retired_hern1001

A corporate office, somewhere in England

“Still no trace of him?” the man behind the desk asked his two minions. The first one answered.

“No sir, it’s like he disappeared from the face of the earth”

“Dammit, what do I pay you people for. How the hell are we going to acquire the item if we cannot even locate its owner!”

An awkward silence followed during which the minions stared at the floor in embarrassment, while their boss paced around his desk.

“What about your people in the town. Have they noticed anything?” the boss asked after a while.

“Apart from the fact that they aren’t living in the town any longer, no” the second minion answered.

“But they can’t just have vanished. What about jobs, relatives, friends? Anything to can lead us towards Mr. Brown and more importantly, the item.”

“Nothing. Brown and Taylor were both unemployed. Young quit his job on the day they disappeared, not saying why. We’ve installed telephone taps on the few friends and relatives we know off, but they haven’t been in contact by phone. Which doesn’t mean they haven’t been in contact, mind. In short, we’ve got nothing” the first minion said this time.

“This is causing a serious delay in our schedule. Mr. Page will not be pleased with that.” He paused before speaking again. “Very well then. Keep the phone tabs active, keep people on the lookout in the town. And keep checking those papers. We might turn up something. Meanwhile, I’ll go bring the news to the boss”

“Rather you than me” the first minion said.

“Did you want to buried or cremated?” the second minion asked when his boss walked out the door.

retired_sherri

The plot thickens, what is the item? is his name actually 'the second minion'? will last minute penalties see Esmoriz good for the rest of the season? Will Miki get a place in the starting XI proving Martin (blatantly) right?

Ohhhh the suspense fantastic writting WLKRAS!

retired_hern1001

Rather dodgy reply that, but thanks anyway Martin

Back in Portugal

Nothing much happened during the week. Nick and myself conducted practice as we tried to get the weary players into shape for our next match. It was the 2nd round of the cup, against Infesta. And in midweek, we would play them again, but this time in the league. Winning the cup game would therefore be very important to boost morale ahead of a tough league game.

There was one change to the starting line-up. Miki came in to replace Jefferson. Our first opportunity came after four minutes, Filipe racing free of the defence after Chalana had set him up. Unfortunately, the 27-year old fired his shot wide of Chico’s goal. That woke up Infesta with a shock and they applied some serious pressure for the next fifteen minutes, eventually scoring through Bicas. Fortunately, his effort was ruled out as he had strayed in an offside position. A couple of good saves from Ricardo followed, denying the guests an early lead. Halfway through the first half, Marquitos picked up the ball and played if along the sideline towards Rui Lage. Lage cut inside, drawing the defender with him, but Marquitos made an excellent run on the overlap and a deft little pass from Lage sent him through. The right back continued forward and sent in a perfect cross to the near post, where Filipe volleyed it into the net. The 150-odd Esmoriz fans in attendance went wild in celebration.

From that point onward, Infesta seemed to draw back and we had a free reign in the centre of the park, creating plenty of chances for our forwards. It wasn’t until the final minutes that our guests realised that elimination from the cup was forthcoming and they started to apply the pressure. But it was too little too late and despite our wasteful finishing (14 shots, only 3 on target), we claimed our second victory of the season.

retired_hern1001

Just a short update, due to me getting a new computer (and due to me playing too much WoW ) progress has been slow on this story.

Don't worry though, i have some stuff written up and i'll see if i can post it over the next few days :thup:

retired_hern1001

The win set us up for another home tie, this time against Uniao de Lamas. But first, we returned to the league and travelled to face Infesta at the Campo Moreira Marques stadium. Jefferson was back in the team as I was unwilling to risk Miki to play twice in three days. Ricardo also came in to replace Rui Lage who was struggling for fitness. Rui Sá was also rested. It was the home side who roamed forward early on and they seriously threatened Ricardo’s goal, but he made a couple of good saves to deny them. After another foiled attempt, he quickly threw the ball to Ruca. The left back played it forward, towards Chalana, who then proceeded to beat three players before sending a hanging cross into the six yard box. Their keeper missed it and presented Jonas with a gilt-edged opportunity to put us ahead. The striker duly obliged and put the ball in the net. The game flowed on, with both sides forcing chances. Chalana sent a free kick just over the bar and Ricardo denied Adriano’s long range effort. Gradually, the pressure on our goal increased and four minutes from the half time whistle, it was Pedro Nuno who converted that pressure with a deft chip over our goalkeeper. With the scores level, we went to the dressing rooms.

Despite being under a lot of pressure near the end of the first half, I saw no need to make any changes and my players rewarded that trust by forcing the home side back in their own half. But despite chances at either end, the scores were still level with twenty minutes to go. That’s when Luis Lopes lost his cool. He shoved Paulinho aside, inciting the home fans with rage. The referee was left with no choice but to send off the defender. I quickly made two substitutions, bring off Jefferson and Jonas for Garranas and Rui Sá in order to protect the draw. Rui Sá spurned a perfect chance to give us the lead with twelve minutes left when he fired his shot wide of the goal, but Filipe made no such mistake six minutes later when he converted Ricardo’s inch-perfect cross. Despite a epic assault on our goal in the final five minutes, our defence stood tall and we claimed our second victory over Infesta in the space of three days.

retired_hern1001

There was little rest for our players as the next game was the following Sunday. At least the players had the luxury of staying at their homes for this game as Aliados Lordelo visited the Estadio do Barrinha. Before the game, both Martin and Nick had advised me to play Miki after he had conducted himself very well in practice. I decided to go along with them, but it was someone else who stole the limelight. It took us twenty minutes to create our first chance, but when Bruno Costa’s inch-perfect cross from the right flank found Filipe unmarked in the area, the home supporters erupted in joy. And they barely had the time to get back to their seats when Filipe scored again. It was a carbon-copy from the first goal, with the exception that this, the cross came from the left flank. Two-nil up after twenty minutes and we were cruising. Filipe should have had his hattrick after half an hour of play, but he dragged his shot wide of the mark. He wasn’t to be denied again though, because on the stroke of half time, he weaved through the defence and fired a low shot past a diving goalkeeper to make it three.

At halftime, I decided to bring off Miki, who hadn’t been playing well, and replace him with Jonas. Leaning on a three-nil lead, we started the second half poorly and five minutes after the break, Hugo had a great chance to get his side back into the game, but despite being clean through on the goalkeeper, he dragged his shot wide. It set the tone for the remainder of the half, Aliados pushing forward, but being very wasteful in their finishing. We did create a few chances, but looking rather uninspiring in the second half. Chalana came close with a good header, but other than that, there was little threat from the Esmoriz forwards. Secandas had two late chances for the guests, but like his team-mates, he couldn’t score and thus it remained 3-0 to Esmoriz.

That completed the first month of competitive football and a very good month it had been. Nine points from three league games and a victory in the cup had the fans in a good mood and myself and the other members of the technical staff were very pleased with the start we’d made.

retired_hern1001

October 2005

After a good start in our first month of league football, we were keen to build on it. The first obstacle in our way would be Lousada, who came to the Estadio da Barrinha on the second day of the month. Jefferson returned to the starting lineup to replace Miki. It was our only change for the game. It was a very open game, especially in the first few minutes when there were plenty of chances at either end. Rui Lage volleyed just wide, two minutes into the game, while Ricardo was called into action a fair few times to prevent the guests from opening the scoring. Neither side could manage a goal in the first twenty minutes and after a frentic start, the game slowed down a bit. There was another flurry of Lousada chances late on in the half, but Ricardo kept his net clean to make sure we were still level at the break.

At half time, Martin suggested to bring on Miki for the disappointing Jefferson, but I managed to resist the temptation of bringing on the youngster just yet. But as the second half progressed, we were still unable to make an impact, despite Chalana’s long-range effort shaving the paint off the post. Then, in the 65th minute, I finally made the substitution. Miki had twenty-five minutes to make an impact. Although he didn’t actually do anything himself, we grew stronger from the moment he came onto the pitch. Rui Sá and Rui Lage both came close, but neither could score. As we went into the final ten minutes, Lousada were pinned back in their own half. Miki came close to his first goal, but headed his effort over. But then in injury time, it was a clever through-ball by Rui Sá that put him in and Miki had absolutely no problem of converting the one-on-one with the goalkeeper. To add insult to injury for Lousada, we scored another goal in injury time, Filipe this time, weaving through the defence and scoring with a placed shot to make it two-nil and a clear victory for the home side.

retired_hern1001

Only three days later, we were on the field again. This time, it was in the Portuguese Cup, the third round. Our opponents? Amateurs União de Lamas. Despite the fact that our opponents were a non-league team, I told my players to approach them with caution. And rightly so, because they forced the first chance after just three minutes, Sousa firing his shot straight at Ricardo. Despite my furious attempts to convince them otherwise, it seemed my players ignored the early warning completely. And we paid the price. Fernando ran straight through the defence and scored on the stroke of half time to put the non-leaguers ahead. It was third time lucky for the striker, who had a goal disallowed for off-side earlier and saw Marquitos clear it off the line just moments before. At half-time, I decided to let Nick do the talking. He’s better at getting angry than I am…

Even a double substitution at half time didn’t appear to change things around. Miki and Bruno Mendes came on, replacing Jefferson and Tiago. Though they did better than their predecessors, they couldn’t score either. Infact, all but one of our efforts were off the mark, exposing the cause of our defeat. And because of our all-out offensive in the second half, the guests had plenty of chances, but Ricardo played another good game and kept them at bay.

It was a disappointing exit from the cup, but at least we had a two week break to practice our finishing.

retired_mortee4

Great story! :thup: One of the best beginnings I've seen...

retired_hern1001

Cheers Tiranis, glad you like it

Right-back Marquitos had sustained an injury during our cup defeat and despite getting back in training just before our next league game, he wasn’t fit to play yet. Bruno Costa stepped up to replace him in the line-up, which was otherwise unchanged from the defeat. And the team repaid my faith in them with a brilliant first half performance. The inspiration behind it all was striker Rui Sá. He started it by skipping past his marker on four minutes. The defender immediately grabbed his shirt, and was promptly awarded a yellow card for his actions. Then, eight minutes later, Filipe played a deft chip into the six yard box, where Rui Sá out jumped his marker and headed it past a stranded goalkeeper. The striker continued to hassle the defence and on twenty minutes, a defensive error saw Jefferson go free in an acre of space. Instead of being selfish, he spotted the run of his striking partner, played an inch-perfect pass and all Rui Sá had to do was shove it into the net. Four minutes later, he completed his hattrick. He set it up himself, playing a one-two with Tiago, went clear of the defence and scored once more. Three-nil and opponents Fiães looked well and truly beaten.

It could have been a monster score, if we hadn’t taken our foot off the gas at that point. The players knew that the season would last for a while and conserved their energy for the remainder of the game. It didn’t stop Jefferson from making his first goal of the season though. Again, Rui Sá was involved. His long pass forward was picked up by Jefferson and with a low, placed shot, he put it into the net. Four-nil was the final score and it was very satisfying to see us score some goals for change.