Match report for Summer Palace vs ISB Dragons

Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 11:55 AM
Palace,

For the ones who were not there, here is the match report of the league game we played on saturday vs ISB Dragons.

Everything started well for Palace: all 18 players had managed to find the right venue before kick off and we also had quite a few supporters attending the match despite the windy conditions and dusty air.

In the early minutes of the game, it was quite even. The Dragons played some long balls for their fast forwards to chase and our defence had to be well-focussed to cope with them. At the other end, Ally and Ben were making good runs on the wings and our central midfielders Chris and Charles were starting to have the upper hand. Our first goal came after about 15 minutes played, with Ally sending from the left a good ball across the box, that eluded both our forwards, Manuel and Lao Cui, but fell nicely for Ben who had followed-on from the right
wing. Ben beat their diminutive, google-wearing keeper with a fierce low shot. Shortly after, Chris Lupton took his chance from long range to score a great goal and just before half-time, we were gratified by one of “Lao Cui’s special”: i.e. his trademarck shot from the sideline, on the right, that ends its course just below the bar. It may look like a missed attempt to cross the ball but we all know that he meant it as he always tries to score!

3-0 for Palace at half-time and looking good.

At the very start of the second half however, the Dragons came out first off the starting block and out-speed our defence to make it 3-1 within a few seconds of the re-start. Fortunately, we did not panic and made good use of our 7 rolling subs to regain the upper-hand on the game. With about 25 minutes left to play, Ally scored the pivotal 4th goal after some neat passing. Prakash, who had by then replaced Jason in goals, had time to make a great save on one of the rare chances the Dragons had to score. We missed several scoring opportunities before Ally scored his second goal of the day to make it 5-1, final score.

After the game, we went to Luga’s to celebrate our 11th win in a row. Chris Lupton was voted Man-of-the-match for his tireless work in central midfield and his superb goal and Amir, despite playing very well during the 30 minutes he spent on the pitch, was again the one who collected the most votes for Donkey, notably for missing (almost) open goals on 2 occasions. It was the first time we managed to beat the Dragons, and it was a truly excellent team performance from all involved.

No game next weekend for Palace BUT please come to training on Wednesday evening and IMPORTANTLY, come to support Forbidden City who is playing vs Afrika Utd in the Cup Final, on sunday 8th May, 4 PM kick off at the LIDO.
Cheers,
Patrick

PS: Charles still top-scorer with 11 goals, Manuel and Ally just behind with 10 goals each.