Hi Guys,

Given the fact that we hadn't played as a team for about a month, I approached today's inaugural Taichung Society Cup game with a bit of worry. The noontime match was against Taichung City F.C., a team we had heard good things about and had never played before.

Fortunately, Compass showed up with a strong team that played well throughout the game against a Taichung City FC side that wasn't bad but didn't live up to some of our expectations. Just 2:30 minutes into the game, Oto flipped around at close range to score off an assist by Cesar. Although Taichung City had some opportunities and good shots over the rest of the half, our defensive line, anchored by Arnaud throughout the match, played very well, including some nice saves by Gary. At the same time, Compass had a number of shots that only bad luck seemed to keep out of the net. Another beautiful goal by Ben, scoring off a hard deflection off the crossbar by Oto, was also called offsides.

Our second goal had to wait until the second half, when Michael made up for his long absence by scoring in the 53rd minute off an assist by Artem. Taichung City did cause Compass some worry when they scored in the 81st minute off a nice long shot and then pushed hard for an equalizer, but fortunately things ended in our favor.

Many of us stuck around over post-game beers to watch PE College dismantle Feng Chia University in a game that was 6-0 at half-time (at which point I departed). Feng Chia is our next Society Cup opponent on Sunday, May 19 (4 p.m.).

More important is our upcoming match vs. Tubbies this Sunday at 5 p.m. Please let me know if you're IN or OUT for what will be a very challenging match.

Once again, great job today, men!

Doug