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The Spikes played the tenth game on the Marin league schedule on Saturday June 14th at Redwood High School against Marin Kono, a team that entered the game at the top of the standings. It was a somehwat chilly 9AM start, the type of morning that the Spikes usually take their time warming up to. However, the game started as well as could be hoped, with the Spikes jumping on Kono at the start, holding the ball in the offensive end for most of the early part of the game. Adel tucked a nice shot into the far post 5 minutes into the game to put the Spikes ahead. Kono woke up at that point, getting their passing game going, and taking back a bit of control. Our defense patiently let Kono work the ball around until they decided to shoot, which usually ended up being fairly safe shots from far outside. One of our players pointed out that while Kono does very well to put together simple passes and hit the open man, they don’t really have any creativity beyond that and end up being quite predictable. Against a solid, patient defense like ours, they end up settling for long shots rather than creating truly dangerous opportunities. Kono did put in two goals in the first half, one on a hard run through the defense, and the other on a fortunate shot from a very difficult angle that slipped into the far post. The Spikes continued to produce their own chances, concluding in a goal near the end of the half. Izzy slammed in a lovely one-time blast off a cross from the right side after a charging run down the middle of the field. The score at half time was even at 2-2.
Since we have had many games where it felt as if the ref was against us, we should take note of the times that the ref is clearly calling the game in our favor to remind ourselves that it does happen sometimes. Today was one of those days, as it seemed as if every call was against Kono. They made it worse by complaining on every one, even those that were not questionable. The ref’s response was to start handing out yellow cards for the whining, and eventually including a “time out” with the later yellow cards, sending players to the sideline for a few minutes when they earned a yellow card. The Spikes did very well to keep out of it, not distracting Kono, and letting them stay focused on the ref. Good composure! The second half continued to be a battle, as both sides had their chances, with many of ours coming from pressuring the suspect Kono defense when they played around with the ball. Neither side could produce a goal, even though it seemed as if the Spikes’ chances were a bit more dangerous. The game ended in a 2-2 tie, which was well-earned - good result against the league leaders. Good job Spikes!
Players: Adel, Barry, Bobby, Bob, Chris F, Chris J, Gideon, Greg, Izzy, Karl, Matt, Patrick M, Thang
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