by Michael
The first Sunday of the month and as usual this is Vets Tournament time. Due to the long weekend the squad was not as large as wished and expected – and unfortunately there was no striker available – so the tactics were clear from the beginning “Offence wins games, Defence wins Championships” or should we say – there was simply no other choice for us than to try a more defensive set-up. As we had a couple of youngsters available, we could also not qualify for the extra-goal in advance for a team consisting only of players that are 45 years up. EG and the organizers were not willing to change this rule to an extra-goal for teams were the majority of players is 90 kgs and more – so also this did not work for us.
First game, hard and close fight with our friends from the Bangkok Immigrants – final result – goal-less draw. Second and third game brought similar fights and we even scored the first time but two unlucky losses were the final results – 0:1 and 1:2. After the second game we also lost our Spanish steam engine Ivan due to an injury – get well soon, Buddy!
Last game of the group phase – a win and we would go to the plate semi-finals – a lost game and we would end up in the Badminton-cup game. Opponent – JFC Penguins – one of the four Japanese Teams on that weekend. We played well, had our chances – not only one – but due to one single mistake in the defense the Penguins scored close to the final whistle – 0:1 and we were on our way to compete for the 9th place.
Target was clear – in each tournament this year we won silverware or a coupon at least. So we were confident that we we will this final game. As the heat was getting worse and worse and we had a longer break, we decided to motivate ourselves with some ice-cold liquid bread. Smiles from our opponents, another Japanese Team BU Japan Samurai, who were confident that this preparation might help them more than us.
17 mins to go …. Quick start for our team – Andre who just arrived the day earlier from Germany scored for GAS. The Japanese started one try after the other to equalize, but we managed to block all their shots. Despite the heavy attacks Alex managed to get upfront and scored our second goal. But still the game was not won – the last minutes were a close game again – final whistle – 2:0 and we kept our series alive. No silverware but again a coupon for some drinks.
As usual the day ended with a couple of beers – Kudos to our brewmaster Dirk who managed to fix the beer pump and secured that all teams get their liquid rewards after a long and hot Sunday afternoon.
We look forward to our upcoming Easter Tournament where we will start with a 35+ Team as well as with a 45+ Team – also here we not yet have the + 90 kg competition.