Almaty Athletic 2 The Bananaskins 3

Bad night for Almaty

Almaty fans were left disappointed last night as their hopes of regaining their title were dashed last night as FC Miracle were crowned champions last night after beating City Ramblers 4-2. It was irrelevant that FC Miracle had earned the three points which guaranteed them the championship as disappointedly Almaty lost 3-2 to The Bananaskins.

The Bananaskins were a much improved side with the two Butler adding a bit of class. Almaty started with Gav “must score 2 goals” Jeffery upfront, Alex “everybody goes Kung Fu fighting” O’Donovan in the centre and the usual back three of Dawse, Dave Smith and Spratt. After last week’s walkover and a grueling 6-a-side session the previous night Almaty players looked out of sort. Too much time was been taken on the ball; passes were going astray and there was a general lack of confidence. Almaty were punished twice in the first half when they failed to close down the runners from midfield and allowed them to shot. Things were not looking good at half-time as Almaty trailed by two. However, word spread through that FC Miracle were only winning by one goal and that there was hope that there could be an upset in that game.

Almaty began to press their opposition in the hope of forcing some errors. Their pressure paid off as Gav “only one more goal to score” Jeffery finished neatly after some good play. Five minutes later Gav “waahoo I’m top scorer now” Jeffery bagged his second. With the game poised at 2-2 Almaty fans began to urge their team forward as they could see they had the momentum. However, disaster was to strike with five minutes left on the clock. The ball went out for an Almaty throw-in on the left hand side. “Safehands” Sweetnam rushed to get the ball and took the throw himself only for O’Donovan to be dispossessed. With Safehands stranded the Bananaskins striker had an open goal to tap into. There were strong similarities to the crucial goal Almaty conceded against Gliebenhagg a couple of weeks ago. Will they ever learn?!

The Almaty players came off the field somewhat dejected and their mood could not be helped by the chants of “Champion-ays, Champion-ays, oh ay, oh ay, oh ay!” from the pitch beside them. Almaty play FC Miracle in the last game of the season next week. They will be eager to beat them not only to prove a point but also to secure second place.