QFIS keep Pirates at bay for 2-1 win

By Ralph Martins

QFIS vs Pirates on Thursday November 15, 2012.
Photo by Aisha Jassim

The Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS) held on to best the Pirates 2-1 after a hard-fought game Thursday evening.

Looking to pile men into the penalty area early on, the QFIS side didn’t allow the Pirates to settle, repeatedly robbing them of possession. The pressure told when the Pirate defense didn’t pick up a long throw-in, allowing an unmarked QFIS player to stab home from close range.

The Pirates found their form after the first 15 minutes however, and began to look like a threat, keeping possession and blasting an effort narrowly over the bar near the end of the first half.

The Pirates forced a goalmouth scramble right at the start of the second half, but the ball was somehow kept out after bobbling free for a tantalizing few seconds.

Yet, though the Pirates kept pressing, QFIS found time to double their lead after a ball smartly cut back to the center from the right left the Pirate keeper cruelly exposed. A QFIS midfielder lifted the net from distance, with the keeper watching helplessly from the right post.

Further determined, the Pirates finally pulled one back by forcing a goalkeeping error after a shot from an acute angle on the left. The QFIS keeper failed to gather the low shot cleanly, and the ball’s momentum carried it over the line.

Spurred on by the goal, the Pirates ran themselves ragged in search of an equalizer, but were denied by resolute defending from the QFIS side, and at key times, by the inability to find a final ball to a player in space.

The Pirates will feel hard done by a spate of tactical fouls in the latter stages of the half, as they looked to find a way through the QFIS defense. Shahnawaz Zali in particular was vocal in his displeasure at being hacked to the ground twice: on the second occasion, just outside the penalty area.

The QFIS bench celebrated their latest win with great enthusiasm. QFIS are looking to finish second in the overall standings, and several players said they were looking forward to their last league match against Georgetown next week. They reiterated their desire to carry momentum from what they described as a difficult game.

It was a tough game…we were a little unlucky,