So Close, Yet So Far!

The Marist Skins sunk to 6th place with a demoralising 2-1 away defeat to the Stokes Valley Killer Bees on Saturday. The Killer Bees struck a late winner in the last five minutes to move to the top of the table in Capital Div 8 action.


The Killer Bees started strongly and scored after 10 minutes. A nice right sided attack opened up the Skins defence before Number 22 nutmegged Donaldson to feed the nemesis Cookie who slotted the goal past a diving Chamberlain in goals.

The goal sparked the Skins into action as they finished the first half with some great plays down the left, with the Crookston brothers and Fernando creating havoc for the Bees defence. The Skins continually got the ball into the box, but just lacked the killer finish. The away team were rewarded for the pressure they created with a penalty as the dangerous Mark Crookston was taken down in the box. His brother Scott, looking to preserve his Golden Boot aspirations, slotted the penalty to bring the scores level. At half time the game honours were pretty even, with the Bees starting stronger, but the Skins finishing stronger.

The Killer Bees changed their strategy, by pushing more players forward. They moved their tall midfielder into a more attacking role, creating further pressure for the Skins who were left drawing back their troops to compensate. Sportsmanship was the winner when Skins forward created some havoc for the Killer Bees defence and was awarded a penalty for being taken down in the box. The Skins attacker refused to accept the penalty as in actual fact he had fallen over himself. The act of sportsmanship is rarely seen these days, especially in tournaments like Euro 2008, but it was a commendable action. Both teams played some nice passing football, with the Bees more aggressive eye finally showed when their left back laced a shot into the top left corner to give them the winner with five minutes left.

The Skins played well, but were forced into defending more than they should've been. They passed the ball well using their wings and got the ball into the opposition red zone, but just lacked the finishing prowess required. The Killer Bees were always threatening, with their aggressive play. They showed why they haven't lost a game, yet only just avoided sharing the points. It is typical of this league, that the 5th place team can get so close to an unbeaten team.