Almaty had to dig deep last night to get back to winning ways after the desperately disappointing display against Whitfords in Match Day 7. To compound matters, Almaty were shorn of "Dribbling" James Galvin, Jer "Lovehand(le)s" Sweetnam and, in a late withdrawal, Billy "Mad Dog" Murphy. Apparently he forgot he was going to Italy until the day before the game...
Desperate to start well for once, Alex "Geometric Shapes" O'Donovan rallied the depleted squad. Ant "SafeGafferHands" Spratt volunteered to go in goal for the first half, promising a much improved delivery from the back!
Almaty started quite well. Fuzzball were handy enough, a useful blend of "experienced" defenders with two "tricky" forwards. And by "experienced" I mean old fat geezers, and by "tricky" I mean young fit fairly skillful scobies...
Almaty managed to get the passing going quite well, but in the absence of James "Pace" G, we were missing a bit of, er, pace. But Almaty were patient and chances were coming. Gav "Crouchy" Jeffery in particular was getting a hatful of opportunities but the Fuzzball keeper was in inspired form, though he declined to use his hands much. "Safeshins" if you will...
Eventually the breakthrough came, Almaty in scoring first shocker! A good spell of possession and passing saw Alex "Lines" O'Donovan work it to "Lamps" in the inside left channel. "Lamps" squared it to "Crouchy" who clung it in the top right corner from just outside the box.
Almaty never do anything the easy way of course (not counting the walkover against Pints which was, let's face it, fairly easy...) and we managed to fuck up soon after. "Lamps" squandered possession cheaply around the half-way mark allowing a Fuzzball player to make progress up the right. Nonetheless, there looked to be little danger when the little scobie lad let fly from near the touchline, but the ball rocketed past "SafeGafferHands" and nestled in the top corner. A great strike.
Almaty continued to attack and had numerous chances. "Crouchy" hit the post and had more opportunities saved by the keeper.
Another quiet Almaty half-time as the shame kicked in. Alex "Trigonometry" O'Donovan outlined his grand vision for the second half and whatever he said, it worked. Almaty were much hungrier and more urgent. The passing was sharper and chances were coming thick and fast. "Lamps" trademark screamer from wide on the left duly came and went, smashing the inside of the far post and coming out. One of the scobes in the Liverpool shirts even commiserated with Lamps.
But Almaty weren't to be denied. Staying patient, the breakthrough came, and a great goal it was. Alex "Don't pass to me when you're running at me!" O'Donovan, running down the middle towards Gav, passed it to him. Gav had made a great run in from the right and got on the end of the pass. It was great composure from O'Donovan to find the pass considering he must have been knackered after being on the pitch for more than his usual 17 minute allocation.
The game wasn't over yet though. The security blanket of the third goal proved elusive. "SafeGafferHands" wanted to come out from goal but "Lamps" didn't really want to go in goal with the score delicately poised. Almaty lost their way slightly when Alex "Row Z" O'Donovan blazed his beloved Nike Tiempo Classic® II FIFA Match Ball Size 5 into a tree outside the ground. The replacement balls were substandard and caused a loss of cohesion in the interplay...
Almaty got used to the kiddies ball eventually and finally could relax when "Crouchy" completed his hat-trick, beating his man then scoring with his left foot while falling over, baby giraffe-like.
Fuzzball were a broken side by now and there were plenty of goals to be had, even though there was not much time left. Espey scored with a trademark drive and Alex "25 minutes effort" O'Donovan scored the goal of the game. A great team move saw the now-outfield Gaffer find Morgan on the left, Morgan switched play to "SP" on the right, "SP" rolled the ball down the line to "Crouchy"'s feet and he laid it off to Alex who was rushing through the centre, for once beating the fat lad for pace...
5-1 in the end, and a much improved performance from Almaty. After the match, "Gaffer" attributed the victory and performance to Almaty's "fitness, dominance, determination and patience".
Results elsewhere went Almaty's way with table-topping rivals Whitford and Slievenamon drawing 2-2, meaning Almaty return to the top of the pile. Citco, meanwhile, slumped to a dispiriting 9-1 defeat, and to compound their woes, talismanic Citco legend Nigel "Nige" Wilkins will miss the next two matches.
As for Almaty, it was a good all-round display with the goals shared out among three of the lads, with Tadhg "Hit me" O'Connell hitting the post twice. Morgan "Axel" Foley also had a great game both going forward and with superb, tireless tracking back. "SafeGafferHands" was solid in goal, and luckily none of his mad dashes out of his area ended in tears...
"Gaffer" and Tadhg are now jetting off to Vegas for a well-earned mid-season break (that blog post will write itself...) meaning Almaty's strength in depth will be tested for next week's clash with The Codgers who nicked a draw in the match earlier in the season. James "Romantic getaway with the lads" G will still be enjoying spectacular sunsets in Santorini next week also so Dr Phil may be recalled from his loan spell with This Is A Made Up Name FC.
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