Hong Kong Reds 2 v 2 Savills

1st May 2007, KO 3.00pm, Hong Kong Football Club, Happy Valley

Team: Dave Oh, Ian McAlan, Keith Jolley, Tony Stringer, Andy Creber, Simon Forder, Duncan Micallef, Bernie Ko, Marcus Liu, Dennis Hayworth, Mike Wrigley, Terry Graham, Tony Chan, Rob Kelly, Tony Bratsanos, Wes Ng


Match Report by Tony Bratsanos




On a barmy and sweltering afternoon Hong Kong Reds took on those bandit property dealers "Savills" in a pre-CL semi-final game at the Valley.

Most players arrived at the ground at least 2 hours early in the futile belief that they could be budding media stars. Little did they know that the producer/director Oti and creative guru/manager Dave "Benitez" Oh insisted on an average 10 takes per man which ensured that most of the players were dehydrated before the game started.

Obviously straight out of RADA, our creative director insisted on us walking up and down the pitch at a slower than normal pace. Little did he know that this resembled a sprint for most of us. Anyway we hope to see the fruits of his labour in the not too distant future.

The trouble with friendly matches is they are totally disorganised. Lots of questions emanated from the Hong Kong Reds players:

Where’s the opposition?
Is it that team in the black?
Is it that team in the blue?
Do we have a ref? (No we don’t!)
Do we play offside? (Maybe!)

As it was my debut for Hong Kong Reds, I was interested to see the technique of some of my fellow players.

I saw Andy Creber collapse in the penalty area with nobody near him as though he had been shot by a sniper whilst on patrol in Basra.

 

I saw Jolley, our keeper, continually misjudge half-hit shots.

I heard our erstwhile American "Terry" stating that he took up soccer at 14.

I heard Ian McAlan continually complain about the heat!

This didn’t augur well for the match and I reckoned we were in for a hard time. Thankfully, Savilles didn’t seem to be up to much either.

 

 

Anyway, to the action. The first half started, as you would expect, at a frenetic pace and this lasted all of 2 minutes when everyone realised it was 90F and 85% humidity. Hong Kong Reds dominated possession but couldn’t convert chances. Wriggers was first to show and tested the keeper from 25 yards. Big Tony Stringer showed some silky skills and dropped his shoulder so many times he confused himself. Ian, at right back, was overlapping like a Virgin train on heat and Simon Forder managed to find space at every opportunity. Unfortunately, nobody found Simon.

However, against the run of play, Hong Kong Reds went a goal down with only 12 minutes on the clock. They say football is a simple game, play the way you’re facing, keep it simple, don’t try the impossible. Try telling Mike Wrigley that. In a moment of testosterone madness, Wriggers decided to re-enact a scene out of Swan Lake by performing a pirouette and back-heeling straight to the Savills No 9 who toe-poked it within reach of Jolley "The Cat" who decided at the last minute that the ground was too hard to dive on and the ball ended up in the back of the net.

Our response was immediate and before you knew it we were back on level terms with Wes drilling home a fine finish. We once again created chances with Dennis, Tony Chan, Simon & Wriggers all going close.

 

Hong Kong Reds continued to play the better football but with the pitch resembling a Cambodian land mine academy, purists of the beautiful game would have seen that classic pass and move was not much in evidence and that any semblance of control was restricted to that of a priest in a girlie bar. Against the run of play, Savilles took the lead once again and yes, it was another mistake. Bernie Ko in his bright royal-blue boots was caught in possession on the edge of the box and before you could recite a Hamlet soliloquy the ball was in the back of the net. Jolley had no chance and once again we were up against it.

 

However, this is when the team spirit of Hong Kong Reds came to the fore. Duncan Micallef started making overlapping runs from the back. Tony B’s shouting got louder and louder. Ian started shouting, "Switch!" at every opportunity. Dennis, Rob, Marcus & Tony started beating players and before you knew it, Wriggers had made amends for his early mistake with a first time finish.

There was only one team in it now and Hong Kong Reds were unlucky on numerous occasions with the Saville keeper performing heroics and defying the odds with a number of impressive saves.

The final result a diplomatic 2-2. Most enjoyable, played in a good spirit and set us up beautifully for the CL demise of Chelski.


Man of the Match
The Ref

T**t of the Match
Wriggers, for his backheel


To view more photos of this game click here.
Previous match reports
HK Reds v Spartans Vets
HK Supporters’ 6s 2009
HK Reds v USRC
HK Reds KL Tour 2007
HK Reds v Savills (II)
HK Reds v AIG (II)
HK Reds v AIG (I)
HK Reds v Savills (I)
Dynasty v HK Reds (II)
Dynasty v HK Reds (I)
Manarise v HK Reds
Sandy Bay Strollers v HK Reds
Pepsi Shooters vs HK Reds

Want to play for the Hong Kong Reds football team?
11-a-side-team please email: dave@hongkongreds.com


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