Seoul Fever were heading into the game after suffering back-to-back losses, and were looking to revive their slow start to the season with a win against newly-promoted Ehwa United. The opposition had started the season in a lively fashion winning two games and losing the other two, averaging 3 goals per game. If anything, this game was set to be anything but a dull affair.
For contrasting reasons, Fever were without Messrs Auger, Ritchie and Garthwaite The most notable change in lineup was the inclusion of Paul Jones as starting goalkeeper. The versatile David Pegg was moved into a more familiar central midfield role in an attempt to stifle opposition counter attacks, and Greg Cross was moved up to the right wing to take full advantage of his end-to-end marauding runs. Besides that, Fever remained largely unchanged.
The game began at a frantic pace. Ehwa won the toss to kick off and instantly struck a blow to Fever’s hopes. In the first attack of the game, Ehwa successfully won a corner and converted it at the near post to open the scoring. Pušnik was unable to close down his man and the Finnish opponent was allowed space to heel the ball into the roof of the net. Seoul Fever 0-1 Ehwa United. Seoul Fever soon hit back thanks to an audacious effort from midfielder Gareth Fannin. The shot was hit from a ludicrous distance, took a heavy bounce and somehow beat United’s keeper to level up the scoring. Seoul Fever 1-1 Ehwa United.
For contrasting reasons, Fever were without Messrs Auger, Ritchie and Garthwaite The most notable change in lineup was the inclusion of Paul Jones as starting goalkeeper. The versatile David Pegg was moved into a more familiar central midfield role in an attempt to stifle opposition counter attacks, and Greg Cross was moved up to the right wing to take full advantage of his end-to-end marauding runs. Besides that, Fever remained largely unchanged.
The game began at a frantic pace. Ehwa won the toss to kick off and instantly struck a blow to Fever’s hopes. In the first attack of the game, Ehwa successfully won a corner and converted it at the near post to open the scoring. Pušnik was unable to close down his man and the Finnish opponent was allowed space to heel the ball into the roof of the net. Seoul Fever 0-1 Ehwa United. Seoul Fever soon hit back thanks to an audacious effort from midfielder Gareth Fannin. The shot was hit from a ludicrous distance, took a heavy bounce and somehow beat United’s keeper to level up the scoring. Seoul Fever 1-1 Ehwa United.
The game continued to play out at a high tempo with both teams threatening at each end and relying on counter attacking football to fashion goalscoring opportunities. Fever broke the deadlock for the first time during the middle period after striker Alex Rowe broke out onto the right wing to float a beautifully-weighted cross over to the far post, where Fannin was waiting to volley home his second of the day. Seoul Fever 2-1 Ehwa United. Ehwa wasted no time in responding as their relentless supply of lofted through balls continued to terrorise the Fever centre halves who, despite having a serious height advantage, struggled to deal with early aerial threats. Ehwa’s Spanish starlet soon found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Paul Jones and coolly slotted home their second goal of the game. Seoul Fever 2-2 Ehwa United. Seoul Fever began to press again in the third and final period. A lot of the attacking moves were founded out of Kempson and Gregg’s pillaging runs up the right-hand side, where they looked to link with Merritt, Rowe and Fannin. After further spells of pressure, Fever managed to take the lead for the second time after captain Pušnik propelled a long throw into the box targeting Williamson, who was able to flick the ball across goal into the path of Rowe who made no mistakes in finding the net for his third goal of the league season. Seoul Fever 3-2 Ehwa United.
Fever switched to a 4-5-1 to see out the game to claim their second win of the season. However, Ehwa reacted positively to this change in formation and bombarded the Fever defence for the final 15 minutes. Fever managed to withstand the heavy pressure and all 3 points looked to be in the bag. With minutes to go in the game, Ehwa crossed the ball into the box to meet the head of their striker, who was able to nod the ball onto the crossbar and in to tie the game up for the third time. Ehwa United 3-3 Seoul Fever. With the 90 minutes almost up, Ehwa persisted with the heavy pressure and managed to score what looked to be the game’s winner. A midfielder was given enough time to release an 18-yard shot towards the Seoul Fever goal. The shot zipped through the box and into the net as Paul Jones struggled to judge the flight of the ball through a sea of black and red bodies. Ehwa 4-3 Seoul Fever. The boys in black reluctantly trudged back into position. The kick off looked to be another formality leading to another miserable loss. Spirits were low and Fever looked like a gang of beaten men. Fever were awarded a free kick in opposition territory with seconds to go until fulltime. With one last throw of the dice, Kempson and Pušnik began to wave up the entire team – no expenses spared. Pušnik delivered a well-crafted ball into the middle of the penalty area and centre half Simon Williamson timed his run to perfection to head home Fever’s fourth and final goal of the game. Seoul Fever 4-4 Ehwa United.
The result was certainly fitting of the performance as Fever managed to combine aesthetic football with gruelling and tenacious play to capture a well-deserved point against a team who proved to be extremely capable opponents.
The game bore witness to a number of impressive performances. Sheerin and Rowe worked tirelessly up front to force defensive mistakes. The midfield also continued to impress on both attacking and defensive fronts. Despite the high score, the defence and goalkeeper put in solid shifts especially in the game’s final period. However, Danny Kempson emerged as Man of the Match. Kempson lead by example and rallied the team for the entire 90 minutes, impressing with his combative tackling and explosive forward runs. Fever were lucky to be able to rely on a strong bench in their time of need. Pallos Levente, Filip Pušnik and James Merritt comfortably stepped up to the plate when called upon.
Man of the Match: Danny Kempson
The game bore witness to a number of impressive performances. Sheerin and Rowe worked tirelessly up front to force defensive mistakes. The midfield also continued to impress on both attacking and defensive fronts. Despite the high score, the defence and goalkeeper put in solid shifts especially in the game’s final period. However, Danny Kempson emerged as Man of the Match. Kempson lead by example and rallied the team for the entire 90 minutes, impressing with his combative tackling and explosive forward runs. Fever were lucky to be able to rely on a strong bench in their time of need. Pallos Levente, Filip Pušnik and James Merritt comfortably stepped up to the plate when called upon.
Man of the Match: Danny Kempson