This was definitely a very intense game. Wando came out hard from the start. I thought they were going to have a goal within the first 2 minutes, but Irmo settled down and got things under control. Can’t remember exactly when Irmo got the first goal, but the kid (Dulal?) who scored it must have beaten a half-dozen Wando players. And, I don’t mean he just went down the field and dribbled through them. He ran circles around them - literally. The Wando defense should have closed in on him, but they chased him, and he got through. It was an amazing effort. He used those same moves very effectively throughout the game.
As a somewhat objective observer, I found humor in the antics of the Wando and Irmo parents. I’m really kind of surprised no one has said anything yet about the officiating. While I thought the officiating overall was decent, you would never know it from the fans. Of course, no matter which way the call went, SOMEbody had something to say about it, usually the Wando parents…they are very vocal, and seemed to think the referee was an Irmo grad. I think that most of the calls against Wando were a result of Wando’s frustration with the better-skilled Irmo players, and also by them playing a fairly physical game.
Wando’s second goal was caused by extremely poor communication and passing by the Irmo players. Wando capitalized well. The third goal by Ralphy was a pretty one. The Irmo keep was probably a little further out of the goal mouth than he should have been, Lundy saw this, lofted one up, and the Irmo keeper was off-balance, running backwards, and unable to make a decent jump for it. The fourth goal was purely from Irmo pushing almost all their players forward, and they got caught short on a quick counter-attack by Wando.
Overall, I think the Irmo team had better individual skill and possessed the ball more, but Wando was able to take advantage of several Irmo mistakes. Very exciting match.
