Vets Team
Matches
Sun 08 Sep 2013
SEFC 7 A side
09:00
Shanghai Emerald FC
Vets Team
SEFC win the 2013 Shanghai International Masters Plate Cup

SEFC win the 2013 Shanghai International Masters Plate Cup

David Brady11 Sep 2013 - 01:45
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Great win for Emerald! Somehow we did not mesh as a team on the Saturday, but after several beers that evening, our manager Francesco came up trumps!

They say a good wine matures over time, well maybe SEFC follows the same hypothesis! Saturday was tough! Our first game was against the defending champions, the Lions! But we kept our record in tac, and drew 1-1, as they have never beaten us to date. I won't go into all the matches, but lets say by the end of Saturday we did not qualify for the cup competition, in fact we did not win any match, and ended up bottom of our group, and actually started our first Plate match in the mid afternoon, which sadly we lost 2-1 to a sober Beijing Vikings team. The strange part of the day was that we did not play badly, we just could not score when it mattered, and many of our opposition teams had much less possession, but they scored when it mattered!

Saturday night we launched our new committee with copious amounts of beer, and gradually we had renewed belief in our chances of winning a cup. Francesco our Sicilian manager with the assistance of a few players, came up with a new strategy, the strategy was clear, we had to start scoring goals!! So with an adjustment in the back line, more in the midfield, and more substitutions, we kicked off again on Sunday morning feeling not so bad as everyone other than Adam had a relatively early night! Adam looked the same as he does every Sunday morning, hungover, but enthusiastic!

So our first game ended in a draw against the Shanghai Vikings, we then learnt that the team who beat us in our last game on saturday had such a heavy night, the night before, they lost 3-0 to the Japanese, who had struggled throughout the competition. The next few games then turned the tide for us as we started to win, and for us luck was on our side as we waited on the outcome of the final pool match where the result went our way and we ended up 2nd in the group and qualified for the final. Hangzhou Rangers, a Chinese team were perhaps the dirtiest team we played and had beaten them 1-0 earlier in the pool games, albeit they won the group, with a superb solo goal from an enraged Henrique, who had been fouled a few minutes earlier, so we knew we could beat them. Psychologically we had the advantage!

Within 3 mins of the start of the final a very dirty stamp on Henrique's foot, from the same guy who fouled him in the pool game, forced him off the pitch with medical attention, and within 5 mins, Joni scored a superb goal to put us ahead. we dominated possession, but as the minutes ticked down, Even with Adam body checking one of their players (looked painful for the other guy), Hangzhou threw everything at us, and claimed a dodgy penalty from what looked like a dive in the box with 10 mins to go and slotted the ball into the back of our net (Simon of course protested his innocence!). But with 5 mins left Joni scored again and with some desperate last minute defending won the final (2-1).

We now have won four trophies for the Emerald, and this is probably the most prestigious, well it is certainly the biggest and heaviest trophy!

Oh and by the way, the Lions did not make the final of the "Cup" competition this time, as the final was won by the Malaysian team who beat the Shooters, 1-0. This is the second final the Shooters have lost in this competition.

Congratulations to a great team effort, Joni, Henrique, Francesco (Manager), Adam, Frans, Giles (Sponge Bob), Simon, Cory, Tim, Ale, David, and Thierry.

Match details

Match date

Sun 08 Sep 2013

Kickoff

09:00

Meet time

08:30
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Team Sponsors

Club Charity - CereCare
Club Charity - Baobei