DONN DOES FOR LSK                          July 3, 2010

LSK left for Kristiansand yesterday at 4:00pm. We just turned up at LSK stadium and hit the road. The itinerary was very poor timing for quarter final FIFA World Cup watching. Thank goodness for good friends, family and text messaging, it was almost … yes, almost, like I was watching the games live. The Brazil result was a bit of a shock, but I guess you can never underestimate the underdog. Such a statement of course, segways rather nicely into the fact that we were beaten by Donn today 2 goals to 0.

We arrived in Kristiansand just after 10:15 pm, so we were able to catch the overtime and penalty kicks in the Uruguay and Ghana game. It was an exciting match, but you had to feel sorry for the Ghanaians. One inch, and they would have been through to the semis. This again segways nicely into our observation that if the Donn player had shanked the ball an inch less, it would not have wobbled and weaved its way through the sheet like rain and into the far goal netting from… well, basically the end line of the pitch.

Earlier in the day, we were surprised when we arrived at our hotel. Unlike most hotels, in fact unlike most buildings, it was built from stacked railway cars. It was not quite what we were expecting, so the fact that the rooms were … interesting was slightly less shocking. We were three to a stuffy, boiling hot "room," one on the top bunk, two on the bottom bunk. There was a shower and a toilet, but they were the same tiny room. Imagine being able to shower while on the toilet - genius. No one on the team slept that well, and this segways nicely into the fact that there are no excuses for how we played eventually and that Donn were deserved winners.

I call them "deserved winners," as I don't think that they were the better team. However, at the end of the day, soccer is a game that demands more than talent and skill. It demands high work-rate, self-belief and maximum effort. Donn showed us all these traits today.

They showed us how to defend with all eleven players. They scored, as I think I have mentioned, with a shoss (shot/cross) in the first half. I don’t know if it was the rain, the absurd contact she put on the ball, or just plain poor defending, but suddenly we were 1-0 down. This should have woken us out of our stupor, but it did not.

We had a good team talk at the half and, I thought, we came out with a much better work rate and attitude. Unfortunately Donn scored again soon after the restart. Donn was awarded a corner and as a Donn player closed her eyes and tried to scrunch up in a ball and not get hit by the ball,  it went off her knee cap and into the top corner. 

Being 2-0 down is a big hill to climb and, even though we had a ton of pressure on them for the rest of the match, we were unable to claw one goal back, let alone 2.

Perhaps I will be criticized for making light of the Donn team. Perhaps I have let my frustration get the better of me. The truth is they managed perhaps 3 or 4 shots on net, and they scored on 2 of them. For LSK, this is not good enough.

LSK and the Toppserien League now go into our summer break, although at times it seemed that we had already begun. We are now going to have quite the fight on, once we return to playing. We must use the time to relax, get our heads straightened out, and come out fighting to defeat every team we meet. I Have written this before - it is all sounding a little familiar. Time for the words to translate into deeds.