Dramatic semi final
I don't have words to decribe it, it reminded me of Deportivo-Milan, so over to correspondent, myoptika
Bloody hell, what a dramatic semi-final day at the BeeX Stadium.
After an action-packed "friendly" (I use quotation marks as I managed to get two players sent off) which finished 2-1 to myoptika's Forumites, we both had problems connecting to each other, which resulted in a bizarre situation where we both saw different teams on the same player selection screen and the game crashing out when the players arrived on the pitch!
A frantic reboot later and we were into the first leg of the semi-final proper! It was an even first half with clear-cut chances for both teams, including an amazing miss from Romanista where the ball was stationary on the goalline.
However, our Dutch master wasn't worrying about that a few minutes later, as on the stroke of half-time gained a corner and took the lead with a slide at the near post. Romanista 1-0 myoptika.
1st leg half-time score: Romanista 1-0 myoptika
An equally tight and tense second half ensued. No further goals were scored until in the 90th minute Romanista broke away from a lacklustre defence and slotted away a second! Romanista 2-0 myoptika
It was the last kick of the match, and at the halfway point in the tie, Romanista was ahead by a clear margin.
1st leg full-time score: Romanista 2-0 myoptika
I knew I had to score (and score early) to stand a chance of getting back into the game. If I managed to let Romanista score again the game would be all over. So what happened? Romanista only went and scored early on. It was now 3-0 on aggregate and it looked like there was no way back for the hosts. At least I'd done better than Switzerland and Austria, I thought to myself. Romanista (3)1-0(0) myoptika
However, this game was not yet over, so I tried to make the scoreline respectable. When a consolation before half-time was curled in from just outside the box, no one could quite believe what was to happen next. Romanista (3)1-1(1) myoptika
2nd leg half-time score: Romanista (3)1-1(1) myoptika
I can't quite remember how it happened, when I scored and how because it was all a blur, but suddenly the momentum shifted; my hands loosened their grip on the controller slightly; my long passes started finding their targets and I managed to score again. Romanista (3)1-2(2) myoptika
After what seemed like only seconds later, I had the ball in the back of the net again! Romanista (3)1-3(3) myoptika
I then tensed up as I'd realised what I'd done. Suddenly passes from both teams were going astray, there was last-ditch defending on the goalline and silly free kicks were given away. I don't know the next sequence of events except that I managed to scramble the ball into the goal once more to take a 4-1 lead on the night and a 4-3 advantage on aggregrate. Romanista (3)1-4(4) myoptika
The last 12 minutes of the match were simply terrifying. I did all I could to keep the ball away from my goal and I don't think Romanista managed to have another proper attack.
As the final whistle went I couldn't contain my delight, but made sure I gave a lot of praise to a worthy opponent. I wasn't sure how I did it, because I wasn't in the game for the first match and a quarter. What an epic semi-final, and one I was proud to be a part of. Bad luck Rick, you don't deserve to be a loser the way you played.
Final score: Romanista (3)1-4(4) myoptika
Our first BeeX SWOS Cup finalist: myoptika