Fletcher Captures MVP as Victory Escapes CAT I for First Time This Season |
Cataraqui I 2 vs Portuguese Benfica 3
Cat1 lose 1st game of season to strong Portuguese Benfica team.
The boys in blue lost 3-2 in a hard fought game with Benfica. Cat-1 had to reshuffle their line up as they were short 5 defenders for this game,this seemed to upset the team balance for the 1st 20minutes or so. then the team settled down and played their normal game.
Benfica scored 1st with a low shot to Alex's left. He made a good effort to get to it but couldn't get a touch on the ball. Cat started to fight back and were having some good possession, then Roman our talented midfielder had to leave the game with face injury, suspected broken nose. (get well soon Roman we need you back)
While Roman was being attended to, Dave Ryding chased a through ball and in a 50/50 tussle with the goalie; came out on top and calmly stuck the ball in the open net. Benfica had some good chances, Steve Vardy cleared off the line, and the boys in blue made their own chances but couldn't beat the offside trap that Benfica used so well.
Half time came and went the score was still 1-1. Then Benfica scored again and what a great goal it was. The forward raced on to a through ball with Vardy right on his heels without even breaking stride he had a great shot to the top corner of the net. Alex could only watch it crash into the net. 10min later we were back on level terms after great work by Vardy on the right side, got his cross in and kept on running some how the ball came back to him and he smashed it home to tie the game. I thought for sure we were going to get a point from this game, but again Benfica came back and scored with minutes left on the clock. The lads still took the game to Benfica and had a couple more chances before the final whistle blew.
Even though we lost this game it was still a great performance the guys played with great determination and desire to win untill the final whistle.
Alex Fletcher had a great game between the pipes and made many good saves, Vardy had his usual strong game, well supported by Stuart Reid (1st game playing while still injured). Steve Stutzman gave a good performance and the non stop running of Ted Bailey and Matt Herod who covered every blade of grass on the field. The midfielders Eoin Boyle, John Gallinaro, Little Zac, Graham Fedorak and Larry Hart (all heart) all covered a lot of ground to keep Cat-1 in the game. Peter Jr did his share of Donkey work helping out the defence many times, also pushing forward to support the forwards. Up front Mark Schultes , Dave Ryding and Luke Hampel were a handfull for the Benfica defense, making many scoring opportunities. Not to forget Roman Zablocki who always makes a mark on any game, get well soon Roman.
Peter Boyle
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