Goodfellas 6 vs 2 Lei Jun

Goodfellas 6 (Hans, Bear, Jeetu, Hans, Hans, Peps) Lei Jun 2 (HT: 3-1) First Half: Peps; Parker (Nathan), Bear; Alex M (Eddie), Jason, Jeetu (Alex); Hans Second Half: Peps; Nathan (Parker), Bear; Eddie (Alex M), Jason (Hans), Alex (Jeetu); Dessa Goodfellas earned their first victory since joining the M7 league this autumn, led by a hat trick from Hans.  Perhaps spurred on by an inspiring pre-match talk, the team started with much intensity and found themselves camped in the opponent's half.  The intensity paid off almost immediately as we found ourselves 2-0 up from two well taken corners.  Hans first hit a screamer from the far left, and then Bear looped in a header right in front of Lei Jun's goalkeeper. To round off a strong first 15 minutes, Jeetu stormed down the right flank and shot to the far left post to put the team up by three.

While deflated, Lei Jun continued plugging away, and were rewarded just before the half when one of their several long range shots looped over Peps into the top left corner.  This was a timely reminder that despite being 3-1 up, we couldn't let up.

Goodfellas 6 vs 2 Lei Jun - match report photo

The second half began with more tempo, although Lei Jun had more swagger and moved the ball more comfortably across the back, while Dessa chased their defenders.  And their persistent again paid off when a seemingly innocous shot from the top of the box slipped between Peps' fingers. 3-2.  Soon afterwards, with Jason Li leaving the pitch to tend to family matters, fresh legs were soon brought back on.  With it, along came a level of intensity that had been missing since the first 15 minutes. Again, Hans reopened his goal account with a well taken shot from the edge of the box, and the fellas were back in the driving seat.  Soon afterwards, Hans collected his hat trick and would have been on song for a fourth had it not been for a clumsy challenge that brought him down in the box.  Making ammends for his earlier howler, one brave soul stepped up to calmly slot in the penalty. Goalkeeper and now Goalscorer: Pravesh Narain.  6-2.  The final whistle came soon afterwards, but probably not too soon for a dejected Lei Jun. Early in the second half, a frustrated Lei Jun defender was stripped of the ball by Alex C.  As the latter was pulling away, the defender bear hugged Alex only to be greeted by Alex's response: "What the is this?".  The defender had no response, beyond a shrug after being showed a yellow card.  Perhaps the right response: "A Goodfellas drubbing". ____________________

Our condolences to Jason Li and his family. Analysis: The entire team played hard, and getting those early goals put the opponents on their back heel, and us within sight of victory even before halftime whistle.  Frankly, it was difficult to pick one outstanding player of the game given the workrate of everyone from defence, midfield, and attack.  Concentration lapses resulted in two goals against us, but that shouldn't blemish the fact that we played smooth, disciplined, intense football.  Great win. Man of the Match: Hans