AND FINALLY...

JAC Soccer Reporter (Wayne Holland)

Joint Astronomy Centre, Hilo, Hawaii

It had to be said that the day, March 8th 1997, had not started well, with the news that Manchester United had been beaten by lowly Sunderland in the Premiership - not a good omen...

Miraculously, the rain which had fallen overnight (and for most of the week) in Hilo, held off until just after the game. Even so the "pitch" was still heavy and very muddy in places. The tension before the game was very much in evidence on the faces of the players at the pre-match team photos (as can be seen below).

A sizable crowd, complete with the umbrellas, had gathered on the touch-line to witness the momentous occasion. Dignitaries, including the Director, Chief Engineer and Per Friberg's pooch were to be seen mingling with the crowd.

Referee Earl, looking resplendent in his black uniform (complete with red and yellow cards tucked away in his top pocket), brought the two captains into the centre circle for the kick-off at 4.10pm. Having lost the toss for choice of ends, JCMT kicked-off with bright sunshine in their eyes.

There then followed a very tense first 20 minutes with no one team managing to gain the ascendency. Some strong challenges were going in - most noticeably from Colin who flattened Tom Kerr, and a shoulder charge by Wayne on Antonio right in front of the main stand.

A strong early run by JCMT's Walter down the right was stopped by Tom Kerr as the last line of defence. After this early scare UKIRT pushed Diana out wide to closely mark Walter for the rest of the game.

Shots were coming in from all angles and distances with only a few troubling Ian and John White in goal. A dipping long range effort by Phil Puxley, the Gemini recruit, was well held by John White. JCMT's defence, with Colin and John Lightfoot at left and right back, and Wayne in the middle, was holding strong, despite some probing runs by Oxford's Steve Rawlings and Phil Puxley through the middle and Tom Kerr down the left.

As the first half progressed, JCMT finally got some shots on target, but were denied by some spectacular saves from Ian Midson for UKIRT. Several long range shots by Ken, including one that was obviously curling in by the near post, were tipped away by UKIRT's "neutral" goalie. Just to show-off his agility Ian also dived quickly to his right to deny a low shot by Wayne, who had relinquished his sweeper role for centre forward for the last 15 minutes of the half.

The strong tackles were still flowing in, including one by the very-active Garrett on Tom Kerr. UKIRT's defence was also holding strong with Antonio and Tom Geballe dominant in the middle, and Diana and Devinder out wide. John White took over in the heart of defence for JCMT with Walter taking a turn in goal.

The game badly needed a goal, and after a rare mix-up in the mud in the UKIRT penalty area one was finally forthcoming. Some close control by Garrett and a perfect pass to Iain Coulson led to a simple, well-placed, side-footed goal in the bottom left corner. One-nil to JCMT with about 13 mins to the break.

UKIRT, temporarily stunned by the opening score pushed forward with Phil Daly and Antonio leading the assault through the middle. A corner on the right led to a half-chance by Tom Kerr, who bravely got his head to the ball through a crowd of players - only to see his effort go a few feet over the bar.

All in all the first half was pretty even with the general concensus that the JCMT were just about worthy of a narrow lead.

UKIRT started the second half at a hectic pace, with a half-time tactical game-plan being executed right from the start. However, they seemed to lack a playmaker in midfield, with Steve and Phil Puxley somewhat isolated up front on occasions. Passes from the back were generally cut out by Iain and Ken before troubling the JCMT defence.

As if realising this Antonio made a couple of powerful runs right out of defence, only to be stopped by the mud and last ditch tackles by John White, Ed and Wayne. One of the closest contests came down the left, with Ed and Phil Daly battling it out on several occasions.

Tim Jenness made a couple of good runs down the left including one in which he was judged to have received the ball in an off-side position. ("But we weren't playing offside, Ref?!"). One shot flashed across the face of the goal with no JCMT attacker in sight.

As UKIRT started to apply more pressure, in search of the equaliser, tempers were becoming frayed at missed passes and poor clearances. Iain was playing a storming match in midfield, picking up any loose balls and heading clear any high balls.

Ian Midson continued to be the thorn in the JCMT's side, pulling off save after save on either side. This included several shots by Walter, mounting in confidence on the right hand side. One spectacular shot by Ken was also palmed away by man-of-the-match Midson ("where are the doughnuts Ian...?").

The humid conditions were beginning to take their toll. Even so, as the final whistle approached UKIRT threw all they had into attack. A speculative shot by Phil Puxley was pushed to one side by Walter, now back in goal. Both Colin and Steve went for the loose ball. In the ensuing tussle, Steve managed to dribble past Colin, and just as a desperate lunging tackle came in from John Lightfoot, hooked the ball back from the goal line. Tom Kerr unmarked in the box, clearly off-balanced and falling backwards, still managed to get his foot round the ball to hoof it into the top of the goal!

I turned to the ref and enquired about the time remaining... "Oh, about 3 seconds including injury time" he replied. Needless to say we were gutted, and never managed to kick-off again. The final whistle was greeted with cheers (of relief?) from the sidelines, and with handshakes all round, the game had produced a fair result.

Just as the teams came off the pitch the heavens opened, causing the delay of the presentation of the trophy until the post-match barbecue.

The re-match, together with several wildly exaggerated tales of personal performances, were discussed late into the evening over more than a few beers and some excellent food.

Any msitakes in this report are purely intentional. Watch this space for news of the re-match....

This report and those of other JAC matches can be found on /~wsh/soccer/soccer.html

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