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THUGS!
Brawl turns Ibanez into pariah
Starblaydia Vs Sarzonia is fast becoming one of the sporting rivalries in the world today (while others would say the two nations are fast becoming rivals in other, more 'important' aspects), as proven by today's AOCAF Group Match in Bettia.
Francisco Ibanez, Starblaydia's 20 year-old Right-Back, was first the hero then quickly the villain of the show as he both scored Starblaydia's opener and was the first of five first-half sendings-off. First, the goal: With Starblaydia encamped around the Stars' penalty area just past the 10-minute mark, the Starblaydi team were finding it difficult to break through the determined Sarzonian defence. A square ball out wide from Aquilera was seized upon by Ibanez, who jinked past an oncmoing tackler - Joseph Simms - before firing into the top left corner of the net.
Things got better before they got worse for Starblaydia, Raul Diaz-Arca making the most of a defence-splitting through-ball from Lazaro Rivera, slotting the ball past Tolliver with a flick from the outside of his right boot. With just twenty minutes played and two goals up, Starblaydia were looking like automatic Group Winners. Then, however, Paulo Bachchan's apprentice managed to live up to the great (depending on your point of view, of course) man.
With the play switched to the opposite side, Ibanez suddenly lashed out at Sarzonian Captain Ettore Salivani, hacking down the Pacitalian-born player at the knee while the ball was a good thirty or forty yards away. The referee, having only had half an eye on the situation, showed Ibanez a yellow card. Salivani, however, made the 'give him a card' gesture, something which incenses Starblaydis at the best of times, and this was perhaps the worst. Ibanez promtly swung a fist at Salivani, catching him fairly and squarely on the side of the mouth.
What followed then was complete and utter chaos, which lasted for over ten minutes. Before the referee had even managed to get his red card out, Sarzonian players had already begun shoving and swinging at Ibanez. White-clad Starblaydis quickly intervened, but not before the Sarzonian Head Coach had rugby-tackled Ibanez, half his age, to the ground.
Quite rightly, Hancock was sent off along with two of his players, though Augusto Diaz also received his marching orders after an assault on the first thing in a navy shirt he could get his hands on. After the teams had settled down, somewhat, a whole raft of 'tactical' substitutions were made - particularly in Starblaydia's case thanks to their Right-Midfielder and -Back leaving the field. Dane Jaeger came on for Justin Hawke, giving Starblaydia a back-three-plus sweeper combinaton, while Christian Macia was brought off for Georges Blanc. Starblaydia's new 1-3-3-1 formation didn't, however, manage to hold its own with the Sarzonian nine-man team either.
On the stroke of 40 minutes played, Christy Cartwright (sounds like a porn star) scored Sarzonia's first goal, dragging them back into the match while deflating Starblaydia. So furious was the match by this point that the referee ignored the fourth official's suggestion of 6 minutes of added time, blowing the whistle actually a few seconds before the 45th minute was up and half-time was due.
The second half didn't get much better as Sarzonia had scored again within 180 seconds, Brian Williams netting the qualiser. Starblaydia soon brought on veteran striker Michalis Mitrofanis to replace Diaz-Arca, hoping that the Nemyan's vision and footballing brain would aid the cause of the men in white. It can be said that this move was successful, as Sarzonia didn't socre for the remainder of the match. The fact the Mitrofanis didn't score either, however, meant that the match ended 2-2 - though with another fight in the tunnel. It's unclear as to who won that one, though. A score draw, maybe.
Sarzonia 2 - 2 Starblaydia
(Cartwright 40, Williams 48) - (Ibanez 11, Diaz-Arca 19) |
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SAINTS DON'T FIGHT AGAINST HOCKEY CANADA
The Pastorville Saints' stay in their first AOCAF tournament did not last long at all, and left the team with some demons to chase off before CoH XVII in their ally Praying2God's nation. The Saints defense has yet to be found, as Hockey Canada routed the Saints 0-4 to eliminate the Saints from any remote possibility of qualifying. The Saints hope to find their defense in Chacor, where they will play their final match of AOCAF XI. This has certainly been a learning experience for the Saints, and hopefully their lessons will come to bear fruit in WX XXVI, if not CoH XVII. |
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AOCAF XI
Chacor Shocker
Hypocria 2 - 2 Chacor
Marshall
Shirko
A win against Chacor would have paved the way into the next round quite nicely but a shocking error from the Hyppos defence in the dying minutes gifted their opponents an equaliser that ensured that Group 3 wouldn’t be decided until the final round of games.
The defensive lapse that enabled Chacor’s big centre back to rise unmarked and power a header past Kindelan from a corner for the match’s opener proved to be a sign of things to come. A nice individual effort from Ashley Marshall brought the scores level. The Partizan Drissa winger cut in from the right flank, beat a defender and then the goal keeper with a curling effort. And when Shirko finished off a flowing move with a low drive past the keeper Hyppos fans were confident their side would progress from the group for the third time in three tournaments. But with time running out Golla played a loose back pass, an attacker latched on to it and beat the advancing Kindelan with ease.
Vilita’s superior goal difference keeps the Jungle Cats top of the group after a 1 - 1 draw with Krytenia and in the other match Pastorville’s defence went missing once more as the Saints shipped four more goals, this time to the Canucks of Hockey Canada.
With one match to go Vilita and Hypocria are level at the top with 8 points each. Krytenia and Chacor are both 3 points behind. Conceivably all four teams could finish the group stage on level points. Basically Vilita and Hypocria both need a point to guarantee a place in the next round. Vilita’s superior goal difference and an easier fixture, against already eliminated Hockey Canada, makes the Jungle Cats favourite to win the group. Hypocria have a much tricky match against Krytenia who need to at least equal Chacor’s result to qualify. Then there’s goal difference to watch out for and with Chacor up against a very generous Pastorville defence, that has conceded 15 goals in 4 matches, anything could happen.
Matchday 4 Roundup
Group 1
One match to go and it’s still all to play for in Group 1 with just 2 points separating the top four sides. Hosts Bettia lead the way on 9 points after a 2 - 1 win over Falcania but Druida are just a point behind after finishing 1 - 1 with Turori who themselves are still right in the frame with 7 points to their name. Bedistan too are in the mix after their 2 - 1 win over Oliverry moved the Lions level with Turori. And the final day fixtures? Well naturally Bettia face Druida and Bedistan take on Turori in what will be a thrilling final day in Group 1. Oliverry’s haul of 3 points means they are no longer in contention and Falcania are pointless but you probably knew that already.
Group 2
The champions are still top but are making slow progress after a second draw in succession, this time 2 - 2 with Sarzonia. Lamoni again took advantage with a 2 - 0 victory over Nojika to move just a point behind Starblaydia. Andossa Se Mitrin Vega finally got a point after holding the Lowland Clans to a 1 - 1 stalemate but it was too little too late for the Sea Dragons who are eliminated. With a match against the Clansmen up next the Purple Peril look favourites to win the group. Lamoni and Sarzonia face each other in a huge game. Draws have been plentiful in Group 2 and Nojika could well sneak into the second round if the Hawks and Stars cancel each other out on the final day.
Group 4
Group 4 is much more straight forward. Nedalia have won the group despite still having a match to play and Milchama, who don’t play, have already secured second place. The only question is who will join them. Crystilakere currently occupy third place on 3 points but are only ahead of Fmjphoenix on goal difference. Spruitland have a single point but still could take third with a win over the Crystils and a Nedalian victory over Fmjphoenix. Simple really. |
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A Point Is A Point!!!
ASMV finally achieved a point today against TLC. And while the squad is officially eliminated, spirits are soaring. "This is a huge accomplishment for us!" said Carrie Sessom, who once again scored the only goal(83rd minute) for ASMV.
Now the Sea Dragons have their sights set on Nojika. Nothing would make the squad, and country, happier than spoiling hopes for that team right now. |
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We're looking good!
The Hawks stuck it to the Nojikan squad with a 2-0 victory, moving Lamoni to second place in group two; and putting them a single point behind group leaders Starblaydia. The two Lamonian goals came from Boldman at 29 minutes, and Boyd at 53 minutes. The same Lamonian defense (backed up by superb goaltending) that held off ASMV again stood their ground and utterly denied the Nojikans even a glimmer of hope in the match.
The Lamonian players later watched the Nojikan coach's post match remarks; and you could hear the laughter as the team all but rolled around on the ground while laughing.
The Hawks face Sarzonia next, and this match will determine whether Lamoni, Sarzonia, or Nojika can lay a secure claim to the second and third place spots. Although, the group is tight enough that a Lamonian win coupled with either a Starblaydi loss or draw would securely land the Hawks in first place. Results can also go for any of the other three top four teams in the group, of course; but all of Lamoni will be cheering the Hawks on in their match against the same Sarzonians that the Starblaydis claimed were 'boring.' Who will advance to the next round? We shall have to wait and see.
Lamoni - 2 Boldman (29), Boyd (53)
Nojika - 0 (none) |
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GRAHAM CITY SUN - Sports Section
Draws abound, failure to beat ASMV kills chance to qualify
BETTIA - While not mathematically eliminated, the Stars are once again unofficially eliminated from the AOCAF XI. While we would have to beat Starblaydia, win by at least two goals ("Hey you, stop laughing back there!") and have ASMV and Lamoni both defeat their opponents. So yeah, read between the lines, and you can guess the results. If there's anything in our history as a footballing nation, it's this: wedon't win jack freaking squat. Even when we're in the top ten in the world, we don't win jack-freaking-squat.
Anyways, We should actually be quite please with a tie against Sarzonia, one of the best teams in the world, by anybodies damned record. Our team, beginning to get marginally better under Westley Stjepan. With rumors about Dauna Hills being withdrawn in favor of our team at the Cup of Harmony, this could be the chance for our team to shine. But once again, we fail where we should succeed. After a blown goal by Dylan Hughes, ASMV had it's fair share of ball posession. After the game, center back Carson Lindsay said this, "Listen, we bloody well should have won that game, but we played like -explicitive removed-e and we gave it away. Now we just have to play our hardest against the Blades and hope things turn out all right."
THE LOWLAND CLANS - 1
Blythe (52nd)
ANDOSSA SE MITRIN VEGA - 1
Sessom (83rd) |
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Ibanez: The Whole Story
Starblaydia's bad boy gives exclusive interview
By 'Scoop' Rangarsson
It's with some trepidation that I entered the hotel room to sit down and chat with Francisco Ibanez, the latest flash point for a long and increasingly bitter Sarzo-Starblaydi feud. What I find is a smiling young man, dressed in a kind of smart-casual hoodie and tracksuit combination. 'Ask me anything,' he'd said on the phone, 'but I think I know what you'll wanna know.'
Not like that's a piece of telepathy, or anything, as thanks to the huge brawl on Matchday Four, 'Cisco Ibanez found himself with a yellow and then a straight red card within twenty-five minutes, despite having got on the scoresheet just after the tenth minute.
'The only thing I'm not proud of is when that bastard [Ettore Salivani] kicked me in the nuts - that's just pathetic. Fair play to his coach, though, that was a good tackle.' But what, I asked, caused it in the first place? Why did he suddenly hack down the Sarzonian Captain in open play?
'I asked him if the match was exciting enough for him yet, as they were two-nil down. He said something about that it was exciting to win something outside of AO, which we supposedly hadn't ever done. So I said "This is for the fourteenth Under-21 Cup and the Second Four Nations Inviational, as well as the Daii in the Champions' League." Three football things, we've won outside the region. So I took him down.'
Makes sense, really, when you think about it. But did he really have to punch Salivani?
'Of course I bloody did, the gaffer [former Lepus FC coach Paulo Bachchan] would have cuffed me ear if I hadn't. Asking for another player to get a card of either colour, especially a red one, is just really low. I mean, you can call something you think is a foul to the referee's attention, but I - and most Starblaydi players - find asking for a card to be about the lowest thing you can do in a football match. So I chinned him.'
We've all seen the brawl they had during and after the game, in fact it was almost like a football match broke out during the fight. It also resulted in Augusto Diaz being sent off for Starblaydia, along with two Sarzonian players and their Head Coach.
'Me an' Gus [Augusto Diaz] hang out together when we're not playing in the Spruitland League - we're good mates, so I wasn't surprised to see him defending me. I think I even saw Ossy [Oswald Perheira of Veger United] throw a left hook or two when the guys on the bench started a bit of a barney. He was in the thick of it in the tunnel, too.'
The impression you get from Ibanez is that he's a young, confident man. Yes, he has his somewhat agressive tendencies, but in Starblaydia we like our players to be hard but fair. Play hard, tough, and agressive, by all means, just don't cheat. He freely admits to losing his temper more often than is necessary, but when you're plucked from the toughest streets of Jhanna and put into a football team it's not too difficult to see why he chins arrogant Sarzo-Pacitalian bastards. Admittedly, the World Cup Triple-Crown is an excellent achievement, but the only reason the World Cup 'belongs' in Sarzonia is because it'll be in Atlantian Oceania.
And, to be fair to both sides (kinda)
Starblaydia's Sporting Honours:
Football:
4x AOCAF Titles (joint-record)
1x Under-21 World Cup
1x Four Nations' Invitational
1x NS Champions' League
Ice Hockey:
4x Cherry Cups (record)
Sarzonia's Sporting Honours:
Football:
1x World Cup
1x Cup of Harmony
1x Baptism of Fire
Other:
Baseball/American Football, maybe? But really, who cares about sports like that? |
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The Nedalia Lions
Yep, We Got Screwed
You glide through the group stages, you win in style, your defence does its job, and you even gloat about your qualification on the AO NS site....and the reward? Either Turori or Sarzonia. Superb.
Thats the fate that awaits the Lions after going undefeated in the Group stages of the most prestigious regional tournament around, and qualifying as the leaders of Group 4. The Lions have faced both teams before, with all the matches against coming in previous AOCAF tournaments. Against Turori, Andrew Blod (currently with the main squad in the CoH) who gave the Lions a 1-0 in the AOCAF IX quarter-finals. Against Sarzonia, one would have to go back to AOCAF VIII to witness the 3-1 loss the Lions experienced against the Stars, with badboy Mattan scoring their only goal.
This time around, Nedalia has a core that seems to know whats its doing, with the defence pretty much doing what it needed to win games. The offense has been flowing steady as well, with 11 goals in 4 games during the group stages. Bader Tayarra, who happens to be based in Bettia, has felt right at home, banging in 3 goals in those 4 games. Hrjove Brando of Honsfield Athletic hit that brace against Spruitland, and the midfield has provided the rest of the goals.
But now, the competition has taken a step up. The Stars drew against Starblaydia, despite the fight that couldve been sold on PPV, and Turori are not exactly the easiest team to match up against. The 2nd Round matchup do provide exciting matchups other than Turori vs. Sarzonia, with Lamoni facing Nedalia's northern neighbors Krytenia in the most intense matchup of the rest. Hypocria will face Crystilakere, a team the Lions defeated 2-1 in the group stages, and Milchama, who fell 3-0 infront of the Lions, will face host and our dear friends Bettia. Thousands of Nedalians are expected to attend that match to cheer their eastern neighbors on in Nedalia's home away from home, Akani Sands.
[Edit: the (Sarzonian) Stars drew to Starblaydia - Star |
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Emperor in Training |
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SAINTS END CHACOR'S CHANCES WITH DRAW
In a stunning turn of events, the Pastorville Saints proved to be the spoilers of Chacor's chance to qualify in AOCAF XI. The Saints apparently located their defense just long enough to earn a 1-1 draw. Reverend Harris scored the equalizer in the 59th minute, and then the Saints hung on for dear life. Just before the match ended, scores trickled in from the other Group 3 matches, so Chacor knew they needed to win. They promptly redoubled their efforts, but Reverend Smith finally proved to be up to the task in the net. The Saints will now focus on trying to regain some momentum in CoH XVII before WC XXVI commences. |
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It all ends in tears for Falcania. Not necessarily theirs.
For the first time in this competition, Falcania has won a match. The other 5 were lost, including yesterdays match which was not publicised in honour of the millions of fans who committed suicide shortly afterwards.
Finally, Falcania bounced back into action with a magnificent victory against Oliverry.
The classic starting lineup lined up, knowing full well that the outcome of this match could go one of two ways: loss, resulting in eternal shame; or victory, resulting in redemption. Morale had been replaced with desperation, which was the perfect recipe for an exciting match, especially noting the Falcon's tendency to literally fight their way out of a predicament.
Oliverry had a poor start, being denied every attempt on goal that came their way. Papadolambakis had fully recovered from his broken nose and slid through the Oliverry striker, resulting in a skilful through ball to wunderkind Miller, who annihilated the goalie. At half-time the outlook was looking good.
Midfielder Jonny Mayhew scored the second controversial goal by sprinting ahead of Miller, who smacked the ball into the box, only to be recieved by Mayhew who punched the goalie in the face and scored when the ref wasn't looking. The referee allowed the goal and let the punch go unpunished.
The Oliverrian players responded in kind, resulting in a fight which erupted into a small war when the fans, coaches and even the linesmen entered. The referee blew the 90 minutes whistle 15 minutes later after fly-kicking Jake Papas in the head.
The match was officially declared abandoned after every player recieved a red card, but Bettian officials say the points count anyway.
Although this tournament was a fiasco for the Falcons, it can definitely be said they went out with a bang.
Final scores:
Falcania 2 (Miller 38:52; Mayhew 74:21)
Oliverry 0
This post has been edited by Falcania on Dec 2 2005, 12:02 PM |
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Winging It Since 2004 |
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Stars, Hawks close out first stage
Ceffinton, BETTIA (ASP) -- After a brawl between the Sarzonian and Starblaydi national teams led to the send offs of two Stars players and head coach Brett Hancock, assistant coach Geoff Blaine found himself having to piece together a starting 11 with forward Kyle Mason and midfielder Peter Green sitting out due to red cards during the match. Defender Ettore Salivani also sat for "disciplinary reasons," according to Blaine, for his attack of Starblaydi defender Francisco Ibanez after the match.
That left defender George Conway wearing the captain's armband for the match with Lamoni, a fixture which saw Sarzonia play in Heol Angharyd in front of mostly their supporters interspliced with some Bettian neutrals. When Incorporated Football Federation Chairman Terry Mangione inquired why the Bettian supporters took the sections reserved Hawks supporters, the Bettians told him, "they're Lamoni. They can't afford the airfare or the match tickets with their crap economy."
So with that backdrop, the Stars slipped out of Ceffinton with their fourth draw in the five match group stage, 1-1 to Lamoni. The team finished one point behind Lamoni in third place in the group despite winning only their match against Andossa Se Mitrin Vega. But for the Stars, who get Hancock back for the second round matchup against Turori, they will take the draw against a Lamoni side that played surprisingly well in this tournament.
"Oh yeah," Blaine said. "When you're playing without three stalwarts of your top 11 and your coach is suspended, you'll take whatever you can get." The Stars (1-4-0, seven points) face Turori (3-1-1, 10 points) in the second round and the Stars have history to live up to: They've never lost to the Eels, even though their colonial masters in Vilita have only lost once to the Stars. But the lone Sarzonian victory over Vilita was a 2-0 victory that sent shockwaves throughout Atlantian Oceania.
"We've got to get back to just playing football," Hancock said after the match. "Enough distractions. Let's play the game."
Sarzonia 1:Lamoni 1
(Williams 28) (Boldman 56)
This post has been edited by Sarzonia on Dec 2 2005, 01:23 PM |
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Sarzonia |
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It's all about the Navy. |
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SQUEAKING IT
Krytenia 1
Vilita 1
Krytenia 3
Hypocria 1
Four points means third place for the Jacks, and a berth in the second round repechage. Their opponents, Lamoni, have been very convincing in Bettia, but now that Krytenia are away from the Sands they will be hopeful of causing what could effectively be an upset. This side may not be on their way to becoming finalists like the AOCAF VII vintage, but they are looking for places in the senior side. All to play for then... |
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Krytenia |
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Now With Added Bekk! |
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Starblaydia Slide Into First
Tricksy Nixey bags two on debut
With a somewhat new-look team, thanks to suspensions from the last match, Starblaydia lined up against their neighbours from the Allied States. And, wouldn't you know it, a player born and brought up (mostly) in Legalese gave the white-and-purples the edge over the white-and-sorta-pastel-blues. Thomas Nixon, better known as 'Tricksy Nixey', lit up the Liverpool England Football League at the age of just thirteen. Honestly, thirteen. Apparently there was a mix-up with his passport and the printing made it look like his was actually seventeen.
Whatever the circumstances, Nixey came on as a substitute and scored both of Starblaydia's goals. Not only was it his first international cap, Nixey has actually never even played an Under-21 game for Starblaydia, and already he has two goals to his name, good lad.
Starblaydia's reward for an undefeated Group Stage is a Quarter-Final berth against the winner of Hypocria and Crystilakere. We at the Jhanna Chronicle are unsure as to whether we'd prefer the Hyppos or the Crystils. Hypocria dumped Starblaydia out of AOCAF9 on that penalties debacle, while Crystilakere are always dangerous, especially that Ferarro guy who scores headers off corners.
Starblaydia 2 - 0 The Lowland Clans
(Ibanez 11, Diaz-Arca 19) - (None) |
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We'll take it
The Hawks played a somewhat relaxed match against Sarzonia, drawing 1-1. This result; when coupled with a Starblaydi win and Nojikan loss, means that the Hawks have come out second in group two. As a matter of fact, the Hawks have played so well in the group stages that both Sarzonian and Krytenian news outlets have been fairly complementary in their descriptions of our performance.
Getting back to the Sarzonian match, it was looking bad for Lamoni after Sarzonia's Williams scored at 28 minutes. It wasn't until reserve forward Mike Boldman scored at 56 minutes in that Lamonian fans (who were watching the game on TV, or listening to it on the shortwave radio) began to breathe again. Both defensive sides then dominated the match, and when time ran out, both teams knew that they were going on to the knockouts (the Starblaydi and Nojikan results being posted during the match).
While Sarzonia faces off against Turori in a match that they are expected to win, the Hawks are facing Krytenia. Lamoni has faced Krytenia in both the WC and the AOCAF, and also have a very good chance of winning the second round match. If Lamoni defeats Krytenia, they would face off against Druida. While Druida and Lamoni have little experience with one another in the AOCAF, we feel that the Hawks would stand a good chance of winning that match as well.
All in all, things are looking up for Lamoni thus far.
Lamoni - 1 Boldman (56)
Sarzonia - 1 Williams (28) |
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Lamoni |
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Democratic Maniac |
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Sea Dragons End Nojikan Hopes
The second squad from ASMV entered the match today with just one goal in mind -end Nojika's slim hope of qualifying. And to their own surprise, they did just that.
The match was one valient defensive effort by first one squad and then the other. All signs pointed to a draw. That did not change until the final seconds of stoppage time when Carrie Sessom beat the Nojikan keeper when his footing slipped. That allowed the few inches of space needed to net the ball for the win. |
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