Match report: Brooklyn Northern United Mandalorians 7-1 Island Bay Vauxhalls
The game:
A hat trick from Daniel Bento and a spell of five goals in fifteen minutes were decisive for the Brooklyn Northern United Mandalorians in their 7-1 thumping of the Island Bay United Vauxhalls.
Despite dominating from start to finish, Vauxhall goalie Corey Overend’s heroics kept The Mandalorians at only two goals until just after the hour mark. But once Island Bay conceded a third, the deluge of goals which Overend had somehow managed to halt swept all Vauxhall resistance away.
The goals:
Daniel Bento (Mandalorians, 4th minute) Bento picked up the ball slightly inside the opposing half, started running, and didn’t stop. The Vauxhall defence was just as helpless as their keeper while Bento breezed through them to slide it into the net.
Lucas Simpson (Mandalorians, 9th minute) Five minutes later a wonderful attacking move by team Mando saw Simpson, a right winger, run to the other side of the pitch to receive and put the ball over the keeper, doubling the Mandalorian advantage.
Simon Brannigan (Vauxhalls, 61st minute) Overend sent an incredibly long ball to attacker Pete Cartright, who followed suit by setting Simon Brannigan free with a similarly long ball. The race was on between Mandalorian keeper Dan Jackson and Brannigan, but Brannigan got there first to lob it over the Mandalorian No.1 and temporarily give the Vauxhalls a burst of hope.
Vikash Naidu (Mandalorians, 62nd minute) After a teammate had switched up the play, Walt Boyd’s cut into the box drew the defence out, meaning when Naidu received Boyd’s pass a tap in was all that was required to give the Mandalorians their third.
Daniel Bento (Mandalorians, 67th minute) A cross from the left wing came in, and Bento’s brilliant touch brought not only the ball to the ground but also sent it bouncing into the goal.
Daniel Bento (Mandalorians, 71st minute) The strike which made Bento’s hat trick was almost a carbon copy of his second: again the ball came in from the left wing and again Bento provided an amazing touch to bring it down. The only difference was this time it took him two touches to put it past Overend.
Matty Allen (Mandalorians, 73rd minute) After Bento was played through, it looked for all the world he was on for his fourth, but Overend this time finally managed to keep him out. Unfortunately, the Vauxhall goalie could do nothing about the rebound falling straight to the feet of Bento’s teammate Matty Allen. Allen scored with style, back passing the ball into an undefended net. Show off.
Matty Allen (Mandalorians, 77th minute) Boyd returned to notch his second assist, with his run down the right resulting in a cross to Allen who couldn’t resist showing off again. Mid-air, he clipped the ball into the bottom corner for a spectacular show of skill.
The pivotal moment:
Soon after the second half had commenced with the score still only 2-0 to the Mandalorians, Cartright sent Rejo Kurian free creating a race between him and the opposing keeper. The Mandalorian keeper would beat Kurian to the ball by a millisecond. Had Kurian arrived first a Vauxhall goal would have been unpreventable, meaning Brannigan's strike would have drawn the Vauxhalls level making for a very different psychological contest.
The stars:
Mandalorians - Daniel Bento. No explanation required. Both a hat trick and a crucial role in the sixth goal? Bento caused devastation within the Vauxhall defence and can deservedly be called man of the match.
Vauxhalls - Corey Overend. While it all went to custard after the third goal, it’s worth remembering the Mandalorian dominance displayed during those fifteen minutes wasn’t out of the norm. Up until that point Overend had been a monster in goal, and he did well the score as low as it was.
The comments: Pete Cartright, Vauxhall attacker: “That was a tough one! We should have handled the wind better, but it was a good game against a good team and legs just got the better of us near the end. Some of our players are a little bit ropey, so running out of gas didn’t help, but a good experience all round. Only the second game, we’ll get there. Near the end we switched to getting consolation goals rather than playing proper football, unfortunately.”
Thurl Gibbs, Mandalorian captain: “In my opinion, it was a game of two halves. In the first half we were structured, played out well from the back and gave each other good support. In the second we used our subs a lot more which slowed momentum and made us patchy while our fitness caught us at the end. Good result, probably a bit flattering as the Vauxhalls did deserve more than they got. We got lucky with some of the goals.”
The bad boys: N/A - no cards.
The Meaning: The Mandalorians have bounced back brilliantly from their 4-5 defeat to Tim’s Boys last week, with their win placing them at the top of the ladder. The Vauxhalls - previous league leaders - slide down to seventh on three points.
The future: On Sunday the 18th of October at 10am, The Mandalorians will seek to build on this performance against Man Titty, while the Vauxhalls will take on Wellington Chin United at 11am. Both games will be played at Boyd Wilson.
The rest:
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Inter Galactic FC 3-6 Man Titty
VUWAFC 6-1 The Casuals 2020