Higgins 1

The Greens received Higgins in the first of eight finals in their head to head fight for the title against the Brits.
Although we were gifted by the best weather Brussels has to offer, this was gonna be a tough game, considering that half of the team decided to go fucking skiing.

First half was an unorganized game with neither team pressing high and both going for long balls.
On one side, Higgins balls were being beautifully controlled by the tallest defense quarteto in history (Matteo, Papi, Villu and Hadri) and Max controlling the depth. On the other side, the greens were being able to provide João, Thomas and John with a couple of chances up front.
In one of those, João got behind the defense and was fouled badly on a collision with the last defender. The ref forgave a red card to the defender, but unfortunately he took João’s knee with him. Our super and only sub Julian had to come in after 20 mins – a tough blow for a midfield composed of Neil, Jamie and Gonçalo, whose legs hadn’t played a full match yet this year.
The Greens kept the rhythm high and, despite losing João, counted on his namesake John to be the scoring man! Gonçalo found John’s run behind the defense who, 1v1 with the keeper, put a cold-blooded shot in!
1-0 Ireland just before half time.

Second half started with the Greens fully controlling the game. Ireland remained calm and were able to freeze the game and control possession. Still, the Greens were able to reach upfront a couple of times and were very close to get the second – a lose ball after Thomas’s run behind the defense was cut by the keeper and Julian hit the crossbar on the rebound.

15 minutes left to the end, the legs started failing. Ireland, unable to get runs upfront, traced back. It was time to show why they are the second best defense in this league.
Higgins were pushing high and were able to get a few shots close to the box, but shot stopper Maxi said present with 3/4 beautiful saves in this last period of the game.

1-0 Ireland at full time!! The Greens managed to keep the clean sheet and go +3 points in the chase!
The team celebrated with a shalala that no one had energy for and by bidding goodbye to Gonçalo, who hopes his time in the club will be remembered like him – great, but very short.
Man of the Match: Maxi
Dick of the Match: João’s knee

A strong and clean start of the season for the seconds. It was 11v11 in Auderghem (no subs on either side), in what looked like a real challenge against a team coming down from 1st division.

It actually turned out to be much easier, with Higgins showing not much quality and low intensity. Ireland was head and shoulders above for the first 25 minutes, and got rewarded with 2 goals : opener from Ama (who came back from pre-retirement to help his old mates out – big up) and a clean finish from Gabby making the most of a “pass” from George he was the only one to believe in. Also, he’s so fit, which helps.
Last 10 mins of the first half were more difficult as taking a breath started to become an issue, but the boys in green held strong.

Second half wasn’t much more of a struggle, as Gabrielle killed the game with a beautiful volley off Benji’s cross (3-0) by minute 50, and Lolo nailed a penalty onto the right post in (4-0). The men in green could have conceded one as an audacious centre back tried his luck upfront several times (without being served), while those staying got into few mistakes, but caught up well.
End of the game was very low intensity as most players turned out to be out of shape on both sides, but that’s worth 3 points anyway!

Ireland 4, Mary Poppins 0. We take and we move on 💚