Blue Pandas 2nd Half Comeback Falls Short, GI and Friends get first points of season

The rain came down heavily, however, it was all rainbows and sunshine on the pitch as GI and Friends picked up their first win of the season in an 11 goal thriller. Coming into the game, both teams were coming off of losses and hoping to take a turn in the right direction. GI and Friends had lost four straight and The Blue Pandas three.

The Blue Pandas opened the scoring early in the 2nd minute after a great solo run from Pedro who passed the ball across the goal for an easy tap-in for Chung. Although, the lead was short-lived as Sehra equalized after an easy finish right in front of the goal.

Chances came left and right for both teams until the 9th minute when GI and Friends took the lead. A solo run from Gholami found the back of the net. A flurry of dominance followed GI and Friends as they scored two goals in two minutes to take a 4-1 lead in the 12th minute. Gholami doubled his mark on the score sheet to give his team a 3-goal cushion. The remainder of the 1st half was all GI and Friends who comfortably went into half-time up 4-1.

To start the 2nd half, The Blue Pandas showed signs of life in the 26th minute when Pedro beautifully turned a defender and his strike from outside the penalty area trickled its way past the goaltender to give bring the lead down to 2. A minute later, another strike from The Blue Pandas was blocked by a GI and Friends defender to concede a corner.

A team effort of four passes into the opposition’s half by The Blue Pandas set up their 2nd consecutive goal to make it 4-3 after Chung’s shot. The game was officially back on. The Blue Pandas took advantage of their momentum to equalize in the 30th minute. After a sloppy giveaway by GI and Friends, Abbas played a ball across goal where Diaz scored. Three goals in the span of six minutes saw The Blue Pandas right back into the game after an abysmal 1st half.

Five minutes later in the 35th minute, The Blue Pandas stroke again. Anderson was unable to cover Pedro’s shot on the back post and The Blue Pandas took the lead of the game for the first time. In the 36th minute, GI and Friends conceded a free kick just outside the penalty area which was sent wide. However, in the 40th minute The Blue Pandas came back down to Earth when Antao scored GI and Friends’ first goal of the 2nd half to equalize the game 5:5.

In the 44th minute, the first yellow card of the game was given to GI and Friends due to an illegal slide tackle. After a near miss by GI and Friends, they took advantage of a miskick by The Blue Pandas’ goalkeeper and Gholami slotted away their 6th and final goal.

After slugging away for 50 minutes, the game was called to a halt and GI and Friends walked away with the three points. After three straight losses, GI and Friends were able to shut out the noise and hopefully start an upward trend of play. For The Blue Pandas, they continue to be point-less and now sit in the lone bottom place despite some promising football. Their three goal deficit proved to be too much to come back from. For them, they hope a win –or a point– is in the near future.

GI and Friends – The Blue Pandas – 6:5
Goals: Sehra (3′), Gholami (9′, 12′, 44′), D’Costa (10′), Antao (40′) – Chung (2′, 28′), Pedro (24′, 35′), Diaz (30′)