The match against NoPS 3 was just as difficult as was expected. The ”fatboys” parked the bus and were just as dangerous from set plays as I thought. Indeed, it took TamU-K almost half an hour to break the deadlock. Jose Chemlal’s 1-0 goal on the 26th minute and his followup goal just five minutes later were blows which the home team would never recover from. In the end the score was 2-8 in our favor.

The first half was not easy at all though. TamU-K created a lot of chances, but the 0-0 scoreline remained for long enough that I started to worry that the team might get frustrated. There was no sign of that though. Instead, they kept on pushing, and had at least 15 shots and 10 corners before Chemlal finally broke the deadlock. The score at the half was 0-2, which gave me the confidence that the match was ours, but meant that the team still had to put in a lot more work.

And indeed that was one of the great things about this match. The opponent was far inferior, but still the team was reinforced in the realization that no matter who the opponent is, we have to work hard and play as a team to get the result that we want. I was truly impressed that nobody showed any signs of frustration whatsoever, despite the fact that our opening goal came so late, and also it took until almost the one hour mark to score the 1-3 goal after NoPS scored 1-2 early in the second half. Moreover, the team played as a unit, and players were vocal in letting their teammates know they were open or otherwise help them make right choices with the ball. This has been a weak point in our multicultural team, but finally everybody seems to be opening their mouth at the right times.

Chemlal ended up scoring four of our first goals, and was clearly the man of the match. Isaac Gbehan scored the crucial fifth goal on the 74th minute after NoPS had made their last threat with the somewhat lucky 2-4 goal. After that it was easy riding for us. Heikki Wilen scored his first ever goal on this level of competition on the 78th minute and Ahmed Lakra scored from way out there on the 85th minute. Just three minutes from full time Tomi Lahtinen scored a goal that clearly meant a great deal to him after the blunders on Friday. By that time the supporters were going absolutely crazy, and I think only some of us actually saw those last couple goals.

After the match the team came to celebrate with the supporters, and a few of the NoPS players joined them in saluting us. These guys have seen a lot of low division football, and their appreciation of our support for our own team was great to see. However, tonight was all about the team in blue shirts and keeping the dream of promotion alive. Now we remain in a good position in the table, and wont have league matches in the next two weeks, while all of our main opponents have two matches. It will be very interesting to see who will drop points. Inevitably some of them will, because there are a few matches where they will play against each other. This is where the season is starting to really get interesting, and for the supporters there have rarely been times as exciting as right now.

Scoring:
0-1 Youcef Chemlal, 26 min
0-2 Youcef Chemlal, 31 min
1-2 Jari Heikkinen, 48 min
1-3 Youcef Chemlal, 58 min
1-4 Youcef Chemlal, 61 min
2-4 Jari Heikkinen, 66 min
2-5 Isaac Gbehan, 74 min
2-6 Heikki Wilen, 78 min
2-7 Ahmed Lakra, 85 min
2-8 Tomi Lahtinen, 87 min

Discipline:
Pasi Viitala, NoPS 3, 44 min (caution)