(Authored by Michael Rawlence)

On a rainy Saturday morning, 24th October, MBU gathered at their home grounds in Catford for their third match of the league against Battersea Alexandra. Before kick off there was a chance for some practice. Steven, the team’s manager focused on getting some corner practice. We had some great shooting, and the defenders proved that they were a force to be reckoned with as well as Ollie Davies showing some talent in goal.

The match itself was a good challenge for MBU: Battersea Alexandra had proved themselves earlier in the league that they were a formidable team winning one of their matches 7-0. Going in with an aggressive 3:4:4 formation, we wanted to show them we meant business from the beginning. We had a one man advantage from kick off since they had a late team-mate. We used this to our advantage by keeping up the strong offensive and maintaining possession the majority of the time. A very near goal by Su-Yang Klotz got everyone on the edge of their metaphorical seats, however it landed just wide of the goal, sending off a sharp intake of breath all across the pitch. Although we managed several shots on target, they managed to sneak a run past our defenders and gained a one goal advantage. At this point their last man showed up, making their 11th man. The rest of the first half had some very good passing and control of the ball from both sides but neither was able to score.

An energetic half time talk from Steven, encouraged the team to communicate more, keep some width with the formation and get some shots in. ‘You’re too nice too take the shot’ He said, ‘For God’s sake get some glory’.

The second half presented us with many opportunities, we continued our persistent offensive and managed several shots, but no cigar. Then an injury: One of their players twisted his knee while running and remained unable to continue playing. ‘Surely’, we thought, ‘This will be the chance we need’. But in our eagerness to finally bag a goal, we left our defences sloppy and to our great frustration we fell another goal behind. Not giving up hope, we continued to push forward. Not long after, striker, Sean Greaves, managed to dodge through the competition and give the ball a convincing wallop towards the goal; the keeper got a finger on it and a rebound off the post gave another chance, and then another, finally the third shot followed up by Alex Shaw was cleared from the line by a quick manoeuvre from the other side’s defence.

After a long and exasperating match, we finally conceded a 2:0 defeat, but it was valuable experience for the still rather green footballers of MBU. ‘We learned a lot from it’ said midfielder Toby Suda. Overall, we certainly played some good football and with a little bit of luck, we could win a lot of the upcoming games we have left this season.

MBU slumped to their second successive defeat of the season against Crossworld FC – opposition whose name reflects the international makeup of its players – by a margin of 7 goals to 4.

The lads had hoped to bounce back from defeat a fortnight ago to the league leaders, Oasis United, and were hoping that Crossworld, who were just a few places above MBU in the league table, would be easier opposition.

After a bright start, MBU found themselves 3-0 down, one of the goals coming from the penalty spot after Mark Hanna was judged to have handballed within the penalty area. Fortunes turned as a corner from Toby Suda arrived at Matthew Huish who, with the help of the home team defenders, bundled the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net for a goal back. Just before half-time, Seijin Thomas kept his cool after some beautiful dribbling to slot in a second goal.

In the second half, Mark Hanna was again harshly penalised for a handball which seemed to be outside the penalty area, but the referee (who was very balanced throughout the game) pointed to the spot. With the penalty converted, a few more goals were conceded, including an unfortunate own goal by Alex Fortune, who had otherwise defended valiantly in the rest of the game. Things were looking embarrassing at 7-2.

After a few substitutions, however, MBU sought to recover some pride. Crossworld were reduced to ten men after a defender used his arm to block a Sean Greaves strike on the goal-line. Toby Suda converted the penalty. Colin Brouard scored the final goal of the game after a period of fluid movement, celebrating his goal by revealing a T-shirt reading “I belong to Rev. Moon”. Seijin provided the assist.

While the team was understandably disappointed at the final whistle, there’s confidence in the capacity to improve. After sharpening basic skills and practicing tactics in the regular training sessions, MBU will continue to improve.

One year ago, Jenson Button had no driving future after his Honda team were quitting Formula One as a result of the global financial crisis. Despite the enormous setbacks, he has now won the Formula One Racing World Championship, with his Brawn team winning the constructor’s championship. The lesson here is that even with an impossible outlook, with enough faith, determination and some good fortune, victory is not impossible.

The season has finally started for the Mind & Body United Football Club (MBUFC). After an exciting summer, including the Peace Cup tournament in Spain and another football tournament in Korea, football has finally come home to the UK. The MBU players had been meeting once a week for training since the summer. In anticipation of their first game, however, there were two training sessions in the final week of preparation.

During the final training session, visitors to Hyde Park would have been greeted by the sight of ten young men running around the park led by the smaller, more feminine frame of Susie, the wife of team coach, Steven. While she was afraid that her pace wasn’t fast enough for the brothers, most of them struggled to keep up with her! After some fitness exercise and training drills, the squad played a small game until the light became too dim. The team then went to the holy ground to pray, offering the season to Heavenly Father and promising to bring victory on the field, as well as victory in attitude & heart.

On Saturday 3rd October, MBUFC played their first competitive match within the 11-a-side Weekend League Saturday AM Premier Division. The team they faced, who are currently 2nd in the league, was Oasis United.

In the dressing room before the match, team coach Steven delivered an inspiring speech, followed by a prayer from team captain Sean Greaves and 3 cheers of eog-mansei. While this all helped to establish a confident and excited mood, the team kept their feet on the ground in terms of expectations. This would be the team’s first trial, testing the standard of the league and giving MBU an impression of what to expect in the next 23 games of the league’s season.

The game was of fast pace throughout, so MBU had to adapt quickly and gel as a team. Simon Cooper received an early injury and had to be replaced by Takao Kobayashi. The defence held strongly for most of the half, but a well-worked goal and a lob that beat the keeper towards the end of the half meant that the half-time score was 0-2.

Despite holding heads high in preparation for a determined fight-back, the team suffered disaster when they conceded a goal early in the second half. Nevertheless, the team was playing more fluid football. The opposition strikers were struggling to beat the offside trap and the team was using Alex Shaw on the left wing, an area neglected during the first half. This paid off as Alex played his part, together with Toby Suda, in setting up Su-Yang Klotz for scoring a goal for MBU. After creating space for himself on the left and drawing the keeper off his line, Su-Yang executed a sublimely placed strike into the top right of the goal.
MBU maintained a high spirit. The referee appreciated this, penalising the opposition for their aggressive attitude. (It must be noted most of this aggression was directed at themselves!) A direct free kick was awarded to MBU right outside the opposition penalty area. Toby Suda struck to the right of the wall and scored again, leaving the score at 2-3.

Oasis United were rattled and held their lead nervously. Just before the final whistle, however, Oasis scored another lucky goal. The final score was 2-4.

Despite a loss on the day, the team felt victorious about their attitude during the game. Although there’s a lot of room for improvement, there were a lot of positives to take from the game and optimism that as the season progresses, the team will get better and better.

Special mention must go to Colin Brouard for his bravery in playing most of the match as goalkeeper, a position he never normally plays. While he was unlucky with a couple of fluky goals, he rose to the occasion by vociferously communicating with the defence and making some fine, finger-tip saves.

PLAYED: C. Brouard, T. Hashimoto, S. Cooper (T. Kobayashi, H. Song), M. Huish, A. Fortune, A. Shaw, S. Greaves, S. Klotz, D. Fortune (S. Song), T. Suda

GOALS: S. Klotz, T. Suda