As the Shaners were busy answering the question "How many ex-pats does it take to put up a goal net?" (about 7) the Eagles were busy not appearing. With a heavily waterlogged pitch and only a handful of opposition team players, our warm-up (lead by Andy Campbell, filling in for the injured Alex) was longer than we expected. Highlights came from Yoga-Master Dan, putting us through such moves as "The warrior" and the less popular "Gynecologist's Dream".

Andy's pre-match talk reminded us to just keep the ball down and play good football, stating that we probably couldn't compete with the Eagles' physical strength but we could certainly outplay them.

As we lined up, the Eagles managed to reach double figures, both in how many players they had, and how many minutes they kept us waiting. We lined up as follows:

Nets: Chris
LB: Dan
DC: Dave R
DC: Andy C
RB: John D
LW: Edwards
MC: Reuben (making his first return since injury..welcome back mate)
MC: Uwe
RW: Mike O
FC: Steve
FC: Keelung

Tommy, John C (think it's C?), Matt W, Zack and I were the subs.

The boys on the pitch took Andy's words to heart and commenced playing some very good football. Reuben got an early shot off which was parried by the gloveless goalkeeper into the path of Edwards, who cooly slotted home and gave the linesman his first opportunity to raise the flag for offside. Looked like a decent goal to us on the bench but we weren't exactly standing in line with the defence (neither was the linesman for that matter).

It didn't take long for Shane for go 1-0 for real. Reuben was again the initiator, feeding a wonderful through-ball (especially on this pitch) to Edwards, who squared it low for Keelung to tap home. The Eagles were looking sluggish and not coping with the puddles very well, so it didn't take long for us to get a second.

I'm a little sketchy on this one, but I think it was similar to the first, with Steve getting on the end of a cross and striking home. (Correct me if i'm wrong there). Shane then went on to cap a brilliant opening 15 minutes with a third, Keelung receiving a ball, from Mike I think, and speeding away from his markers before placing a well struck shot in the opposite corner of the net, the keeper not even trying to dive. Unfortunately this was to be our final goal of the first half.

Keelung and Steve were subbed off in order to save those great running legs for later in the game, but at first it appeared to have been a slightly hopeful decision. The game dynamicly changed and we found ourselves on the backfoot for the final 20 minutes of the half. Our first conceded goal was unfortunate as Chris raced out to beat their striker to the ball, only to find the ball stop in a puddle allowing said striker to round him and slot home. This felt even more unfortunate as it had been one of few Eagles attacks prior to that.

Barely five minutes later, Dave Roberts slid in vain to make contact with the ball in the box and we found ourselves 3-2 up from the resulting penalty. A little nervous, but we still felt confident of finishing the half in the lead. It wouldn't be a Shane game without us conceding from a corner though would it? 3-3 from what appeared to be a free header. Too easy for Eagles to get back into this.
It hurt but wasn't surprising then, when we found ourselves 4-3 down at half-time, thanks to a deflected shot from outside the area that Chris otherwise looked sure to get to. Half time 4-3.

Even though we managed to undo all our hardwork in the final 20 minutes of that half, we didn't panic, and started the second half well. I think about 15 or 20 minutes passed before the score was changed, although in the 5-10 minutes before this we had slowly been starting to assert ourselves again and were definitely leading in the "chances had" department.

A speculative shot/cross/clearance from Mike beat the keeper but not the post, we didn't have time to groan in frustration before the big man Keelung volleyed the re-bound into the net for his Hat-Trick and our 4th. Now the game was really on and it was as if we were back in the opening minutes of the first half again. Steve and Keelung were still full of running, so the earlier substitutions had proved wise indeed, and 5 minutes after going level, Uwe, as he does best, received the ball 20 yards out and placed a powerful low-shot in off-the post. I'm sure with Uwe he was aiming to do exactly that. Shane 5-4 Eagles, back in front and more determined than ever.

I guess another 5 minutes went past before Matt W sealed the deal, again the result of a quick Shane attack and quick passing saw him receive the ball about 16 yards out and run forward before dinking over the slightly hapless goalkeeper. Good finish to a great match.
More chances were had, and the Eagles were bickering rather than playing football. The height of their frustration was witnessed in the form of a two-footed challenge on John C that was only punished with a yellow card. Standard in Taiwan though. I saw John giving his legs a work out after the match so hope that tackle hasn't done any long term damage there.

This was truly a rollercoaster match and had everything that Shane matches usually involve thrown into one. We had the great, fluid passing moves, the early domination, the collapse, the fight-back, even the oft missing victory. The adrenaline was so high from this result that I didn't even notice my sprained ankle until 2 hours later after showering. Special mentions go to Keelung and Steve for their never ending supply of running, and Reuben, who showed that it takes more than a nasty shoulder injury to scare him out of playing as hard as always. Everybody put in a good performance today though, so these "special" people are just the tip of the ice-berg, or the shoulders of giants, whichever sounds better.

One game left of the season, JFC (Right?), obviously this game is on the other side of Chinese New Year, so if I don't see any of you, have a great time, and thanks for today, possibly the best Shane game I've played in.

Dom