BFC Vagabonds 1  King George FC 0
Hachioji Park, Sunday May 22, 2016

Due to Saturday’s result, in which Syu Syu Aoyama FC defeated British Embassy FC 3-1, BFC Vagabonds’ relegation was assured and they would be joining King George FCin Division 3 for the upcoming season. With both teams playing to stay off the bottom of the table, it was a match lacking in goal scoring opportunities if not effort.

King George started the brighter of the two sides as they made a number of forays down the left flank. Ultimately their attempts were well defended by Ozeki as he was able to prevent the attackers time for accurate crosses. When King George managed to bring the ball back into the middle of the field, Steeg and Glenn provided cover and possession to break down any attacks. Vagabonds’ center back Coffey seemed to be in more than one place at a time snuffing out any attacks that came near to pressuring Stieber’s goal.

On the attacking side player-manager Glenn’s choice to place usual midfielders Ozeki and Naoya as the starting outside backs proved inspired as the usually possession starved Vagabonds found large amounts of space behind the wings of King George. Rowley and Owen especially found plenty of room to work behind the King George midfielders, but were unable to do much against the defense with their crosses.

Unfortunately, what can be characterized as Vagabonds biggest failing this season reared it’s head as their possession in front of goal came to naught, and they were unable to trouble the King George keeper. King George managed a number of crosses into and around the Vagabonds box, especially a driven through ball that was safely held by Stieber and one from the opposite wing that saw Thong block off the attacker and prevent an attempt on goal. As the half went on, King George began to flag, and the Vagabonds were able to impose their game plan more and more, allowing Miyasaka and Grønsund more space to run at the heart of the King George Defense. The best chance of the half for the Vagabonds came when Steeg caught King George in possession and was able to advance on goal. He was unable to trouble the keeper however and the half ended at 0-0.

In the second half, the Vagabonds continued on the front foot, playing Morishita at left back, who was able to continue a high pressure game with Rowley that would eventually pay dividends. The opening part of the half showed some of the best Vagabonds play from the season as they were able to hold possession, switch the point of attack and create attempts on goal. The best attempt of the game up to that point came from a well worked attack down the left wing through Ozeki, who was able to cross the ball to Miyasaka who unfortunately was only able to direct his shot into the keeper’s arms.

Grønsund hit the post with a header and Thomas fired wide as the Vagabonds continued to keep pressure in the opposing half. Finally an attack down the right wing allowed Rowley to play a perfect cross into the middle, which Grønsund dutifully finished first time as he stepped in front of the King George defense. As King George looked to push for an equalizer, the defensive pairing of Glenn and Coffee were able to deal with any attacks, most of which resorted to crosses that were easily won.

As the game wore down, King George were given a number of set pieces from corner and free kicks that they played into the area but were comfortably dealt with by the back five of the Vagabonds. In the end the match would end in much the same way as it was played. Although it was not a match for the neutral, the Vagabonds will be happy to stay off the bottom of the table and look to carry some momentum into their final match. Both teams will of course see each other next year in the third division.

Written by "The Secret Goal Keeper"