AFA went into this match knowing that they had already qualified for the semi-finals of the league cup with 4 wins and 1 draw already chalked up. Did this affect the performance ???? YES !!!
Although AFA were playing a 3rd tier Costa Unida side with only 2 wins and 3 defeats from their first 5 cup matches, it looked liked a full gone conclusion on what the outcome would be, however, there was a sting in the tail for AFA, as Costa needed a win to stand any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
From the start it was clear that AFA were not really up for the fight, with Costa giving them no time on the ball and playing the type of football that AFA normally dish out on their opposition it was no great suprise that Costa run in to an early 2 goal head start. AFA started to show signs of some good football going forward, but with some tired legs from school sports days, the AFA midfield were very sluggish defending the play going backwards. With the AFA defense outnumbered most of the time the writing was on the wall. 3-0 soon followed. A good move before half time saw Ethan Turnbull drill a shot home to chalk up his 20th of the season, to give AFA some hope, this was unfortunately swiftly cancelled out by some more sloppy AFA defending. Half time 4-1. AFA started the second half really well and hit the woodwork twice before being punished on the counter attack once more, this was a turning point as it seemed to deflate AFA, and with Buster Hoy running on empty and Ethan picking up an injury to his knee and Jack Brawn with a slight knock, AFA only had 6.5 fit players left to see out the game. AFA showed great team willingness to keep going to the end and were rewarded with further strikes from Danny Al-Khafaji and Ben Habgood. Henry Scarborough the AFA goalkeeper picked up a late knock on his hand which was clearly a foul which lead to another Costa goal just added to AFA's woes. Final score 10-3 to Costa. I must admit that the better team won on the day, Costa played some great football at times and worked really hard off the ball to win it back, showing the type of desire that AFA fans are used to seeing, but AFA were well under par and would have been a much tighter game had both teams been on top of their games.
After the game there seemed to be some confusion over players eligibility for Costa Unida, however this has been cleared up with Costa Boss Jamie Fullarton going on record to confirm that all his players were genuine 3rd tier u12 players, thank you Jamie and congratulations to Costa on a fantastic performance.
So sorry AFA players & fans, no hiding from a poor performance and being beaten by the better side on the day. A few weeks break from competative matches now until the semi finals gives AFA a chance to take in some friendlies and work on the squad.
