Saturday saw the start of the second round fixtures and we had to face Cultural Roots at NY49 in Nyanga. We really had it in for them because they punished us at home in the first round, so it was billed as “Payback time”. To rub salt in the wounds, both Mark Daniels and Bradley August were not available as family commitments and the Nathi Lions game prevented them from being there.
Reigns were temporarily handed to chairman Marcello (me). Now its been more than 2 years since I last coached this team but the majority of players were brought in under my reign. Starting line up included; Noel (gk), Angelo, Borrie, Assie, Bakka (defs), Taariq, Wayne, Ramie, Gareth, Maan (mids) & Craig Jones (lone striker). The formation was changed to 4-5-1 to suit the available players.
We started very gingerly and the first 15 minutes were dominated by the home team, but our rock solid defense were in the mood to play. The wide field made wing play a necessity and various approaches to both goals were made but none that really threatened. In the 20 minute our defense were breached by a lost of concentration by Angelo who turned his back on a free kick 30m from goal on our right side. A short pass was played and their striker beat two extra defenders in the box to score from close range. Ten minutes later we conceded a silly penalty after an attempted cross were struck against Borrie’s chest and it was interpreted as a hand ball. The resultant penalty hit the woodwork and an extra lifeline were handed to us. Shortly after that Taariq should have buried a loose ball in the six yard area after Craig Jones beat the keeper and two defenders, hist shot went against a defender and an open net was presented to Taariq. his shot was rushed by the keeper and a defender and he hit the woodwork. As the first half ended we clearly had the better of our opposition with Ramie and Gareth winning everything in the middle.
The second half started with two goalscoring chances being missed by Wayne, who looked a bit rusted. This prompted a straight swap for him with Justin, the result was immediate. Justin looked dangerous and he exploited the width of the field to create scoring chances for Craig. We eventually drew level about 15min into the second half. By this time the opposition were always on the back foot and there attempts at goals were restricted to punts up-field and set pieces, non of which threatened. Ramie was recalled after receiving a yellow card and he was replaced with Ashley. After contemplating to change the formation yet again, to 4-3-3 and putting Choca upfront with Justin and Craig, we broke the deadlock. Justin received a ball on the left middle third, beat his man, broke through, forcing their central defender to commit then passed the ball ahead of Craig who finished with the stealth of a sniper. With five minutes left Craig were sacrificed for Enver who slotted in next to Borrie as stoppers thus changing the formation to 5-4-1. Enver warranted his inclusion with a very disciplined performance. The game finished after 2 minutes of optional time and we got out own back!
