| nzyowie |  |
 |
ROUND FIVE RESULTS
Shortland Streeters 37 Amlash Hats 29
Well, true to my prediction, the Shortland Streeters were duly victorious against the Amlash Hats, but the Iranians gave the hosts a fair scare before eventually succumbing. Only one point separated the teams at half time, but the 'Streeters put the pedal to the metal in the second half and ended up running away with a 9-goal win, thereby booking themselves a place in the quarter-finals.
Slumbering Skink 40 Daejeon Kings 24
The Skink also clinched a place in the quarter-finals with a relatively easy victory over the Daejeon Kings. Barely raised a sweat, really, and their form is looking ominous.
RedStar Light 34 HandFlash 6
The bot Sydney Torrent side was replaced by a new Chinese human team called HandFlash. Facing the defending Regional Cup champions is a pretty tough way for any new team to be starting out, and RedStar Light ended up strolling to a massive 28-goal win. And so they also are through to the quarter-finals, as expected.
ROUND SIX PREVIEW - QUARTER-FINALS
Shortland Streeters vs. al-Mālikiyah Bulls
Any bot team that makes it this far in the Regional Cup competition should not be underestimated, and the Shortland Streeters would do well to treat this Bahrain side with all due respect. Still, they should manage to book a place in the semi-finals.
Hamilton Kickers vs. Tokyo Eagles
Two bot sides face off against each other. Now that we're down to the last eight, I'm just including all the teams. One of the lucky human semi-finalists will get to play one or other of these sides, from New Zealand and Japan respectively. Couldn't possibly pick a winner, but if one of these teams goes human, I'm afraid I'd have to back the bot.
Slumbering Skink vs. Kobe Vikings
The Vikings must be envying their fellow-Japanese team, the Tokyo Eagles. They have a far tougher task as they face the in-form Slumbering Skink, who will doubtless give them a rude wake-up call as they march on to the semis.
RedStar Light vs. Ardiyah Geese
I should think that RedStar Light will make their Kuwaiti opposition look like silly geese. |
|
|
| nzyowie | |
|
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Shortland Streeters 36 al-Mālikiyah Bulls 30
The hosts opened up an early lead and never looked in any trouble. However, the Bulls were a little bit flattered by the Shortland Streeters' coach deciding to play a second-string seven after 40 minutes. During this period, the Bulls out-scored the backup players 9-5, but it was all academic as the 'Streeters still comfortably booked a spot in the semi-finals.
Hamilton Kickers 38 Tokyo Eagles 36
The Hamilton Kickers ensured that there would be another Kiwi team in the semis after the edging the Tokyo Eagles in this nailbiter. The pick of the quarter-finals.
Slumbering Skink 40 Kobe Vikings 32
The Skink made sure it was a bad night all round for Japan as they cruised to an 8-goal win against the Kobe Vikings to make it three Down Under teams in the semis.
RedStar Light 38 Ardiyah Geese 19
The defending Regional Cup champions looked in extremely ominous form as they utterly destroyed their opponents by 19 goals. The other three semi-finalists will be praying that don't draw these guys in the semi-finals!
ROUND SEVEN (SEMI-FINALS) PREVIEW
Shortland Streeters vs. Hamilton Kickers
Much to the delight of the Shortland Streeters, and even more so their manager, they have drawn the only bot team left in the Cup for their semi-final. It will be a Kiwi derby, which means a New Zealand team is guaranteed to be in the final. Hopefully that team will be the Shortland Streeters. It should be, really.
RedStar Light vs. Slumbering Skink
Last season's final is being replayed in the other semi-final, to be hosted by the defending champions. That match was an absolute classic and went into overtime. I have no doubt that this one will be just as enthralling. Can the Skink avenge that loss from last season, or will their hearts be broken again? |
|
|
| nzyowie | |
|
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Shortland Streeters 45 Hamilton Kickers 32
The hosts never looked too threatened in this match, and when the second stringers came on late in the game, they even managed to increase their lead! So the Shortland Streeters are through to the Regional Cup final, while the Hamilton Kickers have been, well, kicked out.
RedStar Light 38 Slumbering Skink 34
As might be expected, these two sides fought tooth and nail. The Skink led 20-19 at half-time, so their hopes of avenging last season's final loss seemed very much alive. However, RedStar Light have an uncanny knack of lifting their game in the second half. And with an 8,000-strong home crowd cheering them on, they did it again, eventually winning by four goals and booking a spot in the Asia/Oceania Regional Cup final for the second consecutive season.
FINAL PREVIEW
RedStar Light vs. Shortland Streeters
And so we have our two finalists. Hosting will be the defending Regional Cup champions, RedStar Light. And making their very first appearance in a Regional Cup final, the Shortland Streeters. So far, the two sides have played each other twice, with RedStar Light winning on both occasions. So with that record, plus the home advantage, they would have to start as firm favourites. But the 'Streeters certainly won't back down, and this will be a fight to the finish. The losers can take some comfort from the fact that they will still be guaranteed to progress into the HBLC, as one of these teams is also going to win the Asia/Oceania Top Division. In view of that, they are fitting finalists, really. |
|
|
| nzyowie | |
|
FINAL RESULT
RedStar Light 45 Shortland Streeters 43
After they had beaten RedStar Light 34-30 in a league game three days earlier, the Shortland Streeters were rather fancying their chances in the Asia/Oceania Regional Cup final. However, it seems that loss served as a wake-up call to the defending Regional Cup champions, because tonight they played like men possessed.
On Sunday night, the Shortland Streeters completely dominated the first half and established a seven-goal lead at half-time. Tonight however, they were unable to get on top of RedStar Light, and by half-time, it was the hosts who had established a two-goal advantage, one they were to retain to the very end.
But the visitors were not about to give up, and fought tenaciously until, in the 59th minute, right wing Leonard Moisescu levelled the scores at 43-all. At that stage, it looked as though there would be a repeat of last season's Regional Cup final, which went into extra time. 'Streeters fans may even have been hoping for another goal to steal the match at the last minute, a bit like the All Whites' last-gasp goal to draw against Slovakia in the Soccer World Cup.
But Won Joon Seomun had other ideas. He calmly put away a goal to make it 44-43. Then he was in the thick of the action again when left wing Adam Peverley crashed into him. The Shortland Streeters were desperately seeking another game-tying goal. Instead, the collision resulted in an offensive foul, which handed possession back to RedStar Light. Seomun duly sank another goal, which also sank the Shortland Streeters' hopes and confirmed RedStar Light as the Asia/Oceania Regional Cup champions for a second consecutive season.
As Queen's We Are The Champions reverberated around the WinStar Arena, and RedStar Light's fans erupted into delirious celebrations, the Shortland Streeters probably felt more like singing something along the lines of Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel. They can take some comfort in knowing that they will almost certainly be Top Division champions for the second season running. But after coming so desperately close and yet so agonisingly far away from tasting Regional Cup glory, it will be a somewhat cold comfort right now.
And so, once again, the winner of the Asia/Oceania Regional Cup is:
REDSTAR LIGHT |
|
|
| nzyowie | |
|
By way of a little postscript, the performance of the goalkeepers was quite a significant factor in this match. My team actually made more shots on goal, but the RedStar Light goalie, Jae Shin Jeo, made 9 saves. By contrast, my GK had a real shocker and only managed two saves. So much for being "ice-cold" under pressure.  He's not that tall (only 188 cm), but Jeo is even shorter at 183 cm, so height couldn't have been a factor. Thank goodness Jeo and a couple of other frontline players are retiring at the end of this season. It might make RedStar Light a little more vulnerable next season - for a short while, anyway ... |
|
|
|
