Week 2: Almaty Athletic 2 The Codgers 2

Almaty players and fans were left frustrated last night as hopes of a 100% record were dashed as they drew 2-2 with the The Codgers. The team was without “Axel” Foley (injured), “Lamps” (fat camp in Greece) and SP (who reportedly couldn’t miss out on the season finale of Desperate Old Dolls). However, Phil Smith was drafted in to bolster the squad after an impressive guest appearance last week. The new Almaty home kit was also unveiled last night - pic to follow.

The team started reasonably well but failed to find their rhythm. Disaster struck on the 13th min when Tiger O’Connell took a quick goal-kick to “Carsley” O’Donovan who squandered position on the edge of the area. The Old Codger had an open goal to pass into as “Safehands” was out of position as he had left his goal to take the goal kick. Strike 1! With their backs against the wall Almaty began to up the tempo of the game. A few minutes later after a mix-up in the Old Codgers defense Almaty’s hat-trick hero from last week, Gav, was left with egg on his face as he somehow managed to put the ball wide when faced with an open goal. Strike 2! The increased pressure paid off when Almaty equalised close to half-time when “Crouchy” made amends for his previous effort.

Almaty came out for the second half with a hunger for the win. They got their just rewards after 15 mins of sustained pressure when Phil Smith knocked a nice lay-back to make it 2-1. However, all their hard work was undone in the last minute when the Old Codgers won a free-kick. The long range effort somehow managed to make its way through the mass of bodies. With his view obstructed "Safehands" saw it late and was only able to get a hand to the ball but unfortunately it feel straight into the oncoming Old Codger’s striker. Strike 3!

There were remonstrations with the ref after the game after the bruising given to “Ronaldo” Galvin. The Ref was quoted as saying “Hey James my man, I gave you a free-kick for every foul man”.

The Gaffer will have to raise the players’ spirits before the big game next week against local rivals, Citco (who lost again last night by the way!). Citco player, Dawson, was quoted as saying last night that “I’d just love it if we beat them…. I’d just love it!”

Squad:
Jer
Billy
Ant
Tadhg
James
Phil
Alex
Gav


Scorers:
Gav
Phil

Man of the match:
Billy (for that last ditch tackle in the 2nd half that saved a certain goal - dependable as always)