Guantanamo Sink In Last 10 Minutes

27th August 2008

Racing Guantanamo saw a tremendous effort undone in the last 10 minutes of their match with Broome City, going down 3-1.

The Mighty Oranges began the match again without mainstay players Joe Tighe and Tim O’Brien, leaving their midfield looking rather light on. In an effort to inject some speed into the team, Nicky Anear came back into the squad after a 4 game layoff and Pearl Coast Pirates player Waheed Haidari was signed as a guest player.

Vice captain Tim Gray, whose recovery from injury has been remarkable was again included in the side, the fiery character boosting the midfield with some steel, while Andy Smyth came back into the centre of defence, partnering captain Ryan Platten and Chris Hingston.

The match began with Guantanamo pressing early, trying to use the speed of young guns Luke Turner and Nicky Anear to test the City defence. The Blues however had other things on their mind as they used the opportunity to sweep down the wings and cross into their two waiting strikers. City had not counted on the resilience of Orange keeper Francois Kruger, who was at his award winning best. Kruger manfully kept out four shots before City managed to slip one in past him to make it 1-0.

In a trait of all Guantanamo matches this season, it took the opening goal to wake the Mighty Oranges from their slumber, as they began to take the match to the Blues. With lots of space opening up on the pitch, the Oranges made a tactical change pulling Nicky Anear back into midfield and shifting Scotsman Adam Shanley up front. Shanley showed some deft touches and his partnership with Luke Turner will be surely one to watch in the coming weeks.

Toward the end of the first half, which played an extra 15 minutes of injury time, the Oranges managed to combine well and use the space of the pitch to slip the ball through to guest player Haidari who smashed it past the City keeper to make it one a piece.

As the second half began, Guantanamo, buoyed by their equaliser, pushed forward in search of another. The Oranges put the City defence under immense pressure, but could not find the back of the net.

Jon Falconer was seemingly everywhere as he hassled and harried, putting pressure on all areas of the park, while Tim Gray looked solid in his second match and Guantanamo fans will be hoping he can stay injury free.

At the other end of the pitch, Francois Kruger was again ‘the Rock’, giving a man of the match performance, diving to his left and right to keep out any Broome City counter attack. Indeed, the whole Guantanamo defence looked more solid than it had in weeks, with Platten, Hingston and Smyth also giving personal-best performances to keep out any City attack.

With the clock ticking down, a quick defence-splitting pass saw a City player slot one past the intimidating Kruger to make it 2-1, and another quickly followed.

The Mighty Oranges, reeling from the quick change in fortunes tried to push forward again but to no avail.

As the match finished, the Orange players congratulated each other on a good performance, but the side are looking forward to the return of Tighe and O’Brien to bolster the options in midfield.

Racing Guantanamo Matchday Squad
Ryan PLATTEN, Tim GRAY, Francois KRUGER, Andy SMYTH, Chris HINGSTON, Jon FALCONER, Nicky ANEAR, Luke TURNER, Adam SHANLEY, Waheed HAIDARI

Final Score
Racing Guantanamo AFC 1 – 3 Broome City

Attendance
7