Cup fever...

Boca 60s 1-2 Eden Stallions

A game of two halves in the cup today as the mighty Stallions took on local rivals Boca 60s from Division 3.

The match started in bright sunshine on a good surface and star Boca striker Ahmed Zaoui signaled his intentions with a shot straight from the kick off. Stallions were quickly into their stride though with good attacking moves coming down both flanks. The first good chance coming as Rob broke down the right and centered for Gartside who somehow missed the open goal.

Stallions came close again when Jamie shot just wide after good build up play and Gartside hit the bar from a tight angle.

The deadlock was broken when Andy was held back trying to get on the end of a flighted ball into the box. Gartside dispatched the penalty low to the keepers right. 1-0.

The equaliser soon came though. Boca's giant forward won a free kick on the edge of the box and the jail bird curled the ball into the far corner, with a slight deflection taking the ball away from Casey "safe hands" Eden in goal. 1-1.

Stallions weren't to be denied a half time lead though as Jamie won a 50-50 ball, passed on to Gartside who slipped the ball through to McKinley who finished expertly past the keeper. 2-1.

If the first half was all about the attacking play, the second was all about defence. Bocas came out hard and took the game to the Stallions, giving them by far their sternest test of the season to date. Everyone stood up to be counted. Eden dealt with crosses and long shots, Jiah was brutal in the tackle, Bonzo cleared everything that made it into the box and Will put in a match winning block in the last minute to deny a certain goal.

Final score 2-1.

Special mention goes to the 2 guys who played in the defensive midfield role - Robbie and Andy. Robbie sat back a lot which nullified Zaoui who played very deep and Andy must have covered 10k supporting both defence and attack.

It was only one game but I think it showed we could more than hold our own at a higher level and we're improving more and more each week - only 1 foul throw today!