On a day that saw several first-team regulars rest, MFC Judge emerged victorious - but just barely. Facing a club that appeared severly overmatched on paper, MFC Judge had 19 shots on goal, five of which were on-target. But it was just one that would go in - a 59th minute strike from Isidro Sarmiento, off a beautiful pass from Tunde Sanusi.
"I used to only say this when I was out at clubs in Bogota with my mates - but I can't believe we didn't score more". Sarmiento vented after the match. "We could have used Elmar out there but Jamie did a good job stepping in for him. I know Pieter has a plan with rotations. We don't just want to do well - we want to win this whole thing!"
The match started out quickly for visiting MFC Judge, with Sarmiento coming close in both the 1' and 3'. Jamie Thorton, stepping in for the resting Elmar Jacobs, then came close to opening up his account in the 5', but like his teammates before him his shot also failed to find the back of the net. Jean-Claude Schoeters kept the pressure up, however, coming close in the next minute. The visitors from Deventer would have several other chances throughout the remainder of the first half, but they were all for naught. At haleftime then, the sides went into the Metastadium dressing rooms tied 0-0.
MFC Judge kept up the pressure after the restart, much to the delight of Bailiff von Bailiff and the rest of the traveling DG Gavelers. Several times MFC CLUB 420 defenders had to jump in and make last-minute clearances to keep the score level. Finally, however, Sarmiento broke free in the 59th minute, taking a beautiful pass from Tunde Sanusi and slamming it in the back of the net to break the scoreless deadlock. Despite no less than SIX additional chances in the game's final 30 minutes, the boys from Deventer could not score again.
Manager Pieter van der Linden had this to say during his post-match interview:
"At the end of the day a win is a win. Three points are three points, even if the scoreline doesn't reflect our dominance. We know that things will even out for us in the end. So long as we keep playing to the level we know we can play, we will be fine."
MFC Judge's Statistical Dominance
The win takes MFC Judge into a three-way tie for first place with seven points. The club will next be in action on November 25 against one of those clubs - Canon Yaoundé, who tied Inter Madrid 2-2 in their most recent match.
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