The first matchday of the 16/17 season for FCKP II was last weekend on 24th September and, despite having a few players drop out, we managed to get nine thanks to Alex coming at late notice to help out. It was great to have his help on what would be his last Bunte Liga matchday before moving to Copenhagen, especially since there were eight other teams, including some who we had never played against before and a lot of international players, some of whom spoke Arabic.
With sunny weather and everyone in good spirits, we started against S.K. Lazion. Unfortunately didn’t get off to a great start as we consistently gave the ball away under pressure and eventually conceded a goal on one of a few counter attacks, with the game finishing 0-1. With Jon in goal for this game due to the lack of a specialist goalkeeper, the loss wasn’t the only wound inflicted as Jon suffered a suspected broken finger after saving a shot. It didn’t stop him going in goal for a couple more games and pulling off a few saves though!
In our second game against Wisdom United, we were able to play our favoured patient passing game and caused the opponent problems all over the pitch as we exploited the gaps in their ranks. We dominated possession and made our chances count, scoring two goals: a Clement goal from an Alex assist and a goal from E. after a pass from Hector. It could have been more than two goals after Clement hit the post and Hector missed the resulting rebound, despite being in front of an almost open goal.
We went into the next game against Kickers Else 04 with good form and a positive attitude, but they were a strong opposition and the game was a close, physical affair, with our biggest chance in a 0-0 draw coming when Clement hit the post. A draw against very solid, experienced opposition was not a bad result for us. The next game against a pacey and individually skilful Roter Stern Berlin was also a 0-0 draw as nobody was able to break the deadlock despite some good chances from both teams.
Up next, we played new team RB Plattenbau and looked to be on track for a win after going 1-0 up after Clement turned in a deflected shot from Alex after it came back off the bar. Somehow, we didn’t manage to keep our composure and conceded two goals within a minute of each other, going 2-1 behind. After a some pressure on their defence but not being able to find a way through, Alex was able to single-handedly break down their defence with some great dribbling from a deep midfield position on the left of the pitch all the way to the right of the goal, where he was able to fire a great shot into the bottom left corner of the goal. It finished 2-2, with us feeling relieved not to have lost.
Up next were the international team Malmöer, another pacey and individually skilful team. We went into the game with the aim of staying concentrated and building from a solid defence, but a loose ball in the midfield in the first minute was picked up by one of their players. E. managed to keep up with him as he ran towards goal, and even got a touch on the ball to knock it back towards James, but the ball never made it and the defender was able to capitalise on the indecision and work the ball into space, where he could take a powerful shot and take the lead for his team. The rest of the game was balanced and played at a high pace, and it took a great low, powerful, long-distance effort from Brian to get the equaliser in the last minute, with the game finishing 1-1.
Next we faced Athletico Berlin. We spent most of this game attacking and creating great chances, but conceded a goal on the break, going 1-0 down. We were able to pull one back after a break of our own with a pass from Clement finding Hector through almost alone on goal. With little time left, we brought the ball back to the middle with the hope of a quick restart so we could score what would be a deserved last-minute winner in a game which we dominated. They took the kick-off and directly shot a powerful, dipping, curving shot, which left stand-in goalkeeper Jon with no chance. The ball went flying past him and crashing into the net. Nobody on the pitch could really believe the final result as the full-time claxon sounded, including many from the other team, as the opposition had had perhaps 3 shots in the whole match compared to at least twice as many golden chances missed from us, including some good chances for Hector and Clement, great saves from their keeper, a shot to the woodwork and a scuffed shot from Ross from a good position.
We went into our last game determined to win, feeling that our performances over the last 7 games deserved more than one win. We were able to finish on a high against Hauptstadt Traktor (the result of a merge of Hauptstadt Kicker and Traktor Berlin) and won the final game 2-0 in a very comfortable win, with the goals coming from Ross (a screamer into the top left corner) and another goal from Clement with the assist coming from Hector.
It was a fun and fair matchday, which won us 10 points and saw us score 8 goals and concede 6.
Results:
- SK Lazion: 0-1
- Wisdom United: 2-0
- Kickers Else: 0-0
- Roter Stern Berlin: 0-0
- RB Plattenbau: 2-2
- Malmöer: 1-1
- Athletico Berlin: 1-2
- Haptstadt Traktor: 2-0
Goals: Clement x3, E., Alex, Brian, Hector, Ross
Assists: Alex x2, Hector x2, Clement
Players: Alex MC, Brian, Clement, E. , Hector, Jon, Jonny, James (C), Ross
