*** FCKP I End The Season With An Excellent 5th Place ***
Due to the team’s Baltic tour, team one was depleted of the services of captain Marian, Amir, Steffen and Toni, whilst vice captain Gianluca was unable to attend. Despite that FCKP managed to field a team, albeit with a few guest players and some surprise arrivals.
On a nippy, but sunny Saturday morning eight teams set out to win the final match day of the Bunte Liga season and in turn increase their chances of being the Bunte Liga champions 2015.
The first match saw FCKP take on Halbe Lunge, with the Kickers showing the more intent throughout. Despite monopolising possession and creating more opportunities, Lunge took all three points with their first attack of the game in the dying minutes. A long range drilled strike was parried by stand-in goalkeeper Matthias, with their striker poaching to send FCKP to a 1-0 defeat.
Things didn’t improve in the second game as FCKP found themselves under immense pressure against Stehplatz Ermäßigt, however a string of top saves from Pablo in goal managed to keep them at bay. That is, until a fatal backpass. Pablo dwelt too long on the ball and their speedy striker closed down his attempted clearance – the ball ricocheting into the net. A bitter blow after some dogged defending.
Next up was Kickers Else04, who took an early lead from a corner: the attacker ghosting in at the back post to volley the ball in from close range. This sparked FCKP out of their sloppy start and they began to exert more pressure on their opposition. This paid off when Kyle collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area and side-footed a low drive to the keeper’s right, finding the bottom corner. Else were at sixes and sevens and could count themselves lucky to finish the game with a 1-1 draw.
It was at this point when FCKP original Ramiro showed up out of the blue to assist the team, but it didn’t improve their luck, as they suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against Vollpfosten in the following game. However there was a controversial moment with the score at 2-0: they took a throw in back to their goalkeeper and as the ball bounced high, Kyle challenged their keeper for it, with the keeper opting to punch the ball away despite it being against the rules. FCKP appeals fell on deaf ears, and with morale low, Vollpfosten took full advantage.
Next up were the Rentnerbobs. A change of tactics meant Ramiro dropped into defence alongside Pablo and Kyle went up front supported by a midfield trio of Stefan, Malachy and Philipp. It took FCKP a few minutes to settle, with Felipe making a superb reaction save, denying the Rentnerbobs tall centre back’s long range drive, despite having his vision blocked by several players in front of him. This proved pivotal and FCKP soon took the lead, Ramiro releasing Kyle up front to drill the ball between the opposing goalkeeper’s legs for his second goal of the day. FCKP then doubled their lead through Philipp, who received the ball from Kyle and striking a sweet left-footed shot into the opposite corner.
The penultimate game saw FCKP take on FC Lümmelbande, who happened to be level on points. Despite falling behind early on, FCKP didn’t give up hope and this was personified by Daniel, who took the responsibility upon himself to get FCKP the win they craved. Daniel was defending like a man possessed and managed to venture forward to claim his first Bunte Liga goal in what could be his last league appeared. Kyle was released down the left flank and drilled a low left-footed cross between the goalkeeper and the defender to find Daniel at the back stick. He made no mistake in burying the ball in the back of the net.
The final game was billed to be the toughest. FC Lambajuuun had already sealed the title and were in the mood to cap it off with a win. Pablo was back in goal and was by far the busier of the two keepers, foiling Lambajuuun’s efforts by any means necessary. Despite that, FCKP almost managed to clinch it at the death as the Lambajuuun keeper found himself in no-man’s land from an FCKP corner but they couldn’t take advantage, firing wide of the open goal.
All in all, it was a good showing from a makeshift team of debutants and players who haven’t played together much, if at all. The team finished 5th on the day and ended up claiming the title of 5th best team in the Bunte Liga 2015. Now the team will recuperate over the winter break.
Players
Kyle (C), Pablo, Matthias, Stefan, Daniel L, Edoardo, Philipp, Felipe (FCKP II), Ramiro
Scorers
Kyle (2), Philipp, Daniel L.
Report by Kyle Curtis
