Port Royal: A week of dissapointment! MD#2 & MD#3

[Definia]

Port Royal: A week of dissapointment

After a very successfull opening game of the season for Port Royal FC against Sydney City FC where they ran out 4-2 winners, Port Royal would have been full of confidence walking into this week which has brought us fully into the regular academy season schedule of 2 matchdays per week with games on Monday and Thursday nights.
However it very much did not go according to plan for the team in black and green. Here is my matchday reports for this week which brought us a top of the clash table Stockholm IK vs Port Royal FC on Monday night and Atletico Medellin on the Thursday night.

Matchday 2: Stockholm IK v Port Royal

After MD#1 and getting our first look at each team in the league, Port Royal and Stockholm both ran out as 4-2 winners in their previous game so this was very much already a pinnacle game of the season, not in terms of the league table, but more about how we were going to see what team was going to kick on from their opening game of the season and keep the momentum going.
Speaking of momentum, Port Royal lined upo with the same team and same formation rocking up with a 4-2-3-1 formation, and so did Stockholm so very much it would be a game of skill and determination rather than who would win through tactics themselves, at least that's how it looked on paper anyway.

The first chance of the game came in 6 minutes into the game for Stockholm which saw a slick through-ball from Pow made its way to GD Legend's feet and he saw himself one-on-one with the goalkepper only for his effort to be caught quite easily by Sterling Legend.
15 minutes into the game saw an early spell of domination from Port Royal, seemingly picking up where they had left off managing to get 5 shots at goal however only 1 on target, the best passage of play came from a lobbed ball form the center of the park over the defence into McGlynns feet on the right side of the box who played a squared ball across to De Allie Legend who's effort didn't matter as he had just strayed offside.

The next clear chance of the game came just a minute later where a ball over the top to DatBasted who swing in a high cross first time to Van Huntelrooy who just headered the ball over the bar.
Stockholm then had a few corners with efforts just not managing to trouble the Port Royal keeper, next was a shot from just outside the 18 yard box from Jack Pow that was saved and tipped wide for a corner.
The resulting corner was swung in by Pedersen Legend and it met by a header from Martin Krpan, his inital effort was saved by Sterling Legend however the save only pushed the ball across the goal line where Lind Legend was able to just tap the ball in to give Stockholm the lead!
Minutes later Port Royal found themselves pushing forward very quickly for an equaliser however Barry McGlynn who had found himself through on goal, he hadn't been alert and watching his run as he found himself in an offside position, not that the sliced shot would've meant anything as it was closer to the corner flag than the goal.
However his next effort was something more like we are used to seeing from the attacking midfielder. A great run from De Allie Legend which brought Port Royal up the park, he passed it through the middle of the defence after a greatly timed run this time from Barry McGlynn who received the pass just inside the 18 yard box and had his weak foot effort which looked as if it was destined for the top corner, fantastically saved by Moew EnBach who not only saved the shopt but held onto it with great handling.
Just before the half time whistle saw a great piece of teamplay by Port Royal, pasing the ball around fluently, Barry McGlynn then made a beautiful lobbed through ball to De Allie Legend who's effort on goal again was saved and punched wide by Moew EnBach who already was making an effort for Player of the match. The resulting corner saw a header from Erickson saved and tipped wide again by EnBach.
Then the resulting corner saw a moment of brilliance from non other than Stockholms player-manager Rich Wynne, he picked up the ball just outside his own box and ran the full length of the field with the ball at his feet, made it to the by-line at Port Royals goal, played a pass across the goal with Pow as it's intended destination, however Unshark who had stuck his foot out in an attempt to block the pass, ended up deflecting the ball into his own net! Wynne I imagine would be wanting to claim the goal, however not a chance would it be given to him officially!

The HT stats shown us on paper that the game was actually quite even with both teams having 10 shots each and 5 shots each on target, however the one stat at this point that wasn't even was the scoreline and that's the one that matters. 2-0 at HT to Stockholm, however from the efforst made in the first half, if not for EnBach, the score could easily be tied at 2-2.

In the 51st minute the scoreline seemed to be continuing on it's upwards trajectory for Stockholm, a throw-in by DatBasted to Wynne, who passed back to DatBasted lobbed the ball to the far post to Jack Pows head who placed it down perfectly for Van Huntelrooy to rifle the half-volley into the top corner and Stockholm had a 3-0 lead and the game was basically at this point all but finished. Dennis Van Huntelrooy picking up his goal of the season.
The next effort came 20 minutes later after a beatuful free-flowing period of possession for Stockholm that resulted in GD legend being 12 yeards from goal with the ball at his feet, taking a left-footed shot at the goal however the effort went soaring over Port Royals crossbar.
Dennis Van Huntelrooy had a goal in the 78th minute chopped off for being offside, luckily for Port Royal as the game was starting to get away from them.
And away from them it was, as the final whistle came and the scoreline was 3-0 to Stockholm, when looking at the scoreline you would see it as a pretty convincing win from Stockholm however over the period of play, mostly from the first half, it very much could've been a totally different story if not for the Stockholm goalkepper Moew EnBach. Port Royalhad an xG of 2.19 by FT and produced some very very good chances, especially around the first half where effort after effort was saved by EnBach.

Moew Enbach picked up an 8.0 overall rating and definitely would be my pick for Player of the Match even though Jack Pow had picked it up with his 8.1 match rating.

Overall a disappointing day at the office for Port Royal, they would probably be happy with their overall attacking performance, however they need to start being more clinical in front of goal to convert all the chances that they create for themselves with their free-flowing attacking football and Thursday night gives them that chance to get back to basics and hit the ground running again with their matchup against Atletico Medellin.

Matchday 3: Atletico Medellin v Port Royal

This was a game that Port Royal were very much looking forward to, so they could put the disappointing result of the previous matchday against Stockholm behind them and move forward and try to get back on their feet and start putting more points on the table.
Port Royal again went with their trusty 4-2-3-1 formation and fielded the same line-up  as the previous 2 games however tonight would see the debut of new goalkeeper Ian Degon. Hopefully this would help solidify Port Royal at the back.

The first few minutes saw Port Royal come out the blocks flying, a De AllieLegend headed effort from a Bryant cross was tipped over the crossbar by Neuer Legend. The resulting corner taken by Bryant and it reached Tenderloin Legend whose header was also saved by Neuer Legend.
Port Royal continued to batter thhe box of Atletico Medellin as an effort from Bryant was blocked and saw its way out for a corner, and Unshark had a shot and Neuer Legend did well to tip the ball behind. erickson had a header from the following corner saved and the ball then ping-balled around the six yard box before making it's way into the safety of the arms of Neuer Legend.
The first 10 minutes of the game saw Port Royal pick up 6 shots and 5 of them were saved by Neuer Legend, they were clearly out to make a point today.
However, it was in the 23rd minute when it would soon be halted and a stumbling block would be put in front of Port Royal in the shape of Fallon D'Floor Legend who was on the end of a Milton Nunez Legend cross and headered the ball down low past Degon into the Royals net and it was 1-0 to Atletico which was now after 3 games becoming a recurring theme for Port Royal where the opposite team would find itself in the lead.
Saide Black not long after had her effort from 12 yards out blocked by Gordon Legend.
First half continued to be a spell of dominance from Port Royal picking up more efforts on goal, the best clear effort being a pass from Bryant that played in De Allie Legend one-on-one with the goalkeeper who then made a really important save putting it wide for a corner. Port Royal attempted to keep the pressure up with the corner, where the ball made it's way to Unshark who put his attempt well over the crossbar.

HT came and statistically again, Port Royal was dominant with possession at 59% and turning that possession into efforts on goal and built up an xG of 1.43, however again haven't been able to convert those chances into goals. I don't know if it's through a lack of effort though and actually just down to playing against really strong goalkeepers, as Neuer Legend is putting in a man of the match worthy performance so far in this first half.

In the 58th minute a pass from Star Scream made it's way to Barry McGlynn, who by all means at this point in the game had a very, very quiet game, McGlynn had a thunderous long-range strike from the 18 yard line crash off the crossbar.
Bryant then had a great interception as Atletico Medellin were playing the ball around the back, passed it to De Allie Legend who then laid it off for Sadie Black, however her low-driven effort towards goal was tipped wide by Neuer Legend, a recurring nightmare in this game for Port Royal.
The 71st minute of the game saw Port Royal FC pick up a free kick along the sideline about 40 yards from goal, Sadie Black played a very long cross to Barry McGlynn who, not very known for his heading prowess, headered the ball across the 6 yard box to Tenderloin who rifled the ball home, however the goal was chopped off as Tenderloin was deemed in an offside position.
Five minutes later Atletico Medellin finally managed to sponge up the constant pressure from Port Royal and Ramirez Legend swung in a cross from the corner of the 18 yard box, which was extremely poorly cleared by Tenderloin Legend and the ball fell to Isagi Legend who volleyed the ball into the side netting of Degons goal and it was 2-0!
Now in the 85th minute Port Royal found themselves pushing and pushing further into the Medellin half and a sloppy pass was intercepted at the 18 yard box by Gordon Legend, who passed to Calvatore Legend and he played a first time long ball 30 yards over the defence of Port Royal, who were all inside the Medellin half so Maple Legend who not only wasn't offside, but found himself one-on-one against Degon, from the half way line! Maple Legend carried the ball all the way into Port Ropyals box and slotted the ball low past Degon into the corner and there it was, history repeating itself, and Port Royal found themselves down 3-0 and minutes later the FT whistle went.

That's now two defeats for Port Royal FC in their last two games, hopefully they can get to training and start to look at how they can convert these chances. They have absolutely no problems with finding time and space for shots, they just need to start finding the back of the net, or maybe find a team that doesn't have a goalkeeper that wants to pick up a Man of the Match award. 20 Shots and an xG of 1.91 for Port Royal, however the scoreline is the only stat that matters and it shows 3-0 to Atletico Medellin!

Thanks for tuning into another Match report for Port Royal FC, and hopefully next week sees them righting some wrongs!

[McLumberjack]

Really detailed writedown! I think Port Royal has hit a rough patch at the start here but with rookies like this I am sure they will stabilize soon.