Football - Men's D Team

Most Valuable Player - John Maguire

Resplendent in their replica SGL kit, the men's D team started the tournament very well, with a hard fought win over the Boys in Yellow from Malaysia.  The winning goal was slotted away by Barry Martin with only a couple of minutes to go.  

After the opening game, however, the opposition toughened up a lot.  Not surprisingly, the Ds were comprehensively outplayed by Dubai-A in the second game -- though not embarrassed by the score line, due to some sterling defending by Sean Duggan and Fred Molenaar, and the world's jammiest-ever penalty save by John Maguire.  

Next in the firing line was Hong Kong-B.  In this game the lads were punished for not being as clinical as usual in taking their rare goal-scoring chances, resulting in a narrow defeat.  Had the flying Padriag Reidy not been away refereeing another game during the first half (!) a different story might need to be told.  

The final game -- a local derby against Singapore-C -- was a highlight.  The was little to separate the teams through most of the game and while Peter Sheridan was popping them over the bar at will, and Andrew Conley contained the significant midfield threat with apparent ease, the lads were undone by an unusually well-taken goal, scored against the run of play, that allowed the Cs to avoid -- by the narrowest of margins -- the blushes that would surely have accompanied what would have been an unexpected defeat.   Roll on 2008...  
                  

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