Walter Pless on Association Football: Metro wrap up Southern Championship 4 title

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Metro wrap up Southern Championship 4 title

Photo: Metro's Sebastian Pasanen gives his side the lead with a header [PlessPix]

(Southern Championship 4, North Chigwell, Thursday, 19 September 2019)

Metro 7 (S Pasanen3, D Chaffey 5, S Jacob 11, 24, J Brown 29, D Harris 33, S Wild 57)

University Wanderers 1 (N Andreopoulos)

HT: 6-0 Ref: F Amicosante

Metro: Land; E Brown, J Brown, Chaffey, Harris, Jacob, Morrison, Pasanen, Rai, Sugden, Wild (Interchange: Doherty, Kafer, Smith, Staddon)

University Wanderers: Smits; Andreopoulos, Arellano, Astley, Barwin, Bowman, Gao, Harrison, Johnson, Kay, McRae (Interchange: Chen, Deng, Maiden, Xu)

Photo: Metro's Darrin Chaffey traps the ball on his chest before firing home goal number two [PlessPix]

Metro won the Southern Championship 4 title with this 7-1 win over the visiting University Wanderers at North Chigwell tonight.

Metro dominated the opening half and led 6-0 at the interval.

University started to get things together in the second half, but the horse had bolted.

Sebastian Pasanen put Metro ahead after only 3 minutes when he headed home a left-wing cross at the far post from point-blank range.

Darrin Chaffey made it 2-0 in the 5^th minute when he controlled the ball with his chest before firing home a low shot.

Photo: University's Yiwei Chen in a tussle with Metro's Sebastian Pasanen [PlessPix]

Sam Jacob added the third in the 11^th minute with a powerful drive form the left and it was curtains for University.

In the 24^th minute, Jacob completed his brace when he drove a low shot from the right inside the far left-hand post.

James Brown added Metro’s fifth in the 29^th minute when he nudged home a corner from the left at the far post.

Dylan Harris made it 6-0 at half-time when he rifled home a free-kick from 20 metres in the 33^rd minute. University keeper Hugo Smits appeared unsighted and swung a leg at the ball as it flashed past him and into the net.

Photo: University goalkeeper Hugo Smits unsuccessfully tries to get a leg to a Dylan Harris free-kick [PlessPix]

University rallied after the break and made more of a game of the contest.

The busy Nicholas Andreopoulos, who seemed to be everywhere, pulled a goal back for the Wanderers in the 53^rd minute, but it was never going to change the course of the match.

Four minutes later, Steven Wild hit Metro’s seventh goal to complete the scoring and ensure that Metro would lift the championship trophy.

University’s Yiwei Chen was injured near the end and was finally assisted from the field to the side-line, where he lay motionless and in pain for some time. University did not seem to have a trainer or physio and it was to the credit of Metro’s James Brown that he rendered assistance to the player. Unable to find a stretcher, Brown nevertheless gave Chen his warm coat and an ice pack.

Photo: Yiwei Chen lies injured after being assisted from the field [PlessPix]

Photo: Chen rolls over and is still in pain [PlessPix]

Photo: Metro's James Brown has given Chen his warm jacket and applies an ice pack to the injured player's knee [PlessPix]

Clubs really need to ensure they have someone with first-aid training, especially for this level of football, where players are older and often heavier and not as fit as they could be.

Darren Grainger, one of the organisers of the social competitions, was on hand after the game to present Metro’s players with their winners’ medals and the league championship trophy to captain James Brown.