A lovely sunny day down at Dazhi riverside park was the venue for a great match filled with knee jerking tension. It was Shane vs the Animals. Beauty vs the Beast.
The match started brightly but after only 5 minutes, Captain Alex Daly went down appartently unchallenged. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time the lanky center back had tripped over a daisy, but when he was screaming in pain we realised that something horriffic must have happened. Upon closer inspection it seemed that the knee was dislocated badly, and although several players did their best to calm the unfortunate stopper, others swarmed round pointing in disgust and one insenstive villain even started taking photos (soon to be on taiwanfootball.com, btw).
The Taipei Emergency service did eventually arrive having stopped further down the park for an ice cream, so Daly was carted away so the game could continue.
Within seconds of the restart, the Animals, showing a shameful lack of sympathy for Shane raced forward and put the ball into the net. 1-0 Animals. The rest of the first half was played out mainly in the Shane half. Some Shane players complaining that they were "chasing shadows" at times. Unsurprisingly, the league leaders dispatched a second and we went to half time 2-0.
The feeling at half time was one of determination to have a decent crack at these Animals. The rallying cry could be heard ringing around Dazhi.. "Let's do it for Daly!!" Although some members of the crowd were retaliating with shouts of "Daly's a wimp".
Second half kicked off and the Shane were straight on the attack. Shane won a free kick midway inside the Animals half. Quick thinking from McGuniess set Edwards away down the inside left channel from where he burst into the box and whipped in a wonderful cross into the six yard box where the tap in was a mere formality for the big Canadian Andy Campbell. Credit must go to the scheming Irishman and the charming, housewives' favourite Edwards.
The wind was really in the Shane sails now, and it wasn't long before another sweeping move saw the former England man Michael Owen deceive the keeper with his cleverly scuffed shot. 2-2. Lovely stuff!
A short time later, when the Mighty Shane were totally dominating their lofty rivals in every department, a hopeful ball forward from the Animals gave keeper Chris and Keelung Dave about half an hour to deal with it. Unfortunately Keelung Dave allowed the striker to nip in and steer the ball into the empty net with Mad Dog hopelessly stranded. A horrilbe blunder from the big center back. Appeals for Daly to be brought back from hospital were rife.
Just when it appeared that all the hard work was for nothing, Gerry played a cheeky, quick free kick to Uwe, who was given an almost confusing amount of time and space by the Animals. The German midfield man wasted no time in bearing down on the curly haired Animals keeper and as he was doing so, inform strker "Silky" Steve Duell made a great run to pull away the last defender before Uwe shot home with unerring accuracy. 3-3.
Super stuff from Shane.
This Match report is dedicated to the memory of Alex Daly.
Warrior.
|
