Guantanamo Waste Superior Numbers Advantage

Monday 1st September 2008

Racing Guantanamo threw away a superior numerical advantage on a special Monday night of B-Liga football, giving NDFC a 6-3 win after full time.

The Mighty Oranges went into the match with a full squad, while NDFC were only able to field a team of seven, and were missing star player Jimmy Asimacopolous, who ended up playing a vital role for them in goals.

Guantanamo started minus Joe Tighe, who is still away on international duty, but he was the only face missing from the side as big defender Tim O’Brien was welcomed back into the squad alongside new signing Danny Pinchas.

Fans on the sideline were praying that Guantanamo could take advantage of their numerical advantage against a side that has not been beaten in the league this year. Indeed, the Mighty Oranges are the only team to have taken a point from them way back in June when the score was 4-4.

As the match began however, fans groaned in frustration as the men in orange seemed to crowd the ball and not use the space of the pitch efficiently. NDFC made them pay for their lack of communication by bearing down on Francois Kruger’s goal time after time. Guantanamo were defending well until an uncharacteristic slip by Kruger allowed a weak shot to slip through his legs and trickle over the line.

It was a familiar situation for the Guantanamo faithful who have seen their team go down a goal after the first ten minutes of the game.

Chris Hingston was a late arrival to the ground, and was hurriedly drafted into the team in place of Tim Gray who was still struggling with his calf injury. Hingston has been one of the most improved players this season, and looked solid for the team in orange at the back.

As the match continued, another weak goal was gifted to NDFC, this time captain Ryan Platten’s fault, the skipper failing to clear a header out of the box, allowing the FC player to slot it comfortably past Kruger.

The second goal galvanised the oranges, leading to some attacking minded play, but leaving them open to a long ball attack at the other end. Indeed, NDFC, sensing the speed of the Guantanamo defence as a weakness fired long ball after long ball for their players to chase, resulting in three more goals before the stroke of half time courtesy of some wonder strikes from outside the box. The Mighty Oranges could only reply with one of their own.

With the team sensing the match slipping away, Tim O’Brien was pulled back into the centre of defence, while Andy Smyth took his place in the centre of midfield. The change immediately paid dividends with Smyth making a suitable nuisance of himself in the NDFC box and laying one off for Luke Turner to slot away.

The second half was a different story, with Platten urging the team to communicate, pass and use the space of the pitch to their advantage. Jon Falconer took the words to heart, and his second half performance was one of the best seen in an orange shirt this season.

Luke Turner was again a marked man, B-Liga teams sensing the danger in the young wonderkid, and his attacks were well-dealt with by the NDFC defence.

As the match drew toward a close, and a Guantanamo defeat, Platten pushed forward down the right flank, finding some dangerous positions and lots of space. The captain smashed a header against the post from a corner and fired another two wide before he managed to scuff a shot across the NDFC goal and into the path of Danny Pinchas who tapped it in.

Adam Shanley continued to use his strength up forward, with the Scotsman looking dangerous when he got the ball, but could not find the back of the net.

As the match ended, the players were disappointed with the first half performance, but happy with the second, knowing that on Wednesday the team would have to settle a lot earlier and focus on communication and passing if they were to take anything away from their next opponents, the Pearl Coast Pirates.

Racing Guantanamo Matchday Squad
Ryan PLATTEN, Tim GRAY, Andy SMYTH, Tim O’BRIEN, Jon FALCONER, Danny PINCHAS, Adam SHANLEY, Luke TURNER, Chris HINGSTON

Final Score
Racing Guantanamo AFC 3 – 6 NDFC

Attendance
2