Season 88 - Are you ready?

[talisman]

Desert Rats FC faced a determined side in their Cup Round of 16 2nd Leg match at home this morning, the 1st leg having ended in a 1-1 draw. Having made a couple of cameo appearances in the preceding two matches, new defender Stefan Lazar was handed his full debut as the Management tried to field a defence which would match the opponents' midfield and forward lines for Quality. After an early exchange of bookings and free-kicks, the match settled down to a bit of an attack-fest, both sides looking for the break which would hopefully seal the tie. Lazar provided the home side's first bit of flair, collecting the ball near the halfway line and weaving his way through the visitors defence before sliding the ball past the 'keeper at close range to give the Rats the lead in the match and the aggregate score. Ten minutes later, the visitors lost one of their three defenders to a second yellow card, but this only spurred them to more effort to find an equaliser.

Into the second half, and the match was still in the balance until the 85th minute, when a second defender was shown a second yellow card, and the hosts scented blood. Gary Cusack made an unaccustomed run down the right wing and in the absence of any effective cover, fired into the net from just outside the box to make the match safe. Desert Rats win 2-0, and progress to the Quarter-Finals 3-1 on aggregate.