Match Review - Blitz vs Hotspurs

Blitz wear down Hotspurs

Blitz 5 - 3 Hotspurs
(HT 2-2)

In an incident filled match Blitz outlasted Hotspurs to run out 5-3 winners. A controversial refereeing decision, a key injury, the heat, two penalties and some good play all led to an exciting conclusion.

Blitz started brightly with a slightly modified lineup from last week. Gummi and Freddie moved upfront with Mark M and Jimmy moving back into wide midfield positions. Mark T was also available and started in an attacking central midfield position.

Hotspurs started with 10 men and this allowed Blitz to take the early advantage. With some good ball movement through the midfield and pressure from the forwards Blitz took the lead. Gummi and Freddie opened the scoring to give Blitz a quick 2-0 lead.

Hotspurs had another player arrive and it gave them a quick boost. They quickly pulled a goal back and the game became much more even. Blitz let slip a couple of chances to put the game beyond Hotspurs reach before a controversial penalty put Hotspurs level. Tyler was unfortunate to be penalized after covering a lot of space to challenge the opposition number 4. For a stocky guy he sure fell down easily.

Kerry arrived at half time to add a much needed stability to the back line. The fresh legs also were much needed after a hot first half. One of Hotspurs’ midfields suffered an injury at the end of the half. They had no subs so he had to carry on – these two events led to a slight second half advantage for the Blitz.

Blitz opened the scoring in the second half after some end to end action. Mark T outpaced the Hotspurs defense to beat the goalie in a one on one situation. Hotspurs quickly struck back to make it 3-3 and then began to dominate. Hotspurs continued to have a lot of attacks as Blitz had trouble clearing their lines, but a lot of poor long range shots and some determined defensive play kept them out.

Alex was fortunate not to get a red card after an incident just outside the box. He cleared a Hotspur counterattack and the ball fell to another Hotspur attacker. The shot came in and Alex dived to his left and pushed it away. Unfortunately, he was just outside the box and the ref blew his whistle. After the ref consulted with his linesman he gave a free kick and a yellow card to Alex after much protestation from the Hotspurs. Fortunately Scott had taken up a position behind Alex and the ref recognized this fact when making this important decision.

Blitz finally got the break they were looking for. John took a pass from Mark M and broke through the Hotspurs high defensive line. Blitz had two players in offside positions but he dribbled right past them for a break away opportunity. The keeper saved the first effort but clearly pushed John when struggling for the rebound. Blitz were awarded a penalty and John converted with the keeper getting a hand to it.

The Blitz then cruised to victory when Jimmy connected on an excellent header from a corner kick to wrap the game up. Blitz should be happy with a much improved performance from last week.

Blitz lineup: Alex, John, Scott, Glenn, Tyler, Kevin, Mark T, MarkM, Jimmy, Gummi, Freddie.

Goals: Gummi, Freddie, Mark T, John, Jimmy.