Entries from September 2008 ↓

This week we were without Keith in goals, and it showed. We made several silly defensive mistakes in the first half, putting ourselves in a 4-0 hole. Despite getting the attack going in the second half, the mistakes continued and we ended up losing 7-3 to Russia.

For the shortened season, we finished with 9 points, good for sixth place overall in Division 2. There are no matches this week due to the holidays, but the new season will start next Thursday, October 9. More details to follow soon.

Special thanks to Ben for showing up and helping out!

Lineup: Adam, Aubrey, Ben, Bujar, Dave, Michael

Coming into this week’s games, we were in serious danger of relegation, after losing 4-2 to Afrika Reds and 6-2 to Napolimania in Week 2. Fatigue was a factor in both losses, as we started with just five men and, depsite a sixth player showing up in the middle of the first match, never really had the legs to keep up with our opponents. It could have been worse, but we got a lot of help up front from new guy Aubrey.

This Thursday we ended up playing France only; Sinocamps.com, who appear to have given up on this season, forfeited the second match. The French pressured us from the beginning, but we made the most of our opportunities and found ourselves up 2-1 at the half. In the second half, our defense fell apart somewhat, and we were saved many times by Keith’s efforts in goal, as well as by two France shots off the post. Having seven men (including new guy Michael) helped a lot, though, and in the end we held on for the 2-1 victory.

The 6 points we earned this week gives us 9 heading into the final week against Russia. With Oguzkhan below us at 3, we will definitely avoid relegation. There’s still plenty to play for, though: A win against Russia (currently at 9 points as well) will put us in fifth place for the season, and with France and Afrika Reds both at 10 points, some favorable results in the other matches could push us even higher.  

Week 2 lineup: Adam, Aubrey, Dave, Jemal, Keith, Spiros

Week 3 lineup: Adam, Aubrey, Bujar, Dave, Keith, Michael, Spiros

The early autumn season got started last Thursday. Because of the Olympics in August, this season has been shortened to just four weeks, and we’ll only get one chance at each team. In our first week we played two very familiar opponents: Oguzkhan and Dulwich Lions.

Oguzkhan was first, and they appeared to be missing some of the young, fast, and skilled players that have given us trouble in past encounters. A lucky deflection early on put us up 1-0, and we never looked back, cruising to a 5-2 victory that was never really in doubt.

Dulwich is one of the older 5s teams in the league, and we have faced them on many occassions, though not as much in 2008, when we sank to Division 3 and they rose to Division 1. This time we met in Division 2, and they were strong. We played well but didn’t have the lungs or the legs to keep up. After we went down 2-0 in the second half, we made a push to come back but only made things worse. Final score, 5-0, Dulwich.

Overall, a decent start for the Barbars. For the next week’s matches we should have a few more bodies, now that both 5s and 11s seasons are underway.

Lineup: Adam, Bujar, Dave, Keith, Sean, Spiros

There comes a time in every great club when a key decision needs to be made. As Chairman, I want to get everybody’s thoughts on this immediately, as it could alter our existence in a number of ways. The topic of discussion for this post is “Training vs 5-a-side“. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve had very enjoyable training sessions down at Xiaowuji on a Wednesday evening. The weather has been nice and at the beginning of the season numbers are always high. And there has been no 5-a-side. This week, however, ClubFootball is kicking off a new round of 5s which sees both the As and Bs compete…on different days.  So, the question is, do we want to have both training and 5s midweek? If yes, what day would be best for training? If no, do we drop training or do we kick 5s into touch? What are the benefits of regular training and how does that compare to the benefits of our club playing 5-a-side? What would happen if training became compulsory and we kept 5s alive through a combination of A and Bs?

These are all important questions and it’s something the management have discussed time and time again. I now open the floor to you all to share your thoughts on the idea. Training obviously has its benefits but are the benefits great enough to sacrifice 5s and are you guys committed enough to want to train when it’s minus 10 degrees outside?  Or simply put, do you just prefer playing 5s?

 I look forward to your comments.

Cheers,

the Chairman