  Oh my God!! So close to it again!! I can't believe it!! Oh shocks!! Yes, these were the comments after the game from the many fans who came out with their flags, maracas, horns and most important of all - their hearts ready to pour it out to the team if they could get the victory which would allow us for the first time in history to win the right to dispute a final for the National Championship. There were the harsher comments too which you can only imagine e.g. P__d___s, c_l_ros and so on as a natural feeling of having been let down once more. The frustration was even greater since the team played well and held the offense of Juventus at bay for the whole game as a result of the defensive formation they displayed on the pitch. It was the offensive that did not deliver as they have failed to do in the last three games. It is well and good to play masterfully and hold your rival, but if you do not score then you don't win, as simple as that and it can be said that San Pedro drew themselves out of the championship. The first fifteen minutes was a see-saw affair with both teams alternating the control of the ball. Coco, John Trapp, Babb and even Walter played a masterful midfield constantly lobbing the ball to the front line where it was either Juventus coming up big and controlling or our strikers failing to shoot. In the defense Al, Tino, Walter and Bonny had control of that zone earning the applause of the fans that let themselves be felt time and again making the most noise ever heard at any of our home matches. The end of the first half came with a sense of satisfaction because it could be seen that the Dolphins were the better team on the pitch and everyone was optimistic that it was only a matter of time before they would be able to let go the pent up feeling of shouting and dancing that had built up. The optimism inched up a few degrees at the start of the final forty-five minutes since Oliver and Jarocho came in as substitutes and they were fresh to wreck havoc on the Juventus defense that at that point should have been tired. No! No! not to be seen. San Pedro started with a torrid pace and subjected the visitors to an unrelenting pressure taking control of the midfield and launching attack after attack. Again, as in the first half, the ball was in Juventus' red zone most of the time; but when the local strikers failed to shake the net, then the pressure was on the other end with our defense having to dig down to control the counter attacks that Juventus was launching and betting on to score. It can be fairly said that we were lucky not to have lost the game because when you have a team exerting the kind of pressure San Pedro did on Sunday, and failing time and time again to convert, then the pressure turns on you and a simple mistake will do you in. As mentioned before, it was as a result of the defense playing its heart out and never doubting that Landy, Oliver, John Trapp or Bonzo would do their thing and score only one goal since that is all we needed, ONE GOAL. They say that hope is the last thing you lose and there is a slight chance that if we beat Jube on Sunday at Ambergris Stadium and the following week Jube beats Juventus on their homefield, then we would classify. Like I have mentioned before, in Football there is a saying as follows, "the ball is round, every day is a new day, the game is ninety minutes and anything can happen. Let's come out Sunday and push the team on once more and show that we are appreciative fans and we will support them to the end.
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