Review of Swiss 2021/22 Challenge League at the Winter Break

December 30, 2021

These diaries dipped it’s toes into the Swiss Second Division last season to review a match between FC Thun and FC Stade Lausanne Orchy with both sides battling for promotion to the Swiss Super League. Whilst Orchy were victorious that evening, in the end Thun finished in second place and lost the promotion/relegation play-off tie with Sion, whilst FC Stade Lausanne Orchy finished third. FC Grasshoppers finished one point ahead of Thun to earn automatic promotion, and Chiasso were relegated.

Coming into the division were Liechtenstein side FC Vaduz, who finished bottom in the Super League, whilst Yverdon Sport were promoted from the third level Swiss Promotion League.

In 2020/21 four of the five weekly matches each round were streamed on the Swiss Football League website ( www.sfl.ch ) with the other match shown on Swiss TV. With the return of crowds to football in Switzerland, two matches are now free to watch, one directly on the Swiss FA website, and the other via a link to the blue Zoom website from the Swiss FA website. Highlights of all games can be viewed on the Swiss FA website, which also contains a vast array of statistics for the division.

Round 18

December 17-19, 2021

FC Aarau 1-0 Neuchatel Xamax ( att : 3,024 )

FC Thun 2-2 FC Schaffhausen ( att : 2,195 )

Yverdon Sport 2-0 SC Kriens ( att : 715 )

FC Stade Lausanne Orchy 2-0 FC Wil 1900 ( att : 415 )

FC Winterthur 2-3 FC Vaduz ( att : 5,100 )

The division has met the definition of highly competitive, with the top 9 sides of the 10 team division separated by only 9 points after 18 matches, all of whom would still retain aspirations of promotion. Only Chiasso appear to be out of it, having gathered just 6 points from 18 games and seemingly destined to relegation. The season is scheduled to recommence from its winter break on January 28^th, 2022.

Winterthur’s Roman Buess was the league’s top scorer at the break with 10 goals, followed by Ivorian Koro Kone from Yverdon Sport, Simone Rapp from Vaduz, Aarau’s Kevin Spadanuda and Schaffhausen’s Croatian Ivan Prtajin, all with 9 each.  Brighton Labeau, ex Union St Gilloise has found the net 8 times for Stade Lausanne Orchy whilst Saleh Chihadeh has the same number for Thun.

FC Winterthur have been the best supported side with an average of 4,067, followed by Neuchatel Xamax with 3,351 and FC Aarau with 3,113. FC Stade Lausanne Orchy had the lowest average with 438, and the overall league average was 1,721. The 5,100 for the Winterthur vs Vaduz match in round 19 was the highest of the season so far.

FC Vaduz led the league table at the half way stage. Despite coming from Liechtenstein, Vaduz have only one player who is a regular for their national side, keeper Benjamin Buchel, who has 42 caps. The majority of their squad are Swiss, although veteran midfielder ex Young Boys, Grasshopper & Zurich centre-back Milan Gajic is Serbian.

Vaduz started with 4 defeats from their first 9 matches, but a run of one loss in their last 9 games saw them lead the table at half-way, with the important 3-2 victory at Winterthur securing a top of the table position at the winter break. Their strength has been their away form, with a 5-2-2 record.

Being the Liechtenstein representative in the Europa Conference, by virtue of winning the Liechtenstein Cup, Vaduz were eliminated at the first hurdle by Ujpest of Hungary 2-5 on aggregate. Since 1995 they have played in Europe every year except for 1997/98 and 2012/13, most famously eliminating Swiss side FC Basel in 2006/07 and losing to FC Thun on away goals in 2015/16.  Other victories have been registered against Falkirk, Ujpest, Vojvodina, Levski Sofia & MOL Fehervar.

FC Aarau sat in second place. Their third and last Swiss Championship was won in 1992/93 when their side included a young Roberto di Matteo. After a poor 8^th place finish in 2020/21 they have made a much better bid to return to the Swiss Super League which they last graced in 2014/15. Their last appearance in European competition was in 1996.

After being mid-table for most of last season, FC Winterthur could have led the table at half-way had they beaten FC Vaduz in round 18, but a 2-3 loss saw them finish 4 points off the lead. After falling 0-3 behind, they squandered a chance to draw the match, but Roman Buess’ penalty four minutes from time struck the post. Winterthur have the consolation of being the best supported team in the division and have the league’s top scorer in Buess.

FC Schaffhausen led the 2020/21 table for most of the season before fading away in the closing stages. After a slow start, where they only won one of their first 6 matches, their form has picked up so that they won 14 points from their last 7 matches as they steadily moved up the table.

FC Thun were relegated after the 2019/20 season and were playing in European competition as recently as that season, when they were eliminated from the Europa League by Spartak Moscow. After failing to immediately bounce back after last season’s play-off loss, being in 5^th place would undoubtedly be a disappointment, but the gap is small and there are still 18 games to play………….

After coming close to the promotion play-off last season, FC Stade Lausanne Orchy have had an indifferent season so far this season, although they are only 6 points adrift of the play-off position. They started the season strongly with 10 points from their opening 5 matches, but an indifferent run of two wins in their last 8 matches saw them slide down the table.

Newly promoted Yverdon Sport started the season with three straight losses and picked up just 2 points from their opening 6 matches. However, they soon stabilised at this level with 7 wins and two draws in their most recent 12 games, which indicates they should at least be at this level next season, especially if Kone continues to bang in the goals.

FC Wil 1900 were a mediocre 7^th in 2020/21 and looked to be repeating this form until an unbeaten run of 6 matches took them to the fringes of the play-off contenders. Losses to Winterthur and FC Stade Lausanne Orchy in their last two matches saw them fall back down to 8^th though when two wins would have seen them in third place.

Neuchatel Xamax are another famous name languishing in the second level, with a string of notable victories in Europa Competition in the past, such as Glasgow Celtic, Sporting Lisbon, Dundee United, Dynamo Kiev, Red Star Belgrade, Sparta Prague and Malmo, as well as individual match victories over Real Madrid ( twice ) and Bayern Munich. They have been inconsistent so far, starting with 5 wins and two draws in their opening 7 matches before a run of 7 losses in the next 11 games. Despite that they remain just 7 points of the play-off place with half the season remaining despite being second from bottom !

FC Kriens look doomed. Starting with 11 games without a win which yielded just three draws, they recorded their first win of the season over FC Stade Lausanne Orchy ( 1-0 ), but the next six matches were lost. To-date they have conceded 45 goals in 18 matches.

Review of Czech Fortuna Liga 2021/22 season at the Winter Break

December 27, 2021

The Czech 2021/22 season reached it winter break after the completion of round 19 on December 19^th, with the resumption scheduled for February 5, 2022.

 After their triumphant season in 2020/21, where Slavia Prague when through the whole season unbeaten and won the league by 12 points, this season has been a much closer affair. Although the top three were the usual suspects, Slavia went into the break only one point ahead of Viktoria Plzen and three points ahead of Sparta Prague.

After their domestic and European success last season, Slavia Prague lost a few major players during the close season. Centre-back David Zima moved to Torino, Abdullah Sima was signed by Brighton and Hove Albion and then loaned out to Stoke City, Petar Musa moved to Boavista and Simon Deli returned to Club Brugge at the end of a loan spell. Among the incoming replacements were strikers Ivan Schranz from Jablonec and from PAOK Salonika, ex-Viktoria Plzen’s Michael Krmencik.

Despite the turnover withing their squad, Slavia Prague started the season as they carried off from the previous year, winning their first 4 matches of the season, but then surprisingly drew 3-3 at lowly Karvina, conceding a last minute equaliser. However, the season was thrown wide open in round 10 when they fell to their first league defeat for over 18 months with a 0-1 defeat at Sparta in front of just over 17,000 spectators, after being reduced to 10 men after 40 minutes. More points were dropped in round 12 when after falling 0-2 behind at Ceske Budejovice, they recovered to 2-2 but were unable to take advantage of an extra man for the last 15 minutes.

Slavia then continued on their winning ways until their final match before the break, when they played a remarkable game at Banik Ostrava. After leading 2-0 at half-time, Banik pulled a goal back and then Oscar Dorley saw red for Slavia. With a player advantage, Ostrava levelled the scores, and then took the lead after Jan Kuchta was sent-off for punching the ball of the line and Almasi converted the penalty. Remarkably, the 9 men of Slavia managed to score an equaliser in the 88^th minute via a free-kick from Holes, but the drama wasn’t over, as Banik missed a penalty in added on time. Almasi’s weak kick was easily saved by Mandous.

After a dismal season in 2019/20, when only a good run after Christmas saw them climb from 9^th at the winter break to eventually finish 5^th, Viktoria Plzen have made a much better fist of this season. They actually won their first 5 league matches, before slipping to an unexpected 0-1 reverse at newly promoted Hradec Kralove. They immediately bounced back with a 3-2 home win over Sparta Prague which was the start of 6 consecutive victories before a 0-2 loss at Slavia, in which they were reduced to 8 men. Draws at home to Sigma Olomouc ( 0-0 ) and at Banik Ostrava ( 2-2 after being 2-0 ahead ) followed, although they ended the year with four straight wins.

 Sparta Prague started with three wins before being held to a 1-1 draw at Bohemians. Two more victories followed after which they lost at Plzen. A 1-1 home draw with Jablonec followed, and after 4 more wins, including the momentus 1-0 victory over Slavia, they were held to a 2-2 draw at Banik, and then they fell to an embarrassing 0-4 defeat at Slovacko. An unbeaten run over the last 4 games brought them back in touch with the leaders.

This year’s surprise package are FC Slovacko, who after their 4-0 victory of Sparta in round 15 sat in second place just three points adrift of Slavia. Unfortunately, they then suffered a 2-3 loss at Ceske Budejovice after leading 2-0 and with their opponents down to 10 men, and then fell to a 1-2 defeat at home to Viktoria. They were then reduced to 10 men after leading 1-0 at Hradec, but after falling 1-2 behind managed to salvage a draw. A final day win at home to Jablonec meant they were 9 points adrift of leaders Slavia. A 5-3 win at Mlada Boleslav was another highlight of their season to date.

Fifth placed Banik Ostrava have had a typically frustrating season where again they have demonstrated their capability of taking points off the best sides but can slip up against the lesser lights. They lost 0-1 on the opening day at Jablonec, and were hammered 0-4 at Slavia in round 5. Slovacko became the only side to win at Banik, recording a 2-1 victory in Ostrava, but they ended the season with 8 games unbeaten, including draws with Sparta, Viktoria and Slavia to be 10 points clear of 6^th place.

 6^th to 10^th are separated by 4 points in the middle of the table. Mlada Boleslav’s highlight of the season so far was probably knocking Viktoria Plzen out of the Czech Cup. 

Newly promoted Hradec Kralove are having to play their home matches in Mlada Boleslav whilst their own stadium is being redeveloped, but they have made their adopted home ground a bit of a fortress, with only Sparta escaping with three points after a narrow 1-0 win in the final game before the break, and Plzen were overcome 1-0. They also progressed to the last 8 of the Czech Cup after a 2-1 victory at Banik.

 After a tough season in 2020/21, Ceske Budejovice have fared much better this time around, thanks to a 7-1-2 home record, with only Banik and Hradec winning in Ceske Budejovice and Slavia only capable of drawing.

 

Slovan Liberec were expected to be challenging for a place in Europa so will be disappointed to currently be in 9^th place, 12 points off 5^th place.  However, after picking up just 2 points from their opening 7 games of the season they have at least been heading in the right direction up the table, and have won 6 of their last 9 matches, with the defeats being to Slavia, Sparta and Viktoria.

Sigma Olomouc are also underachieving to lie in 10^th place. After a promising start of just one loss in their opening 8 matches ( 2-3 at Sparta on the opening day ), the wheels have fallen off their wagon to some extent, with 6 losses in their 11 league matches. A 0-0 draw at Viktoria Plzen probably represented their best result, although they missed three good chances in the final minutes to have snatched the win.

In the bottom 6 of the table, Karvina have had a disastrous season. After drawing 4 of their opening 7 matches, including the spirited 3-3 draw with Slavia, they have lost their last 7 matches, and taken just one point from the last 11 games to sit 11 points away from safety.

Teplice have normally expected to be in the top half of the table, but after a disappointing 15^th place finish last season, their poor form has continued to lie in 15^th place again, with only 11 points from 19 matches. Only 3 wins have been recorded, two of which have been in their last three matches ( Zlin 4-1 at home and Jablonec 2-1 away ).

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the season has been the performance of Jablonec. After finishing in third place last season, they now lie 3^rd from bottom after a run of 12 games with one win. They did manage a 1-1 draw at Sparta and had a reasonable campaign in the Europa Conference ( see below ). They are clearly struggling to replace striker Ivan Schranz, who moved to Slavia during the close season. 

Pardubice are now undoubtedly suffering from second season syndrome after their unexpected 7^th place finish last season, with having to continue to play in Prague at Bohemians’ Dolicek stadium rather than their own ground in Pardubice also having an impact. Three wins and two draws in their last 8 matches has seen them move away from the bottom places though. 

Zlin would have expected to have been solid mid-table, but a run of one win in 11 mid-way during the season pushed them towards the nether regions, but 9 points from their last 6 matches saw them moving in the right direction.

Bohemians are another side who would have expected to have done better than 5^th from bottom. Dolicek has not turned out to be its usual stronghold with a 4-1-4 record, but a 1-2-7 away record is the major cause of their struggles. Their best result of the season was probably the 1-1 draw at home to Sparta in August.

 

Jean-David Beauguel, Viktoria’s veteran French striker and Slovacko’s Vaclav Jurecka are the league’s top scorers with 10 goals each. Slavia’s Jan Kuchta ( rumoured to be subject to a 4M Euro bid from Lokomotiv Moscow ) and Ceske Budejovice’s Nigerian striker Fortune Bassey have 9 goals a piece, whilst Banik’s Slovak forward Ladislav Almasi has 8 goals. Midfielder Ondrej Lingr and Ivan Schrantz both have found the net 7 times for Slavia, the same number Matej Pulkrab for Sparta.

 At the start of the season, attendances were unrestricted, but since the increase in Covid case in late November, the last 4 rounds of the season saw restrictions of 1,000 imposed on matches in the Czech Fortuna Liga. Taking this into consideration, the best supported team so far is Slavia with 9,696 followed by Sparta on 6,264 then Banik on 5,936. Hradec Kralove have the lowest average on 957.

European Competitions

After the strong performances last season, it is fair to say that Czech sides have not lived up to some high expectations in Europe this season.

 After their run to the Europa League quarter finals in 2020/21, which included knocking out Leicester and Glasgow Rangers, and drawing at Arsenal, it was disappointing that Slavia were eliminated in their first Champions League Qualifier, going down 1-2 on aggregate to Ferencvaros. Dropping down to the Europa League, a 3-4 aggregate loss to Legia Warsaw was even more dispiriting. At least the Europa Conference provided some solace, and despite a moderate 2-2-2 record ( with home wins over Union Berlin and Maccabi Haifa, a home draw with Feyenoord and an away draw with Union ) it was sufficient to move forward to the knock-out play-offs where they will face Fenerbache.

In their first Champions League tie Sparta Prague managed to overcome Austria Wien 3-2 on aggregate thanks to a 2-0 home win in the second leg, but fell to Monaco 1-5 on aggregate in the 3^rd Qualifying round. Dropping down to the Europa League group stages, they came third in their group, beating Glasgow Rangers ( 1-0 ) and Brondby ( 2-0 ) at home but losses to Lyon ( 3-4 at home & 0-3 away ) and Rangers ( 0-2 away ) meant they failed to qualify to the knock-out stages.

After their 3^rd place finish last season, Jablonec qualified for the Europa League 3^rd Qualifying round, where Glasgow Celtic proved to be too strong, winning 7-2 on aggregate. Dropping down to the Europa Conference, Jablonec overcame Slovak side Zilina 8-1 over the two matches to progress to the group stages. However despite being unbeaten at home ( 1-0 Cluj, 1-1 AZ Alkmaar and 2-2 Randers ), just one away point meant elimination one point behind Danish side Randers, after a regrettable final day 0-2 defeat at CFR Cluj, who already could not qualify to the knock-out stages.

In the Conference League, Slovacko were eliminated at the first hurdle by Lokomotiv Plovdiv on penalties after two 1-0 home wins.

Viktoria Plzen initially progressed without too many alarum over Belarus side Dinamo Brest ( 4-2 on aggregate ) before falling 0-4 behind to Welsh part-timers The New Saints in the first leg of the next round and a sensational upset seemed possible. Two goals in injury time retrieved the situation a little to 2-4 and when TNS took an early lead in the second leg, Viktoria looked to be facing an embarrassing exit. However, two goals in the last five minute took the tie to extra time, and Viktoria won the penalty shoot out to break Welsh hearts. The reprieve was short-lived though as despite a 2-0 home win against CSKA Sofia, a 0-3 reverse in the second leg resulted in their exit from the competition.

Round 19

FC Slovacko 2-1 FK Jablonec ( att : 997 )

MFK Karvina 0-1 FC Viktoria Plzen ( att : 912 )

Bohemians Praha 1905 1-2 FK Prdubice ( att : 1,000 )

FC Hradec Kralove 0-1 AC Sparta Prague ( att : 1,000 )

FK Teplice 0-1 FK Mlada Boleslav ( att : 968 )

SK Sigma Olomouc 1-1 FC Fastav Zlin ( att : 1,000 )

FC Slovan Liberec 0-0 FK Dynamo Ceske Budejovice ( att : 1,000 )

FC Banik Ostrava 3-3 SK Slavia Prague ( att : 1,000 )

Oxford City 3-2 Slough Town ( att : 1,208 ) – 2021/22 National League One South

December 26, 2021

Boxing Day saw the meeting of Oxford City and Slough Town, being considered the local derby in the division for both sides, with the return fixture being played on New Year’s Day. The distance between the two towns is about 40 miles.

Since these diaries covered Oxford City’s home match against Hampton and Richmond Borough in September,

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2021/09/oxford-city-1-1-hampton-and-richmond.html 

the Hoops went on a run of 6 wins and two draws in 8 games, conceding just one goal in the process to top the table. They did though crash out of the FA Trophy during this spell, going down 1-4 at home to St Albans. Subsequently a 1-1 home draw with Chippenham and a 2-4 home loss to Dorking Wanderers has seen them slip down to third, albeit only one point behind leaders Dartford. Ex-St Albans striker Joe Iaciofano is their top scorer with 8 goals, whilst Harvey Bradbury has 5 goals.

Attendances have been booming during this good run with a cold December evening attracting over 500 from the Dorking game, whereas in recent seasons 225 would have been decent turnout for such a fixture. Indeed, today’s attendance of 1,208 was a record for a league match at Court Place Farm, beaten only by Pre-Season Friendlies against Oxford United.

Tickets for the match were £12 for adults, £6 for NHS Key Workers and Over 65s, whilst holders of tickets for the Portsmouth vs Oxford United could watch this match for £3. Under 18s and Student got in free. However, it was an extra £2 to pay at the turnstile, and programmes were £3.

Slough started the season badly. Although they won their first match, a 1-0 home win over Chelmsford City, they then picked up just two points from the next 7 matches. However, The Rebels have had a remarkable transformation since, and were on a run of one defeat in their last 8 matches, with the loss being a 1-3 defeat at Eastbourne Borough. However, Slough avenged that defeat in the last matched they played, eliminating Eastbourne from the FA Trophy after a 3-1 home win.

Slough went into today’s encounter in 13^th position in the table, with a 6-4-6 record, and 2-3-3 away from home. Their top scorer is ex Reading and Dundee United forward/midfielder Adrian Kuhl, who had notched 5 goals so far this season. Other notable players in their squad are talented ex Reading, Crawley, Wealdstone and Oxford City ( amongst others ) midfielder Scott Davies, who these days is perhaps more well known for his public appearances in the media on his experiences with gambling addiction and the effect it had on his career. Full-back Freddie Grant had a spell at Oxford City after being released by Oxford United, playing over 50 matches for the Hoops.

These diaries reported on a meeting between these two sides in April 2019, when Slough emerged victorious at Court Place Farm by a 3-1 margin.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/01/oxford-city-1-3-slough-att-530.html 

Since then Oxford City won both encounters between the two sides in 2019/20, 2-1 at home and 1-0 at Arbour Park, but neither matches were played between the sides in the curtailed 2020/21 season

Bet365.com had Oxford City 3/4 favourites, with Slough 11/4 outsiders, and the draw at 13/5. It was 9 degrees at the 1pm kick-off, and the early morning light drizzled had ceased. The floodlights were on from the beginning.

For some reason both sides were in their away strips. Oxford City appeared in all green rather than their traditional blue and white Hoops, whilst Slough wore a kit of grey shirts and black shorts rather than their usual amber and blue.

The home side started strongly, with Owusu have a shot partially blocked, enabling Slough keeper Edegbe to fall onto the ball. Owusu then fed McEachran whose cross was glanced across goal and wide by Benyon, then Iaciofano wriggled his way into the 6 yard box but was crowded out at the expense of a corner. From the corner Ashby had a shot deflected for another corner.

After 10 minutes of being under pressure, Slough broke quickly with Tyler Goodrham, making his debut on a one month loan from Oxford United, crossing to the far post where Worsfold headed meekly over the bar.

The deadlock was broken in the 13^th minute. Slough lost possession on half-way, and McEachran threaded the ball for Joe Iaciofano to go clear and smash a shot across the face of the corner into the far corner for his 9^th league goal of the season.

The lead only lasted 6 minutes though. There didn’t appear to be an immediate danger as Slough had possession on the left-hand side of the field, but the ball was laid back to Grant who whipped in a terrific cross to the near post and Alfonso Tenkoni’s bullet header gave Dudzinski no chance. The Slough striker was indeed wearing the number 10 shirt !

The game then became end-to-end for the rest of the half. MaEachran produced a lovely defence splitting ball to give Lewis Coyle a run on goal, but his shot was blocked by the legs of Edegbe, and the linesman’s flag was raised anyway. A minute later a teasing low cross from the left was well gathered low down by Edegbe, and then almost immediately Tenkoni and Worsfold linked up for Slough, with Worsfold shooting side-footed from the edge of the area but the ball rebounded back from the base of the post. Worsfold could politely be described as “stocky”, although one wag in the crowd remarked that had obviously had too much turkey at Christmas.

In the 31^st minute, Slough’s Scott Davies had a shot blocked, and on the counter-attack Coyle forced a flying one handed safe from the Slough custodian, and although Benyon was first to the loose ball, he chipped lamely into the Edegbe’s arms with several team-mates calling for the pass.

The ball was soon down the other end of the pitch. Slough fizzed a corner across the 6 yard box but no-one could get onto the end of it, and a minute later, Worsfold played a great ball in from the left but Tenkoni’s close range effort was superbly blocked by the City keeper. The sizeable contingent of Slough fans were in good voice.

The light drizzled reappeared as Benyon broke clear in the 38^th minute, but frustratingly for the home supporters the referee halted play for a head injury to Tenkoni, who was also in the wars on the stroke of half-time was he was smacked in the face at close range by a clearance

In-between these injuries, Oxford City regained the lead with an amazing goal. Slough keeper Edegbe’s clearance was poor and went straight to Elliot Benyon just inside the Slough half, who looked up a sent a first time effort over the stranded keeper’s head and into the top corner.

City probably just about deserved their 2-1 lead at half-time, but it had been a cracking half and top-class entertainment.

Slough make a determined start to the second half, with Kuhl much more prominent than he had been in the first period, immediately sending a long range shot skidding narrowly past the post, and then he made a strong run down the right wing before being flattened by left back Harmon. The free-kick came to nothing though.

On 50 minutes, Tenkoni charged down Asare’s attempted clearance, but was unable to capitalise as centre back Jack Davies made a super sliding tackle to concede a corner.

Oxford City held firm under the spell of pressure, and with 61 minutes on the clock, McEachran robbed Hunt of possession close to half-way and Ashby played Iaciofano down the left. The city forward cut the ball back to Coyle, who was again denied by another one handed save by Edegbe, and Owusu wildly sent the rebound high over the bar from 20 yards.

Iaciofano then received Harmon’s pass and jinked past Hollis, but sliced his shot well wide, before City added their third in the 72^nd minute. McEachran switched the direction of play with a superb raking cross field pass to Iaciofano who controlled the ball, drew the covering defender before playing a killer pass for Harmon to burst into the Slough and fire home for 3-1. City were rampant and Iaciofano nearly added a fourth a couple of minutes later.

Slough though grabbed a life-line with 12 minutes remaining. Davies’ free-kick sailed over Dudzinski to find Tenkoni unmarked at the back post to head into the unguarded net for his 4^th goal in just 7 appearances for The Rebels. The home side appealed for a foul on their goal-keeper but the goal stood.

With renewed belief, Slough surged forward in search of the equaliser and with three minutes remaining they had a golden opportunity. An attempt clearance fell kindly to Tenkoni inside the Oxford City area but Dudzinski made the potentially match-winning save to deny the Eton educated 18 year old. When the ball was recycled, Goodrham’s effort clipped the top of the bar from a tight angle.

Tempers became frayed as the home team attempted to wind down the clock by the corner flag, and Grant was shown a yellow card for a brutal assault on Iaciofano, who then made the most of it. In the final minute of added on time, Slough sent a corner beyond the far post, where it was headed back across goal, but Dudzinski bravely gathered.

In the end Oxford City held on to a hard fought 3-2 win but Slough came close to taking a point with Dudzinski in the City goal making some outstanding save. It was a tremendous match which was a credit to both sides.

With this victory and the Dartford vs Ebbsfleet match being postponed, Oxford City returned to the top of the National League South table. Slough slipped to 14^th.

Oxford City : Dudzinski – Owusu, Asare, Davies, Harmon – McEachran, Ashby, Carroll, Coyle ( Potter ) – Benyon, Iaciofano

Slough Town : Edegbe - Fraser, Hollis, Togwell ( Lawal ), Grant – Goodrham, Kuhl, Davies, Hunt ( Lench ) – Worsfold ( Harris ), Tenkoni

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6dwm07EsEY

 

Review : Taiwan 2021 Mulan Premier League – Round 10

December 25, 2021

Kaohsiung Sunny Bank  2-0 Taipei Bravo

Taichung Blue Whale 4-0  Taoyuan International

Hualien 0-1 Hang Yuan

Taichung Blue Whale and Hualien went into the final round level on points but with Taichung having a one goal better goal difference. With their last game to be played against winless Taoyuan International, Blue Whale were huge favourites to win the Mulan Premier League for the first time since 2019 and so it proved.

Taichung took the lead in the 16^th minute when a careless challenge on Li-chin Lai ( No 11 ) resulted in a penalty being awarded, and Maho Taneka sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot. Inter’s resistance was further broken just before half-time by two goals from Li-chin Lai. First, she smashed home from close range after her first effort had been bravely blocked by the Inter keeper, but she made no mistake from the rebound. In first half added on time Lai outpaced the Inter defence to run onto a long ball and calmly finished to make it 3-0 at the interval.

The icing on the cake was delivered 6 minutes from time, when Yu Hsuan Su ( No 10 ) ran through the middle of Inter defence to slot home, which made up for her hitting the post earlier in the second half.

Taichung were deserved champions, being the highest scorers in the league by some distance with 22 goals, and only conceded three times. Although they struggled against Hualien, Kaohsiung were the only other side who managed to avoid defeat again them. After their defeat to Hualien they looked to be almost out of the championship race, but they took advantage of the slip-ups by Hualien to claim the title.

With another blank, Inter had managed to go through the whole season without scoring a goal, and earnt just one point.

Hualien faced Hang Yuan needing to win by more goals than Taichung beat Inter, but Hang Yuan had held Hualien to a 0-0 draw earlier in the season, and had been defensively solid. Since the resumption from the Covid break, scoring goals had become a bit of a problem for Hualien, and today’s match mirrored Hualien’s game against Kaohsiung two weeks ago where they dominated possession but failed to create clear-cut chances. In the 56^th minute, Yen Ping Chen ( No 10 ) speculative left footed cross cum shot from the right sailed into the top corner after which there was no way back for Hualien.

Despite taking 4 points from Taichung, 0-1 defeats to Koahsiung and Hang Yuen, plus the 0-0 draw with Hang Yuan cost them the title. Forwards Wu Shi Ping and Tan Wen Lin, so prolific last season and before the Covid break this season, both failed to score after the resumption. Although Hualien only conceded 3 goals in their 10 matches, the lack of goals was their problem.

For Hang Yuan, it was a promising season taking 4 points from both Hualien and Taipei Bravo, but they were the only side that failed to beat Inter Taoyuan. Whilst they only conceded 11 goals, scoring just 10 themselves also tells a story.

Earlier, Kaohsiung completed their season with a 2-0 win to finish in third place, level on points with Hualien. They remarkably took the lead after only 32 seconds with Japanese midfielder Minon Wakabayashu’s glancing header from a cross from the left wing finding the far bottom corner. Taipei Bravo’s first touch of the ball was their goal-keeper picking the ball out of the net !

Lee Hsih Chen ( No 10 ) wrapped up the victory 10 minutes from time, taking advantage of some hesitancy in the Bravo defence to nip in-between the centre half and the keeper to be first onto a long ball and steer home past the stranded keeper.

For Kaohsiung it capped a remarkable turnaround from taking only 5 points from 15 league matches last season, whereas Taipei Bravo have slipped from a respectable 23 points and third place in 2020 to just 8 points from 10 games this season, with both wins coming against the back-markers Inter Taoyuan. Bravo only scored 8 goals all season, 5 of which came on the opening day win over Inter.

Real CD Espana 0-1 CD Olimpia ( att : 20,000 approx ) – 2021/2022 Honduras Apertura Play-off

 December 24, 2021

Today saw the final match of the Honduras 2021/22 Liga Salva Vida Apertura. Like many countries in Central and South America, Honduras operates an Apertura and Clausura system but unlike a few of the other countries, does not have a play-off between the two winners to determine the overall champion. Instead, two titles are awarded. However, the results over the two competitions are aggregated, with the side with the least amount of points being relegated. The three sides with the best overall record qualify for the CONCACAF league.

There are 10 sides in the Liga Nacional, who play each other home away in both the Apertura and Clausura for 18 match competitions. The top six enter the play-offs, with 3^rd vs 6^th and 4^th vs 5^th over two legs in the repechage play-off round, with the two winners proceeding to play against the top two sides in the semi-finals. The two victorious sides then face a two-legged final to identify the period champion.

The Honduras national team, currently ranked 76 by FIFA, are currently bottom of the 2022 CONCACAF World Cup qualifying group with just three draws from 8 matches, against Canada, Costa Rica and El Salvador, and so are unlikely to reach the finals in Qatar. Honduras have previously qualified three times for the World Cup Finals. In 1982, they managed to draw with hosts Spain and Northern Ireland before succumbing 0-1 to Yugoslavia. In 2010 they drew with Switzerland but lost to Spain and Chile, and in 2014 they lost all three matches, against France, Ecuador and Switzerland.

Honduran internationals to have graced the Premier League include record cap holder Maynor Figueroa ( 177 caps ) who played for Wigan and Hull City, ex-Birmingham, Wigan, Tottenham, Stoke midfielder Wilson Palacios ( 97 caps ) and ex-Wigan midfielder Roger Espinoza ( 52 caps ). Milton Nunez ( 86 caps ) made one appearance for Sunderland, defensive midfielder Hendy Thomas ( 52 caps ) played for Wigan and defender Ivan Guerrero ( 84 caps ) played for Coventry.

In the professional era since 1966, CD Olimpia have won 33 Championships, Motagua have won 17, Real Club Deportivo Espana have won 12, Marathon have won 9 but no-one else has won more than two titles. Olimpia and Motagua are both based in the capital Tegucigalpa, whereas Real Espana and Marathon come from the second city San Pedro Sula.

In the 18 game regular Apertura season Real CD Espana finished as clear leaders on 38 points, two points ahead of Vida, who play in the Caribbean coastal town of Le Ceiba. Olimpia and Motagua finished level, three points behind Real Espana, with Lobos UPN, also from the capital Tegucigalpa, and Marathon a further 8 points adrift.

In the repechage, Olimpia overturned a first leg 0-1 deficit to eliminate Marathon 3-1 on aggregate, whilst Motagua knocked out Vida 5-2 on aggregate.

In the semi-finals, Olimpia won the first leg 2-0 over Vida, and progressed to final after a narrow 1-2 loss to win 3-2 overall. In the other semi-final, Real Espana triumphed 2-0 at home over Motagua after a 1-1 away draw.

In the first leg of the final Olimpia established a potentially match winning lead for their 34^th title, by beating Real Espana 2-0 in front of a three-quarter full stadium in their 35,000 capacity Estadio Tiburcio Carias Andino. Ticket prices for the first leg ranged from the equivalent of £6 to £24.

In a game they totally dominated, and should have won by a greater margin, their match winner was international midfielder Jorge Alvarez ( 9 caps ), with a delicate flick over the advancing keeper for the opening goal in the first half, and early in the second half fired a fabulous 20 yard volley into the top corner after a corner was headed clear.

Most rounds of the regular season were played behind closed doors, but the Real Espana versus Olimpia tie in round 11 in early October was played in front of a crowd of 2,300. However, there are no restrictions for the finals, and Olimpia’s Argentinian coach Pedro Troglio ( ex Lazio and Ascoli and 21 caps including a goal against the Soviet Union in Italia 90 ) cautioned that the tie was far from over in front of a hostile crowd and on a difficult pitch, and their 34^th title and fourth in a row, was far from certain. Real were also unbeaten at home this season.

Olimpia are also known as the Lions and are the only Honduran side to have won the CONCACAF League, being successful in 1972 and 1988. Of the team that played in the first leg of the final, all were qualified to play for the Honduras national side, with 12 of them having full caps, except for defender Gaston Diaz, who won one cap for Argentina in 2011. Veteran striker Jerry Bengtson ( 63 caps ), formerly with Kazakh side Irtysh Pavlodar, New England Revolution, Iranians Persepolis amongst others, has scored 15 times so far this season and played in the 2014 World Cup Finals, as did centre-back Brayan Beckeles ( 65 caps ), who had a spell with Mexican side Necaxa.

Real Espana had their royal title appointed in 1977 by Spanish King Juan Carlos who accepted an honorary life Presidency at the club in a ceremony in San Pedro Sula. This was the first time a Spanish monarch had bestowed such an honour to any club in the Americas.

Home is the 25,000 capacity Estadio Francisco Morazon, which has a grass pitch, and their nickname is Los Aurinegros or the Gold and Blacks, after the colours they play in. The last of their 12 titles was the 2017/18 Apertura.

Their squad for the first leg was all Honduran except for Mexican striker Omar Rosas and forward Carlos Bernandez, who has 5 caps for Belize. 5 of the squad are full internationals for Honduras. However, their top scorer in the Apertura with 11 goals, Argentine Ricardo Rocca, missed the first leg through injury.

Matches between Olimpia and Real Espana are known as Clasico Moderno, or the Modern Classic, and is considered to be the most fierce of rivalries in Honduras, ahead of the San Pedro Sula or Tegucigalpa derbies. This is the fifth occasion when Olimpia have travelled to Real to win a title, having only been successful once in the previous four attempts, although they did win the most recent encounter in 2011/12.

Bet365.com made Olimpia 23/20 favourites to win the match, with Real Espana at 7/4 and the draw at 5/2. Temperature at the 19.00 kick-off local time was expected to around 24 degrees.

As expected, Olimpia announced an unchanged starting line-up from the first leg, whilst Real made two changes with the return of Rocca and Kevin Alvarez, who played for Norkopping in Sweden and has 14 caps., with Quaye and Reyes missing out.

Both sets of fans created a cracking pre-match atmosphere, with singing, drums, flag waving, letting off flares and fireworks, and the old-fashioned behaviour of throwing toilet paper onto the pitch ! It all calmed down for the singing of the national anthem though.

Olimpia striker and captain Jerry Bengtson wore a face mask for the toss-up, but also continued to wear it during the game as well. The mask did show his number ( 27 ) to help with the identification…..

The match began at a frantic pace with Real looking for an early goal. The first incident happened in the fourth minute when Olimpia right back Maldonado ( their only uncapped player ) blocked a cross with his chest and fell to the floor holding his head. When the Real player went over to show some concern, Maldonado jumped up and started to remonstrate at the bemused player. The referee gave Maldonado a stern lecture and Real took and wasted their corner.

Olimpia weathered the early storm and created the first chance of the match in the 6^th minute. Hernandez ran onto Rodriguez’s chip over the square defence and crossed low into the penalty area, but Pinto’s shot was deflected narrowly wide of the near post from 6 yards by Garcia. After the second corner in a row, Pinto sliced a volley well wide from a good position.

The pattern of the first half was soon established. Real dominating possession but their high tempo, short passing game failing to create any clear-cut chances against a solid defence and the crosses into the area invariably being just too long or headed clear by a defender, with Olimpia looking much more dangerous on the counter-attack. In the 18^th minute Real keeper Lopez made a good punch to clear a corner under pressure from Beckeles and Bengtson.

The first card of the match was shown in the 23^rd minute, the lively Vuelto, ex-Tenerife and Portland Timbers, was adjudged to have fouled Maldonado when making contact with a challenge which left him free down the left. Some referees might have allowed play to continue……

Two minutes later Olimpia keeper Menjivar dived bravely to block Benavides’ low cross into the near post and was fouled by Rosas as the Real player attempted to play the ball. In the 28^th minute Bengtson escaped his marker but his header from Rodriguez’s corner was straight at Lopez, who easily saved.

A few cans were thrown on to the pitch in the 30^th minute when Rosas appealed for handball in the Olimpia penalty area, but the referee adjudged that the first handball was by the Real player, which TV replays subsequently confirmed was the correct decision.

Four more cards followed in quick succession.  Maldonado saw yellow for a foul on Vuelto, but the referee missed his sly kick otherwise the punishment might have been stronger, and then Real’s Garcia entered the book for scything down Pineda near the half-way line. Olimpia’s Pineda then saw yellow for a foul on Rocca, and Rocca then joined him after an aerial challenge with Beckeles was deemed to worthy of a caution.

Real’s first real shot on goal came three minutes before the interval, Meija found some space just outside the Olimpia area but his curling shot was high and wide and didn’t trouble Menjivar. With the last kick of the half, Benavides’ 25 yard effort was not too far off target.

With the score 0-0 at half-time, Olimpia’s lead from the first leg was rarely jeopardised, and Real faced an uphill struggle in the second half to turn things around.

Real pressed at in the early stages of the second half, but had only two headers from Alvarez to show for it, both routine saves for Menjivar.

Real’s Mayron Flores was booked for bring down Rodriguez, after which Portillo stood up to the Real player moved his head towards to statuesque defender and then collapsed theatrically to the floor, only to be ignored by the referee. Such behaviour did make Flores laugh.

The turning point in the match came in the 58^th minutes. Alvarez found space down the right and played a cut-back to give Vuelto a shot from around 16 yards, but his goalbound effort was blocked by the sliding Beckeles. With Real exposed Hernandez released Pinto to run towards the Real area, and his unselfish pass across the face of the goal presented Bengtson with the opportunity to roll the ball into the unguarded net. Olimpia now had a 3-0 lead on aggregate with 30 minutes left to play.

There then followed a short spell of Olimpia players falling to floor after minimal contact, with perhaps the most extreme example being when Rocca ran into keeper Menjivar who collapsed holding his leg, even though the minimal contact had been to his upper body. Again. the referee told him to get up.

Olimpia nearly scored again in the 67th minute when Rodriguez drilled a low free kick from left at goal but Lopez was able to push out for a defender to hack clear to safety. As the clock ticked down, Real were increasing deflated and their fans started to stream out of the stadium. Conversely, the Olimpia supporters behind the goal were celebrating, letting of flares and fireworks.

In the closing stages, Olimpia came close to a second goal. A free-kick went through the defensive wall but bounced fractionally wide, and substitute Benguche twice sent shots from the right across the face of the goal but wide of the far post.

After 4 minutes of added time, Olimpia were able to celebrate their 34^th title. It was a disciplined, professional performance, if a tad cynical. However, over the two legs they were worthy winners, and Real lacked any cutting edge. 

However, Olimpia will not have too long to celebrate, the dates for the opening matches of the Clausura tournament have already been published, with the first games scheduled for January 15^th, 2022.

Real CD Espana : Lopez – Montes, F.Flores, M.Flores, D.Garcia – Alvarez, Meija ( M.Garcia ), Benavides, Vuelto ( Martinez ) –  Rosas, Rocca,

CD Olimpia : Menjivar – Maldonado, Garcia, Beckeles, Portillo–  Pineda, Alvarez ( Meija ), Rodriguez ( Reyes ), Pinto ( Altamirano ) – Bengtson ( Benguche ), Hernandez ( Arboleda )

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9On1EcIIuU