With injury leaving us with only 10 mobile players for much of the second half, Vets2 hang on for gutsy draw
Vets2 took to the pitch on a very cold and damp Saturday afternoon in Woluwé with a strong 12-man squad. With an injured Roger as delegue, we welcomed Ian Hoskins back after injury, playing next to Benoit in central defence. Will Jeremiah came in for his first game of the season - next to Carl in central midfield. And Simon Fallon also returned, in the ‘number 10’ role, proudly showing us his shiny new ID Card. With Cedric and Milan at full back, Brian Lewis and Nic on the flanks, and George up front, the rest of the team had a familiar ring to it.
Vets2 started well enough, circulating the ball, but frequently gave it away far too easily. Azur were not good either, although a couple of their players managed to get things ticking for them. Azur took the lead after 15 minutes when they combined on our left side, and put in a decent cross where two of their strikers seemed to be unmarked and the guy at the far post tucked it in easily. 0-1.
We picked things up after that and started to combine better going forward. And within 5 minutes we got an equaliser. A good ball from Milan into the space in the inside left channel saw George running through beat his man and square it for Nick on the penalty spot. His first shot was blocked by a defender. The second shot was blocked by a combination of the defender and the goalkeeper, and Nick was able to pick up the rebound again and walk the ball into the net with 3 Azur defenders on the floor around him. 1-1.
At this stage Vets2 were clearly the better team. Simon forced their keeper into a couple of decent saves, and George went close after an excellent through ball from Carl.
Two minutes before half-time disaster struck. From one of their corners there was again poor marking, and the ball fell to their captain to have a shot from 10 yards out. Somehow, from the other side of the penalty area, the ref was able to see through the crowd of bodies that the ball hit Simon on the elbow. Penalty! Despite all our protests, the penalty stood, and their striker gave Luc no chance from the spot. 1-2.
With our midfield often too far apart, vets2 rejigged things at half time, with Alex Cornford coming on at left wing, and Brian playing a more familiar role next to Carl, and Will moving to right back. This seemed to stabilise things and give us a more coherent midfield - at times playing 4-5-1.
Indeed we were clearly the better team in the second half, with Will getting forward on the right, much more of the game was played in their half.
We got our reward after 10 minutes with one of the goals of the season. Nic tackled a guy close to half way and won the ball back. He then ran towards goal, dribbled past two midfielders. As George made a good run to take away a couple of defenders, Nic then rounded the central defender on the edge of the box and, with 3 Azur players again strewn in his wake, he buried the ball low in the far corner. 2-2.
Things were looking good. We were starting to win all those individual battles around the pitch. And this brought a great confidence to the team. But then, with 20 minutes to go, Will’s hamstring suddenly went ping, and we were left with only 10 mobile players. Nick filled in at right back, with Will just holding the centre of the pitch. From now on, they had the upper hand. And it’s fair to say that vets two got no favours from the ref, in terms of offsides or fouls against us. On the contrary, Ian got a yellow card when their striker ran into him.
As the game progressed, Luc got more and more to do in goal. Firstly, tipping over a long shot, which was creeping in under the bar, and then making a couple of crucial saves with his feet, as the Azur strikers got in shots from close range. Milan also made an absolutely crucial intervention to block a shot from their centre, forward 5 metres out.
With five minutes to go, Vets2 almost snatched an amazing result. Nick again ran through their defence on our right wing and crossed it for George in the middle. His left foot shot went through the advancing keeper's legs and would have gone in if their defender hadn’t come sliding back to clear it off the line.
In the end, the final whistle was a relief. And the 2-2 draw was fully merited.
Speaking after the game, the coach said: "I was not happy with the first half, but we tweaked things at half time - and we definitely had the upper hand until Will got injured. I though we saw a number of monster performances - especially from the defence, as the ref was giving us nothing. Another point is useful, and we remain unbeaten this year!”
Man of the match votes went to Benoit, Milan, George and several to Luc, but the runaway winner was double goalscorer and stand-in right back Nic.
RBBFC Vets2: Luc Tholoniat; Cedric Cabaret (Alex Cornford), Benoit Priest, Ian Hoskins, Milan Sverepa; Carl Ledbury, Will Jeremiah; Brian Lewis, Simon Fallon, Nic Northcote; Georgios Paniogitidis.
