Rovers I Match Report

League match
Sunday	2011-08-21	14:30
Rovers I	4 (2) - 2 (2)	SC München II
Manager: John Herbert

Re: 21 August - Rovers I vs. SC Muenchen II & Rovers II vs. BSC Sendling Muenchen II
August 22, 2011, 08:24:33 AM by Geoff

Davide

Basti Paul Pete

Greg Dave B Geoff Darren Alexi

John McG Richy

Initial subs: Alex G, Flo

The hottest day of the year wasn't the best of times to be restarting the season, but fortunately, someone had decided to introduce rolling subs last year - just right for 30?+.

The opposition was an unknown quantity, but they started well enough, capitalising on some ping pong around the box after a corner to smash home the opener after 15 minutes. It was a day not be chasing long balls, and after now officially being classed an astroturf team, a return to the natural stuff took a little getting used to for some.

We didn't have to wait long for an equaliser, though, as Alex whipped in a decent corner and Dave 'hang-time' Bushell nodded home from 6 yards. Having started reasonably well, SC lost their way a little and the Rovers took the lead: Sach firing a knock-down against the post, McGrath in the right place at the right time (divine intervention?) to nod the rebound home.

Just as it seemed that the half-time break from the sauna would be enjoyed in the lead, SC cut through a slightly porous looking back line and stroked home. 2-2 at the interval.

As the second half settled down, the pace of the game started to resemble a testimonial/AH game - it was an ideal time to practice simple possession football. This seemed to work fairly well in the centre circle, but the switch from there to further forward often broke down. Improvement needed. No matter, though: after one dangerous looking 'sighter' (dangerous looking back-pass), Geoff picked up the ball 40 yards out. It was then that he heard a quiet whispering voice: "I saw something," and so he did, stroking the ball just above the keeper and into the top corner.

SC began to exert some pressure on the Rovers defence, which stood solid for the most part and limited them to chucking balls into the box without really creating much. Alex G's pace on the break was now proving dangerous and after wriggling away down the left, he cut into the box. With everyone expecting a square ball, he squeezed it home between the keeper and the near post. Nice finish and with only 10 minutes to go, the Rovers saw out the game in relative comfort for a solid opening win.