[SIFL News] Round 3 – Games played on 15 Oct 2016

Shanghai International Football League

Round 3-League Matches- 44 goals scored

Premier League

Shanghai ReUnited (above) tops table with win over Shanghai United. Big Bamboo Shanghai Shooters AFC victorious over Shanghai 3United. Shanghai Lions FC beat Azzurri FC. Shanghai Krauts FC wins fixture versus FC Oranje

First Division

Voodoo grabs first spot beating Kangbei United FC. Shanghai Vikings FC books win over Voodoo Child. Shanghai Cosmos beat Hstone HFC. Anzacs FC edges out Long Tang AFC.

In the Premier League, Shanghai ReUnited were pitted against Shanghai United. ReUnited kicked off their season in style, winning comfortably and stylishly against their old rivals United in their first game of the season.

From kick off ReU’s fluid attack created many chances and after about 15mins Karsten Knerr curled a free-kick into a dangerous area. A United defender got the last touch as it fell in the corner of the net for a 1-0 ReU lead. United hit back on a fast break and equalized for 1-1.

Soon afterwards Steve Ishemezwe headed in a Karsten Knerr corner at the far post for 2-1. ReU then added two more before halftime – Sascha Höltke tapped in from a scramble in the box and then Ishemezwe ran onto a Höltke pass to score their fourth for a 4-1 score line after 45mins of football.

In the second half, ReUnited continued their attacking ways while United lost energy. Sascha Höltke scored the goal of the match, sweeping in a wonderful volley after a great run and cross from Eitel Nsile for 5-1.

Ishemezwe then completed his hattrick before debutant Miles Dycaico got the ball to Adam Kling to smash home inside the box for 7-1. United were awarded a penalty and got a goal back at 7-2. Mandela scored the last goal of the match for a final 8-2 score line. Hattrick boy Steve Ishemezwe received man of the match honors.

Shanghai 3United slugged it out with the Big Bamboo Shanghai Shooters AFC. Having already claimed the Opening Tournament trophy nearly a month before the Big Bamboo Shanghai Shooters arrived keen to finally kick their season off. They lined up wary of a 3United side that beat the Lions in their first fixture a couple of weeks before.

The team talk before the game from dictator Broughton was simple, start fast and finish early, which also funnily enough mirrors Zippy’s attitude on a Saturday night. From the kick off the Shooters did just that pressing high and with intensity, looking to kill the game off early and stop 3United building up any hope of another upset.

They managed just that when after 25mins they found themselves three goals to the good, effectively ending the game as a contest. Man of the match Kevin Wiessler scored first, blasting an effort from the right side of the box into the far top corner. Gui Leclercq following in a Wiessler shot gleefully managed to kick the ball into the back of the net before it made it there by itself for the second. He followed this by placing a well-aimed header into the corner of the net to make it three.

After this period of action the tempo slowed. A couple more chances came and went for the Shooters while 3United’s best effort was a free kick from outside of the box, which was easily dealt with by keeper Banyard the Shooter stopper. Halftime saw changes made and a call to get back the intensity of the first 25.

The second half began and before long Wiessler got his second of the day selling two players with dummies, before curling the ball into the far bottom corner. 3United grew more into the game as it wore on, but couldn’t find a way through the Shooter defense. Game ended 0-4.

Azzurri FC did battle with Shanghai Lions FC. Lions’ game plan was to start strong and finish strong mainly because they are not back to full fitness yet and 90 mins is a long time when unfit said Freek B. The Lions’ spirit was good and they were up against a rejuvenated Azzurri with many new players.

The Lions took possession and played strong in the first 15 mins. It resulted in a great goal from their upcoming right back Aga who surprised the Azzurri defense and tipped a long pass from Azzeddine into the net and a 0-1 Lions lead.

This opening goal tasted for more and it was Tomas Cuyas who scored the second for 0-2 after a good dummy from Felix Vroegop from another Azzeddine pass. Just before halftime Azzurri got a goal back when with twenty seconds to go Antti Hintsanen wrestled himself away from the sturdy Lions’ defense and scored the 1-2.

In the second half, Azzurri upped the pressure and started playing better trying to score the equalizer. However, the Lions’ defense was solid and neutralized all Azzurri danger. The Lions hung back trying to score a third from the counter, but were not clinical enough upfront.

With 5mins to go Azzeddine sealed the deal as he scored the 1-3 from a one-on-one with the keeper and that’s how the match ended. Lions’ Benjamin Guerin received man of the match honors. The Azzurri went on to the best sports bar in China-Cages!

Shanghai Krauts FC crossed swords with FC Oranje. Oranje prepared well for this match bringing a selection of 16 yet several Dutch clowns went on a bender the night before and that showed in defense.

Playing offside 25 meters from goal while still intoxicated is not exactly helpful and the Krauts found this weakness easily beating the offside trap twice going up 2-0 within 15mins.

As the match wore on and the alcohol wore off, the men in orange started playing better. Ten minutes from time they got a goal back when Daan van Eijkel (above) scored a great header at the far post from a Tank Zhang free kick. Oranje kept pressing after that and it looked like they would get another goal but Christian Boecking’s shot from 15 meters out hit the post and 2-1 it stayed at halftime.

In the second half, the Dutch kept playing offensively and after 15mins from great combination play through the midfield Boecking scored the equalizer for 2-2. A few minutes after that disaster struck for Oranje as Boecking got kicked off the field by a bad tackle and the midfield grip got lost. A miscommunication between the keeper and the sweeper gifted the Krauts a third goal for 3-2.

In the final phase Oranje put more men up front which left them exposed at the back. The Krauts then picked up the ball at the halfway line and scored another from a quick break for 4-2. Dutch heads dropped and the keeper had to fish another ball out of the net for 5-2. At the death the Dutch got a penalty converted by Tank Zhang. The match ended in a 5-3 Krauts victory.

Azim Madaminov (3), William Walker (1) and Julius Strauss (1) scored for the Krauts. Monsieur Madaminov received man of the match honors. Oranje went on to Cages to celebrate a new cap record-468! Oranjeboom was there.

First Division

In the First Division, Kangbei United FC locked horns with Voodoo. Another week and another crisis for the new look Voodoo. Losing the new strips and carelessly mislaying three players on the way to the pitch meant there were 12 players for kick off, no keeper and an array of kits on show.

Chances came thick and fast but were well wasted (much like the returning Sam Woollard) until Alex Meecham turned in a Fabien Lebourcq cross shot. One each at the whistle and time for the reds to turn the air blue at the interval. It seemed to work as Voodoo took the lead on the restart. Jonny White slotting home from a Jacob Harding pass for 1-2.

The joy was short lived as Kangbei fired back straight away evening out the score at 2-2. Voodoo then got their act together. White beat the defender to an FX cross to notch another for 2-3, then capitalized on a sliced clearance from a Phil Boyle laser long ball to hook home his third and 2-4 before turning in a fourth for 2-5.

Sam Woollard then marked his first start, scoring the sixth with the last kick of the game and a 2-6 score line. The ageing Englishman rolled home after White picked the pocket of Kangbei defender on the byline to cap another unexpected but not unwelcome three points for Voodoo to tell Voodoo Child about on the team bus. Kangbei’s goals were scored by Sun Jiangang and Zhou Qing. Voodoo’s Jonathan White received man of the match honors.

Voodoo Child were scheduled to play against the Shanghai Vikings FC. This was going to be a battle of inches from the early going. What Voodoo Child lacks in skill they make up for in bodyweight and American Football worthy tackles. The Vikings didn’t do themselves any favors either as more than half the team stared off into space on the bus to the game, regretting their previous night’s life choices. It was evident in the flow of their game.

A workman like performance from Jens Christensen is what helped tilt the balance in the Vikings favor. A few chances came the Vikings way with a slick pass in front of the net from Jasper Scheuermann was just missed by a sliding Stefan Søgaard.

An individual flare of brilliance and creativity came from Ian Jiang, who nutmeg’d his marker on the turn and was sprinting straight on goal just one touch too many allowed his defender to catch back up and get a toe on his shot sending it over the bar and wide. The score remained goalless after 45mins of football.

In the second half, a shot from Søgaard from about 20 meters out rung the crossbar and 0-0 it stayed. The Vikings were on VC’s half at will and distributing the ball well. As the corners started to pile up for the Vikings near misses became abundant.

VC had an amazing chance midway through the half off of a looping cross from the left flank. VC’s man looked to be unmarked and headed the ball as perfectly as you can down and to the corner of what appeared to be an open net but the keeper saved it. That save inspired the Vikings to push forward. With chances beginning to bear fruit.

It was do or die time and up to this point Vikings were dominant in set pieces but just could not capitalize. A free kick given in front of the Vikings box, was a last ‘Hail Mary’ chance to put this one to bed. Henrik Kragh lined up to take the kick as most Vikings piled themselves into the Voodoo box.

A beautiful looping kick flew over most heads and ended up at Casper Seegert. He tucked the ball into the far corner taking a 0-1 Vikings lead, sending the Vikings bench into a frenzy as if they had all just been invited to the same bukake party in Tokyo. A well deserved goal for a great performance all game. Scottish Viking Lesley Campbell received man of the match honors. Campbell: “After our independence we will form an alliance with Denmark and make Europe great again!”

Hstone HFC met Shanghai Cosmos. Cosmos started the first half with tight possession football and limited HFC to long, hopeful balls over the top. After carving out a few good chances from crosses into Jordan Campbell and Conor Maye, it was only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken.

Winger Paul Baird opened the scoring in exactly that fashion, although his searching cross was nowhere near any Cosmos player. Instead it drifted high towards the goalkeeper who could only manage to drop the ball into his own goal. Of course, it was on target so Baird claimed it for a 0-1 Cosmos lead.

Ten minutes later, Cosmos extended their lead. This time, Paul Baird picked the pocket of the HFC left back who had received the ball from his advancing goalkeeper. Baird played a short chip into Jordan Campbell (above) whose first touch was to control the ball and second touch to unleash a turning volley over the head of the retreating goalkeeper doubling Cosmos lead to 0-2 and that’s how the half ended. It was a stunner of a goal and early contender for goal of the season.

Cosmos continued to press in the second half, but did have to rally after finding themselves under some well-crafted HFC attacks. The third goal came during a counter to one of these attacks. JC Yang played in left-winger Conor Maye with a defense-splitting pass behind the fullback. Maye calmly rounded a last ditch tackle and slotted the ball under a helpless keeper for a 0-3 Cosmos lead.

Then, Cosmos decided to make some changes and with their rhythm temporarily disrupted, HFC took advantage. After a mix up in defense, HFC’s Guobin Xu (above) found himself one-on-one with the keeper and easily found the net for a final score of 1-3. Jordan Campbell received man of the match honors for his stellar goal. Campbell: “This was the best goal I ever scored in my life-free beer next match!”

The Anzacs FC lined up to play versus Long Tang AFC. Long Tang came out of the blocks pretty good scoring the only goal of the first half for a 0-1 Long Tang lead at halftime.

Anzacs’ team talk did wonders as they regrouped in the second half. It was the Neil Beckitt show from thereon on. Beckitt scored a hattrick and the Anzacs edged out Long Tang 3-2. Kai Sun and Hantao Ren scored the Long Tang goals. Neil Beckitt was voted man of the match.

STANDINGS