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Swiss kickers celebrate being the 1st winners of the FJ Cup. |
July 31st Oi Futo. The Swiss Kickers disposed of Perfidious Albion 2-1, in the final of the Wall Street Associates, Footy Japan Cup and in doing so silencing some critics who claim the Swiss are not the team they were. Newly promoted
Perfidious Albion may well have had the psychological edge from the kick-off, following a string of bad results from the Swiss in the run-up to the final and the latter half of the TML.
In temperatures soaring well into the 30's, it was the Swiss who found the back of the net first as they broke from defense and moved the ball swiftly through midfield. Dave Pratt's quick feet and pin-point shot left the Albion
keeper with too much to do and put The Swiss one nil up just before the well earned half time break.
Perfidious Albion's half time talk seemed to be taking effect early in the second half as some tenacious breaks through midfield started to exploit some lackluster (heat exhausted) tracking back from the Swiss. The Swiss quickly
switched back into "Swiss" mode and tightened things up and "Nuddy" the Swiss's surrogate Peruvian/Japanese superstar had the Albion midfield at 6's and 7's. Seeing the keeper well off his line "Nuddy" cheekily lobbed the Albion
No.1 from 40 yards, sparing him no blushes, 2-0.
Ten minutes from time and a moment of controversy saw a red card drawn for what the referee insists was a clear case of hand-ball by a Swiss defender on the goal line. The penalty was nicely slotted away instilling a glimmer of
hope for the Albion as the Swiss were now down to ten men. A frantic final 5 minutes saw chances at both ends but at the final whistle the score remained 2-1 and the Swiss walked away with the inaugural Footy Japan Cup and their
acclaimed reputation intact. Perfidious Albion, however, will clearly be pulling no punches when it comes to the TML division-one title chase next season - definitely a team to watch out for.
JD
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