Saints crush Gaulois as Sunday games end in ties
Release date : Tuesday February 02, 2010 at 01:22
Written by : Craig
RUSSELL
Saints romped to a four goal win as Raiders, OS, Gemadept and Hiep Phu both emerge from Sunday's clashes with a point.
Gaulois knew that the two teams above them in the league table on goal difference were facing off against each other on Sunday and were keen to grab something from their encounter with Saints on Saturday. However Saints were in a determined mood and overran the French with a 4 goal salvo. Goals from Kara, Bjerregaard, Baker and Russell, inspired by a man of the match performance from Rosenberg saw off the hosts in clinical fashion.
Raiders hosted OS at a well manicured Thanh Thai pitch, and started much the stronger of the two teams. Injured midfielder Loeffler stepped into the nets for his debut outing as Raiders no. 1, but wasn't troubled by the visitors as they tested him early on with a couple of speculative efforts on goal, without causing any serious concern. At the other end, Raiders had several first half chances, only some last ditch tackles and the crossbar saving the French as Raiders captain Perez hit the bar after man of the match Andrist had rattled the woodwork minutes earlier. Bartoli was being well shackled by Schreiber in Raiders' territory and his frustration became clear as the French number 9 was brandished the only yellow card of the game early on.
After the break the chances were less frequent and considerably less clear cut, and after a late period of OS pressure in the dying minutes, the referee blew for full time. OS remain undefeated in the league this year, after Japan and Raiders have both given them a stern test in the last fortnight. It is this solidity which seems destined to hand OS their 3 consecutive title.
Gemadept and Hiep Phu met and a win for either team would have seen them put some distance between themselves and the bottom two. They shared 6 goals and remain just a point ahead of Gaulois at the foot of the table. The Hiep Phu scorers were Phong LE HONG, TAM VO VAN THANH and Hai NGUYEN PHAM, while the Gemadept goals came from Thai DANG DINH, Hop TRINH XUAN and Quang NGUYEN THANH.
Next week sees Japan take on Raiders in a make-up game, possibly the last match before the Tet break.<br />
