May 6, 2012

Today's "Taichung Derby" was everything a local football fan could ask for--a very hard-fought, back-and-forth match between the best sides that both Compass and Tubbies could field, on one of the hottest days of the year so far.

Tubbies showed up with every starter on their team, so I was relieved that we were able to do the same (with the exception of Rob and Ross). As the game was played under clear skies and hot muggy weather, this was also destined to be a game where fitness, attrition and substitutes would/could be a deciding factor.

The first half was a frustrating one for Compass, which almost completely failed to settle into its precise, short ground-passing game and instead regularly lofted the ball into the air in the general direction of the Tubbies' net, which understandably failed to generate many opportunities against a determined defense anchored by the likes of Camillo, Steve and Darren. At the same time, however, our back line--Gary, Hans, David, Chris, Eugene and Keiron--kept various challenges out of our net. In such a manner, the first half passed with a 0-0 tie.

After a half-time discussion about tactical changes, Compass started the second half looking much more settled, passing around the opposition and controlling play. This quickly bore results 4 minutes in when Cesar scored a nice goal. About 6 minutes later, Artem flicked a chip into the Tubbies penalty box and in front of an on-rushing Gaetan, in good position to score. Tubbies' Steve threw himself in and got his head onto the ball, which dipped back and into his own net in a nice-looking own goal.

The next 20 minutes were probably the most difficult of the match for Compass, as Rory, Tepei, 'Dutch' Dan, Danny and other Tubbies put strong pressure on our goal, and the heat and exhaustion began to take their toll despite frequent substitutions. This bore fruit for our opponents about 25 minutes into the half when Tepei drove down our left side and scored from inside the box. Despite the galvanizing effect this had on the Tubbies, who fought to equalize, Ben finally put a nail in their coffin with a beautiful 84th-minute drive that saw him fake out three Tubbies players and popped the ball into their net.

Our 3-1 victory and second league win over Tubbies strongly puts us in the driver's seat for the Central League with three games remaining--vs. Massive (6/3 in Kaohsiung), vs. Jhubei FC (6/17 in Hsinchu), and vs. Scunners (6/24 at home). Before that is our May 26-27 Cup Tournament at home (*on the Chaoma pitches), which I hope most of you can make (Tubbies is in our group, btw). If you need more incentive, I've been informed that the Taipei Times will be providing news coverage of this tourney, giving us the chance for some public glory.

This coming weekend, I hope to see all of you with your friends and families at the Compass Taichung International Food & Music Festival--Sat. and Sun. 1-9 p.m. at the Art Museum Parkway with 16 live bands, about 100 food/drink/arts booths and 2 stages. All Compass players get a couple free beers, on me as usual.

Once again, great job on the pitch today, guys. It was a hard-fought, very satisfying victory for us.

GO COMPASS!

Doug