Viking Land News
Vikings earn point at Pehang
The Vikings were happy enough with a point away at Pahang but seem to be a bit plagued with injury with Almandis coming off and missing a couple of matches.
Unwittingly the Vikings played a part in their own downfall as early at the 3rd minute when Crouch was booked for catching Gassner with an elbow, Gassner was unable to continue and Pahang brought on the higher skilled Andersen who had a big impact on the match. 7 minutes in and Pahang worked a set piece move which resulted in a header by Eilts that had to be dealt with by Lees in the Viking goal. The Vikings seemed intent on giving Pahang dead ball opportunities and Strongbow again tested Lees with a direct freekick on 16. Pahang then tried another set piece move on 18 but Andersen volleyed wide. The Vikings had rarely threatened and a breakaway on 20 somehow found defender Irwin high up the pitch but he lacked the goal instinct of a forward and shot wide. Pahang then desrvedly took the lead on 27 with substitute Andersen hammering in a long range effort after being found by the impressive Pfitzner. the vikings dont lie down for anybody though and equallised on 39 as Crouch threaded a ball through to the on rushing Bonavia who calmly finished for his 8th goal in 8 games this season. 1-1 half time with Pahang just having the more chances but level was probably about fair.
The second half started quietly and it took until the 64th minute for the halfs first chance and again that man Andersen was on hand to stroke the ball home for Pahang. Again though the Vikings refused to lie down and earned a direct freekick on 72 minutes. Up stepped Almandis who placed a delightful freekick wide of the keeper to score his third goal after being handed the freekick responsibilites this year. There was then worrying signs for Viking fans as Almandis was taken off after a bad tackle by Saur who picked up a booking for his troubles. There was no problem with the defense with the experinced Veziridis coming on but fans will hope injuries are not to play a big part in the season as they have just seen Justin Portway miss a number of games already this season. The game then seemed to be playing out without incident until Pahang were awarded a 93rd minute freekick, thankfully for the Vikings Strongbow was fractionally off target with his effort. 2-2 full time.
We caught up with Vikings manager Eaglesrjh after the game and this is what he said "Well firstly we are pleased enough with an away point, the whole thing this year is to pick up the occasional point on the road but get most points at home and thats whats happening". when asked about the injury situation he said "Well Justin Portway has made a full recovery and is back in contention for selection, Almandis went off today but preliminary scans show that he should only miss 2 games so not as bad as first feared!" "It leaves us a bit of a freekick dilemma for the next few games but we have a few options as to how to overcome that for the next few games"
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