December 11, 2021
Taoyuan International 0-0 Hang Yuan
Taichung Blue Whale 2-0 Taipei Bravo
Hualien 0-1 Kaohsiung Sunny Bank
After originally announcing fixtures to be played in midweek in order to
finish the season by December 11th, the Taiwan FA had a change of
heart and went back to playing each round on Saturdays, with the season now
scheduled to finish on Christmas Day !
Round 7 had seen Hualien extend their lead at the top of the table after
recording a straightforward 3-0 home win over pointless Taoyuan whilst Taichung
Blue Whale conceded an injury time equaliser to Kaohsiung to drop two important
points. In the other match Hang Yuan beat Taipei Bravo 2-1 to swop places.
The first match of round 8 saw Inter pick-up their first point of
the season, but they remain without having scored a goal in their 8 games, and
frankly, never looked like breaking their duck here. Hang Yuan’s
strength this season has been their defence and playing on the counter attack.
Excluding their 5-0 victory over Inter in the reverse fixture, had only scored
4 goals in their other 6 games.
Needing to force the pace, Hang Yuan struggled to breakdown the massed Inter
defence and the sound handling of keeper Fang Yi Chu. All of Hang Yuan’s best
chances fell to Yen-Ping Chen ( No 10 ) but a combination of a lack of
composure, wayward finishing and one good save kept the game scoreless.
Taichung Blue Whale got back on track with a 2-0 win over disappointing Taipei Bravo
thanks to two first half goals.
Taichung’s Wei Ju Lei ( No 4 ) struck the crossbar from close range
early on and Bravo’s Ling Hsieh ( No 17 ) did likewise in the 25th minute
with a free-kick. However, the first goal arrived in the 31st minute
when a delightful left wing cross by Chi-lan Chang was skillfully flicked over
the keeper by Li-chin Lai with the outside of her foot.
Blue Whale doubled their lead 4 minutes before the interval when influential
Japanese midfielder Maho Taneka ( No 14 ) beat two defenders on the edge of the
Bravo penalty area, and then sent a curling left-footed shot into the bottom corner
of the net giving Bravo keeper Wang no chance.
Taichung cruised to victory in the second half and could have won by
more. Yu Hsian Su ( No 10 ) had a shot well saved and Ching Yun Nien ( No 9 )
hit the bar with a long range shot.
After taking a point from Taichung last week, Kaohsiung again had
an impact on the title race with a surprise 1-0 win at leaders and champions Hualien.
In a game of precious little goalmouth action, Kaohsiung struck 9 minutes from
time when Japanese midfielder Minon Wakabayashu ( No 14 ) timed her run
perfectly to meet Ya Hen Hang’s ( No 21 ) corner to head home the winner from 6
yards. This shock result leaves Hualien and Taichung level on points with 2 matches
left to play, with Kaohsiung not totally out of the picture three points
behind.
Finally, a big thank you to the Taiwan Mulan Football League for
providing a brochure of the season including the names of the players in each
squad in English !
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