Our season officially starts here…
Saturday 29th October 2016 saw GAS take on a well established, organized and gritty Siam Celtic whom finished second in last years Bangkok Casuals campaign and wow, what a game this was!
The self described, in-experienced coach David Lush took a different approach to this match knowing that nothing less than a win was acceptable. The build up approach was different, the formation was different, the tactics were different, the vibe around the camp leading to the game was different, we were even told a story before the game and all this lead to what can only be described as a fantastic, solid all round performance proving we are more than a match for anyone in this league.
Starting with a 4-4-2 instead of a 4-4-1-1 saw Craig move in center midfield being tasked with marking his opposite number and Captain Carl ‘in my pocket’ Turner instructed to do the same. Not only did the Captain prevent arguably their best player from scoring but he completely dominated the striker and put in one of the finest defensive performances ever witnessed in the Casuals league.
The first 15-20 minutes GAS were unstoppable. The determination, the grit, the hunger, the talking, the movement and most importantly the finishing was phenomenal. We pressured as a team, we moved as a team, we played as a team and following an own goal from the Celtic right back new signing Freeboy, seemingly playing with a point to prove again curled into the top right corner with the outside of the boot to go down as a serious goal of the season contender. Thoroughly deserved.
2-0 GAS – HT.
Second half inevitably saw Celtic gradually come back into the game. Throwing everything they could at us to get back into the match, however, the GAS defence stood strong, deterred all attacks which included Gerd ‘Neur’ Baur pulling off some fine saves of his own contributing to an all round classy defensive performance.
We have not had the strongest start to the season though we have all kept confidence in one another and had great support from the faithful as well as injured players taking time out their day to come and support and for that we are very grateful. We believe our season has now officially started and with the season being one of the most open in recent years, we still believe!
Watch this space…