ERS stage late comeback to cling onto Cup hopes

The True Beasts of the East showed up this week under blustering winds and frigid conditions. Pffff, and we thought winter was over. Yet chilly weather didn’t hamper team’s stamina with ‘business-as-usual’ performances all around - the most important battle for points going to No. 1 seed ReUnited vs. Atlético.

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HIIIIIIIYYYYYYYAAA!!!!! Football fiend and Kung Fu Extraordinaire Alex Bertelsen of ReUnited isn't shy to take on players, or vote himself Son of the Pitch. The Dane is a regular on Monday’s - and most recently - helped his team seal a 4-goal victory over Atlético. But first goal came from ReUnited’s Steve, slamming home a shot from way out after 10 minutes, prompting early celebrations. Atlético looked unfazed. Only 3 minutes later, a blond-haired Jorge took on the last ReU man and - bobbling in the box - plowed it past the keeper to square the score. It seemed on the up-and-up for the Latin team with a great cross to Cesár for the up-close smash, putting ReU down. The reds began feverish running to pressure JC in the back, forcing an error and a 2nd goal from Steve by halftime. But in typical fashion, ReUnited owned the 2nd half disallowing much of Atlético’s forward movement and giving Emmanuel and Eitel a chance to ring in 2 goals a piece. It was a disappointing loss for Atlético as it means they would have to get incredibly lucky the next 2 rounds in order to qualify for the Cup, while the win keeps ReUnited in a narrow 1st place.

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The Phoenix Clashing kicked off with Phoenix Reborn taking advantage of Phoenix playing one man down for nearly the entire first half, forcing Robin to stand in goal. Reborn’s Jilles made a dashing run, popping the ball over Robin’s head for 1-0 only minutes in, motivating him to step up. Reborn’s Vince, Gilbert and Yu manned backfield, leaving it to Pierre and Jilles to push upfield. Too bad for them Robin learned his lesson and began making diving saves, keeping Phoenix in the game. Just before halftime Berto evened the score with a far out crack. Newcomer José arrived to make it 7v7, clearly making the difference. The 2nd half was all Phoenix, Shaun, Dave and Yang pushing forward to take on Reborn’s backline. Yang landed his first of the game at 8:40 allowing some breathing room and the ball kept rolling in Reborn’s net - Berto and Yang walking in one more each, Shaun with a tap in, and José finishing off a 6 goal streak to clinch a crucial win putting Phoenix firmly in 8th place.

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Donning new kits spurred Tirachinas FC to make early breaks toward Compatti’s goal this round. The Italians looked well-prepared for the match up but a Spanish through ball put the blue shirts down a goal. Compatti was moving the ball with composure, yet couldn’t find net and the first half ended with them 3 goals down and a yellow mountain to climb. It was tough for the Italians as 3 of their comrades claimed “work cancellations” pre-match (when we really know they were just scared of the cold). The deal sealer came minutes into the 2nd half when Pablo took a sliding pass (with no one around) to top of the box for one-touch strike from Javi. He netted a hat trick for the T’chinas while Benat, Pablo, and Paul also contributed to a clear 6-goal Spanish victory.

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It wasn’t all Rags for Lucky 13 this week as they put together a stand-up crew to take on the BaiSe Bandits. Despite an early deficit thanks to Bandit’s Brian - scoring 3 goals within 10 minutes AGAIN - Lucky 13 never seemed hopeless. By the way, the 3rd straight Brian goal was crossed in from Sam with a simple volley tap in at the goal line. A hard hole to climb out of, but heads didn’t drop and Lucas and Orwa shared 3 goals for Lucky 13. Nonetheless, the BaiSe Bandits strong season continued this week as Sam, Nick and Andy turned shots into scores while Brian's 4th goal puts him in 5th place for Golden Boots. BB's victory this week scrapes them a little closer to top table only 7 goals behind Shanghai ReUnited.

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Skillful Recruiting from SJFC gave ERS a more challenging game than they had anticipated. Some teams would complain that finding strong players from other teams isn’t fair, but ERS were good sports and focused on the win. Yet SJFC struck first, putting pressure on the French at halftime. First play into 2nd half, ERS scored a great goal thanks to Bogdan, yet SJFC came right back with a sweet tap from Marco. French keeper Victor made crucial blocks giving way to transition attack allowing Kim to even the score at 2-2 with 10 mins left. Pierre and Camille made a huge difference in the 2nd half for ERS, the French looking much stronger on the ball. Finally, Ondrej snagged the winning goal in the final minutes to give ERS their most important 3 points of the season.

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An Early Lead allowed Pacific Prime to toy with Bastardos this round. Not only did Pac’s keeper Marco clear away chances for Bastardos to score, but the Pac dominated midfield most of the game and by halftime, the score was already 7-0. Owch….Bastardos didn’t complain but knew their spacing was off. Unfortunately motivation was quickly squelched into the 2nd period as Messi, Meison, Ramsey, and Moussa continued to hammer shots at Soo. He doesn’t play keeper often, but Soo knows how to get a hand on it, a testament to the barrage of relentless shots this match from Pacific Prime. Meison earned himself Son of the Pitch for claiming to not only get 2 goals, but make 5 assists in a 12-1 thumping that further calcifies the Pac's placement in the Cup.