31.10.14

Milan 3-2 Lazio

A thrilling game adorned by some fantastic goals entertained a sell-out crowd at Ambrit Stadium today.
Francesco R got things off to a breath-taking start when he nonchalantly flicked a pass into the top corner with his heel.
Milan rallied quickly however and Noah Gallo walloped home an equaliser with his left foot before half time.
Noah struck again in the second half, another well-struck shot from, this time with his left which rattled into the top corner past a bewildered Octavio. The action rocked to and fro and Lazio threatened to equalise until Ramnath stepped up to meet a ball in midfield and his shot thundered off the crossbar, off the goalkeeper and in!
Lazio continued to press and Francesco nabbed a second to give his team some hope of a draw, but time ran out and i rossoneri triumphed.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Edo J 6, Noah G 5, Giacomo 4, Francesco R 2, Zeno 2, Ludo 1, Alex V 1

30.10.14

Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea

Forse la partita più bella sino a questo momento nel torneo femminile, con due squadre che - per una volta al completo - si sono fronteggiate senza esclusione di copli, con buone giocate e ottime occasioni in gran parte neutralizzate dai soliti grandi portieri Lucrezia e Anastasia.
Il Chelsea, naturalmente più votato all'attacco, ha offerto un grande spettacolo, specie a centrocampo, dove i dialoghi di fitti passaggi tra Elizabeth, Margarida e Anna, ben supportate da Sofia, hanno spesso tenuto palla e creato occasioni in avanti. Dal lato Machester la coppia Valentina-Celeste è stata attentissima, anche grazie al supporto di Lea e Fatou, a sbarrare la strada alle avversarie con mestiere e tempismo.
Quando sembrava tutto avviato verso l'ennesimo 0-0, Greta approfittando di una delle poche disattenzioni di Helena, ha preso palla defilatissima sul lato destro del campo, e ha superato Anastasia con un bel diagonale che si è stampato sul palo. Beatriz si è avventata per prima sul pallone e l'ha messo dentro: 1-0 inaspettato per il City!
La risposta del Chelsea non si è fatta aspettare. Mourinho ha spronato le ragazze in campo e sino alla fine è stato un forcing per il meritato pareggio, arrivato quando Elizabeth ha messo Margarida da sola davanti a Lucrezia: bel diagonale e pareggio.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Valentina 5, Elizabeth 5, Margarida 3, Celeste 3, Sofia 2, Lea 1, Anna 1, Helena 1.

29.10.14

Sampdoria 3-1 Fiorentina

An open, attacking game ended with another victory for Sampdoria.
Fiorentina took the lead when an Edo R corner was fumbled by an otherwise excellent Ascanio.
Filippo Gigli equalised before half-time, his determination and physical presence paying off, and Sam made it 2-1 when he followed up a rebound off another Filippo shot.
In the second half, Stuart was everywhere and controlled the game for his team. Sam added a third right at the end.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Filippo G 4, Ascanio 4, Stuart 3, Sam 2, Grant 1, Filippo C 1, Filippo T 1, Taro 1, Gabriele 1, Michael 1, Guerrino 1, Andrew Cr 1

27.10.14

Manchester City - Chelsea 0-0

Bella partita, vibrante e molto aperta tra le due formazioni, nonostante le pesanti assenze. Tuttavia le prestazioni eccellenti dei nostri due portieroni - sempre più affidabili - e delle due solide difese non hanno permesso alla squadre di sbloccare il risultato. Oltre alla fase difensiva bisognerà provare a costruire un gioco maggiormente offensivo!

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Coming soon...

23.10.14

BOYS SOCCER: St George's 7-3 Ambrit

After last week's heavy defeat, the Ambrit boys did very well today to keep St George's in check and bring home a result that was, at least, better than Roma's against Bayern!
Playing 11 vs 11, Stuart had another great game and opened the scoring after 10 minutes with the first of a hat-trick of goals that were all photocopies of each other. He galloped up the left wing, leaving three defenders in his wake, and scored with a well-placed shot across the goalkeeper in to the bottom right corner.
St George's fought back and equalised when Ambrit failed to close down a loose midfielder and his shot was too high for Michael.
Ambrit's tight defending was frustrating the hosts. Sam, on the right of midfield, kept the dangerous No 10 in check; Mateo moved inside to do a job on the No 12 and Pietu cleaned up everything else.
Going forward, Ambrit were dangerous when Stuart got the ball and he put his side 2-1 up after 18 minutes. But te lead did not last until half-time. St George's equalised and then went 3-2 up, due mainly to Ambrit's failure to clear dangerous balls quickly.
The second half was a different story. St George's took over and only Stuart managed to get a shot in: he scored again.
MAN of the Match: Pietu & Stuart
Ambrit team: Michael (Octavio); Mateo (Grant), Pietu, Andrew, Filippo T (Ramnath); Sam, Luca, Francesco, Stuart; Filippo G, Nicholas (Giovanni) 

Fiorentina 0-1 Lazio

A very disappointing match was settled by just one goal and the low score was due more to ineffective attacking play than to strong defending.
Francesco R took his goal well and then Lazio cynically defended their lead for all of the second half.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Ludovico 3, Luka 2, Francesco R 2, Alex 2, Filippo C 2, Grant 1, Andrew Crossley 1, Pietu 1, Francesco C 1, Max 1, Noah I 1, Emil 1, Riccardo 1, Octavio 1, Michael 1

15.10.14

Juventus 6-3 Fiorentina

Fiorentina 'Rattazzitata'!
With 5 goals in this game, Nicholas gifted three points to his team and rockets to the top of the scoring charts.
Juve's victory epended on Nicholas's classic display of goal poaching married to some clever attacking play and he was well supported by Riccardo G who scored the team's other goal.
Riccardo F and Filippo were rewarded for their determined performances with two an done goals respectively, but they take no points away from this game.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Nicholas 6, Riccardo G 4, Riccardo F 3, Jacopo M 2, Luca R 2, Filippo 1, Giovanni 1, Artur 1, Tristano 1

10.10.14

Sampdoria 1-1 Milan

A game short on excitement finished goalless at half-time.
In the second half, a determined Guerrino looked to have won it with a low cross-shot through a crowd of defenders and past an unsighted Zeno.
But Alfonso, who has been chasing balls all afternoon, finally had a stroke of luck near the end when Gabriele slipped and left him one-on-one against Ascanio in goal. Alfonso buried it.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Giacomo 5, Guerrino 3, Ramnath 2, Taro 2, Ascanio 2, Alfonso 2, Gabriele 2, Stuart 1, Filippo B 1, Mateo 1

9.10.14

Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal

Arsenal, without their charismatic captain Angelica, succumbed to the superior pace and firepower in the Chelsea attack.
Solid defending and solid goalkeeping kept the scoring to a minimum and only Margarida was able to break it down.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Margarida 5, JuNa 3, Ran 3, Chiara 2, Leila EZ 2, Anna 2, Sophie 1, Sofia 1, Ginevra 1, Gaia 1

8.10.14

Juventus 4-0 Lazio

Without star striker Noah I, Lazio were demolished by Juventus in their opening match.
Lazio defended well early on and managed to keep Edo P away from the goal, but they couldn't keep it up for the whole first half and Edo first found room on the right (1-0) and then on the left (2-0) to leave Lazio'a match plan in tatters.
Lazzio came out to attack in the second half but, after only 3 minutes, they were caught on the break and Riccardo made it 3-0. Fantastic defending by captain Luca R kept Lazio scoreless.
Edo P could have had his hat-trick when he had a free header in the penalty area but he did eventually add a third goal to complete an impressive win for Juventus.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Edo P 6, Luca R 4, Luka D 3, Francesco R 2, Octavio 1, Andrew Coleman 1, Pietu 1, Max 1, Alex K 1, Artur 1

3.10.14

Fiorentina 2-2 Milan

A thrilling game today at Ambrit stadium kept the crowd enthralled right to the end.
Early on, Noah G served notice that he was in form when he got past the defense on the right and shot wide from a narrow angle when he might have passed. 
At the other end, Andrew had two chances: one went over and he scuffed the second one when he only had the keeper to beat.
Riccardo broke the deadlock just before half time when Ramnath failed to hold his near post shot.
Early in the second half, Noah Gallo equalized when a cross from the right beat the whole defense.
He had another chance soon after but Lucrezia made a great save.
For Fiorentina, Filippo hit the post and then Riccardo should have scored from the rebound but he blasted wide. Alex had a chance for Milan but Andrew stopped him with a great tackle.
Fiorentina took the lead when Mateo allegedly handled in the area and Filippo converted the penalty. But Milan came back again when Noah G scored with his head from a throw in.
Best player points: Noah G 5, Riccardo 3, Filippo C 3, Alex V 2, Tommaso R 2, Giacomo 2, Andrew Crossley 2, Zeno 1, Alfonso 1 

2.10.14

BOYS SOCCER: Ambrit - St George's 2-5 (at least....!)

St George's brought a crack team of 8th graders and gave Ambrit a runaround on their home pitch today.

FIRST HALF (Ambrit 1-4 St George's)
St Georg's played an excellent passing game, ball on the ground all the time, ball back to the 'keeper when needed, lots of movement off the ball. Ambrit chased them.
Michael began slowly and was taken by surprise for two goals but he finished the half strongly and kept out a few shots that seemed certain to go in.
Luca had difficulty finding the right position early on too, but when he put more pressure on his opposite number, he cut out the threat from midfield more effectively.
Stuart was always a threat going forward and it was he who nabbed Ambrit's goal; he also hit the crossbar just before the break.
But it was Pietu, playing in the centre of Ambrit's defence, who was our best player today by far.
Great positioning, strong tackling, quick clearances: fantastic performance.
1st half team: Michael; Alex K, Pietu, Max; Luca R (capt), Francesco R, Noah G; Stuart.

SECOND HALF (Ambrit 1-10 St George's)
A more inexperienced team had great trouble containing St George's in the second half. Stuart came back on to rescue a consolation goal for Ambrit.
2ndhalf team: Octavio; Mateo, Andrew, Filippo T; Laith, Sam, Alex V (Noah I); Giovanni.

Manchester City 0-0 Arsenal

Two strong goalkeepers, two strong defences and two sets of attackers full of energy but with little communication all contributed to a goalless start to the Girls' intramural.
Arsenal looked the stronger tea, for most of the game, with a focused Ran trying to bring her team mates into the game with some good passing. Eilidh took up some good positions in the first half but she drifted out of the game later on.
the best chance of the game fell to Greta near the end but her shot was well-saved by Anastasia.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Ran 5, Noemi 3, Celeste 2, Beatrice 2, Lucie 2, Chiara 2, Greta 1, Eilidh 1, Sophie 1, Leila EZ 1, Angelica 1

1.10.14

Sampdoria 3-2 Juventus

The new intramural championship got off to a fantastic start with a thrilling encounter between two of the favourites.
After the initial jousting, it was Stuart who put his side up with a trademark thunderbolt that saw the ball slam into the net, almost accompanied by Luca's head.
Sampdoria - today without their captain, Jacopo - tried hard to fight back back but Ascanio made some great saves.
Samp went two down early in the second half when Thomas handled in the area and allowed Filippo G to open his account. The pattern of the game remained the same though, with Juve looking to get the ball to Edoardo P as often as possible while Sampdoria had more options up front with Stuart, Filippo G and Sam full of running.
Sampdoria went 3-0 up when Filippo nipped in front of a defender to flick home a seemingly harmless ball from midfield.
But then, just when Juve looked dead, Edo P threaded his way through the defence and scored. On a wave of new-found enthusiasm, they re-doubled their efforts and were rewarded again when an Edo pass fell to Andrew Coleman in the area. Andrew cooly controlled the ball and scored.
But, in the end, Juve ran out of time and Sampdoria took all three points.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Filippo G 4, Ascanio 3, Stuart 2, Gabriele 2, Jacopo S 2, Edo P 2, Thomas 1,  Jacopo 1,  Andrew Coleman 1,  Luca R 1, Guerrino 1, Taro 1

St. George's - Ambrit 2-1 (Girls)

Esordio annuale non proprio fortunato per le ragazze Ambrit, superate per 2-1 dalle pari età della St. George's. Pur se con assenze importanti, specie nel reparto avanzato, la squadra Ambrit ha avuto un buon approccio all'incontro, mostrando nei primi minuti grinta e voglia di fare una bella figura. Il vantaggio avversario, con un bel diagonale dalla destra, ha freddato un poco la spinta delle nostre, che prima della pausa di metà tempo hanno avuto la chance del pareggio con una bella punizione di Margarida che è volata vicino all'incrocio. Nel secondo tempo, con Anastasia subentrata a Lucrezia tra i pali e l'ingresso della sorprendente Celeste in difesa, l'Ambrit prova l'arrembaggio: molte occasioni ma davvero poca precisione negli ultimi metri. Classicamente, quando si falliscono molte palle-gol, ecco che arriva la punizione: un altro bel diagonale dalla destra e un'altra rete. Sul 2-0 il mister tenta il tutto per tutto e inserisce Lucrezia in attacco come punta aggiunta e proprio lei accorcia le distanze tutta sola con un destro potente. Ma è troppo tardi. La partita finisce con un leggero senso di delusione che proveremo a cancellare tra 3 settimane, quando le ragazze della St. George's saranno ospiti all'Ambrit Arena. Ci faremo trovare pronti!!!
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Celeste.