Fever end season in style, claim first trophy in the clubs history.
All season, the tie between both this clubs has always been highly anticipated by fans and players alike, and many believed that the battle for second place and promotion to the first division would come down to these 2 teams. This was not to be unfortunately, and both teams were determined to finish third, Fever aiming for their highest finish in their 3 season history, and HBC looking to restore some pride having failed to get promoted back to the division that they have spent most of their season in having won twice.
Janghanpyeong Middle School was the venue for this encounter and the atmosphere in the Fever camp was a confident one, with Fever 2 points ahead of their rivals in 3rd place after MSFC had forfeited the match between the 2 sides that was scheduled to take place earlier on in the season. MSFC who had received a beating from Fever 2 weeks earlier were docked points for the forfeit, and this sees them drop out of the second division having been a stable team in the division for many seasons.
The game got under way, with shadows of the pre-match still hanging over the game, after Dennis Byrne went public and expressed his disappointment at the referee that Fever had been appointed for this game. His disappointment had their reasons, as the referee made some poor calls at the start of the game, something that would continue until the end. Byrne got his tactics spot on for this game playing a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Dan Lappin who has spent most of the season at centre half moving to left back, allowing Michael Roberts to come back into the fold to play along side Daniel Argueta who has been so consistent all season long. Usual left back, David Pegg moved into the role in between the back and middle 4, a role he fit into late into the game 2 weeks ago vs MSFC and managed to comfortably see the game out there. With Carl Garthwaite absent, fans favourite Matt Silva was paired alongside Gareth Fannin in centre midfielder, the fiery Irishman hoping to produce another excelling performance yet again. Sebastian Auger and Hungarian joint top scorer, Pallos Levente took to the flanks, with Filip Pusnik resuming normal proceedings up front.
The game started with Fever on the back foot, with HBC seeing a lot of the ball, mostly when the referee kept blowing for the smallest of things, passing well and attempting to use set pieces to their advantage. Not one did they look like threatening Fever in this half and from the early stages, it looked like this match had stalemate written all over it. Fever however, took advantage when they managed to pick up the pace, with Filip Pusnik, who had the 2 centre halves all over him when he did threaten, being thread through with an elegant ball by David Pegg. The striker wasted no time as he shrugged off the tank of a centre half casually and slotted the ball past a helpless goalkeeper. One nil Fever, with the crowd going wild as Pusnik appeared to be rubbing his belly at Byrne.
The half ended with no more chances being created and nothing more to report other than goalscorer Pusnik being given a yellow card, his forth of the season for charging down a goal kick. This card now means that the captain will be suspended from the first game of next season, something which he knew, and the look on his face expressed his anguish. He was withdrawn from the second period as the thigh injury that had plagued him all season long had finally caught up with him and took his place on the sidelines. The second period started with HBC looking to come at Fever and they had a brief spell of knocking at Fevers door until Daniel Argueta went down injured having made a heroic challenge. The Irishman was no longer able to come back on having gone down for a while, an unusual occurrence for the brute of a centre half, and was replaced by player manager Byrne, who moved into left back, and Lappin was given orders to return back into centre half. With both teams chasing the victory, Fever looked the more comfortable and saw the period out at 1-0. Fannin and Silva had formed a formidable pairing in the centre of the park, with Fannin winning all balls comfortably and Silva looking as cool as ice on the ball as he usually does. Disaster struck before the whistle with a third injury attempting to rain on Fevers parade with centre half Michael Roberts spraining his wrist leaving the Fever management with a tactical headache. Playmaker who has entertained fans all season with his tricks, Sebastian Auger took one for the team and moved from his left wing role into centre half, allowing recent signings Shane Regen and Tyler Wilding to move onto the right wing and up front respectively. Although needing to score 2 more than Fever, HBC never looked like scoring, and despite a period at the end of the second, Fever went into the third holding onto their lead.
With thirty minutes to play, HBC were expected to throw the kitchen sink at Byrne's men in black, and after a 5 minute period of possession, Fever dominated and started creating a few chances with a Matt Silva shot almost going in, and an audacious effort from Auger hitting the corner flag. But the killer blow did come with Tyler Wilding finishing from inside the area leaving the goalkeeper helpless and leaving HBC in need of a miracle against what had so far been a resilient defence. Byrne was booked receiving his second booking of the season for dissent as was Cross, who had been putting in crunching tackles all game, the kinds where the heavens are expected to open with thunder and lightening out in full force as soon as contact was made. These heroic challenges were to help Cross gain his first man of the match award this season, a season where Fever fans haven't felt like they've seen the best from Cross yet. After this performance, next season can't come sooner. In the dying moments, an HBC effort was dipping into the top corner, and goalkeeper Andrew Ritchie who had had his quietest game to date stunningly tipped the ball out for a corner. HBC hit the cross bar from a long range effort but it wasn't to be for them as the ref blew the whistle and Fever had secured the 3rd spot in the league handing them their first bit of silverware in their history.
Man of the Match: Greg Cross
Janghanpyeong Middle School was the venue for this encounter and the atmosphere in the Fever camp was a confident one, with Fever 2 points ahead of their rivals in 3rd place after MSFC had forfeited the match between the 2 sides that was scheduled to take place earlier on in the season. MSFC who had received a beating from Fever 2 weeks earlier were docked points for the forfeit, and this sees them drop out of the second division having been a stable team in the division for many seasons.
The game got under way, with shadows of the pre-match still hanging over the game, after Dennis Byrne went public and expressed his disappointment at the referee that Fever had been appointed for this game. His disappointment had their reasons, as the referee made some poor calls at the start of the game, something that would continue until the end. Byrne got his tactics spot on for this game playing a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Dan Lappin who has spent most of the season at centre half moving to left back, allowing Michael Roberts to come back into the fold to play along side Daniel Argueta who has been so consistent all season long. Usual left back, David Pegg moved into the role in between the back and middle 4, a role he fit into late into the game 2 weeks ago vs MSFC and managed to comfortably see the game out there. With Carl Garthwaite absent, fans favourite Matt Silva was paired alongside Gareth Fannin in centre midfielder, the fiery Irishman hoping to produce another excelling performance yet again. Sebastian Auger and Hungarian joint top scorer, Pallos Levente took to the flanks, with Filip Pusnik resuming normal proceedings up front.
The game started with Fever on the back foot, with HBC seeing a lot of the ball, mostly when the referee kept blowing for the smallest of things, passing well and attempting to use set pieces to their advantage. Not one did they look like threatening Fever in this half and from the early stages, it looked like this match had stalemate written all over it. Fever however, took advantage when they managed to pick up the pace, with Filip Pusnik, who had the 2 centre halves all over him when he did threaten, being thread through with an elegant ball by David Pegg. The striker wasted no time as he shrugged off the tank of a centre half casually and slotted the ball past a helpless goalkeeper. One nil Fever, with the crowd going wild as Pusnik appeared to be rubbing his belly at Byrne.
The half ended with no more chances being created and nothing more to report other than goalscorer Pusnik being given a yellow card, his forth of the season for charging down a goal kick. This card now means that the captain will be suspended from the first game of next season, something which he knew, and the look on his face expressed his anguish. He was withdrawn from the second period as the thigh injury that had plagued him all season long had finally caught up with him and took his place on the sidelines. The second period started with HBC looking to come at Fever and they had a brief spell of knocking at Fevers door until Daniel Argueta went down injured having made a heroic challenge. The Irishman was no longer able to come back on having gone down for a while, an unusual occurrence for the brute of a centre half, and was replaced by player manager Byrne, who moved into left back, and Lappin was given orders to return back into centre half. With both teams chasing the victory, Fever looked the more comfortable and saw the period out at 1-0. Fannin and Silva had formed a formidable pairing in the centre of the park, with Fannin winning all balls comfortably and Silva looking as cool as ice on the ball as he usually does. Disaster struck before the whistle with a third injury attempting to rain on Fevers parade with centre half Michael Roberts spraining his wrist leaving the Fever management with a tactical headache. Playmaker who has entertained fans all season with his tricks, Sebastian Auger took one for the team and moved from his left wing role into centre half, allowing recent signings Shane Regen and Tyler Wilding to move onto the right wing and up front respectively. Although needing to score 2 more than Fever, HBC never looked like scoring, and despite a period at the end of the second, Fever went into the third holding onto their lead.
With thirty minutes to play, HBC were expected to throw the kitchen sink at Byrne's men in black, and after a 5 minute period of possession, Fever dominated and started creating a few chances with a Matt Silva shot almost going in, and an audacious effort from Auger hitting the corner flag. But the killer blow did come with Tyler Wilding finishing from inside the area leaving the goalkeeper helpless and leaving HBC in need of a miracle against what had so far been a resilient defence. Byrne was booked receiving his second booking of the season for dissent as was Cross, who had been putting in crunching tackles all game, the kinds where the heavens are expected to open with thunder and lightening out in full force as soon as contact was made. These heroic challenges were to help Cross gain his first man of the match award this season, a season where Fever fans haven't felt like they've seen the best from Cross yet. After this performance, next season can't come sooner. In the dying moments, an HBC effort was dipping into the top corner, and goalkeeper Andrew Ritchie who had had his quietest game to date stunningly tipped the ball out for a corner. HBC hit the cross bar from a long range effort but it wasn't to be for them as the ref blew the whistle and Fever had secured the 3rd spot in the league handing them their first bit of silverware in their history.
Man of the Match: Greg Cross