Heartbreaking Defeat

[The_herd]

I go into the last match of the season trailing the series leader by 2 points, but I play him at home. The team I play, shola1, has a semi-active owner, but he demoted from DIV this season and consistently put up a top 15-20 DV NSI according to Hatstats. I pulled off the upset win on the road to start the year and we meet to decide who plays the qualifier to potentially advance. Here's the match report and the ratings.

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 28000 to Siberia. TTR started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. They fielded: Manuel - Hampel, Carllund, Zeegers - Payne, Garlick, Ali, Kapur - Burchett, Falkenerberg, Pessa.

shola1 started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Flynn - Mcclellan, Shaw, Nesbitt - Kirby, Läfblad, Dalhult, Kroglund , Olofsson - Flanagan, Navas.

After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, shola1´s Håvard Kroglund got himself booked. A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 15:th minute allowed Jonathan Flanagan to score 0 - 1 for shola1. 22 minutes into the game Lech Hampel had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Jason Singh. Dave Nesbitt increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 2. TTR reduced the score in the 34:th minute to 1 - 2 when Fredrik Falkenerberg got the best of a ball floated in from the left. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 2. TTR held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

José Manuel kept the home side in the game with a magnificient save, as Mikael Läfblad delivered an almost perfect free kick to the far cross bar. Almost all the way down to the corner flag Aghaghna Kapur somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for Fredrik Falkenerberg who struck for 2 - 2. shola1 took the lead in the games 75:th minute with 2 - 3 after some elegant plays down the middle. Santiago Navas was the scorer. shola1´s Scotty Kirby left the field after 83 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Jason Duvall. Fredrik Falkenerberg pulled a real crowd pleaser as he, in the 83rd minute, wove through the guests whole central defense line and put the 3 - 3 equaliser away. At that, Fredrik Falkenerberg was noted down for a hat trick. The referee showed shola1s Kris Mcclellan the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Several players now looked tired, especially Oliver Shaw who quite horribly caused the 4 - 3 goal as he lost the ball to Jason Singh of TTR, who seemed to have some energy left. The visitors didn´t give in and after 89 minutes Jonathan Flanagan got through the home sides central line of defense, rolling in the levelling goal to make it 4 - 4. TTR, bringing the final ball possession rate to 56 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important TTR player was José Manuel. Jason Singh on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important shola1 player was Marcus Flynn. Oliver Shaw was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 4.



HIGHLIGHTS

0 - 1 Jonathan Flanagan (15)
0 - 2 Dave Nesbitt (26)
1 - 2 Fredrik Falkenerberg (34)
2 - 2 Fredrik Falkenerberg (66)
2 - 3 Santiago Navas (75)
3 - 3 Fredrik Falkenerberg (83)
4 - 3 Jason Singh (89)
4 - 4 Jonathan Flanagan (89)

Håvard Kroglund (12)
Kris Mcclellan (89)

RATING

The Token Russian
Player rating and Team formation
Team Attitude: Match of the Season
Tactic: Normal
Tactic skill: (Unlimited)

Midfield: formidable
Right Side Defence: solid
Central Defence: outstanding
Left Side Defence: world class
Right Side Attack: weak
Central Attack: excellent
Left Side Attack: solid

shola1
Player rating and Team formation
Team Attitude: (Hidden)
Tactic: Normal
Tactic skill: (Unlimited)

Midfield: solid
Right Side Defence: excellent
Central Defence: outstanding
Left Side Defence: excellent
Right Side Attack: magnificent
Central Attack: outstanding
Left Side Attack: formidable


89th freakin' minute. :mad:

Oh well, there's always next season.

[Chubby]

well if it weren't for the 89th minute then you still would have tied seeing as how you tied it in the 83rd minute then you both scored with a min to go. :D

[The_herd]

well if it weren't for the 89th minute then you still would have tied seeing as how you tied it in the 83rd minute then you both scored with a min to go. :D

Yeah I guess thats one way of looking at it. Plus, I did tie it on the rare defender endurance event.

Several players now looked tired, especially Oliver Shaw who quite horribly caused the 4 - 3 goal as he lost the ball to Jason Singh of TTR, who seemed to have some energy left.

I'm still disappointed though. :(

[The_herd]

Dola

To make things even better, the owner of shola1 hasn't logged in since the 12th of last month, so he's probably gonna lose his team in couple weeks anyway.