Preview
Here it is. I never figured I'd be in this position but it's time to take advantage of it. A win today, and we likely take fourth in the series and finish in the money. A loss today and "our reward" will be a relegation match instead. I can't afford to MotS for that very reason so we're going normal and I hope he does the same. He's only slightly better and on my field, I should win. As the Hippos hit the field today, we were greeted by rain.
Oh, and just for such an occasion, I've decided to shuffle the match reports a little, moving things around so that more important things get better places
Game Text
Date: 10/13/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8327016
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 24181
Due to an all-day shower, 24181 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at The Hippodrome. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Schrader, Bush - Teepen, Meek, Benito, Connors, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.
Enforcers had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Freeman - Paz, Weeks, Gurley - Becerra, Marion, Wilson, Frederick, Monsalve - Requejo Rodrígue, Lastra.
Enforcers took the lead in the games 17:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Juan José Requejo Rodríguez was the scorer. Enforcers´s Billy Marion refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon in the 21st minute. After 25 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Juan José Requejo Rodríguez who increased Enforcers´s lead to 0 - 2. A well placed freekick brought the home crowd new hope. Herschel Meek reduced the away teams lead to 1 - 2. Due to some great work on the right wing Hippopotami:s Edwin Phelan was able to even the score in the 39:th minute to 2 - 2. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 2. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 61 percent, dominated the battle.
Hippopotami had a good opportunity to take the lead as Edwin Phelan came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of David Freeman. Jamie Gurley of Enforcers received a yellow card in the 61st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. In the 67:th minute the home side managed to get a 3 - 2 lead as Herschel Meek flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. In the games 80:th minute Hippopotami´s Koos Teepen fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Koos Teepen for taking a dive. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 64 percent possession rate.
Most important Hippopotami player was Carlos Alberto Benito. Edwin Phelan on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Enforcers player was without a doubt Juan José Requejo Rodríguez. Stacy Becerra was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 2.
Game Summary
Down 2-0 in the first half, things looked bleak. However, it proved to be one of those proverbial "the night is darkest before the light of dawn" moments. First Meek scored and the Phelan and suddenly, it was a tie game! Then, Meek scored againt to give the Hippos the lead, there was much rejoicing by the soaking wet crowd. This is certainly our biggest Div IV win to date and the big comeback made it that much more exciting.
Three Stars
Herchel Meek with another gold
Bronze: The Midfield
Our excellent midfield gave us enough possession to pull this out
Silver: Edwin Phelan
Phelan's game tying goal was his eighth of the year
Gold: Herchel Meek
His game winning goal was his eighth of the year
Press Release
10/15/2003 at 13:14 In the Money? Hippos Rally In Battle for Fourth Place!
Herchel Meek added 2 goals to his 4 from last week as Houston rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 and put themselves in the driver seat for fourth place. A balanced game was key with ratings of excellent across the board save a formidable on the left attack wing. Houston needs one win in their last two games to finish in the money in their first season in Div IV. The Hippos must visit CFoWG at the Creamy Nougat Center before closing out the season at the 'drome against The Champion.
Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team
Formations
HH: 3-5-2
IE: 3-5-2
Events Summary
1st Half
IE: 17: 0-1
IE: 25: 0-2
HH: 31: Herchel Meek (7): 1-2
HH: 39: Edwin Phelan (8): 2-0
Halftime Score: 2-2
Possession: 61%
2nd Half
HH: 53: Herchel Meek (8): 3-2
Final Score: 3-2
Possession: 64%
Final Possession: 63%
Cards
HH: 80: Koos Teepen (yellow- taking a dive)
Injuries
None
Stadium
Terraces: 14582/20000
Basic seats: 6364/8000
Seats under roof: 2435/3200
VIP seats: 800/800
Total: 24181/32000
Darn rain kept us from selling out, I'm guessing.
Team Ratings
Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 65/73
Iowa Enforcers
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 62/67
WOW! Another awesome game- excellents across the board except for that formidable left wing. That's called balance! He had a suprisingly bad game- he should have posted at least a passable midfield, even in bad form. This is somewhat puzzling.
Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***~
DM Clement Schrader **~
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Koos Teepen (o) ***
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ****
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~
FO Edwin Phelan **
Total Stars: 36.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal
Mick is finally back up to ***~ today. Phelan's still in a slump, at ** now, Schrader started in place of Miguel at center defender, and the midfield "only" got 11.5 stars but other than that, nothing of note.
Around the League
The battle for second was at Kaishaku's place this week
zfan - Team Groomers 0 - 5
I feel good that Team Groomers got a win. He's one of the most active supporters in the league- lots of press releases, etc. Unfortunately, I don't think he'll get any higher than 8th this year.
Brooklyn United - The Champion 6 - 1
Brooklyn crushed The Champion, which makes our game against them slightly less important. Brooklyn's lowest rating was outstanding while that was The Champion's highest.
Kaishaku F.C. - Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness 2 - 0
Kaishaku put up a world class midfield, likely as an MotS, to Chock's passable. He won the NSI battle 90-78 despite losing the star battle 39.5 to 37.0. This was a bit different from their earlier meeting when both put up magnificent midfields in Kaishaku's 3-1 win.
League Standings
Code:
N Team Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 47 - 7 32 104
2. Kaishaku F.C. 36 - 11 30 90
3. Chock Full of Whole 37 - 23 22 78
4. Houston Hippopotami 30 - 28 19 73
5. Iowa Enforcers 21 - 26 14 67
6. The Champion 21 - 25 12 53
7. zfan 11 - 52 6 9
8. Team Groomers 15 - 46 4 9
With 2 games left in the season, it's a good time to take stock of where everyone is. Our win cements 4th for us, however, we will likely lose and lose bad next week to Chock. If we pull off the miracle upset, we could get third but that's unlikely with our goal differentials. Kaishaku's win assured him of second place and he still has a shot at first when he and Brooklyn play the last game of the year. zfan and Team Groomers are guaranteed to auto demote while Iowa has a slim chance of catching me if I lose my last two games.
Notes
Now we've got a 4 game unbeaten streak and we're sitting pretty in the standings. Sure, we may lose next week, but we just have to win the last week to assure a finish in the money. We're heading on the road again for another friendly, this time to Israel.
SI