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The Marin Spikes played their third game of the season on Saturday, April 19th, at McGinnis Park . It started at 11, a very civilized time to start a game, but also giving the wind plenty of time to whirl itself into a frenzy during the morning. The opponent was Marin Kono, which has been one of the stronger teams in the league for the past few years. Since Marin Kono usually plays in a 4-4-2 and because we were short on defenders for the day, the Spikes opted to try playing in a 3-4-3 lineup. It was a risk defensively, but it paid off by allowing us to pressure their defense throughout the first half with our extra forwards. Izzy and Gideon created many scoring opportunities with creative and clever dribbling and passing combinations. It was Gil who put the Spikes on the board first, cutting through a few defenders down the right side, and luring the last one into pulling him down as Gil swept past him just inside the box. Gil took the penalty kick and beat the keeper to put us ahead 1-0. With the wind at our backs in the first half, the Spikes continued to dominate, driving down the field at will, but unable to find the net again. Kono eventually got a goal back towards the end of the first half to even the score. It felt as if Mother Nature inhaled deeply at half time, readying herself to offer an even more blustery second half, only with the wind now howling straight into our faces. Kono created a few early chances that they sent sailing far over the goal, having not adjusted their game to the wind yet. The Spikes withstood the early pressure but still had trouble the whole second half getting the ball out of their own end, fighting against not only Kono, but the wind as well. The defense of Greg, Michael and York fought and clawed and scrambled the entire game and should really be commended for succeeding admirably with the new formation we were trying out. Great job! We were able to put together a few good scoring opportunities in the second half, while holding Kono to only a meager handful of their own. It was an exciting game, with lots of action in the second half, but neither team was able to find the back of the net again and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. Many thanks to players from the SF league team for helping out, with Patrick V, Greg and Thang playing in their second game in Marin, and Blake, Chris S and Kevin playing in their first game in Marin. Good job fighting through some difficult conditions in the second half to earn a well deserved point. Go Spikes!
Players: Barry, Blake, Bob, Chris F, Chris S, Gideon, Greg, Izzy, Kevin, Matt, Michael, Patrick V, Thang, York
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