"At least We Didn't Lose" - MFC Judge Crash Out of Group Stage

Vowing changes, manager Pieter van der Linden cast a downtrodden gaze over the Metastadium press-room on Wednesday morning, as MFC crashed out of the group stage of the Alpha 0.3 preseason tournament following a 2-2 draw with Montreal Forest. 

"This certainly isn't the last press-conference I wanted to give here" van der Linden mused.  "We had dreams of lifting the cup, of starting off our existence with a real bang.  But it wasn't meant to be.  Now it is time for self-reflection, for examination, and for identifying areas to improve.  We will become the club DG Gavelers expect and the club "The Judge" would want us to be."

One DG Gaveler in attendance was reportedly overhead saying "At least we didn't lose, right?  It could have been a lot worse.  I'm just glad we scored."

Things started out with promise for the boys from Deventer, as Isidro Sarmiento notched the first goal of the match with a beautiful strike in the fifth minute.  That lead was short-lived, however, as Irish midfielder Bill Carolan slotted one home a minute later to tie the score at one goal a piece. Art Bourgeois would put Montréal Forest ahead in the 34th minute with a well-timed backheel strike.  That is how the half would end - with MFC Judge down 2-1.

For the next almost 40 minutes, that is how the match would stay.  Luckily for MFC Judge, forward Elmar Jacobs was able to tie up the match with an 84th minute wonder-strike.

"I knew we probably weren't going to win" Jacobs said.  "But I didn't want to lose.  I couldn't face the DG Gavelers if we lost again.  While this tournament didn't go the way we wanted, scoring here gives us something to build upon."