Friendly League

Our House
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Conrad Madison started the match with the kick off. After 4 minutes of play, Santanna's Luiz Fábio Dionísio made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Duke Holden was left in no man's land by his defense there! 7 minutes into the game, Val Landreth was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Muppet XI's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Santanna the free kick. Val Landreth kicked well hit freekick during the 7th minute of the match. When Cláudio Schmidt came up free with the goalie in the 8th minute, the Santanna fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Cláudio Schmidt couldn't finish the play. After 10 minutes of play, Santanna's Isaltino Botelho made it 0-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Duke Holden was left in no man's land by his defense there! Hélio Leão made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Jamar Ingram in the 13th minute of play. In the 16th match minute, Santanna was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Isaltino Botelho to maneuver through the defense. Conrad Madisons short, quick shot in the 23rdth minute got Hélio Leão to make great effort and bar the ball away from getting in. The audience thought a goal was coming when Conrad Madison got free with Hélio Leão in the 25th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Duke Holden took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from José Maria Mota, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Santanna's Hélio Leão played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Robby Sharp in the 27th minute of play. Robby Sharp charged in rather forcefully in the 29th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Robby Sharp the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. The supporters of Santanna booed when Muppet XI was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 29 match minutes in a wonderful position. Robby Sharp didn't get a good kick on the ball. Cláudio Schmidt recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 30th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Muppet XI's Duke Holden played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Mário Schmidt in the 31st minute of play. In the 33rd minute, Mário Schmidt left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Santanna fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-3. An unexpectedly hard shot by Robby Sharp in the 39th minute of play forced Santanna's goalkeeper Hélio Leão to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Santanna's Hélio Leão proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 41st minute of the match, managed to save Santanna from getting a goal against them. After a rather tough play, Muppet XI's Val Landreth got a free kick in the 42nd minute. In the 46th minute, Isaltino Botelho ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Duke Holden was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-4. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 0-4 deficit. They would have to work harder if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Mário Schmidt stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. After some careless play in the Muppet XI defense, Mário Schmidt kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Duke Holden. The Muppet XI fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Duke Holden should have stopped the shot. Isaltino Botelho sent away a hard shot on goal in the 60th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Olavo Lopez during the 62nd minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. A collision led to Santanna getting a freekick after 62 minutes play. Olavo Lopez hit a great ball. 68 minutes into the game, Santanna's José Maria Mota nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Duke Holden made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 0-6. The audience thought a goal was coming when Isaltino Botelho got free with Duke Holden in the 70th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. The crowd rose to their feet as Mário Schmidt kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Duke Holden. That made the score 0-7 in the 72 minute of play. Muppet XI's Duke Holden proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 76th minute of the match, managed to save Muppet XI from getting a goal against them. Duke Holden made an important save on a dangerous shot by Mário Schmidt in the 77th minute. Hélio Leão came out of the goal in the 80th minute to try and stop a shot by Muppet XI's Conrad Madison. But to his dismay, Conrad Madison quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-7. In the 84th minute Mário Schmidt shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Duke Holden saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Duke Holden made a fantastic save in the 85th minute, when Isaltino Botelho sent off a good shot on target. 88 minutes into the match, Muppet XI's goalkeeper Duke Holden had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by José Maria Mota. In the 90th minute, Jamar Ingram hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Santanna's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.