OP Alliance 1-0 Celtic Hoops

What rain does unto steel, months of studying does unto returning Alliance players. Yes, I’m talking about rust, which took our team the better part of the first half to scrape off. Before the game and well into the second half, a fierce wind was blowing across the field that added an extra layer to the rough start that seemingly both teams were facing. The powerful wind benefited Celtic for the first half but despite that advantage they were unable to get on the board let alone make ~3 shots on net. This year we are very fortunate to have made 3 skillful signings. Derek Frappa and Chase Eagan, although quite young, bring a lot of skill and composure which adds to the depth of our offensive efforts. On the other end of the field we’ve added Marcus D’Aguiar, who certainly earned our Man of the Match distinction. Unfortunately, he suffered an ankle sprain towards the end of the game and we wish to have him back as soon as possible. He was paramount to our win, as this 1-0 game was a game decided on defense. All around Celtic proved to be a difficult nut to crack with their “traffic jam” style defense which broke up many of our offensive counter attacks. However, their counter attacks were few to none, as our Alliance players continuously played both offense and defense. Bravo boys. Our goal came with about 8 minutes left. Alliance corner kick went over, Matt Roder recycled it in to Drew Johnson around 20 yards out, Johnson crossed it and Tommy Roder sunk their battleship with one firm flick of his head sending the ball to the far post just out of their keeper’s reach. Alliance had several opportunities which were either missed or shut down by Celtic’s keeper, who had one heck of a game. Celtic’s best opportunity to tie it up came in the last 2 minutes. A Celtic player shot/crossed the ball from around 25 yards out on a diagonal angle, the ball hit an Alliance defender which sent it towards the bottom left corner or the net but keeper D. Eagan got ahold of it at the last second, tipping it off the post. A following Celtic player went for the rebound, but to no avail because of Eagan once again. Their last chance was a following corner kick, but the kicker put the ball behind the net. OP keeper politely pointed it out. Overall it was an exciting game that made (at least 50%) of the moms there proud of their sons. All jokes aside, best of luck to Celtic the rest of the season.