There is a comfort in knowing that you control your fate as you arrive at the final Sunday of the regular season. However, comfort is not the word I would use to describe the feeling on the pitch for this particular match. The crowd was eagerly anticipating this fight for the final playoff spot, and they were certainly expecting it to be a very close match as the Knights from Burke’s Irish Castle too on the All Tool Sales Legion.
The game got off to a frenzied start right from the throw-in. Fierce play was shown by all, and great passing was flowing on both sides as players called for the ball. At times it felt more like watching tennis as each half-line was standing firm, and sending sliotars right back into action. As the action and the contact ramped up, so did the tempers, and soon the referees were forced to get involved. A red card was handed out to Burke’s powerhouse Connor Kilp, which really took a lot of firepower out of the Burke’s arsenal.
Jeffrey Schissler stepped in for Burke’s to fill the void left by Kilp’s absence, leading the Knights down the field and charging hard. All Tool though, continued to show controlled passing and great field vision and started the second quarter with a quick goal and point. Burke’s had their moments, with sub Lisa “Turtle” Beltramello nabbing a second-chance goal in her last match before heading to England, as they stayed close on points through the posts. All Tool’s goals were trumping the Knights’ points, though, as the All Tool Legion went to halftime with a slight lead over Burke’s.
The second half saw All Tool co-captains Steven Schmid and Paul “Tebow” Steinbrecher taking turns leading their Legion to the net. All Tool keeper Andy Haugh was backing up his squad with his nimble style of grab-and-go goalkeeping as well, which made it even tougher for the Knights to climb back from the growing deficit.
Burke’s was only able to manage one point in the third quarter and as the minutes ticked by in the final stint, the Knights had very little time to try and rally.
The throttle was still wide open though for the trailing squad and everyone on the team was playing like they believed it was possible to chase the Legion down. Pat McGowan was working valiantly for the Knights to contain Tebow at midfield, and Mike Herbers and Matt Mangan both played really well all half. However, even when stopping the Legion, the Knights could not put together that crucial attack from above to climb back into contention. All Tool snuck by the exhausted Knights defense twice more to eliminate any doubt that they deserved to move on and take the last playoff spot with a final score of 8-8 (32) to Burke’s 2-8 (14).