Two own goals were enough to secure progress to the semi-finals for Throw in the Howell as they beat Fennia JK 2-1 after extra time in their quarter-final match. It was a cruel defeat for Fennia JK, with defender Bongani Khumalo putting the ball into his own net in the final minute of extra-time as a penalty shootout looked inevitable. Reflecting on being drawn against Marsh Factor George Howell admitted that his team will be underdogs:
I think that Marsh Factor are strong favourites to go through to the final, with quality and pace throughout their team that I think my young side will find difficult to deal with. The T.I.T. Howell players have already exceeded my expectations by getting this far, and it's a real achievement in of itself.
We're still building for the future here at Tar Valon, and the aim for the season was (and still is) to consolidate our Premiership status whilst bringing through quality youngsters to the first team.
Marsh Factor's quarter final with Osgodby Rovers was the tie of the round, and one of the most exciting games of the season so far in any competition. Marsh Factor 'keeper Khune saved a Miguel Amado penalty in the first half before seeing his team go 1-0 down on the hour. Within minutes the scores were level again when Matin Lanig scored his first goal of the match, and that's how it remained at full time.
Extra-time was even more action packed; it took Marsh Factor only 2 minutes to take the lead when Martin Lanig scored his second of the game, but 2 minutes later the scores were once again level when Dominic Adiyiah latched onto a quickly taken freekick. The fans did not have to wait long for the third goal of extra-time either, Adiyiah grabbing his second of the game in the 98th minute to give Rovers' a 3-2 lead.
Unbelievably this lead only lasted 2 minutes before Adrian Colunga scored to bring the scores to 3-3 and complete the most action packed 8 minutes of football you could ever wish to witness. 3-3 it finished and the drama continued into the penalty shootout -- at 2-2, with each side having missed their 3rd spot kick, Marsh Factor 'keeper Khune stood his ground to save Leumi's poor penalty. Martin Lanig converted for Marsh Factor to make the score 3-2 and leaving Rovers' two-goal hero Dominic Adiyiah needing to score to avoid defeat only to see his penalty brilliantly saved by Khune to send Marsh Factor through to their first GWC semi-final to the delight of their manager Adam Marshall:
In the last 3 seasons we haven't made it beyond the 3rd round so we are delighted to be so close to glory. We won the CWA Cup a while back but it looks a bit lonely in the trophy cabinet. Our semi-final opponents won't be a pushover, they've got a very creative midfield, but our lads are buzzing at the moment after scraping through an epic quarter final on penalties. It's going to be a great game.
In the second semi EEFA Permiership favourites FC Koselsk will play MFA Premiership leaders Shaolin Avengers.
Koselsk fought back from conceding an early goal in their quarter-final match against The Moles to win through to the semi-final stage for the second time in their history. Progress was not so simple for Matt Booth's Avengers' though, their game against PFA Division 1 side Mutantes Raivosos went to penalties following a 1-1 draw. Matias Sanchez scoring the final spot kick to take Shaolin Avengers through to their first ever GWC semi-final:
We are estatic to have made it to the semi-finals of the Game World Cup. FC Koselsk away is a very tough draw: Andrew has a great team, and I don't have the best record against him, but as every game, we'll go out on the pitch with an attacking mentality and fight for every ball, and see if we just can't scatch out a result
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