttecke is finally making her debut this season and you just know she’s going to cause Canon some problems. The vibe was good and although Canon are the most experienced side in league they have an average age similar to Soccer Dubai, which was probably more mentally beneficial than anything else! Captain Frog with an overwhelming choice for the starting line up decided to put herself on the bench and play the standard 2 2 1. Connolly in goals, Garner left back working with Lucas returning from injury on her right. Coetzer was back on the right wing, with Graham centre midfield and Nicole on the left, all feeding Robinson up front. Captain Frog stepped up for the toss and lost again - Canon were to take the first kick. The first ten minutes gave an insight as to how competitive this game was going to be. Canon’s experience meant they were playing wide and spreading players all over the pitch, passing long balls along the ground to feet and creating plenty of options for passes with nice movement. Soccer Dubai were matching this and were tackling hard and chasing every pass. They would tire quickly with this approach however, but with plenty of subs it was at least an option for now. Canon were pressuring quite hard and managed to score the first goal, a quick substitution and Stocks replaced Robinson as striker. They spent the next 5 minutes defending hard before a driving shot from Stocks forced the Canon keeper to make her first save, she blocked the shot and the ball fell straight to Coetzer who had made a great run straight into the box. The ball fell right at her feet and for a second time stood still…………………she connected with it well but the keeper had come off her line and did just enough to retain their one goal lead. Unlucky Coetzer…. the fans were already celebrating that one. Lucas’s injury was giving her trouble and she needed to come off…..a quick change around and Graham was back in defence with Stocks in Midfield and Jones was brought on to play up front. Soccer Dubai were now beginning to hold their own and things were once again looking steady until Canon fired in a second. SD were 2-0 down and the game was getting faster, Soccer Dubai were threatening for a goal and Graham had pushed up the park to suddenly find the ball at her feet. With great composure and her head over the ball she placed it in the bottom right and upped the pace for SD (has someone been practicing???)……it was game on……both teams were ready for a half time breather.

The second half was just as frantic as the first. Aston came on as striker and had the first kick of her season and the second half. Canon were still playing nice football and using the whole width of the pitch, and Soccer Dubai were still having to play hard, run hard and tackle hard. It was a miracle Stocks wasn’t shown some kind of coloured card after a mistimed sliding tackle saw nothing of the ball and left the Canon left wing sprawled all over the grass. Tut tut…..at least the ref is blind and there was an apologetic hand shake after. Aston had a shot on goal with her second touch of the game and looked like she was going to be trouble up there. With Graham now back in the midfield and Stocks sitting as right back SD were pushing for the equalizer. A few stray crosses were worth the miss-kicks when it finally came together and Lüttecke hit the cross bar from a header and Graham almost connected to bag her second. She wouldn’t have to wait long though, soon enough the Canon keeper was digging the ball out of the back of the net as Graham took home her second. Aston was brought off for Kiem who troubled the Canon defence and at the other end Connolly was keeping it tight ensuring nothing else was going to get passed her this half. There were a few more chances which could have earned SD their first win. With great shouts of encouragement from the safe as houses left back, Garner was driving the team to get that winner. The full time whistle would depict that it was not to be and both teams would have to settle for just one point each. Captain Frog looked pleased as punch as they all congratulated each other on a long awaited point. Congratulations go to Graham who did not only score two goals but earned Captain Frog’s woman of the match. Here we go………this is it now…….I’m arriving early next week to make sure I get a good seat in the stands.