Opponents take on reversed roles

Today FC Bristbury played two matches, and neither of which went as expected.

The first was a League match against bottom half team Sabangau FC, who are an average quality of 20.5 to my 31.6. This did reflect quite accurately their match average. They were playing what I interpreted to be a 4-5-1 V and 3-5-2 V hybrid - they had a back row of 4 and then the normal V shape, however instead of an AMR they had an extra striker. In honesty I don't really know how it should be interpreted for the purposes of countering. but anyway, I normally counter 4-5-1V with 4-4-2 classic, which is my normal formation anyway so I decided to stick with it. Nothing really happened until 26 minutes in when we took the lead with a goal from Adriano Lourenco, but then they equalised in the 39th minute. We were at loggerheads from then until the end of the match apart from a brief spell after half-time when we managed to score the winning goal. End result a win, and the players proved that they can make the most of the chances they get, but still slightly disappointing. However, due to a 1-1 draw for the League leaders, we are now equal on points and only trail them by 2 on goal difference. I can forsee FC Bristbury gaining the lead in the League in the next few days.

Our second match of the day was against Ismail FC who we drew against 2-2 when we played them away 2 days ago. Then it was 4-4-2 vs. 4-4-2, and toady he had changed a striker for an AMC. FC Bristbury played the 4-4-2 classic again, but with altered orders and slightly different players. And it looked very much like we were headed for a clean sheet when we were 4-0 up at 79 minutes. But in the 80th minute they managed to score a consolation goal, despite the best efforts of our defenders. Special mention should go to one of our strikers Jake Thompson who assisted 3 of the our 4 goals and scored the other one in this match. He has been deservedly rewarded with the Man of the Match reward and a match off. Also to centre and right back Jonny Wheeler who celebrated his 133rd appearance for the club today, and looks set to get that to at least 200 before he retires. This is his 4th season with us - he joined as an 18 year old at the beginning of season 1 and has stuck ever since - and he will definitely get a full 5th season if not a 6th as well.

Finally, this win in the Champions League today pretty much guarantees that FC Bristbury will take a spot in the knockout rounds - we are leading the group with 10 points - second are on 5 and 3rd on 4. Realistically although both could finish above me, 3rd would have to do so on goal difference, and they are currently on -16 compared to FC Bristbury's +16.