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Excerpt from Manhattan Herald – 4th January 2008
Lloyd Hunter reports from AOCAF 21, Semi Finals
Manhattan Prime 2-1 Pacitalia
Dreygo 12mins, Katakana 60mins 25mins
Manhattan Prime fans will be pinching themselves today, as their side edged past old allies and rivals Pacitalia to book their place in their first ever AOCAF final.
From the word go, everything seemed to go right for the Chippers today, and their players were all playing out of their skins. Pierce has developed the team into a side willing to sweat and bleed for their country, and has made a mockery of those less reputable papers who called for his resignation after several disastrous tournaments of Manhattan Prime dropping out at the group stages.
DeSilva and Smith covered every inch of grass, and really looked world class out there – it took only 12 minutes for DeSilva to feed the ball to Vykk Dreygo, and the young striker duly slotted home to put the Chippers ahead. There was hardly any applause from the crowd to start with; most of them were too stunned that it was actually happening.
Pacitalia are a very strong side though, and far more used to the big matches such as this. It didn’t take them long to equalize, finally breaking the Manhattanite defence in the 25th minute to pull level. The Chippers didn’t lose heart though, and defended bravely to prevent the score becoming any worse. When they saw their opportunities to strike back, they made them count, absorbing the power of the Pacitalian attacks and counter-attacking quickly. This approach bore fruit with half an hour to go, as Katakana put the Manhattanites ahead after some superb midfield play from Smith and DeSilva. As fans watched with nails bitten down the quick, the Blue Foxes put Clive Hilton’s goal under siege, and it was only with some brave and determined defending, led by centreback John Clarke, that let the Chippers hold on for an historic victory.
In the other Semi Final Lamoni defeated Bazalonia 3-2 in extra time to book their place in the final. Manhattan Prime have never been further than the Quarter Finals in their history, and critics will say that surely such a young and relatively inexperienced side can’t beat the hosts on their own ground. However if this tournament has shown us anything, it is that anything is possible, and here at the Manhattan Herald we’re behind our boys 100 percent.
Manhattan Prime Team:
Clive Hilton (GK)
Lucas Thompson (RB)
John Clarke (CB)
Karl Heinze (CB)
Hitoshi Akita (LB)
Ethan Smith (DMC)
Michael Donavan (MC)
Felix DeSilva (AML)
Mashashi Takamura (AMR)
Vykk Dreygo (S)
Yos*ito Katakana (S)
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Hawks go for AOCAF cup number three!
With a thrilling 3-2 extra time victory against friends Bazalonia, the Hawks have advanced to the AOCAF XXI cup match against Manhattan Prime. This is the first time that the Chippers have been to the finals, so this has been a 'Cinderella' AOCAF for them.
After their post match celebration with their Bazalonian friends, the Hawks slept for the night, and returned the next day to start their training for the finals match against the Chippers. Knowing your opponent is half the battle, so film study of the Chipper's performance in the AOCAF was poured over. It was decided to use the standard Lamonian 3-5-2 formation, and to clog up the midfield as much as possible. This tactic had been used effectively against other nations, and it should serve them here as well.
There was also the abnormal step of having the two teams meet each other in person before the match. The Lamonians thought that the Manhattanites were a decent sort, and they reminded them of the Lamonian team that had won the first AOCAF cup for the Free Republic. They would do their best to get Lamoni's third cup of course, but they wouldn't feel so bad if the Manhattanites won their first AOCAF. |
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Democratic Maniac |
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Posts: 1952 |
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FINALS RP CUTOFF |
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Excerpt from Manhattan Herald – 5th January 2008
Lloyd Hunter reports from AOCAF 21, Final
Manhattan Prime 2-1 Lamoni
Smith 27mins, Dreygo 55mins Julii 8mins
After a fairytale match, Manhattan Prime are AOCAF champions for the first time in their history, as this nation of only 80 million people came from behind to defeat the might of Lamoni 2-1.
The hosts had arranged a pre-match meet up for both teams, and Manhattanite players and fans were quick to praise the generosity of the Lamonian people as one of the key factors in the tournament’s success.
Fortune did not seem to be smiling on the 11 men from Manhattan Prime to start with, as Lamoni went 1-0 up within just 8 minutes, as a skillfully took goal from James Julii was easily flicked past Clive Hilton in the Manhattanite net. However the Manhattanites drew on that gritty determination, and refusal to be beaten that has exemplified their performances this tournament, and staged a heroic fightback. On numerous occasions Clarke and Heinze proved the heroes of the moment with a goaline clearance, or a shot headed over the bar, and the entire Chippers midfield (indeed their entire team) put in an exemplary performance.
Ethan Smith, ever the playmaker at this tournament, struck back in the 27th minute to make the score level, and the teams walked off at half time with the scoreline the same. We may never know what Ian Pierce said to his team at half time, but nobody should ever have doubted his managerial attributes, as Manhattan Prime exploded out of the block in the second half, playing with raw pace and oozing skill. A black and white tide beset the Lamonian half, and the Chippers went 2-1 up in the 55th minute through striker Vykk Dreygo. Who else indeed has risen to these massive occasion as well as he, and the young 19 year old has done everything his country has asked of him this tournament.
Manhattanites watched the rest of the game with crossed fingers, wondering if their team could really hold on to win. The team moved to defending in depth, and somehow, somehow managed to hold on for a historic win. Tears flowed freely as the winner’s medals and AOCAF trophy were awarded, and the Lamonian side was sportingly the first to congratulate the new champions. This seemed to strike a chord with the crowd, as the Manhattanite fans to a man stood up to applaud the hosts off the field.
The team has exceeded everyone’s expectations and larger clubs from the region will surely be buzzing around as the embryonic Manhattanite Premiership surely cannot keep hold of regional champions for long. As for the manager, it has been announced that the President is to knight him Sir Ian Pierce in recognition of his services.
In other news, Pacitalia won the 3rd place playoff 6-5 on penalties after a tight 4-4 draw with Bazalonia.
Manhattan Prime Team:
Clive Hilton (GK)
Lucas Thompson (RB)
John Clarke (CB)
Karl Heinze (CB)
Hitoshi Akita (LB)
Ethan Smith (DMC)
Michael Donavan (MC)
Felix DeSilva (AML)
Mashashi Takamura (AMR)
Vykk Dreygo (S)
Yos*ito Katakana (S)
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