Neither snow, rain, heat, or gloom of night........no wait, that's the Postal Service motto, for SSFAC it's "No Bomb Cyclone is Gonna Stop Us !", and in the end, it didn't as South City battled a driving rain, gusting winds and a tough opponent to outlast Deportivo Cometa 3-2 last Sunday at El camino High. In a game filled with wild weather, excitement and plenty of drama, SSF secured the win with a stoppage time goal to earn their victory on opening day of the 2021-22 season.
The match started with SSF playing against the wind, and they played a perfect game in half number one with some high pressure that forced Cometa into mistakes as they created some good opportunites from Carlos Ballesteros, Cory Schmidt and Brendan Cadam. South City still had to be on guard defensively to keep Cometa at bay. Solid work from Kevin Ma, Fernando Costa, Brian Williams and Bob Weger helped Goalkeeper Adrian Monroy keep Cometa from notching a goal. Finally in the 23rd minute, South City was rewarded for their efforts as Cadam played a perfect ball to Schmidt who finished his chance into the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead that took the teams into halftime.
The second half was a very different story as now SSF had the wind at their back. The boys started slow and Cometa punished them with a well taken goal at the 50th minute for 1-1. That defintely got South City's attention as the boys started playing better and began to take the game to Cometa. They regained the lead when Greg Hui sent a beautiful cross to Martin Wright who converted to make it 2-1
As time went on and the rain became more intense, both sides were really struggling with the conditions. Unfortunately a mistake at the back allowed Cometa to get their 2nd goal and even things up yet again. SSFAC didn't let that phase them as they immediately went looking for the game winner. As the match approached its final minutes, SSF scored from a corner kick when Player-Coach Gareth Lea put one in from a ball that was pushed away by the keeper but kept in play. The celebration began, BUT, the referee's assistant said the Cometa Goalkeeper had saved the ball off the football goal post that is just above the croosbar of the goal which had kept it in play for the ensuing chance Lea. Result...NO Goal !! Now with the match in stoppage time, a corner kick was awarded to SSF after that decision and this time the boys found their winner. Greg Hui sent in another ball to the 6 yard box from the corner and Brendan Cadam finished it with a bullet header to give SSF the lead back at 3-2. Cometa raced back up the field to kickoff and restart play, but the whistle blew and the match was over.
An eventful day with a positive result and much respect gained for the opponent in this hard fought match. Next up for SSFAC is a match next Sunday, October 31st vs JASA Dos at El Camino High School with kickoff at 10:30am. Hoping for a bright sunny day !!.
Neither snow, rain, heat, or gloom of night........no wait, that's the Postal Service motto, for SSFAC it's "No Bomb Cyclone is Gonna Stop Us !", and in the end, it didn't as South City battled a driving rain, gusting winds and a tough opponent to outlast Deportivo Cometa 3-2 last Sunday at El camino High. In a game filled with wild weather, excitement and plenty of drama, SSF secured the win with a stoppage time goal to earn their victory on opening day of the 2021-22 season.
The match started with SSF playing against the wind, and they played a perfect game in half number one with some high pressure that forced Cometa into mistakes as they created some good opportunites from Carlos Ballesteros, Cory Schmidt and Brendan Cadam. South City still had to be on guard defensively to keep Cometa at bay. Solid work from Kevin Ma, Fernando Costa, Brian Williams and Bob Weger helped Goalkeeper Adrian Monroy keep Cometa from notching a goal. Finally in the 23rd minute, South City was rewarded for their efforts as Cadam played a perfect ball to Schmidt who finished his chance into the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead that took the teams into halftime.
The second half was a very different story as now SSF had the wind at their back. The boys started slow and Cometa punished them with a well taken goal at the 50th minute for 1-1. That defintely got South City's attention as the boys started playing better and began to take the game to Cometa. They regained the lead when Greg Hui sent a beautiful cross to Martin Wright who converted to make it 2-1
As time went on and the rain became more intense, both sides were really struggling with the conditions. Unfortunately a mistake at the back allowed Cometa to get their 2nd goal and even things up yet again. SSFAC didn't let that phase them as they immediately went looking for the game winner. As the match approached its final minutes, SSF scored from a corner kick when Player-Coach Gareth Lea put one in from a ball that was pushed away by the keeper but kept in play. The celebration began, BUT, the referee's assistant said the Cometa Goalkeeper had saved the ball off the football goal post that is just above the croosbar of the goal which had kept it in play for the ensuing chance Lea. Result...NO Goal !! Now with the match in stoppage time, a corner kick was awarded to SSF after that decision and this time the boys found their winner. Greg Hui sent in another ball to the 6 yard box from the corner and Brendan Cadam finished it with a bullet header to give SSF the lead back at 3-2. Cometa raced back up the field to kickoff and restart play, but the whistle blew and the match was over.
An eventful day with a positive result and much respect gained for the opponent in this hard fought match. Next up for SSFAC is a match next Sunday, October 31st vs JASA Dos at El Camino High School with kickoff at 10:30am. Hoping for a bright sunny day !!.