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Old 07-19-2014, 11:01 PM   #485
NoSkillz
College Benchwarmer
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
Sun. May 12, 2024

Barclays Premier League
Dover (28-7-2, 91 points, 1st) vs. Aston Villa (15-8-14, 53 points, 10th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 4-7 (Favourites) Draw: 5-2 Aston Villa: 4-1
Past Meetings: 5W 2D 6L

Villa are one of the very few “top” clubs that we have a losing record against lifetime. We hope to even that record today! Villa are nothing if not incredibly consistent. Their last five years see the following finishes: 11th, 10th, 14th, 10th and 10th. Crazy. Striker Antonio is their leading scorer with 15 goals from 30 games, as he’s taken over from Mohamed Messaoudi, who is essentially their main man off the bench this year.

With a 13 day break between today’s game and our Champions League final, I want to make sure the main guys don’t lose match fitness so we’re starting a pretty strong lineup today at home. Paul Moses and Zoltan Bardi are up front and we have a full strength midfield. Carlos Guzman starts at left fullback and Rayane Hamon will play about 50 minutes or so at DC as he returns from injury.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - C. Guzman, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, Jose, G. Allan
S - P. Moses, Z. Bardi
Bench - Rafinha, M. Yilmaz, G. Archer, A. Rocca, L. Kunchev, Chiquinho, A. Broomes

Villa are in the tight 4-2-3-1 with 3 attacking central mids that gives us fits. Antonio is alone up front and tough keeper Antonio Kraljevic is manning the nets today. Lets do well for the home supporters!

11’ - We have possession off a throw in and work it to Paul Moses. Two defenders come his way and he feeds a wide open Arsene Bamba. Bamba cuts in from the left and he’s extremely dangerous in this position and shows why, hitting a low hard shot to the far corner that’s just inside the post! A trademark strike from the molten hot Bamba and we’re ahead early! DOVER GOAL 1-0

13’ - A Bamba corner is headed off the crossbar by Zoltan Bardi and the rebound is then saved by Kraljevic.

14’ - We’re ALL OVER THEM early and Kraljevic makes successive saves on Bamba and Bardi to keep us from scoring again in a mad scene in front of the net.

32’ - We continue to pour on pressure with a long distance Neil Cairney shot that curls toward the far post but is turned aside by a diving Kraljevic.

38’ - We get the ball back at midfield and a give and go between Bamba and Moses results in our young striker being sent in alone. Kraljevic is no match for our superstar, who shoots low and hard and it’s in! Another special goal from Moses! DOVER GOAL 2-0

HALFTIME - The scoreline is incredibly flattering to Villa, as we hold 55% of possession and a LUDICROUS 22-0 (8-0 on target) shot advantage. It’s a true massacre on the stat sheet! I tell the team I’m pleased!

I take out a tired Rayane Hamon and bring in Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz.

52’ - Villa get their first shot on target and it’s just a weak header. Villa are in a more conventional 4-3-1-2 look now.

53’ - Ugh. Right away, Yilmaz makes a mistake that sees a cross deflect off him unknowingly and right onto the foot of Antonio, who rips a shot off the volley and it’s past Wilke and IN! ASTON VILLA GOAL 1-2

57’ - With the Champions League final coming up, I’m taking absolutely no chances with my best player, taking out Paul Moses and bringing in Chiquinho, who is suspended for that particular match.

83’ - Jose is out and in comes Andrea Rocca.

89’ - Graham Allan scores off a deflected Chiquinho pass and it’s called back because of offsides. A truly dreadful call that the referee botched and the replay confirms that it should have stood. Damn.

90’ - Chiquinho says “Fuck that” and just takes the ball again on the ensuing Villa free kick. storms down the left and crosses into a wide open Bardi, who volleys it home. Easy tap in there! DOVER GOAL 3-1

Nice way to end the league season!

Dover 3 - 1 Aston Villa
Goals - Arsene Bamba (8.8), Paul Moses (8.0), Zoltan Bardi (7.9)
Assists - Arsene Bamba, Paul Moses, Chiquinho (7.0)
Man of the Match - Arsene Bamba
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.0), Claudio Contreras (7.7), Carlos Guzman (7.0), Neil Cairney (5.8)
Attendance - 23,000

We hold 54% of the ball and a 30-7 (10-3 on target) shot advantage. Domination! Neil Cairney was pretty bad and missed a ton of shots today.

-- The only drama was to see what would happen at the bottom of the table and in a bit of a shocker, it was Blackpool beating Birmingham in their stadium 1-0 to hop ahead of them into 17th place and hold onto a Premier League spot. Birmingham drop back to the Championship after two years in the Premier League. Norwich was already relegated but they go back down with positive thoughts after humiliating Arsenal 2-0 at Emirates! Chelsea, Liverpool, City and United all won while Spurs lose to Reading to fall back into third place.

-- We earn a cool £16,000,000 for our championship season and pay out £4.2 million to the players to share as a squad bonus.






Next Up

-- Stats, recaps, awards, etc. Plus a Champions League FINAL against Barcelona, to be played in France.
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