Yabra draws with Salvadorians
Although today is not Monday it certainly feels that way…and to confuse us even more we’ve got James Adderley on hand with a special sports report, specifically Tuesday’s major international football match.
James Adderley Reporting
While the nation was in the middle of celebrating our twenty-third year of Independence, CONCACAF Champions Football play returned to the MCC Grounds as Kulture Yabra hosted Allianza of El Salvador yesterday to kick off a home and away series.
The four year absence has left the Belizean fans with a great hunger for this level of play and the Yabra Management was certainly cognisant of that fact. To deliver an unexpected victory on Independence Day would then be of historic proportions.
However, if the champions of El Salvador who look to salute the scoreboard first when number ten, Yari Silva, mounts this individual effort that culminates with a high riser.
Folks, this encounter between Mark Leslie and the Goalkeeper, Miguel Moreno, is hardcore exchange of a knee for a butt–but everybody?s good to go.
Yabra?s first legit highlight comes when Landi Pinelo out-runs the keeper only to run out of real estate.
A few minutes later Norman ?Tilliman? Nunez finally gets the pill in his office, but the transaction goes away.
Now check this footrace to the ball–out of nowhere Danillo Martinez appears to deny Mark Kello Leslie a golden opportunity.
At the other end, this monster long-range bomb gives Charlie Slusher a serious wake up call when it screams pass his goalmouth.
It?s more danger for Charlie Slusher when Ronald Gritos serves up this beauty, but successful Jarbi Alvarez successfully intervenes.
Talk about dodging a bullet–Slusher is beaten, but the shot from Christian Sanchez inches outside the sticks.
Just before the half expires, Kello Leslie tries the header against Moreno, but it didn?t have the pace to back the net.
And then Norman Nunez fires this potent right foot, but it?s right at the keeper–at the half it?s still a scoreboard ballgame.
The visitors come out firing in the second half–and this long-range half volley gives the testament–besides giving Belizean fans the jitter.
Tyrone Muschamp off to Yabra bench sure attracts a lot of attention right the here but that moment passes without anything happening.
Still folks Charlie Usher is the hardest working man in a Yabra Uniform today–and on this Salvadorian press he?s called upon to make two saves and he delivers.
If you?re looking for a title for today?s encounter–let?s call it Charley saves the day–and in fact he does–as regulation whistle brings a scoreless stalemate.
Marvin Ottley, Head Coach
?Well no, I am not satisfied because I believe in what we have offensively. We could have scored a goal and manage to win this game. I am not totally satisfied, but I am very much satisfied with the fact that not having international play in a long time, the team showed some sort of powers. They did understand what we wanted to do defensively and fortunately for us in the second half, they turned it up defensively and offensively for us. Big respect to Charlie in the goal; I believe that the experience and his knowing how to play the game really paid off for us.?
?Allianza showed a lot of snake attack. They come from behind a lot and they are a very good shooting team. I think they out shot us big time; almost seventy-five percent. They played the open game, but they are very conservative with their touches. They don?t hunt for seven, eight, nine, ten touches, but they try to put together three good touches and get in front of the back. So we will have to concentrate on making the field as small as possible and force them to be busy so that on the defensive end, as long as we recover coming out and offensively we could get into our short touch game and we could move the ball a bit faster, which would force them to retrieve a little bit more.?
Game II of the series comes up on Wednesday September twenty-ninth at Estadio Magica Gonzalez in El Salvador where the home team needs to win to move on. In this match, one Belize goal equals two Salvadorian goals. In the meantime Boca of Punta Gorda, the FFB Champion begins its two game CONCACAF series tonight inside the Michael Ashcroft Stadium in Independence against Olympia of Honduras. That?s it. I?m James Adderley reporting for News Five.
