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Old 11-18-2018, 02:02 PM   #10
NoSkillz
College Benchwarmer
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
Sat. July 14, 2018

Preseason Friendly
Knockbreda FC (Bluefin Sport Championship) vs. Queen’s Park FC
Breda Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Knockbreda are part of the Bluefin Sport Championship in Northern Ireland, the second tier of the Northern Ireland Football League. They finished in 10th last year (out of 12 teams) and they shouldn’t pose too much of a threat to us today.

This is our final warmup prior to Betfred Cup play (Scottish League Cup) and we will once again try to get as many starters in as possible. I decide to try a different formation today, going with a 4-4-2 narrow diamond formation but keeping our Gegenpress philosophy. This formation features no wingers, a DM, two MCs and an AM. I’m hopeful this helps our offense a little bit. I’m not starting DC Izhaak Ahmed, as I expect he will be signing with a professional team later this week. Trialist Amin Bouzaig gets a start at AMC.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond (4-1-2-1-2) Gegenpress (Positive Mentality)
GK – J. Hart
D – S. Lidington, D. Nimmo, L. Magee, J. Grant
DM – G. Fotheringham
MC – M. Breen, D. Thomas
AM – A. Bouzaig (trialist)
S – C. Higgins, J. Peters

Knockbreda 1 - 4 Queen’s Park
Goals – Ewan MacPherson 2 (8.5), Amin Bouzaig (7.1), Josh Peters (Pen – 6.7)
Assists – James Grant (7.9), Gavin Lachlan (6.9), Kyle McDowell (6.9)
Player of the Match – Ewan MacPherson
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.3), Lewis Magee (7.0), Daniel Nimmo (7.6)
Attendance – 79 (31 away)

-- Trialist Amin Bouzaig got us on the board in the first half but despite dominating, we didn’t pull away until late in the second half, with our substitutes scoring twice in the late going. Striker Ewan MacPherson bagged a late-game brace and we held 61% of possession, outshooting them 27-9 (11-7 on target). Solid!



U18 Update

-- Our U18 team plays their first preseason friendly, knocking off Premiership Hamilton’s U18 team 3-0. Strikers Jamie Docherty, David Fraser and Kieran Moore score the goals and left fullback Ross Fleming is named player of the match.



Ahmed Makes His Decision…Another Player Considers an Offer

-- Recent DC signing Izhaak Ahmed received offers to sign a professional contract with three different clubs in the third tier in Sweden, Ahmed’s home country. Shockingly enough, my assistant manager informs me that he rejected all three offers and has opted to stay at Queen’s Park. This is excellent news – he’s my top rated DC at 3.5/4.0 and a certain starter from day one, with great speed for this level (15 Acceleration and 13 pace). He’s undersized at only 5’ 10” but I can pair him with the 6’ 4” Daniel Nimmo and we should be just fine. Great news!

-- I guess this is just something I’m going to have to get used to, as one of our U18 talents, DR Danny O’Halloran receives an offer from Civil Service and is considering a move. He wasn’t in my first-team plans so this isn’t a big deal but again, with all of my players here as volunteers, I just have to understand that any semi-decent players are going to be targets and could leave with little notice.



More Pressure from Nimmo

-- DC Daniel Nimmo is reportedly looking to leave our club due to his issues with me and the Ahmed signing, according to press reports. He won’t talk to me right now so my options are limited – if this continues I may have to just release him. But in the end, he’s my second best centre halfback and part of my starting eleven.



Reserves Update

-- I schedule a friendly for our backups and trialists and we win 4-1 over Cowdenbeath’s Reserves. Trialist Zidan Akers, Billy Mortimer, Smart Osadolar and Conor Langton score our goals and loanee Kyle MacDonald wins player of the match honours.



Transfers IN

DR – Ross Gilmour (from Stenhousemuir) – 24 years old, Scotland
MC – Derek Young (Free) – 38 years old, Scotland
AMC – Amin Bouzaig (Free) – 21 years old, Spain

-- Gilmour has been here on trial almost since my first day. He’s been solid in the games he’s played in. Young is at the end of his career but is still a 3.0/3.0 player and will definitely feature in the first team on a rotational basis. Bouzaig just arrived here on trial, scored in our last game and is a 3.5 rated AMC who will play behind stalwart Kurtis Roberts



MORE Attempted Poaching!

-- You have to be kidding me!? Just hours after we complete the signing of Amin Bouzaig, a couple of Spanish clubs offer him a professional contract. Oh yeah, and three MORE Swedish teams make offers to DC Izhaak Ahmed. This all just reinforces why I’m going to need a much larger squad then usual here at Queen’s Park.

Last edited by NoSkillz : 11-21-2018 at 03:38 PM.
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