2026-09-26, 05:33 PM - Word count:
In this match day it is a very important game for both CS Rova Mpanjaka and North Shore United. These teams are not having great seasons in division 1 and are fighting to stay off the bottom of the table. CS Rova line up with a back 4, two defensive mids, 3 offensive mids and a striker. North Shore has the exact same formation and since I am course am on NSU I should point out that I (Thomas Thunder) am lined up wide of the left as an offensive midfielder. The other player of note for North Shore is our striker Rashford II who has the most TPE on the team. Both teams are through 6 games and CS Rova is in 6th place with 4 points while NSU is in 7th place with 3 points. There is however a striking goal differential difference where Rova is -3 but NSU is -23. There have been some..... learning experiences earlier this season.
Rova starts the game with the ball and moves it to the right flank quickly to put on pressure. Nothing materialized and the tried to switch fields. Suddenly Schwarte of Rova gets called for a hard tackle and is presented with a yellow card still in the 1st minute of play. The play skips to the start of the 5th minute when NSU has an attacking 3rd throw in. They control and pass it back to the center back to build from there. Urkel tries to run the ball over the right and puts Pena in a decent position. He finds some space and puts in a difficult cross to handle. Rashford reads it well and gets a strong jump and strong header, but it is saved out of play by ampharos. The corner comes in and through. It takes a deflection for another corner. This one is sent to the top of the box and after a few quick passes a cross gets cleared back by Rova. North Shore keeps possession but the highlight ends.
In the 9th minute now, CS Rova starts with a throw in. They share a couple nifty one touch passes before the cross goes in to Rocket. His volley is saved out of play by Cheese, but an excellent chance created. The corner is taken to the top of the box where Martin is all alone. The subsequent cross in decent, but the Rova player puts it over the goal.
In the 14th minute we have Pena making a run down the right side for North Shore. He gets doubled teamed and ran off the ball, but the clearence is not effective and North Shore is able to generate a strong shot on net by Neymarinho. It is saved when Ampharos pushes it wide. The corner is not effective and after a few passes it goes right to the keeper.
In the 18th minute Rova has an offensive throw in. It is quite crowded in this part of the field so they pass it back to reset. They switch field and let Schwarte take a run down the left. He puts up a cross over the keeper and the header is saved. Unfortunately the save leaves the ball still in play and Rocket follows up his header and takes the easy shot into the back of the net. CS Rova is going to be quite pleased with the start of this game.
In the 21st minute Rova again starts a highlight with a throw in on their left. They quickly move the ball into the penalty area and up to Grudnar near the goal area. He controls and passes it back, then another pass to the center, and Martin takes the one timed shot and doesn't miss. Cheese hardly had a chance on that one and it is 2-0 for CS Rova.
The next highlight is all the way in the 34th minute where Rova has a throw in deep in their own area. Newman finds some space and passes it up to Rocket. He receives the pass and turns in to run past Tentacles. As his angle is cut off he makes the smart pass across the field to Pow, but the pass was not quite weighted enough and Pena intercepts it. Possession then flip flops several times quickly, before Rova finds a sneaky pass over the top to Newman making a run. Right in stride he gets his head on it and angles it down for his striker Grudnar. Without slowing a step, Grudnar takes the shot past Cheese into the net. No doubt on that one. 3-0 Rova.
In he 44th minute we start with a North Shore throw in right at midfield. There are a lot of bodies in the area so NSU is going to want to get the ball out to a save place. Their first pass is quite aggressive and then they try to change field, but Rova must have been waiting for it. Schwarte steps in front and starts a fast break in the other direction. Cross over and Newman takes the shot while at a full sprint and the ball hits the side of the netting.
Now in the 1st minute of stoppage time, Rova has possession with their defenders looking for an opportunity. A few passes up and back before the move it to the left flank where Schwarte wants to move more aggressively. He runs at Pena and hits the breaks for a short little pass to Pow who's quick shot went clear over the top. Unfortunately it was touched on its way over and it is a corner kick. The kick comes in nicely but its headed backwards for Rova and they don't quite find a chance to get it back towards goal.
At half time the score is also indicative of the shots and xG. Rova leads in Goals (3-0), shots (10-3), Shots on target (7-2), and Xg (1.45-0.31). While it is disappointing for NSU to give up 3 goals on a 1.45 Xg it is hard to say the game is not going they way the deserve.
The second half starts with North Shore taking first possession. Pena finds Neymarinho on the right sideline. He wants to make a run but is easily cut off and the ball goes out of play.
A few minutes later we find that same man, Neymarinho lining up for a direct free kick from about 25 yards from goal. The ball is stuck with exceptional pace past the 4 man wall right at the top right corner. It looks like a goal, but the ball hits the cross bar and bounces straight down. Somehow someone from Rova is able to fix this and sends the ball out wide for a corner kick. Incredible chance from an excellent free kick. The corner is placed to the back post, but Rova is able to get it headed out and cleared to Newman who is able to maintain possession.
Quick cut to the 49th minute where Rova has an offensive area throw in. The throw is clearly not on target but fortunately the NSU player just volleys it back to the Rova defense. They make a few nice passes through the middle and Superhoops makes a lovely player here. He passes it centrally to Newman who instantly sends it back wide to Superhoops. This little maneuver throws off NSU and gets Superhoops the chance to make a run towards goal. Tentacles is quick enough to cut off the angle forcing the stop and backwards pass to Turk. Turk centers it to Martin who doesn't like what he see. He sends it back to Fern and they reset their possession. The first aggressive pass is far up to the left corner to Pow. The pass was perfectly on target and Pow gets under it and wastes no time with a volley back to Turk. The creativity here is lovely with a short touch to Schwarte allows him to have a angle to return the pass to Pow who has now made a run into the penalty area. With this angle Pow puts up an arching pass over the keeper to the back post. Rocket is there being guarded by Tentacles, but he could not be stopped on this play. He wins the header and scores the 4th goal for CS Rova. His team mate would have been offsides on the play, but Rocket was not and the goal stands.
A short skip to the 53rd minute where NSU has an offensive area throw in. A quick return volley lets Tentacles find Thunder making a comeback run. He smartly lays it off for Urkel who has the opportunity to shoot from outside the penalty area. He chooses instead for a pass since Hane was waiting at the penalty spot. His quick 360 shoot was on target but maybe a little too central. It his the keeper and rebounds out wide for a corner kick. The resulting corner looks good but Ampharos making an aggressive play at the ball and goes to collect it successfully.
In the 56th minute we have a sudden direct free kick for Rova in a dangerous position. The shooter gets the ball up and over the three man wall, but the ball never curved back down and it cleared right over the top for a goal kick.
Now in the 59th minute Rova has an offensive area throw in on their left side. Schwarte finds Pow for the immediate return volley. Then it is played back to Pow who finds Martin standing just past the penalty box. Nobody from North Shore is quick to close down on it and Martin has plenty of time to take a shot. He sends it low and hard at the far post and just misses wide. If he could have been more accurate he had all the time and opportunity for an easy score.
The following goal kick continues the highlight as North Shore plays it short out of the back to Krpan. He finds Urkel who is able to turn and pass it up to Neymarinho as he runs toward the right sideline. He has some space to himself and them time to get possession and turn up field. Scharte and Pow close in so Neymarinho makes a quick cut inside and tries a killer ball to Hane, but it is intercepted. Rova start by switching field and Superhoops makes a run for half the field down the right sideline. Just before the penalty area he passes it inward to Rocket. Rocket runs at a defender and makes a quick cut to his left foot and he creates a lot of space for himself. His shot hits the cross bar hard and the deflection ends up going off of a NSU player for the corner kick. The corner kick bounces a few times before being sent over the cross bar for a goal kick
Now in the 70th minute CS Rova has an offensive area throw in about as close to the corner flag as possible. The usual throw into return volley happens and then Rova has room to make a few passes on that side before the ball get crossed up. The bounce comes down for Pow and he lays it off for Schwarte just outside of the penalty area. His shot is strong, but short and it hits the side netting for a goal kick.
Another short skip gives us a CS Rova direct kick in the 72nd minute. It is pretty far from goal but central so there is still quite a wall. The ball is instead played as a pass to the top of the penalty arch. Rocket tries to take it as a one timer and redirect it but misses quite wildly.
At the start of the 78th minute we have a North Shore throw in down on their right side. Tentacles throws it to Hane who was running back towards him. Hane angles his body left and quite instantly launches a cross in. A desperation play from a desperate team at this point. There was Neymarinho making a run but nowhere near the ball placement and it easily get headed out by the defense. NSU is able to track down the loose ball and they have another opportunity to set up some good play. Urkel gets boxed out and chooses to pass it back to Krpan. He sees something as Stoch is in an excellent position midfield and not covered. The pass comes in and Stock with one touch sends up the ball to Neymarinho. The pass is straight at him and he has a lovely little touch to direct the ball and start running behind it in one motion. It gives him the space he needs to take a shot without any defenders in the way. But the shot is atrocious. It goes far across the face of goal and probably misses the far post by 10 yards before it goes over the goal line. Very disappointing result from an excellent build up.
Nothing more happens until we see Rova with some deep defensive possession in the 1st minute of stoppage time. They go for a big clearance to get the ball up to Pow, but North Shore is able to retake possession. Urkel is given the ball and he makes a run first forward but then to his left as he gets cut off by Martin and Turk. Urkel finds Tentacles all alone on the left, not even all that wide. Suddenly a lot of a space is there for North Shore. Tentacles gains the attention of the right full back, which opens up the pass to Thomas Thunder. Thunder stops it and knows behind him that Rashford II is making a run, so the throw ball is placed quickly. It comes in just in time before offsides and Rashford has a clear cut chance on goal from closer than the penalty dot. The ball is low but Ampharos makes an incredible diving side pushing it out wide for a corner kick. That kick was nothing special at all. getting headed over the cross bar. Now with only 30 seconds or so left in the game, Rova takes the goal kick to their deep defenders. At first it looks like they have very little urgency, but as North Shore starts to put on a press, Rova has no problem making a series of 4 excellent passes to get the ball up into the midfield and then through to the right side line where Super hoops is making a run. He finds Rocket further up the side and Rocket gets deep before sending in a cross. It is pretty easily headed away from Krpan on defense and that might be about all that's left in the game. North Shore gets control but passes it back to the keeper. As Cheese clears it out the whistle blows and that is the game.
The xG (2.02 - 1.09) was not quite as bad as the score indicates, but the eye test clearly shows that CS Rova was dominant in this match. Every Rova player had a game rating at or over 6.9 while no North Shore players reached that mark. North Shore also had 3 players booked in the final third of the game. A real indicator of how frustrating this outing was for the team.
This loss for North Shore affirms their position at 7th place in division 1. This loss also makes it quite likely that relegation is in the future for the squad. The youth on the team have struggled to play beyond expectations. The focus will have to be on themselves as they prepare for the rest of the season and the rest of their careers together.
Rova starts the game with the ball and moves it to the right flank quickly to put on pressure. Nothing materialized and the tried to switch fields. Suddenly Schwarte of Rova gets called for a hard tackle and is presented with a yellow card still in the 1st minute of play. The play skips to the start of the 5th minute when NSU has an attacking 3rd throw in. They control and pass it back to the center back to build from there. Urkel tries to run the ball over the right and puts Pena in a decent position. He finds some space and puts in a difficult cross to handle. Rashford reads it well and gets a strong jump and strong header, but it is saved out of play by ampharos. The corner comes in and through. It takes a deflection for another corner. This one is sent to the top of the box and after a few quick passes a cross gets cleared back by Rova. North Shore keeps possession but the highlight ends.
In the 9th minute now, CS Rova starts with a throw in. They share a couple nifty one touch passes before the cross goes in to Rocket. His volley is saved out of play by Cheese, but an excellent chance created. The corner is taken to the top of the box where Martin is all alone. The subsequent cross in decent, but the Rova player puts it over the goal.
In the 14th minute we have Pena making a run down the right side for North Shore. He gets doubled teamed and ran off the ball, but the clearence is not effective and North Shore is able to generate a strong shot on net by Neymarinho. It is saved when Ampharos pushes it wide. The corner is not effective and after a few passes it goes right to the keeper.
In the 18th minute Rova has an offensive throw in. It is quite crowded in this part of the field so they pass it back to reset. They switch field and let Schwarte take a run down the left. He puts up a cross over the keeper and the header is saved. Unfortunately the save leaves the ball still in play and Rocket follows up his header and takes the easy shot into the back of the net. CS Rova is going to be quite pleased with the start of this game.
In the 21st minute Rova again starts a highlight with a throw in on their left. They quickly move the ball into the penalty area and up to Grudnar near the goal area. He controls and passes it back, then another pass to the center, and Martin takes the one timed shot and doesn't miss. Cheese hardly had a chance on that one and it is 2-0 for CS Rova.
The next highlight is all the way in the 34th minute where Rova has a throw in deep in their own area. Newman finds some space and passes it up to Rocket. He receives the pass and turns in to run past Tentacles. As his angle is cut off he makes the smart pass across the field to Pow, but the pass was not quite weighted enough and Pena intercepts it. Possession then flip flops several times quickly, before Rova finds a sneaky pass over the top to Newman making a run. Right in stride he gets his head on it and angles it down for his striker Grudnar. Without slowing a step, Grudnar takes the shot past Cheese into the net. No doubt on that one. 3-0 Rova.
In he 44th minute we start with a North Shore throw in right at midfield. There are a lot of bodies in the area so NSU is going to want to get the ball out to a save place. Their first pass is quite aggressive and then they try to change field, but Rova must have been waiting for it. Schwarte steps in front and starts a fast break in the other direction. Cross over and Newman takes the shot while at a full sprint and the ball hits the side of the netting.
Now in the 1st minute of stoppage time, Rova has possession with their defenders looking for an opportunity. A few passes up and back before the move it to the left flank where Schwarte wants to move more aggressively. He runs at Pena and hits the breaks for a short little pass to Pow who's quick shot went clear over the top. Unfortunately it was touched on its way over and it is a corner kick. The kick comes in nicely but its headed backwards for Rova and they don't quite find a chance to get it back towards goal.
At half time the score is also indicative of the shots and xG. Rova leads in Goals (3-0), shots (10-3), Shots on target (7-2), and Xg (1.45-0.31). While it is disappointing for NSU to give up 3 goals on a 1.45 Xg it is hard to say the game is not going they way the deserve.
The second half starts with North Shore taking first possession. Pena finds Neymarinho on the right sideline. He wants to make a run but is easily cut off and the ball goes out of play.
A few minutes later we find that same man, Neymarinho lining up for a direct free kick from about 25 yards from goal. The ball is stuck with exceptional pace past the 4 man wall right at the top right corner. It looks like a goal, but the ball hits the cross bar and bounces straight down. Somehow someone from Rova is able to fix this and sends the ball out wide for a corner kick. Incredible chance from an excellent free kick. The corner is placed to the back post, but Rova is able to get it headed out and cleared to Newman who is able to maintain possession.
Quick cut to the 49th minute where Rova has an offensive area throw in. The throw is clearly not on target but fortunately the NSU player just volleys it back to the Rova defense. They make a few nice passes through the middle and Superhoops makes a lovely player here. He passes it centrally to Newman who instantly sends it back wide to Superhoops. This little maneuver throws off NSU and gets Superhoops the chance to make a run towards goal. Tentacles is quick enough to cut off the angle forcing the stop and backwards pass to Turk. Turk centers it to Martin who doesn't like what he see. He sends it back to Fern and they reset their possession. The first aggressive pass is far up to the left corner to Pow. The pass was perfectly on target and Pow gets under it and wastes no time with a volley back to Turk. The creativity here is lovely with a short touch to Schwarte allows him to have a angle to return the pass to Pow who has now made a run into the penalty area. With this angle Pow puts up an arching pass over the keeper to the back post. Rocket is there being guarded by Tentacles, but he could not be stopped on this play. He wins the header and scores the 4th goal for CS Rova. His team mate would have been offsides on the play, but Rocket was not and the goal stands.
A short skip to the 53rd minute where NSU has an offensive area throw in. A quick return volley lets Tentacles find Thunder making a comeback run. He smartly lays it off for Urkel who has the opportunity to shoot from outside the penalty area. He chooses instead for a pass since Hane was waiting at the penalty spot. His quick 360 shoot was on target but maybe a little too central. It his the keeper and rebounds out wide for a corner kick. The resulting corner looks good but Ampharos making an aggressive play at the ball and goes to collect it successfully.
In the 56th minute we have a sudden direct free kick for Rova in a dangerous position. The shooter gets the ball up and over the three man wall, but the ball never curved back down and it cleared right over the top for a goal kick.
Now in the 59th minute Rova has an offensive area throw in on their left side. Schwarte finds Pow for the immediate return volley. Then it is played back to Pow who finds Martin standing just past the penalty box. Nobody from North Shore is quick to close down on it and Martin has plenty of time to take a shot. He sends it low and hard at the far post and just misses wide. If he could have been more accurate he had all the time and opportunity for an easy score.
The following goal kick continues the highlight as North Shore plays it short out of the back to Krpan. He finds Urkel who is able to turn and pass it up to Neymarinho as he runs toward the right sideline. He has some space to himself and them time to get possession and turn up field. Scharte and Pow close in so Neymarinho makes a quick cut inside and tries a killer ball to Hane, but it is intercepted. Rova start by switching field and Superhoops makes a run for half the field down the right sideline. Just before the penalty area he passes it inward to Rocket. Rocket runs at a defender and makes a quick cut to his left foot and he creates a lot of space for himself. His shot hits the cross bar hard and the deflection ends up going off of a NSU player for the corner kick. The corner kick bounces a few times before being sent over the cross bar for a goal kick
Now in the 70th minute CS Rova has an offensive area throw in about as close to the corner flag as possible. The usual throw into return volley happens and then Rova has room to make a few passes on that side before the ball get crossed up. The bounce comes down for Pow and he lays it off for Schwarte just outside of the penalty area. His shot is strong, but short and it hits the side netting for a goal kick.
Another short skip gives us a CS Rova direct kick in the 72nd minute. It is pretty far from goal but central so there is still quite a wall. The ball is instead played as a pass to the top of the penalty arch. Rocket tries to take it as a one timer and redirect it but misses quite wildly.
At the start of the 78th minute we have a North Shore throw in down on their right side. Tentacles throws it to Hane who was running back towards him. Hane angles his body left and quite instantly launches a cross in. A desperation play from a desperate team at this point. There was Neymarinho making a run but nowhere near the ball placement and it easily get headed out by the defense. NSU is able to track down the loose ball and they have another opportunity to set up some good play. Urkel gets boxed out and chooses to pass it back to Krpan. He sees something as Stoch is in an excellent position midfield and not covered. The pass comes in and Stock with one touch sends up the ball to Neymarinho. The pass is straight at him and he has a lovely little touch to direct the ball and start running behind it in one motion. It gives him the space he needs to take a shot without any defenders in the way. But the shot is atrocious. It goes far across the face of goal and probably misses the far post by 10 yards before it goes over the goal line. Very disappointing result from an excellent build up.
Nothing more happens until we see Rova with some deep defensive possession in the 1st minute of stoppage time. They go for a big clearance to get the ball up to Pow, but North Shore is able to retake possession. Urkel is given the ball and he makes a run first forward but then to his left as he gets cut off by Martin and Turk. Urkel finds Tentacles all alone on the left, not even all that wide. Suddenly a lot of a space is there for North Shore. Tentacles gains the attention of the right full back, which opens up the pass to Thomas Thunder. Thunder stops it and knows behind him that Rashford II is making a run, so the throw ball is placed quickly. It comes in just in time before offsides and Rashford has a clear cut chance on goal from closer than the penalty dot. The ball is low but Ampharos makes an incredible diving side pushing it out wide for a corner kick. That kick was nothing special at all. getting headed over the cross bar. Now with only 30 seconds or so left in the game, Rova takes the goal kick to their deep defenders. At first it looks like they have very little urgency, but as North Shore starts to put on a press, Rova has no problem making a series of 4 excellent passes to get the ball up into the midfield and then through to the right side line where Super hoops is making a run. He finds Rocket further up the side and Rocket gets deep before sending in a cross. It is pretty easily headed away from Krpan on defense and that might be about all that's left in the game. North Shore gets control but passes it back to the keeper. As Cheese clears it out the whistle blows and that is the game.
The xG (2.02 - 1.09) was not quite as bad as the score indicates, but the eye test clearly shows that CS Rova was dominant in this match. Every Rova player had a game rating at or over 6.9 while no North Shore players reached that mark. North Shore also had 3 players booked in the final third of the game. A real indicator of how frustrating this outing was for the team.
This loss for North Shore affirms their position at 7th place in division 1. This loss also makes it quite likely that relegation is in the future for the squad. The youth on the team have struggled to play beyond expectations. The focus will have to be on themselves as they prepare for the rest of the season and the rest of their careers together.
![[Image: uF2FKWe.png]](https://i.imgur.com/uF2FKWe.png)
