19 January 2013
Rosport 1-0 Rumelange
GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Jans, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Laroche, Schiltz
The supporters got to see three of the new men in the first XI today, and a fourth, Thomas Battaglia, came on as a sub. It wasn't a great day for football, with temperatures just above freezing and some drizzle, but a good crowd of 250 came out to watch us gut out a victory against a tough Rumelange side.
Two of the newcomers played instrumental roles in the match's only goal. Kevin Maiget played a "delicious 50-yard ball" ahead for Jeremy Laroche, who crossed the ball from the right side to his striker partner, Laurent Schiltz. Rumelange's keeper, the talented Charly Schinker, got a glove on it, but Carlos Ferreira swooped in, controlled the ball, and nudged it past Schinker for the goal.
Otherwise, it was a defensive battle, with our back four and Jeff Oster being just a bit better than their back four and Schinker. That's doing some work, since Rumelange have a pair I've dubbed the Bash Brothers. Marcin and Mateusz Siebert hail from Poland, and they are both as hard-nosed as they sound. Marcin is also Rumelange's U20 coach, and he's a good one.
Between us, I wouldn't mind having the Bash Brothers on our side.
Next week, it's a battle between #1 and #2 in the table, as Swift Hesperange come to Victoriarena.
We are currently four points clear, so we can't lose our lead, but they can close to within a point of us with a victory.