Lions end their unbeaten run in the SPL !
Amigo’s and Amiga’s,
It was good that we were able to manage two SPL rounds before the October holiday ! The break will be used to put the winter grass seeds in the field to make sure that in the spring we will play on a perfect pitch. With the Lions ending their winning streak it is already clear that this season will be a very interesting one. We can see that overall the teams look stronger this season and the battles are much closer than previous years.
Gremio – Super 48 9-2
The Gremio strikers seems to be in fine form early in the season. Super 48 scored their trade mark “first goal” early in the game. After that the Gremio strikers took control. It was 6-1 at half time and that was a good enough cushion for Gremio to swap some players. Super 48 never gave up and was still playing full attack mode and scored their second of the game. With Ailton scoring 4 and Francesco scoring 3 and Kercio 2 it ended 9-2
Marlins – Pistolera Bulls 2-0
A very close game with both team going for the win. For once the Marlins scored early in the game by target man Pete and from then onwards Bilgin’s men were on the hunt for the equalizer. Overall it resulted in a bunch of yellow cards in the first half and the Marlins went for the tea break with a 1-0 lead. In the second half the game was decided by two red cards for the Pisotolera Bulls and from than onwards it was Mission Impossible III to get something out of the game. The make matter worse James (from England !) hit a superb strike in the top corner to seal the faith for both teams. It was good to see both managers shake hands after the game and exchange a few words about the game.
Cowboys – AVL Galacticos 5-1 Galacticos did very well to held the Cowboys to 1-0 only at half time that’s a big improvement from last season. However in the second half the fitness level between the two teams made the difference. With Zhuang of the Cowboys in fine form scoring a hat-trick it was getting harder and harder for Vaughn’s men. The got one back by a converted penalty by David. There were no cards in this game which is as well a positive to mention !
Lions – Shanghai 2000 4-7 All good things come to an end and in this case it was the incredible undefeated SPL run of the Lions. Their run started in December 2012 and ended in this game. They were 33 games unbeaten in a row 30 wins and 3 draws a record they can be proud of ! However full credit goes to Shanghai 2000 who outplayed the Lions in the first 45 minutes at all fronts. Shanghai 2000 have a great mix of promising youngster with a few experienced players. In particular in this case their striker Nick Sudmann was the Lions Terminator scoring 5 goals in the first half. 6-1 was the first half score but in the second half the Lions did manage to regroup themselves by bringing in 3 U18 players and helped by their speed and movement managed to win the second half 1-3 but this time it was too late !
Flamenkos – Japan 3-2
It was the first game of the season for the Flamenkos but they looked sharp ! Japan still looking for their first win in their new red kit were ready for the battle as well. It was an excellent first half with both teams going for full attack much to the pleasure of the spectators at the Century Park. A 2-2 first half thriller was the result and in the second half the teams were more careful not to make a decisive mistake. In the end Andy of the Flamenkos scored the winner half way in the second half !
We have a two Sunday’s break which the SPL teams will use to up their fitness levels or heal their injuries and when we come back at October 12th we have 4 games on the SPL menu.
1200-1400 Lions – Super 48 at Waigaoqiao
1200-1400 Cowboys – Shanghai 2000 at Waigaoqiao
1300-1500 Gremio – ERS at Jinqiao
1500-1700 Marlins – Flamenkos at Jinqiao
Enjoy the break and come back fresh full of positive energy so that you can enjoy football in Shanghai and enjoy the SPL games !
Cheers Freek / SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee
