A warm start to October

As the First Team walked down Avenue Rd, to visit our neighbours De La Salle College, the warm sunshine of A Day seemed as a distant dream, compared to the rude awakening with which a cold, damp October announced itself. Despite the sincerity of our efforts, it took a while for the Blues to find our rhythm and for much of the first half, the hosts, led by their skillful #10, were the better passing team. Neither team however was able to muster much of a threat on either goal.

That changed dramatically in the 40^th minute, after Mark Yatchew, playing in midfield, found skipper PJ Bujouves with an excellent pass. PJ, with his back to the opposition, and from a tight angle, swiftly turned on the ball and instinctively struck it hard and low past the keeper. This put some warmth in our legs and cleared our heads. For the rest of the first half, and for the beginning of the second, the Blues played with more purpose and vision.

Our right flank was particularly effective and in the 46^th minute, Andrea Tutino, carrying the ball tightly against that sideline, spotted the De La Salle keeper ever-so-slightly out of position. It was the only mistake that impressive keeper made all game. The Blues bench had a splendid view of the curling trajectory of Tutino’s shot as it arched, perfectly weighted and positioned, over the defense and the keeper and into the top, far corner of the net. Both teams responded and the pace of the game quickened. The keepers at both ends were kept busy and both were forced to make difficult saves. After 90 minutes however, the score-line held: UCC 2 – De La Salle 0.

Man of the Match: Sweeper Daniel Cooper. Honourable mentions go to the rest of our defense: Jeremy Zhang, Theo Heintzman, Reid Gledhill, Amen Ashebir and Aryan Pasricha (crossbar!).