In a night where “it all came together”, Jackson 5 demolished Laddles 4-2 to secure their first win of the season in the mixed indoor soccer competition at Revolution Sports Centre.
With a score line that flattered the opposition, Jackson 5 were 4-0 until one minute from the end through a Monty goal and a hat-trick by Mike Haydon. Each goal was set up by the indomitable Alex Lustig, ably assisted by Danielle Winzenried, Lidija Sliskovic and Catherine Haydon.
In an attempt to stop one of Mike Haydon’s goals, a Laddles player deliberately reached down and grabbed the ball with his hand, just as it was going over the goal line into the goals. Fortunately for the Laddles player, the referee decided that the ball had already crossed the line for a goal and only gave a yellow card (warning). If the ball had not crossed the line, the player would have been given a red card (sent off), Jackson 5 would have been given a penalty and Laddles would have played the rest of the game a player down.
Of particular note was the way that Catherine, Lidija and Danielle played. Catherine was rock solid in defence. Lidija and Danielle played the game intelligently, making space for themselves, forcing Laddles to make mistakes and keeping the pressure right on Laddles throughout the game.
Tristan Cockman played well for the time he was on. An unfortunate ankle injury sidelined him for most of the game, but when he was on, he made his prescence felt. Alex Lustig has been going from strength to strength. His reading of the game and ability to pounce on the mistakes of the opposition is excellent.
Matt Bowen in goals had an incredible game (it must have been because his daughter Eliza was watching and cheering :cool: ). There were a number of heart-stopping moments in the game where defensive blunders led to goal mouth scrambles, but each time Matt asserted his dominance and denied the opposition a goal.
The two goals that Laddles scored were in the final minute, when Jackson 5 just took their foot of the pedal a bit. Being so far in front (4-0 at the time), Matt got a rare chance to play on the field, coming very close to scoring. Whether it’s 4-0 or 4-2… who cares? Jackson 5 won and deservedly so.
Congratulations to Jackson 5 for their first win of the season. Next week… the battle of the law firms continues, when Jackson McDonald take on arch-rivals Minter Ellison.