Blais Has His Cake and Eats it Too in Quarter Final Fete |
Cataraqui II 1 vs SGPS United 0
This was a very hard fought, very evenly balanced game throughout. The first half started with a very strong series of attacks from SGPS United. They pushed four men forward much of the time and kept the defense on its toes. James had sorted out how we were going to handle things before the kick off and, with the help of the midfield, we contained the opposition well, soaking up a lot of pressure. Val was his usual solid self behind us and plucked the ball out of the air with authority.
Coach Pierce kept up a good flow of changes as the half went on, and slowly the tide started to turn. By the end of the half things were a lot more balanced, with our own forwards getting more into the action.
Come the second half, the tide had turned in our favour. We had more of the possession and the more threatening of the attacks. This is not to say that SGPS were out of it. Far from it, it looked at any time that a breakaway goal would clinch this one.
There was justice for James McIntyre in the second half as Morton got nutmegged out on the right wing. Fortunately that came to nothing as the defense held strong. Rick was having a bit more trouble with the changes in the second half, purely because of the fluidity of the play. Stoppages were few and far between in a very exciting spell of nearly twenty minutes.
We almost had the game with only a minute on the clock when Ross Corcoran hit a superb shot which the SGPS keeper managed to parry away.
0 – 0 at full time.
The extra time, a Golden Goal affair, saw Cataraqui II press hard and constantly. SGPS were suffering from a lack of subs, although they did have two on the bench and a quick rotation. The goal, when it came, was first class. An opportunistic corner kick from Joe Nashed found Bernie " I get an assist" Harpell vertically and vocally committed at the back post. Bernie's header kept the ball amongst the six yard box swarm, as it fell to the feet of James who turned one defender looking for a shot before hearing the confident yet frantic call of Paul Blais. James slipped a pass across the box to Paul who made no mistake. A very well placed and hard struck shot left the keeper with no chance. The bench erupted as did the fans and all the boys on the field. A great result.
Well deserved MVPs to both goalies.
Andrew came up trumps at the Toucan afterwards, finding us the bulk of the patio to enjoy our celebrations. I left before most, but I suspect some folks stayed a fair bit longer.
We are against Joga Bonito at an undisclosed location on Tuesday night. Hope to see you there.
Ross Morton
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