Season 77 - Week 4

[ponzu]

Orange Roughies continued to roll, even if there appeared a few bumps in the road

Win 31: Home League match, 6-0. Playing the last place team, and with manager being otherwise engaged, the team had an easy and enjoyable time of it. AMR Willemse scored four and took over the top scorer spot in the league and the team. His forward line partner AML Orue scored two and assisted on one. STs again stayed quiet and overall have not looked anywhere like the first half of the season.

Win 32: Away Cup match: 3-1. Playing a strong league rival, we built on a solid 1-0 home leg performance and went on an all-out attack. ST Monasterski scored all three goals, including a PK, thus stoking the rumors that some players are better suited for some competitions than others.

Win 33: Away CL Match: 2-0. Matched up against another top 5 league rival, we put on a good show on their turf. ST Monasterski stayed hot with an early goal, followed by an unfortunate injury. AML Orue scored in the 90th minute from a CK served by the versatile GK Dudic to sweeten the victory.

Win 34: Away League Match: 2-1. Our coaching staff pored over the videos of the first match against this low rated opponent, where we had just barely eked out a 3-2 win. There was no consensus as to the best way to shore up our formation or tactics. The manager asked for the top win bonus for the squad, but the finance office signed off only on a 50% figure noting that the opposition is stuck in the next to last spot in the league table with only 3 wins and 2 draws to their name. Surely we would steamroll them, the finance chief shrugged. Still, the opposition struck the first blow, and we had to rethink our formation and orders in a hurry, replacing a fourth defender with an extra attacker (AML Orue) and moving the versatile Coronel to the center spot. Attacking with vigor we just managed to tie the score in the 68th minute thanks to AMR Willemse's finishing touch. When the loss of two points became a distinct possibility, and with the manager shooting daggers at the finance, AMC Coronel scored a long awaited winner in the 86th minute, when the fast progressing young Dutch DC Floris van der Plus led him with a brilliant pass.

With the club's coffers flush with cash, it has been proposed to go with the full win bonus for the rest of the season (or until the title is clinched), no matter how easy the upcoming game looks on paper.