SAEFL Season 12 WEEK 17

DIVISION 2 GAMES

It will still take a couple of years, but there may come a time that, like other managers before me, I play in this great game long enough to have a prize named after me. (See the special awards in the rules, from rule 6.12 until 6.18). To be honest, I don’t think I would have to think very hard about that. I have had a lot of bad luck in the past seasons, and although every team can experience some bad luck every now and then, in general (and statistically), it should level out. Except for “bad luck teams”. My team happened to be that team, for quite some seasons. This season, without a doubt (even when the season is not even over yet), the award would go to Lisbon United. They have been so very unlucky this season, and not just once or twice, no, it seems like their bad luck streak just doesn’t want to leave. This weeks away game against Newton Heath is just another perfect example. Just have a look: Nuno plays a strong CP team, 93.5 NSL. That alone should have to be enough against the only 86 NSL TS team that Robert played with NH. However, misfortune hits for the first time here: FB Luz is shown a red card already in the 33rd minute! Nonetheless, in spit of this bad luck, LU remains the better team. They have 114.48 EMP, against “only” 104.31 for NH. That difference is more than 10, which is quite a lot in SAEFL. In this match, it is good enough for 2 smothter shots. Scoring one would be enough you’d think, but here is misfortune again, for the second time: both chances are missed, so that costs LU the victory that they deserved. Can’t get any worse you say, but for a team that is this unlucky: sure it can! Of course, in this jinxed situation, it is no surprise that of course, NH were awarded a penalty, and of course, they managed to score that! With that, NH beat LU who – because of all their bad luck- are only at 4th position, and now probably get even further behind of the leader. NH of course win 3 very important points in their battle against relegation. Will this be the first step towards a nice surprise?

PLAYED AT	Gold Trafford
ATTENDANCE	19284

Newton Heath				1		Lisbon United				0

TEAM						TEAM
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	T. Howard1	10	11.15	2	0	GK	I. Okashi	9	9.90	1	1
DS	S. Brennan	7.5	10.17	0	0	FB	V. Veadinho	9	11.35	0	0
DS	C. Hilditch	7.5	9.82	0	0	FB	H. Luz SENT OFF 33	9	4.45	0	0	33
DS	L. Oliver	7.5	10.63	0	0	FB	M. Miguel	10	11.74	0	0
DS	E. Djemba-Djemba	9	12.25	0	0	DM	H. Stern *	8	11.24	1	0
FB	R. Beckett	8	9.48	0	0	DM	J. Perestrelo	9.75	12.31	0	0
FB	N. Cantwell	9.5	11.84	0	0	DM	C. Costinha	9.75	13.50	0	0
MF	J. Gotheridge	10	11.87	0	0	CM	F. Adu	9.75	13.48	1	0
AM	F. Erentz	10	9.74	0	0	CM	J. Agackapoulus Booked	10	12.36	0	0
AM	D. Viollet *	10	11.12	0	0	CM	D. Carvalho	10	14.03	0	0
S	H. Halse #	7	7.40	1	1	W	R. Quaresma #	8.25	10.02	0	0
		PENALTY		1	1			PENALTY		0	0

SUBSTITUTES						SUBSTITUTES
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	D. Gaskell	6.25	0.00	0	0	GK	F. Glaze	9	0.00	0	0
DS	P. Crerand	4	0.00	0	0	FB	M. Pink	8.75	0.00	0	0
DS	A. Bell	5.75	0.00	0	0	DM	J. Barnes	8	0.00	0	0
CB	J. Evans	7.75	0.00	0	0	CM	H. Bellion	7.5	0.00	0	0
MF	N. Stiles	7.5	0.00	0	0	CF	M. Tsigalko	8	0.00	0	0

	TACTIC		TS				TACTIC		CP
	STYLE		AD				STYLE		FL
	FORMATION		6 - 3 - 1				FORMATION		3 - 6 - 1

	TOTAL NSL			86.00			TOTAL NSL			93.50
	TOTAL PERFORMANCE			104.31			TOTAL PERFORMANCE			114.48
	DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			79.84			DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			36.88
	ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			24.48			ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			77.59


	GRUDGE CARD			YELLOW CARD			MARKING PLAYER			1.5 BOOST
	OUT OF POSITION			RED CARD			MARKED PLAYER			0.5 BOOST
	CAPTAIN			INJURY			TEAM PENALIZED

SAEFL Season 12 WEEK 17

England U-21 are the nr. 11 team on the table, but they are one of those teams that have grown a lot stronger with midseason aging. In this weeks match against Englehart Storm, their strong team plus a boost show that EU might be capable of performing a surprise act in the second half of the season: they beat ES 4-0 and that was very much deserved as their LB was simply better than ES’s ONE. With this victory, the difference between these 2 teams is still 5 points, and EU is still in the relegation zone, but if they keep performing like this, that relegation battle will remain exciting until the very end, and EU might very well be capable of escaping it. At whose expense? Well, ES could be one of those teams that have to watch out even more now, so I guess Derek and Mike will have to be very busy until the very end!

PLAYED AT	Uembley Arena
ATTENDANCE	23065

England U-21				4		Englehart Storm				0

TEAM						TEAM
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	V. Baia	10	10.93	0	0	GK	A. Aussie	10	10.25	14	4
DS	L. Sanford ^	10.25	11.57	0	0	DS	S. McIlroy	7.75	8.69	0	0
DS	O. Aleijador ^ Booked	10.5	11.85	0	0	DS	M. Villas	10	9.83	0	0
CB	N. Blima	9.5	10.60	0	0	CB	E. Storm OOP	10	10.25	0	0
CB	K. Ratcliffe	9	9.28	0	0	CB	M. ShakenNotStirred	7.5	7.72	0	0
AS	K. Midos ^	8.75	10.87	1	0	CM	S. Hegarty	9	11.01	0	0
CM	P. Gervais ^^ Booked	9.75	9.98	1	1	MF	N. Tsitses	9.75	13.31	0	0
MF	D. Marthinez *	7.75	7.46	2	1	WH	Q. Deejr	9	11.51	0	0
S	D. Cadorin ^	10.5	15.60	0	0	WH	B. Finch *	10	13.00	0	0
CF	M. Kezman	8.5	11.81	4	0	S	I. Drinktomuch	8.75	8.97	0	0
CF	P. Sage #	12.5	19.96	6	2	CF	A. Morley #	8	8.70	0	0
		PENALTY		1	1			PENALTY		0	0

SUBSTITUTES						SUBSTITUTES
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	E. Fechugol	10	0.00	0	0	GK	L. Phillips	7	0.00	0	0
CB	J. Carrica	7.5	0.00	0	0	CB	C. Enciso	9	0.00	0	0
DM	B. McBlaine	9	0.00	0	0	MF	K. Clown	8	0.00	0	0
WH	K. Hamlin	10	0.00	0	0	AM	K. Fisher	8.75	0.00	0	0
AM	K. Nihat	9	0.00	0	0	S	O. Yeahbabee	9	0.00	0	0

	TACTIC		LB				TACTIC		ONE
	STYLE		CA				STYLE		MD
	FORMATION		5 - 2 - 3				FORMATION		4 - 4 - 2

	TOTAL NSL			93.50			TOTAL NSL			89.75
	TOTAL PERFORMANCE			118.98			TOTAL PERFORMANCE			102.97
	DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			51.52			DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			52.49
	ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			67.46			ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			50.47


	GRUDGE CARD			YELLOW CARD			MARKING PLAYER			1.5 BOOST
	OUT OF POSITION			RED CARD			MARKED PLAYER			0.5 BOOST
	CAPTAIN			INJURY			TEAM PENALIZED

SAEFL Season 12 WEEK 17

Another team in the relegation zone is Oaklake City. Being the nr. 10 on the table, the difference between them and the nr. 8, Fanatics United, is only 2 points. That can be overcome with 1 victory of course, and since they play each other this week, this of course was THE chance for Keith to get OC on the good side of the danger line. Brian and FU were unlucky that FB Snotling was shown a red card after only 11 minutes. But doing the math learns that that cost them 10.05 EMP. And that shows us that, in spite of the strong 99.25 NSL team that FU put on the pitch, OC still would have been better in the end. In that perspective, Brian may feel unhappy about the red card, but that doesn’t change anything about the fact that the victory for OC is fair. With this win, OC climb the table, and finally are on a safe position now. FU will have to wait for the DV result, to see if they or DV fall into the relegation zone.

PLAYED AT	Dome of the Oaks
ATTENDANCE	21637

Oaklake City				9		Fanatics United				2

TEAM						TEAM
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	M. Trufant	10	11.35	4	2	GK	A. Bayes	9.5	10.32	19	9
FB	N. Penta	9.5	12.31	0	0	FB	K. OrcKiller	9	11.22	0	0
FB	G. Seitaridis	9.5	11.23	2	0	FB	W. Snotling SENT OFF 11	10	1.40	0	0	11
FB	F. Ball	9.75	12.06	1	1	FB	G. Warboss	10	10.40	0	0
AS	L. Legion	10	15.64	2	1	AS	F. Ogres	9.5	12.07	1	0
AS	I. WindyPop	9	12.94	1	1	AS	P. Paulus-II	10	12.20	0	0
AS	J. Tossi	10	15.59	4	4	AS	P. Adorso-II *	12.5	17.23	3	2
DM	S. Organista *	10	13.57	2	1	DM	K. Kallstrom	10	11.96	0	0
CM	J. Chapman	9	12.62	1	0	CM	E. MrFantastic	9.25	12.75	0	0
MF	M. Chapeleta	9.75	12.74	2	1	CM	B. Squig	9.75	12.88	0	0
S	S. Pacheco #	8	8.63	4	0	S	S. SpotBlob #	9.25	9.45	0	0
		PENALTY		1	0			PENALTY		0	0

SUBSTITUTES						SUBSTITUTES
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	S. Loser	10	0.00	0	0	GK	S. Wall	9	0.00	0	0
FB	P. Fry	9	0.00	0	0	FB	K. OrcKiller	9	0.00	0	0
AS	R. Meireles	10	0.00	0	0	DM	P. Agynus-III	9.75	0.00	0	0
CM	B. Barrel	9	0.00	0	0	CM	S. Squig	8.5	0.00	0	0
S	D. Drogba	7.5	0.00	0	0			0	0.00	0	0

	TACTIC		CP				TACTIC		CP
	STYLE		CA				STYLE		MD
	FORMATION		6 - 3 - 1				FORMATION		6 - 3 - 1

	TOTAL NSL			94.50			TOTAL NSL			99.25
	TOTAL PERFORMANCE			127.33			TOTAL PERFORMANCE			111.56
	DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			46.29			DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			58.74
	ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			81.03			ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			52.82


	GRUDGE CARD			YELLOW CARD			MARKING PLAYER			1.5 BOOST
	OUT OF POSITION			RED CARD			MARKED PLAYER			0.5 BOOST
	CAPTAIN			INJURY			TEAM PENALIZED

SAEFL Season 12 WEEK 17

Defrosted Tunafish and Dead Scientists are the numbers 5 and 6 on the league table, and their situation is actually quite exciting. They are only 5 and 8 points away, so in theory, they are still in the race for the title. However, when it comes down to it, I don’t really think that DT and DS are title candidates, and I think that Tim and Claudio agree with that. However, being on 5th and 6th position, and already on the good side on the table, DT and DS are both very much in the race for a playoff spot. On top of that, now teams at the bottom start winning matches (in fact, the entire relegation zone squad won their match this week, all 3 of them!), they also have to watch out when it comes to relegation. Knowing that, this match against each other is important in more than 1 way. DT and DS appeared to be almost equally strong. Although the difference in NSL was quite some more for DS, the difference in EMP wasn’t that big, it was less than 2.5, but still in DS’s favor. That resulted in 18 chances for DS, against 17 for DT. Both sides playing with a NSL 9 GK, meant that the outcome of this match would be a lottery: the luckiest team wins. In this case, that was DT, and the victory was 9-7. With that, DS and DT switch places, but remain the numbers 5 and 6 on the table.

PLAYED AT	Battlefield FC
ATTENDANCE	25000 Locked out : 653

Defrosted TunaFish				9		Dead Scientists				7

TEAM						TEAM
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	F. Costanzo *	9	9.44	18	7	GK	A. Covic	9	9.79	17	9
FB	S. DoubleOSeven	8	8.95	0	0	DS	T. Yorke	9.75	11.10	0	0
FB	J. Saul	8	9.35	2	1	CB	M. Moonie	9.5	10.81	1	1
FB	F. Cannavaro	10	11.03	0	0	CB	T. Popovic * Booked	10	12.16	0	0
MF	D. Rico Booked	9	10.92	2	0	CB	K. Packer	10	11.42	0	0
MF	D. Sirius Booked	8.5	10.02	0	0	FB	L. Neill	10	12.45	3	1
W	B. Brouwmeester	9	10.88	2	1	CM	S. Kubrick	7.5	9.62	3	1
W	C. Phillips	10	11.58	2	2	MF	R. Murdoch	7.75	9.33	3	1
S	M. Reyneke #	10	13.36	3	2	AM	M. Bresciano	10	12.48	4	2
CF	Y. ojimbo	8	12.99	1	0	S	J. Aloisi	10	11.38	1	0
CF	F. Nimo	9	12.86	5	3	S	T. Janssen #	10.75	13.46	3	1
		PENALTY		0	0			PENALTY		0	0

SUBSTITUTES						SUBSTITUTES
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	A. Rikku	9	0.00	0	0	GK	M. Bosnich	8	0.00	0	0
FB	S. Seifer	9.5	0.00	0	0	FB	C. Moore	9	0.00	0	0
W	W. Smell	8.5	0.00	0	0	MF	J. Culina	6.5	0.00	0	0
S	J. Aliadiere	8	0.00	0	0	S	A. Thompson	7.75	0.00	0	0
		0	0.00	0	0			0	0.00	0	0

	TACTIC		WP				TACTIC		CP
	STYLE		AA				STYLE		CA
	FORMATION		3 - 2 - 5				FORMATION		5 - 3 - 2

	TOTAL NSL			89.50			TOTAL NSL			95.25
	TOTAL PERFORMANCE			111.93			TOTAL PERFORMANCE			114.20
	DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			27.23			DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			59.82
	ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			84.70			ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			54.38


	GRUDGE CARD			YELLOW CARD			MARKING PLAYER			1.5 BOOST
	OUT OF POSITION			RED CARD			MARKED PLAYER			0.5 BOOST
	CAPTAIN			INJURY			TEAM PENALIZED

SAEFL Season 12 WEEK 17

Without a doubt, the match of the week in div 2, and actually in all SAEFL, was the clash between the numbers 1 and 2, Point of Napier AFC and Adirondak Renegades. Both teams lead the table with 27 points (AR with the better goal difference), 1 point ahead of EW. So, winning this match would be very important, and a draw might very well mean that EW would be the lucky 3rd party and benefit from it, taking over the lead. It will be no surprise that both Kelly and Don played a grudge, as these are exactly the matches that you have grudges for! Both PN and AR played very strong teams, and with the grudges they became even stronger, just look at those EMP’s, you don’t see div 1 teams do that! (well, one or two that is….). In the end, it turned out that AR was just a little stronger than PN. In everything. They had more NSL, more EMP, and more chances, and although the difference wasn’t very big, there was a difference, and so the victory for AR can be called fair. AR confirm their lead, and may have taken a nice step towards winning the league title. Although, with a performance like this, PN look like div 1 material just as much, and with that, AR may have won this battle, but the fight for the title has not been decided yet!

PLAYED AT	Ayrton Senna Memorial Stadium
ATTENDANCE	28287

Port of Napier AFC				16		Adirondak Renegades				19

TEAM						TEAM
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	N. Rimando	9.25	10.31	34	19	GK	W. Evans	10	10.98	29	16
DS	B. Namof	10	12.18	0	0	DS	M. Keen	9.5	12.37	0	0
CB	D. Dorus	9.5	12.77	0	0	DS	R. Hulman Booked	10	12.48	0	0
FB	V. Candela *	10	13.18	0	0	FB	T. Barker	10	13.48	0	0
MF	C. Gomez	9.75	11.35	1	1	AS	D. Wilson	10	14.02	8	5
MF	A. Souza	12	14.71	4	3	CM	S. Guerrero	10	14.84	0	0
W	J. Gros	9	13.35	6	4	WH	W. Ittemik	9	14.59	7	7
W	G. Greene	9	14.32	6	1	AM	R. Mitreski *	9	16.30	4	1
S	J. Moreno	9	15.73	4	3	AM	S. Mann	10	16.87	5	2
CF	C. Leeston	9	16.42	4	3	AM	M. Swansson #	11.75	18.44	7	3
CF	S. Nol #	10	16.76	4	1	W	G. Kay	9.75	12.99	3	1
		PENALTY		0	0			PENALTY		0	0

SUBSTITUTES						SUBSTITUTES
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS	POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	T. Perkins	9	0.00	0	0	GK	M. Jardim	9	0.00	0	0
CB	M. Petke	8.75	0.00	0	0	DS	R. Neethling	8.5	0.00	0	0
MF	M. Etcheverry	8.25	0.00	0	0	MF	B. Fulmer	8.75	0.00	0	0
CF	C. Bhrood	7.5	0.00	0	0	AM	E. ShivuteJr	9	0.00	0	0
		0	0.00	0	0	S	E. West	8.5	0.00	0	0

	TACTIC		WP				TACTIC		ONE
	STYLE		AA				STYLE		MD
	FORMATION		3 - 2 - 5				FORMATION		4 - 5 - 1

	TOTAL NSL			97.25			TOTAL NSL			99.00
	TOTAL PERFORMANCE			140.77			TOTAL PERFORMANCE			146.37
	DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			39.76			DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			56.94
	ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			101.01			ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			89.43


	GRUDGE CARD			YELLOW CARD			MARKING PLAYER			1.5 BOOST
	OUT OF POSITION			RED CARD			MARKED PLAYER			0.5 BOOST
	CAPTAIN			INJURY			TEAM PENALIZED

SAEFL Season 12 WEEK 17

Deo Volente is the team just above the relegation line. Since we just witnessed the nrs. 10, 11 and 12 win their game, and OC win 3 points and at least overtake FU, the question was what DV would do. In case of a victory, they of course would stay ahead of OC, and overtake FU. In case of a defeat, they would drop into the relegation zone, and fall to 10th position. Because FU managed to lose with exactly 7 goals difference, in case of a draw, DV would stay ahead of FU, just on goal difference! However, this weeks opponent was EW, the team that would have been able to take the lead in div 1 if PN vs. AR would have ended a draw. That did not happen, as we just saw, but that doesn’t mean of course that EW is no difficult opponent. Simon and EW are heading for at least the playoffs, and who knows what more. A win would make EW climb to 2nd position, and a draw would bring EW next to PN in points, but would keep them on 3rd position on goal difference. A defeat would be bad for Simons title (and direct promotion) plans, but since we also saw LU and DS, the nrs. 4 and 5, lose their match, it would not hurt too bad for the playoffs. Anyway, both Otto and Simon played defense, very defensive in fact. A match that is destined to end 0-0, unless one of the teams is a lot better than the other. In this case, that was DV. DV was a lot better really, unlike the positions on the table might make you think. The difference between them was almost 15 EMP, even in spite of the red card for DV. As a result of that, DV created 3 chances, against none for EW. With that, DV should have won the match, but they were unlucky, and missed all three chances, and the match ended as it begun: 0-0. Of course, Otto will feel sad, but I think that Nuno can tell him that things can get even worse than this. EW lose 2 points in their race for the top postions, but the truth is that actually they were very lucky to win a point, so I don’t think Simon will complain.

PLAYED AT	IN RI
ATTENDANCE	25000 Locked out : 978

Deo Volente				0			Excelsior Warren				0

TEAM							TEAM
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS		POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	P. Viri-Probati	9	9.92	0	0		GK	A. Manchester *	9.5	10.38	3	0
FB	G. Berger SENT OFF 86	8	11.48	0	0	86	CB	B. Magruder	8	10.72	0	0
FB	P. Pius-X	10	13.44	0	0		CB	L. Johnson	8.5	10.14	0	0
FB	P. Simplicius-X	10	13.44	0	0		CB	C. Sebastian	9	13.01	0	0
AS	P. Agere-Porcos	8.75	12.29	0	0		AS	Z. Hoover	9	10.79	0	0
AS	B. BossUn *	9	13.44	0	0		DM	K. Massena	8.25	10.44	0	0
AS	A. Dulterionatus-IV	10	13.68	1	0		DM	D. Lear	9	11.86	0	0
CM	M. Blonde	7.75	10.92	1	0		DM	J. Tito	9.75	12.02	0	0
CM	P. Sabinianus-I	8.5	11.50	1	0		AM	D. Engine	8.75	9.98	0	0
CM	M. Fanatic Booked	9.25	12.82	0	0		S	G. Lightening	9.25	12.46	0	0
S	S. Snotling #	9.75	12.54	0	0		S	B. McCarthy1 # Booked	8.25	9.94	0	0
		PENALTY		0	0				PENALTY		0	0

SUBSTITUTES							SUBSTITUTES
POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS		POS	PLAYER	NSL	EMP	SHOTS	GOALS
GK	P. Eusebius-III	8	0.00	0	0		GK	T. Cat	7.75	0.00	0	0
FB	P. Eutychianus-II	8.5	0.00	0	0		CB	S. Rock	7.75	0.00	0	0
DM	P. Anterus-III	8.25	0.00	0	0		AS	E. Latusek	5	0.00	0	0
		0	0.00	0	0		DM	T. Cedar	7.75	0.00	0	0
		0	0.00	0	0				0	0.00	0	0

	TACTIC		ZD					TACTIC		ENF
	STYLE		AD					STYLE		ST
	FORMATION		6 - 3 - 1					FORMATION		4 - 4 - 2

	TOTAL NSL			91.00				TOTAL NSL			87.75
	TOTAL PERFORMANCE			125.55				TOTAL PERFORMANCE			111.35
	DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			86.68				DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE			75.59
	ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			38.87				ATTACKING PERFORMANCE			35.75


	GRUDGE CARD			YELLOW CARD				MARKING PLAYER			1.5 BOOST
	OUT OF POSITION			RED CARD				MARKED PLAYER			0.5 BOOST
	CAPTAIN			INJURY				TEAM PENALIZED