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Old 07-09-2014, 01:39 PM   #68
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
1.2 @ Persenga(2-1-8, 11th) We've won two out of three, including a 3-1 win to open this season. They are still slight favorites here due to our middling at best form recently. Sutanto gets the nod over Bayhaqi at AMC as he's been better lately, Patay and Prasetyo continue to platoon at the second DC spot but Prasetyo will go out there today.

One change I'm going to stick with for the time being is telling the guys to be more patient on the attack and work the ball in closer before shooting -- we'll get less shots but hopefully better ones.

1' -- 37 seconds. That's how long it took for Saragih to find Yogi on the right side, and he drew the defense and put a pass to Ewangin at the edge of the box and he placed it perfectly just inside the left post. 1-0

8' -- Quiah has a look from just inside the area, Setia just stares at it as it sails several yards high and wide.

9' -- Big tackle by Muda on Sunari who was angling in for a shot. I don't like what I'm seeing from us right now, we're getting beat to a lot of balls by one of the worst teams in our section of the league. We clear out a corner, a couple of long shots miss -- they're the aggressor right now and I'm steaming.

20' -- Sunari outduels both defenders, gets up and hits a 25-yarder well off target, he should never have had a chance to get that off. We've still got just the one shot.

26' -- Quiah to Sunari, he's got a step and bangs it into the upper left corner! Saw that coming the way this was going, and we're even at 1-1. Keep this up and we're gonna lose this.

Oh wow, they call him offside! He was too, looking at the replay. Still 1-0, a late call that was. I switch to a more conservative strategy, our defense is a freaking sieve and we're creating nothing at the other end.

30' -- Midfield turnover, Yogi to Sutanto up the gut to Ewangin, walks in alone, rolls it past the keeper ... JUST left of the goal. If we don't win this, I really going to be annoyed at that one ...

35' -- Bit of a crack on the right side for Herlan, they formed a decent wall to keep us from something better. He's wide right.


HT -- Still up by one, and we did a lot better fighting for possession the last ten minutes so I tell them to try to push forward a little more, our usual semi-conservative road approach. Everyone stays on.


They spend four minutes on the ball getting a corner -- I think the strategy here is keep-away, they're only one goal down so long as we don't touch it. Syahputra beats Muda to the header at the far post, but he had to back up to hit it and Setia makes one of the best saves I've seen from him to tip a good attempt there away. Second corner ... Muda's on that one.

Oh, and Persibom is losing 2-1 ...

52' -- Two-man game with Ewangin and Yogi, they disrupt it just enough to keep anything from happening. We recycle and they concede a corner, line drive surprises everyone as Sutanto delivers it to Muda nearside, diving stop blocks it but it's in front ... he's on the rebound and pokes it in! 2-0, there's our insurance goal, we should have this one now.

PSKT scores again, now up 3-1 on Persibom. Perssin is even 1-1 with Persipon ... it's a heck of a day so far.

54' -- I need a gun. Lax challenges on defense, a cross that Saragih should have cleared is just held on at the goalline, pass to Warman who first-times it inside the near post. 2-1, and we are down to a one-goal advantage without having had a chance to really relax at all.

Same song, different verse.

55' -- Persibom scores, within 3-2 now.

56' -- Cross into a crowd, Yogi can't get a look from 8 yards out through the traffic.

59' -- A couple more missed interventions, cross to Warman, beautiful header to Sunari all alone in front. Easy. 2-2. Shoot me now. Patay on for Prasetyo who had a hand in both those goals.

66' -- Herlan puts one straight up the gut to Yogi, perfect through ball there, he fires from just outside and puts it a little high.

70' -- Ewangin from the edge of the box ... it's over. We are attacking pretty well right now, but we need to convert. A draw isn't good enough here, I don't care what the pundits say.

71' -- More lax defense, Sunari rolls a weak try right to Setia. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we lost.

72' -- Yogi takes an errant header by their defense at midfield, and we're in business again. Sutanto to Ewangin, moves into the area, fires but it's blocked away, might have waited a bit too long there. We are absolutely horrid at converting one-on-ones and it's killing us. Sutanto finding Muda at the near post and him firing a header off the bottom of the crossbar and in for the second similar hookup between those two ... not killing us. 3-2.

We're playing good enough right now that I don't change our approach. I'll probably regret it.

77' -- It's now 4-3 PSKT over Persibom, eerily reminiscent of our high-scoring draw with the former team a couple of weeks ago. A minute later, an absolute prayer of a floater from Herlambang, no less than 35 yards out, is nearly answered as it squeaks over.

Patay finally doing something here, making three important clearances in a matter of minutes. Would have been nice if he'd showed up the rest of the match, but I'll take it now.

83' -- For goodness sakes. Amiri sends a header across as they are on the counter, Kombo goes for it ... does not even get remotely close ... and Sunari is in alone. Another gimme. 3-all. I need a lobotomy.

Less than a minute later, Herlan to Ewangin, Yogi, back to Ewangin, he's in on the right side and bounces one past on the cross-angle. Persenga furiously protests that it was offside. They are not listened to. 4-3, I go defensive and tell the guys to just stall and eat the clock.

The replay clearly showed Ewangin was a step or two upfield from Syahputra by the way, they haven't got a leg to stand on(though I'd be ticked too, as I was just a few moments ago).

89' -- A long one by Herlan is well left.

90' -- Yogi to Sutanto, passes up a good shot to try and get Ewangin a great shot, nice idea but he was the more open player and should have just gone for it. They block Ewangin's try out for a corner.

92' -- Yogi up to Ewangin, keeper blocks it, another corner. Not exactly stalling, but they're throwing everything at us but the kitchen sink which leaves openings.

One more tense cross is too deep, and that's it!


FT -- Phew! We win it 4-3, requiring more goals from corners(2) than we scored all of last year. Muda is player of the match, scoring two along with Ewangin. Prasetyo gets a deserved tongue-lashing and takes it like a man. Sutanto's two assists on corners show another aspect of his growing skills.

Elsewhere, PSKT holds on to beat Persibom 4-3, and Perssin stays at a draw. It was tense for sure, but we are now three points out of first(even on GD) and one out of second(+2).
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