We
began Round 4 with Galacticos versus Water Boy
in an all-Portuguese encounter. Both teams featured
in last year's tournament but their paths never
crossed. Water Boy won Group A last year whilst
Galacticos finished 3rd in Group B. You would
expect Water Boy to be favourites and the fact
that Water Boy were currently 1st and Galacticos
were currently 3rd would support that fact.
If
Water Boy could take victory they would secure
Cup qualification with a game to spare. They found
Galacticos a tough nut to crack in this one and
Galacticos were looking as dangerous at the other
end. Galacticos arguably had the edge but 0-0
was a fair score at half-time.
The
second half was also very even and defences were
on top with neither team creating any clear cut
opportunities. In the end the game would be decided
by a set piece. Water Boy had a free kick not
far out and Galacticos put all their outfield
players in the wall. None of them could prevent
Joao Mendonca firing under the wall and low into
the bottom corner. It was the only strike of the
game and Water Boy had 4 wins out of 4.
Galacticos
would have to hope other results would go their
way before the final round of fixtures.
The
above result meant that Lacey Green FC and Club
Tropicana Drinks FC could each claim 2nd position
in Group A (temporarily at least) if they could
take victory from this game. Both teams were sat
on 3 points but the teams had reached that tally
in different ways. Lacey Green were unbeaten with
3 draws to their name. Club Tropicana Drinks FC
had followed a victory with two defeats so, hopefully
for them, their confidence would not have taken
a dent. If they could arrest their form a place
in the Cup was very much in their own hands.
Lacey
Green took a cherished lead in the first half
as Ryan Maguire was the man that scored their
first goal in three games. Lacey Green had only
conceded one goal so far this morning and if their
defence could maintain that impressive record
they would have their first win of the day.
Not
only did their defence continue their fine run
of form but their attackers came to the party
for a second time in the game. Ed Suggate doubled
the lead after the break and 2-0 proved to be
an unassailable led. Lacey Green FC were the big
movers of Round 4 as they climbed from 5th to
2nd .
Club
Tropicana's form would be of concern as they slipped
to the foot of the table.
The
only thing left to settle in Round 4 was the not-so-small
matter of Kazakhstan FC versus AFC Shooters A.
Kazakhstan FC had responded well to opening game
defeat as they took 4 points out of the subsequent
6 on offer. AFC Shooters A had also only lost
1 of their 3 games but had the half the points
of their opponents due to two draws.
We
have seen above that Lacey Green had turned a
run of draws into victory and surge up the table.
AFC Shooters A would aim to emulate that but at
the half-way stage we had parity again, 0-0. Neither
team was able to see off their opponent in the
second period as defences ruled the roost and
both goalkeepers claimed their clean sheets. It
was Kazakhstan's 3rd clean sheet in 4 games, it
was AFC Shooter A's 2nd clean sheet in 4 games.
The
final score of 0-0 saw Kazakhstan FC finish Round
4 in 3rd place and AFC Shooters A in 5th place.
There was now 3 points separating 2nd from 6th
but all could still, in theory, qualify for the
Cup.