FC Irlande Men 3

Worst defeat in Waterloo history

A rainy cold afternoon set the tone for today. AS Midi were an older team; but what they may lack in dynamism, they made up for in other ways. A difficult to team to play, and referee. And it is clearly well known in the Abssa community, as the referee decided it was not worth the €30 to show up in Waterloo today. As he kept his feet up at home, enjoying the warmth of his fireplace, Matthew stept up for an hour of abuse. Trading the €30 owed to him for insults from the team and crowd.

There was not much to report in terms of football in the first half from both teams. Matt was trying his best to keep teams playing something that resembled football instead of WWE. Going into half time 0-0.

Fc Irlande had a lot to say to each other during half time. This motivated the team and sparked some life back in the squad. Fc Irlande started connecting easy passes, outplaying the opponent, and building confidence. Just the confidence needed for Michael to finally land the top-corner outside of the box shot he has been teasing to land the past two games. 1-0 Fc Irlande, and the game was for the taking.

But that is when the opponent got into our heads. The play broke down, and Fc Irlande didn’t manage to split the opponent’s defense. A good through ball from the opponent on the counter attack, and a neat finish, tied the game 1-1. Fc Irlande wasn’t able to recover. Instead, another long ball from AS midi, and a chip finish set the game 2-1. Then the Anti-football took over.

A devastating loss for Fc Irlande. Most important take out for the team today was to accept and move on. The team will lick their wounds at the Funky Monkey, and come back stronger. The monument has already been placed on site to mourn the loss.

Motm: Matt and Mike

Kickoff against top-of-the-table Goalois 2 was delayed, building suspense for a heavyweight clash. Conditions were ideal, with the sun beaming down on the Racing White grounds in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert.

The game got off to a quick start, with a mesmerising tiki-taka move to set up an initial shot on goal within the first minute, pumping up the adrenaline. But the tides turned when another ball made its way into our box, resulting in a scrappy finish. The ball just rolled over the line before Dan was able to claw it back.

We kept Matt’s teamtalk about resetting mentally in mind, and started fresh. The football began to flow again right away. Twenty minutes later, we were on the board after Sepp won back the ball himself and had another great solo effort to put away our first.

The game was physical, with plenty of shoulder-to-shoulder and a lot of fouls. Sepp and Mike in particular were workhorses, maneuvering around multiple midfielders to get a toe in and turnover possession. We had several more chances in the first half, and looked great on the ball. It stayed 1-1 at half time.

The Turds continued playing well into the second half, winning balls in the air and stringing together passes. The referee called us for about a dozen offsides over the course of the game, which was frustrating to see. But our superior physicality showed even as both teams tired, while intensity spiked – we wanted it more. So we pushed on. Reflecting in last weekend’s comeback defeat, we had to prove we wanted it more.

Matt’s managerial experience was highlighted by some impactful changes throughout the half. Andrea came on and added additional speed to the right side, played through by Sylvain and clinically finishing a great hit across the goalie.

2-1 up, we elevated further. The football was fluid, and Mike V turned from a workhorse into a stallion, winning back the ball every minute, sometimes even from a prone position. The build up play began with both of our fullbacks, with Edu and Tiemen feeding it to Sepp, Andrea and Giulio, before getting a few more shots on goal. A particularly good strike came from Mike V, who tried to curl one into the top far corner from distance, which the goalie managed to save.

The game fired up to another level, with a bit more pushing and shoving. I was lucky to escape without a second yellow card after body-checking a young winger on the sideline, and feigning injury to deceive the referee into thinking I wasn’t the perpetrator. Shortly after, Sepp hushed the small crowd of Goalois faithfuls by lobbying the keeper from 40yds, sealing a 3-1 lead with five to play. Again, pure determination from him resulting in a solo turnover and goal.

A convincing win against a quality, but clearly outplayed, side. The play was fluid, the physicality was high, and we really fought for it. Honorable mention to the sideline enthusiasm from Matt and Guus. The beers flowed afterwards, with four large pitchers consumed, reflecting just how thirsty the lads were for some good quality footy.

FT: 3-1 win.
MOTM: Jack

Match Report:

Los Thirdos started quickly against Les Fossis with Sepp setting Giulio up for a goal within the first two minutes. Giulio found himself in space outside the box and curled a shot across the face of goal and into the bottom corner. After the perfect start, the team struggled to make the most of playing downhill in the first half. We had a few good opportunities in the remainder of the half but failed to capitalise due to some loose and unlucky final passes.

Ryan went off almost immediately in the second half and his presence at set pieces was missed afterwards. One set piece for Les Fossis led to a goal line scrap where the ref failed to see it going in off one of their hands. Not long after, another set piece led to a Fossis player heading it back across goal from the back post before another player finished it. The Thirds pushed and played better football for the final 15 minutes but couldn’t break down the opposition who were an older, experienced team who knew how to grind out a win.

FT 2-1.
MOTM: Giulio

The Turds came out to “Fortress” Rosiere on a lovely sunny October afternoon to face the Brits who were in the relegation zone. On a pitch drier than Nico’s brownies the boys kicked off and looked dominant in the opening stages. With an xG of 5.00 but no goals the Turds reached 25 mins when the game died down a bit and it looked like we were playing like already 3-0 up. The Brits themselves also didn’t bother and the neutral supporters could take a nap.

With everyone asleep and two seconds left in the half the Turds got up the pitch with some nice combinations. The ball fell to the middle of the goal when Andrea smashed the bar (he blamed a soar throat), then debut boy Matthis didn’t like the sight of Giulio’s face so decided to ram the ball straight into his face, after which Giulio kindly delivered the pre assist and passed to Matthis who smashed it home from 2 meters out. Most scrappy goal I ever saw, 1-0 to the Boys.

Second half came and the Brits still couldn’t do anything. The Turds remained dominant. Nico came up the right side and squared it to Giulio who tapped it in, 2-0. Captain Edu subbed himself off and gave the armband to Guus who was very happy and for once didn’t shout at the ref. Responsibility brings good behaviour apparently.

An unfortunate Brits player pulled his hamstring, but the Brits had no subs left, after which the ref suggested a subbed off player could come back on, but Captain Guus said he had never seen this in all of his ABSSA career and today would not be a good moment to try new things after which the ref concurred: “You’re probably right”. Playing against 10 men, a little while later Giulio did Andrea a favour and gave him an excellent opportunity, 3-0, FT.

A dominant display, could have scored a lot more, but we remain undefeated. Shout out to Lorenzo for helping again and for some big debuts from Douwe, Tiemen and Mathis. Three points in honour of Marcelle! 👶🏼

Up the Turds! 💚
MOTM: Tiemen + Mike V

Match was forfeited by the opposition

Your reporter is very happy to confirm this week that the Thirds’ game went ahead, and that the pitch lines were in perfect order. We lined up against British United with two debutants in Michael V and Giulio, and were reinforced by Lorenzo from the 4ths

We began the brighter of both teams, linking together some nice pieces of one touch football. Against the run of play, a long ball breached our back line and their striker displayed his strength and pace before finding the back of our net

British United’s lead didn’t last long. Reading the play well, Michael V won the ball back high up the pitch. He played Sepp through, who squared the ball to Sylvain to provide a cool finish. All square at half time.

The Thirds started the second half piling more pressure on their opponents. Our efforts were rewarded when Sepp beat their keeper with a wonderful effort from the edge of the area (Sylvain is still calling for the pass which never came). Causing problems for the defence all game, Giulio also found the scoresheet to make it 3-1

British United weren’t finished however and they pulled one back to make it 3-2. Guus kept us in the game on more than one occasion, making some outstanding saves in the second half. A nervy finish to the game was averted thanks to a smart move from our attackers, with Nico ultimately providing the finish to settle the match

I know he’d be annoyed with only one mention, so I will state that with 30 seconds remaining, Nico did try to take on their whole team from the half-way line. He beat one player before being dispossessed.

A solid victory for the team, building on our first win last week. A few things to tighten up on during the week, but plenty of positives to take into next week’s game versus Tauro

MOTMs: Sepp and Guus (still waiting on Guus’ round btw)

Sunny day and our first real game. FC Ireland travelled deep into Wallonia. The game started to Ireland feeling like the better team but struggled to string more than 3 passes together. The ball moved fast and we failed to make the final pass. After the first 15 minutes ireland got into gear, Nico setting up Aravind for a 1 on 1 against the keeper, and he scuffs it wide.
With a few more balls in from FC ireland doesn’t really test the keeper. Nivelles didn’t pose any threats in the first half.

The second half starts slow but Ireland gets into gear, with Nico chasing a ball into the box only to be punched down by the keeper. Video in chat. Minutes later, Roann bombs down the right wing, skipping past defenders all the way into the box. His first cross ricochets, Roann collects again and squares it to Michael who slams it off the keepers left hand and the crossbar for 1 nil.

With the momentum, Ireland absorbed the pressure with a secure center back duo, launching several counter attacks. Syl found the ball on the right on one counter, finding Andrea on the second post who finds the back of the net easily (despite a broken foot). Dan in goal easily pushes away the only real shot on target Nivelles had to see out the game with a clean sheet.

A great start to the season. MOTM: Jack and Noel.

Match was not played as the line markings on the pitch were not considered clear enough