qrc 1 st anthonys 2

QRC 1 - St. Anthony's 2

QRC

St. Anthony's

2

Any number of reasons can be extended for going down to St. Anthony's

at home. The St. Anthony's players were, on average, half a head

taller than the Royalians. The visitors were less tentative to the

ball and did more to control possession for most of the game. The St.

Anthony's players did a better job at attracting the officials'

attention in 50-50 situations. The referee, by reports a QRC old boy,

was overcompensating in order to appear "fair"... at least until he

got banged in the back hard by a QRC defender...

In the first half, and part of the second, our boys were generally

slower to the ball and not as committed in tackling as were the St.

Anthony's players. They also appeared somewhat uncomfortable in both

18-yard boxes. Indeed, QRC had at least two opportunities to open the

scoring against the run of play. In one instance, after a fine piece

of work up the wing, the ball bobble lazily across the St. Anthony's

goal mouth, begging to be toe-poked into the net.

In similar circumstances, St. Anthony's no. 23 made no such mistake,

tapping a ball home from a yard in front of the goal.

St. Anthony's second item came from a free kick just after the start

of the second half which slipped through the QRC wall and just past

the diving keeper.

It took until about 25 minutes to time for the Royalians to turn up

the intensity on the visitors. Indeed, had they played the entire game

at this level, St. Anthony's would have been put on the back foot and

likely onto the seats of their pants. The increased tempo and

determination was clearly unsettling, and led eventually to QRC's loan

item - a beautiful trap, drag and shoot from National Under-15 player

Jerrel Britto.

Several plays could have ended in the equalizer and eventually

go-ahead goal. The team's best effort though came at the end of a

clash between the St. Anthony's keeper and a big striker wearing no.

5, that saw the ball whiz just wide.

The team's performance can possibly be chalked up to first-game

jitters, having to face the College's new nemesis so early in the

season. But the pressure the boys applied at the end of the game bodes

well, and can be a sign of things to come.

QRC now sits third on the league table with 3 points from two games,

behind Malick and St. Anthony's. Both of those teams have full points

from their three games to date. Fatima College sits fourth on the

table, also on three points, but that from three games and with an

inferior goal difference of minus-4.

UPDATE (2007-09-18): For photos of the game, click in the frame below.