On
Pitch B next was Leeds One versus GBS Reds B.
Leeds One still had a shot at Cup qualification
but it was an outside one – they needed to beat
GBS Reds B and for Cilag Team 1 to beat JNJ
High Wycombe B. That didn't seem too unreasonable
an ask but goal difference was the stumbling
block. They were -10 and JNJ High Wycombe B
were +3. The margin of defeat to JNJ Russia
had been hugely damaging to their qualification
hopes and if they'd lost that by 1 or 2 goals
they would be in a much better position. Cilag
Team 1 had been beating teams by 5 or 6 goals
and so it would not be too much of a surprise
to see JNJ High Wycombe B's goal difference
reduced to something like -2. As things stood
that would mean they would need to beat GBS
Reds B by 8 goals – a huge ask. If that task
was to win by 3 or 4 that could be achievable
with a great performance.
Looking
at the game from a GBS Reds B perspective and
they needed a point of any description to qualify
for the Plate. A defeat would see them in the
Wooden Spoon competition due to Cilag Team 3
having a better goal difference in Group B.
At
half-time we were locked together at 1-1 with
George Lazaro scoring his third of the tournament
for Leeds One and Mariusz Gongola scoring his
first for GBS Reds B. Any hopes of making the
Cup for Leeds One were surely now gone unless
we had something out of this world in the second
half. They were in a big battle just to get
the three points from this game let alone worry
about anything else at this stage.
In
the end Leeds One did get the win with James
High and Thomas Budden scoring in the second
half for the English team. Marko Titizov scored
his second of the day for GBS Reds B but they
were just short of a first point in Group C.
Final score, 3-2.
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