Thursday 26 March 2015

Week Six - March 27th

- The undefeated streak for Shukr is over and not in a good way after a 6-1 mauling at the hands of Emaan.  Shukr started the game with only two subs (ended with four) and managed to take a surprising 1-0 lead before the wheels fell off.  Players veered from the strategy of protecting the ball and the results of that were anything but a surprise.  So just like that Shukr went from being undefeated to being the only team without a win.

- Waqar Khan was unstoppable as Emaan's captain led the way for his team.  He went into the corners, was first on every ball and crashed the net.  The net result of his effort was a three goal and three assist night.

- Haya continued their great start to the season as they rolled over Ikhlas to put their record at 5-0.  Rizwan Malik opened the scoring and set a goal later to continue his celebrated return but he continues to refuse to speak to the media postgame.

- Back to Emaan, some questioned how it was possible that Waqar Khan had six points and one of his wingers in Bilal Pervaiz had four points yet the other winger in Furqan Salam had nothing.  Salam uncharacteristically tight-lipped post game as he was unable to explain how he was shut down in a blowout game.

- The Ikhlas struggles continue, this time with a loss to 1st place Haya, Ikhlas held a 2-1 lead in the first before allowing a goal in the final minute of the half and then a goal in the opening minute of the second half to turn the game.  With the talent available on their roster their struggles are hard to understand but they need to turn things around before the season is lost.

- With the first half of the season gone, the standings are quite the story as with the exception of Haya who is far ahead at the top of the table, the separation between 2nd and 5th is just two points leaving little room for error for teams jostling for a playoff spot.

- In a strange twist, Emaan players watched the Ikhlas vs Haya game and were vocal in their support of Ikhlas, their Cambridge rival whom they demolished in both games this season.  Emaan was chirping various Haya players with Naeem Akhtar (or Naeem Malik as they were calling him) receiving the brunt of the jeers.

- Some observers commented that they were worried about Emaan goalie Sadiq Rehman who faced only nine shots from Shukr and seemed lonely in his crease with all the action consistently on the other side of the floor.  Rehman has played well this season but (with the exception of Haya) generally has not been tested this season to see how his wrist has healed from a pre-season injury.

No comments:

Post a Comment