Hilderinc Football Club

In an unprecedented move in their almost 23year history, Hilderinc FC were forced to abandon a game, slightly after the second half, after players were at the risk of suffering heat exhaustion in their Equatorial Football League, punishing 1pm kickoff against TGA Stollers.

With the game already lost by half time, and with limited resources on the bench, and several individuals clearly struggling with heat induced fatigue, the extraordinary call was made to put the welfare of the players first and foremost over any assumption of looking weak in the face of reality.

Never comfortable with the idea of traveling away for a league game at 1pm, the Hilderincs were confronting a tough afternoon when they brought a side that included two untested debutants, one a half of a Hilderinc Socials duo who were drafted in for the sake of numbers, a rightback who was battling a fever, and three others who were lacking in minutes ready for a league fixture, all this a foreground to having denied the services of a trusted centreback who tested positive for COVID hours before kickoff.

Despite relative quality with the starting eleven, the Blacks never got going in the excruciating heat, a point the Blacks were quick to refer to in their social media even before the first ball was kicked.

And two quick goals, in a space of minutes of each other certainly knocked any stride they were trying to gather, and with an unfamiliar midfield struggling in the heat as much as finding any synergy amongst themselves, the afternoon got worst, and two soft and highly debatable penalties only added to the anguish of seeing the game get away from them, even before they had a chance to have a say with the proceedings, and though they tried, it was sporadic, and had little to sustain.

So, when the clear and present danger was observed, the request to end the game abruptly was made to the referee, and with the opponents sensing the severity of the situation, agreed to take the game at the prevailing scoreline.

As much as Hilderinc Football Club takes its football seriously, it is never going to be more important than our players’ welfare, and we rather look feeble and unworthy than put our own at harm’s way.

We will just go again on another day!

Equatorial Football League QD 1

TGA Strollers 7 : Hilderinc FC 0

POM: -

Starting Line-up

1. Jose Kasijo (GK)

2. Sean Leroy

3. Nicholas Ledenmark

4. Christopher Collick

5. Fahmy “Ollie” Barker

6. Melvin Sim

7. Sam Lindley

8. Madalin Foghis

9. Ryan Ng

10. Ian Morris

11. Omar Mahnin

Substitutes

12. Basil Al Barr

13. Bryan Tan

14. Shawn Low

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