This week in the Superleague saw the two teams sitting atop the Saturday Premier division, cialis FC Schalke 04 Skin and F.C. 20 Benson go head to head. Were this game to be covered by Sky Sports it would have no doubt been billed as “a clash of titans for the ages” with adjectives such as “bloodthirsty” and “ravenous” being thrown around at will while gratuitous, super slow motion shots of the players blinking as droplets of rain fall like crystals about them played us out to an ad break. However, this wasn’t Sky Sports and as such the rain which was falling Saturday afternoon was not in the form of magic floating crystals but cold wet bullets.
Nonetheless, both teams seemed eager to prove the big media outlets wrong for ignoring this clash as a high tempo and quick passing game was favoured by both managers. Phillip Nolan was the catalyst for Schalke in the initial stages as his quick feet and step-overs roused “oohs” and “ahhs” from the assembled crowd. He was the creator of the first chance of the game as his perfectly weighted cross was flicked on to Connor Murphy who was denied by the Benson keeper who blocked with his legs.
F.C. 20 Benson replied soon after with a chance of their own as Dan Moriarty played a through ball which Phil Ryan ran onto but he was closed down well by Schalke’s keeper who deflected out for a corner.
The main action area was the middle of the park where for Ryan was proving to be a constant hindrance to Schalke’s plans. The Benson midfield pressured well, effectively cutting off 04 Skin’s front players, circumcising them to an extent. They were thus restricted to errant long shots.
The breakthrough finally came for Schalke when Connor Murphy was played in behind the Benson defence. He managed to dummy the keeper, sending him the wrong way before coolly slotting into the bottom corner.
The second was to follow soon after as Connor Foley smashed his luminous yellow boot trough the back of the ball and into the far corner. The second half started with a moment of pure magic when Philip Nolan had a ball bounce perfectly in front of him. He met the ball on the sweet spot with the instep and watched as the swerve nestled it into the top corner. While some will no doubt blame the high-tech Addidas ball for fooling the keeper but nonetheless it was spectacular.
When the promise of free pints for more spectacular goals came echoing forth from the sideline a string of speculative efforts flowed from the Schalke attacking force but none of these proved troublesome.
Benson did find a green spell during the mid part of the second half but it was little more than an increase in possession and territory without ever really finding a breakthrough.
Andy Maher had a glorious chance to put a fourth on the board as he lifted the ball over the keeper but fingertips were enough to redirect the goalbound ball. He didn’t have to wait long to get the fourth though as a few minutes later he met a Connor Foley cross at the front post to finish.
Schalke’s manager, Andy Finnerty turned player for the final few moments of the game and had a chance to put the final gloss on the scoreboard but his shot was dragged across the face of goal and the referee called fulltime.
Patrick Fleming
