At the chilly sport complex ‘Het Toepad’ the ‘flagship’ men’s Antibarbari team drew against SV Charlois to take a single point of the three available on Sunday. The 1-1 draw leaves them seventh in the Second Division D table.
Around forty spectators were on hand expecting an exciting clash in the city derby, but the match was a disappointment. In a dull first half Antibarbari was only able to create a few scoring chances with predictable play, while Charlois didn’t pose any threat at all. In fact, the fanatical Antibarbari fans were the real spectacle with their boisterous comments directed at the Pierluigi Collina look-alike. The referee’s frequent whistling regularly interrupted the flow of the game.
Offside
After the break Charlois had its first real chance of the game in the 52nd minute and promptly scored. In the build-up to the goal the referee emphatically ignored the linesman’s offside flag. Antibarbari drew level in the 71st minute with a powerful header from central defender Will Kiers, but were denied a second goal due to an offside call. The game ended in 1-1.
Battering ram
IBA student Will Kiers (18) was pleased with his goal. “I always go forward as a battering ram whenever we have a free kick. This time my head made perfect contact with the ball. It’s too bad we made a couple of defensive errors, or we could have taken all three points.”
‘Big Will’ felt the weather conditions played a big role in the game. “Man, it was cold, and the wet pitch made it more difficult to control the ball. We often ended up playing long balls down field.”
Following a pair of heavy defeats (4-0 and 4-1), Kiers believes Antibarbari is improving. “During the last couple of games we weren’t in the best shape and we were missing key players. I thought we were calmer today when we had the ball. If we keep improving like this we should be able to finish in the top half of the table.”
