After a well-deserved Christmas break, String Penelope 2 challenged 4za at the holy home ground of Rosières. It was up to the home team to prove that it could pick up where it left before Christmas, an important 3-1 victory against direct contenders Irlande FC 4.

Coach O’Connor, sitting out the first of his two match of suspension, was happy to field the following team.

Lubbe Bakker

Stoop Döring De Groot Pavis

Somers Lambers

Lodge Selim Von Heimendahl

Knott

4za started the game in its trusted 4-2-3-1 formation, but with a couple of changes of note in

the personnel department. For starters, Döring made his long-awaited debut for 4za,

accompanied in defence by Stoop, De Groot and Pavis and backed up by Lubbe Bakker in goal.

Somers and Lambers were to put their combined eighty years of experience to good use in

midfield. Somers was to protect the defence; Lambers, the surprise of the chef in midfield, had

more liberty to roam freely. Since Lodge and Von Heimendahl were going to take up their usual

positions on the right and left flank, Selim would operate in a more central role in support of

lone striker Knott. Gidron and a mystery guest arriving after the start of the game occupied the

bench.

The game was very evenly matched in the beginning, with both teams full of good intentions

and eager to make something out of their first January game. As the first half progressed, 4za

gained control of the match and it did not take long before this resulted in the home team taking

the lead. Assist by Knott, goal by Selim. Selim promptly returned the favour and offered Knott

his first goal of the season for 4za. A new star partnership is born and 2-0 at half time.

One substitution early on in the second half: Knott went off for Gidron. String Penelope 2

reacted immediately to 4za’s tactical change and subbed off a defender to continue the game

with ten players. Bold and surprising move, but our 4za heroes were not impressed.

Jane-Aluja (S. – the S stands for senior), our mystery guest who flew in earlier that day, came

on a couple of minutes later and scored with his first touch of the game, a goal brilliantly

prepared by Lodge. One touch, one goal - that is what I call killer instinct.

Although victory seemed secured after the third goal, 4za chose not to rest on its laurels and

tried to run up the score. 4za’s constant pressure forward soon resulted in Lodge scoring his

first of the afternoon, a strike into the far corner, once again assisted by the elusive Selim.

4za kept storming forward. Excellent cross by Lodge, cheeky finish by Lambers lifting the ball

over the opponents’ goalkeeper.

Needless to say that this stroke of sheer brilliance drove our two supporters to madness.

Before the final whistle, Jane-Aluja (S.) managed to score his second of the afternoon. Assist

by Selim who completed his hattrick of assists. Ah, the energizing effect of late adolescent love,

a distant memory for most of us.

For those of you who lost count, the final result was 6-0 after a very good team performance.

The most important takeaways from this game:

• Döring had a very promising debut in the heart of defence.

Could have been the magic socks though, we’ll know soon enough.

• You don’t need two functioning hips to play as the sole defensive midfielder in this formation.

• As long as you come by plane, you will not be sanctioned if you are late. A precedent has been set.

• Jane-Aluja (S.) only needs twenty-five minutes of game time to score twice.

Just imagine the extra hours of sleep he could have had, instead of hurrying to be on time for the

start of the game.

• Daddy Koen is probably still unaware that we devoted a song to him, as he was unfortunately unable

to stay for the weekly man-of-the-match-award after the game.

• It turns out that, when taking corners kicks, the placement of the ball in relation to the corner flag

is essential to be able to hit the ball correctly.

We might focus on this important yet often neglected facet of the game during training this week.

Next Saturday, 4za will be looking to continue its winning streak in a game that promises to be

challenging, if we can judge by the way the game against La Lunette went down in the first half

of the season. 4za has something to make up for, since it dropped its first points of the season

against the opponent of next week. Revenge will be ours!

Your reporter: Matthias De Groot*

• The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect

the official policy, position or ethos of the club.