FC Irlande - Matchday 5

Brussels LTC 2 – 1 FC Irlande

A devastating loss, one that will linger painfully in the memory. We dominated nearly the entire match against a very good Brussels LTC side, but having taken the lead in the second half, we threw it away and ended with nothing.

We had our strongest line up of the season. Charles started on the right with Mark and Yann patrolling the midfield. I started up front with Sigve for the first time this season. David was behind us, occasionally glancing over at his son on the sidelines, a wise move given that he was being looked after by Kieran.

We took control of the match from the first whistle, bossing the midfield and building up patiently from the back. The chances soon began to come, and go. Sigve missed a couple, and then very nearly set me up for a tap in. I missed my best chance not long after Yann had blazed wide, and Charles and David got in on the act as well. The only sniff of goal they had was when Alec played a back-heel blindly to Christian, but Chris was off his line quickly to smother the danger.

In the second half we relented somewhat, but still had the better of the play. Another agonising goalmouth scramble passed without the goal we craved. They were frantic at the back, but held on. Fred, Christian and Alec kept things quiet in front of Chris. There seemed little danger of them ever breaching our defense. The only question was, could we breach theirs?

The answer came midway through the half with a great team move that ended with Alvaro whipping in a wonderful deep cross to the far post, where I gleefully headed downward to get my first of the season. The relief was palpable, but it didn’t last long. The warning signs were there. In the second half we notched up three yellow cards in quick succession for talking back to the ref. Then, barely a minute after the kick off, Charles lost the ball in midfield and was quickly at the feet of their striker. He was three yards offside according to our defenders, but the ref did nothing. Perhaps he would have called it had he not had to hear so much backchat from us. Perhaps. We’ll never know. The striker, presented with a gift just as he was in this fixture last season, rounded Chris and scored. 1-1.

David was off at this point looking after his 8 month-old son. I went off for Axel with time running down, disappointed that I could only help us draw. Or so I thought. Two minutes from time they worked the ball down the right, and though we yelled and gesticulated wildly that the ball had crossed the end line, the whistle never came. The ball went across to one of two players in acres of space on the other side of the box. He calmly slotted home from 12 yards out.

When I saw the ball roll into the corner I swiveled around, ready to punch the nearest inanimate object I could find. Instead I came face to face with David's son, smiling as he swallowed his baby food. That little face saved me from potentially breaking my own fist. 2-1 it finished.

FC Irlande: Chris, Fred, Christian, Alec; Mark, Yann, Charles, Alvaro, David (Adrian); Sigve, Ross (Axel)

Goal: Ross

Man of the match: Mark – Patrolled the midfield and distributed well. In other words, a shorter version of Darren Fletcher