Season 88 - Are you ready?

[talisman]

Two matches again for Desert Rats FC today, the first a Cup Quarter-Final 1st Leg away, for the first time this season meeting a team almost at parity Quality-wise. The Management thought hard and long before putting up a 4-1-4-1 formation with defensive mentality, long passing and counter against 4-3N-3. The defence was battered for most of the match, 'keeper Bismark Carroll producing a Man-of-the-Match performance and keeping a clean sheet. DMC Peter Kingdon produced the only goal of the match in the 22nd minute, unleashing a piledriver from 30 yards. The Rats will take a slender 1-0 lead to the 2nd Leg in two days' time.

The evening League match saw the Rats pitted at home to the 7th place team, and striker Julien Renard had a match to remember. The hosts were 2-0 up in 20 minutes, Renard producing two assists, the first in open play for Ireneusz Jezierski and the second a corner which dropped onto the head of Glenn Seynaeve at the far post. The visitors pulled a goal back from a free-kick just after the half-hour, but Renard continued to terrorise the defence, creating numerous openings but the final touch was lacking. Emerson de Alencar Arraes slotted home a Seynaeve corner in the 58th minute to put the home side two goals up, and this score prevailed until the final whistle, Desert Rats winning 3-1 and maintaining their lead at the top of the League.