 Shooting Stars bounced back from a disappointing loss against Prime by winning a crucial game against International United this past weekend. The Stars won 4-2 after falling behind two goals in the first half.
The Stars were missing Erhomu (goalie), Ofili (FB), James (CM), Temzie (DM) and Mike (FW).
The first half started with Shooting Stars playing with only nine players because some its players arrived later during the game. International United took the lead in the 14th minute after scoring a free kick that was missed by goalkeeper, Fela, at the far post. International increased the lead in the 25th minute with a nice free kick from 30 yards that went straight into the right side of the net.
The Stars’ defense was pressured during the first half with through-passes and lobbed balls, while its offense could not break into International’s defense throughout the first half.
 During the half-time break, Stars’ captain, Tolu, addressed the team and asked the team to focus on winning the game instead of reacting to the referee’s calls. He encouraged the offense to move the ball and penetrate the opponent’s defense.
Several changes were made before the second half: Justice moved up to the striker position; Tope was moved back to the attacking midfielder position; Fred was moved to the defensive midfielder position and Ralph was moved to the center-back position. Fela, the goalie in the first half, was switched to a fullback position Daniel replaced him as the goalie.
 The second half began, and the Stars’ responded with three goals in a 15-minute span. Justice scored the first goal by intersecting International’s back-pass to its goalie in the 48th minute of the game. Ehis tied up the score with a fabulous low shot after stopping a shot by Ralph in the 53rd minute.
The Stars, showing the fighting spirit they are known for, delivered another goal through Ehis in the 60th minute to take the lead. Farouk scored the fourth goal in the 86th minute to wrap up victory for Shooting Stars.
Tolu praised the team for the comeback saying “we came back to win the game because we played our style of football.” Reached by e-mail after the game, he added that although the team was not proactive in the first half, they were able to equalize in the second half and win because they controlled the pace of the game. Tolu said, “I knew we had to step up and quit complaining about the referee calls. I knew once we get our acts together, we were going to come back and win the game.”
Tolu said he made so many changes to start the second half because he realized the Stars needed to put more pressure in the midfield and offense. “We have to be dynamic and be able to fix problems as soon as they are identified,” he added.
 The Stars restored their third place league spot with the win, and are now back in the race for the divisional title as they recovered from a poor start to post this win. The loss sent International United crashing to its seventh consecutive defeat. Ehis was named the game’s MVP for his exceptional performance and Tope received a yellow card for an intentional foul in the first half. In other matches, first place team, FC Dynamo, beat HMFC Blacks 2-1 and Al-Ahly suffered a 5-1 home defeat by Houston Strikers – Prime. HFMC Blacks maintained its fourth place league position with the loss, while Al-Ahly dropped from fourth to fifth place. Shooting Stars’ next match is on Sunday, January 7, 2007 against Houston Strikers – Red. Game time is 11:00AM at field# 25. The last time these two teams met, the Stars won the game 3-0. |
