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Match report:
Miam Miam Celtic v VMFC1
Sunday 19 January 2014
Village Manchester faced Miam Miam for the second game in row as they provided the opposition following Iraq FC’s inability to put a team out for this weekend’s fixture.
With the opposition winning the reverse fixture, Village were eager to set the record straight. In the previous game Village started well before tiring and they saw their one goal lead vanish following an error strewn second half.
This week however, Village got off to a bad start and were 1-0 down within 10 minutes. Village tried to play Miam Miam offside but the referee was not biting and a decent ball through saw the number 11 run clear. He unselfishly squared the ball to the number 7 who had the easy task of applying the finishing touch despite Baker’s despairing dive.
Village thought they had tied the contest when a Connell header saw Carter run clear. His clever run saw him reach the by-line where he pulled the ball back to Wilson, who was playing in a midfield three, to finish. And finish the Derby County fan did – but the ball was adjudged to have gone out of play before Carter got the pass away.
It was only a couple of minutes however until they did draw level. Reece’s long throw from the right was smartly flicked on by Connell and Wilson guided the ball into the back of the net – despite the keeper getting a touch on the strike.
Miam Miam immediately restored their advantage as they went up to the other end and scored their second. Again number 11 was the provider as his strike across the box found the number 9 at the back post and he dived in to knock the ball into the back of the net.
The opposition had a couple of other chances to increase their lead before half time but luckily for Village they couldn’t take them – with a great amount of credit going to Langford who was playing as a wing-back. Firstly, player/manager McAuley lost the ball 25 yards out but Langford’s tackle ensured that Baker’s goal was not threatened.
Then with 10 minutes left of the half Ure was beaten down the right and the ball was pulled back to the Miam Miam number 4. The midfielder’s shot was blocked by Langford and Baker was able to smother the loose ball.
Half time: Miam Miam 1-2 VMFC1
The half time team talk saw McAuley praise the work rate on what was a horrible pitch – a pitch badly affected by the morning’s and previous night’s typical Manchester rain.
The second half got off to an awful start as Miam Miam did finally get their third. A kick from Baker did not reach the half way line and a header back saw the ball land at the feet of a free Miam Miam striker. With Baker out of position the striker easily slotted the ball into the back of the net.
Village needed to get back into the game and it was with a nice bit of skill that they did. Langford worked his magic to glide past a number of opposition players and his pinpoint lay off meant Connell could not miss.
Miam Miam scored a worldy in the reverse fixture and they nearly got another corker again in this game. From 40 yards out the number 8 drilled the ball towards goal. The shot was on target and heading in and it needed a smart tip over from Baker to ensure that the score remained at 3-2 to Miam Miam.
On the hour mark the game took a turn for the better for Village thanks to some idiotic actions from the Miam Miam number 16. Already in a mood after giving away a free kick when he thought he had been fouled, the attacker inexplicably head-butted goalkeeper Baker after he collected a Miam Maim set piece. The referee, who had been fairly lenient to this point, was left with no option but to send the player off.
Manager McAuley responded to this development by hauling himself, bringing on Clayton and altering the formation.
This change had the desired effect as Village equalised with 15 minutes remaining on the clock. Wilson was again the scorer as he poked in the rebound after Carter’s initial shot was blocked.
Village continued to up the pressure and brought on the energetic Holmes in place of Golds.
Wilson was close to getting his hat-trick and securing all three points for Village with 10 minutes left but his shot went just wide.
With Village pushing players up to try and get the illusive winning goal, they were left a bit vulnerable at the back and Miam Miam nearly took advantage.
Their number 11 went down easily in the penalty box under pressure from Clayton but the referee called it correctly by not awarding a penalty. From the resulting corner the number 8 shot over from 10 yards out. The opposition midfielder again had a chance with five minutes left but he shot tamely wide.
The final chance of the game fell to Miam Miam as an attacker bore down on goal with minutes left. However, alert goalkeeping from Baker saw the American close down and block the shot.
Jones came on for Reece for the final few minutes but he didn’t have enough time to affect the result.
A draw was a fair result to the game and, despite Village’s extra man advantage for nearly half an hour, they never really looked likely to grab the winning goal that, to be fair, may have been a little harsh on the opposition.
Full time: Miam Miam 3-3 VMFC1