Vets2 picked up the first point of the season, showing great character to score twice in the last 5 minutes
Having lost the first two games unfortunately, Vets2 came to Rosieres confident that we could change our luck - playing against AnderlechtUS, another team looking for their first points. With availability problems, we were happy to welcome Ian Hoskins back from injury and George for his first game of the season, and Mikey for turning up as 12th man just before kick off after having his Covid booster. Good to have Neil Wright as delegue.
In a 4-3-3 formation, we started well. Their defence found it very difficult to cope with the speed of Nic, George and Costa up front, and Gustave, Brian and Milan soon got the upper hand in the centre of the park. Our full backs Brian and Cedric faced a couple of quick wingers - as we saw early on, when Harun was forced to make a good double save. Roger and Ian had less to worry about through the middle.
Having been the better team for the first quarter of an hour, we finally made things count after 17 m nutes. After a pinpoint throw-on from Brian Morris, George turned and skipped away from his defender and ran past another one to slot the ball in the corner. 1-0. We continued to dominate, played the game in their half, but could not find the final incisive pass or have any luck when the ball was in their box.
Then, totally against the run or play, a goalmouth scramble from their first corner saw the ball fly up and hit Gustave's arm, and the ref gave them a penalty! Harun chose the right side but had no chance with the pace on the ball. 1-1. And so it stayed till half time.
The second half saw a couple of changes from them, which gave them an extra edge in midfield and a greater danger through the middle as they switched their forward line. We managed to cope with this, but had less control in the second half and the game was more open. We came close to releasing one of our forwards several times, but we lacked that final pass.
20 minutes in, from another corner, Anderlecht got lucky again when the ball rebounded across our goal and fell nicely to their striker who kept over the ball and scored from close range. 1-2. Five minutes later they got a free kick wide on our right some 30 metres out. With all of us expecting a cross towards the penalty spot, the guy hit (mishit?) the ball over everyone and it floated just under the crossbar right into the top corner. 1-3. 10 minutes to go.
With Mikey fully boosted with his jab making his mark on the left wing and Ian moving into midfield, we kept on pushing. We started to control the game, George and Nic looking for an opening. They still looked to threaten with a couple of break aways but first Brian, then Harun came to the rescue and mopped up any danger.
With 5 minutes to go, some good interplay down the left between Gustave and Mikey led to a corner for us. Mikey took it and hit it long and deep to the far post where Ian was waiting. The defender stepped forward, underestimating Mikey’s power. It seemed like an age before the ball arrived, with Ian having time for a smoke and a beer before putting those away and burying the header through the keeper's legs. 2-3.
From then on, it was one way traffic. They tried to waste time, and we kept on coming. With 2 minutes to go, Mikey found some space on the left and put in a superb cross towards George on the 6-yard box. His header was blocked by a defender, but the ball popped up nicely for Nic to force the ball in. 3-3. Almost immediately the ref blew the final whistle.
Speaking after the game, the coach said: "This feels like a win. They got three lucky goals, and we've come back and got a result. I'm proud of the lads. It was a really good team performance."
Man of the match votes were quite well spread and showed a good all round team performance. Votes went to George, Ian, Milan and Mikey, but the winner was Gustave.
Team: Harun; Cedric, Roger, Ian, Brian Morris; Gustave, Brian Lewis, Milan; Costa (Mikey), George, Nic; MoM: Gustave
