Saving The Season?
Getting ready for the big one
Saving The Season?
I told you we were a good team.
We’ve recovered nicely from that awful loss to Vaiala Tongan.
We’ve won 5 in a row, most of which weren’t anywhere near close.
We destroyed Black Roses a week after that loss, 3-0. Toa Maile scored 2, and new signing Chris Fa’amoana added in a goal of his own.
Next came Green Bay, who we slaughtered at home, 4-0. Petu Pouli scored 2 goals in that one, showing that he isn’t all that bad after all.
We then squeaked by Lion Heart, 2-1, and ran Tafuna Jets ragged, winning 4-2.
And that set us up for our second match against Royal Puma.
Blowing It?
This match was much closer than it should have been.
Toa Maile came storming out of the gates, scoring a hat trick by the 20th minute and putting us up, 3-0.
Chris Seleni, an occasional midfielder playing in a Mezzala role, added one in the 31st minute, putting us up 4-0. I thought we might wind up with 7 or 8 goals by the end of it.
Royal Puma came back with one on a goal by Mark Ashley, but I didn’t think much of it. In fact, Petu Pouli came right back with a goal of his own in the 1st minute of injury time at the end of the first half.
Royal Puma scored another one right before halftime. I don’t know what the referee was thinking, but it didn’t seem to matter. 5-2 is a great halftime scoreline.
And then came the second half.
We just didn’t show up. Mark Ashley scored again in the 50th minute, and then finished up his hat trick in the 62nd.
We simply had no momentum. We got the ball in good positions, all right, and maintained quite a bit of possession. But we couldn’t stop them.
We survived the barrage, thankfully, but still wound up winning by a very slim 5-4 margin.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
The Big One
That sets up our rematch with Ilaoa and To’omata.
We absolutely have to win this match if we’re going to stand any chance at winning the league. The season simply isn’t long enough for us to rely on second and third chances.
I know we can do it. We beat then 4-2 in a friendly during the international break. We’ve got more talent than they do, a better tactic, and the best goalkeeper in the country.
But I’m scared.