The quarter-finals have been played and 4 teams are moving on.

Nightmares Knock-Off Red Bulls

Prior to kick off the two teams got together to pose for a photograph and there were smiles around.  However both of them knew what was at stake and put on their game faces once that whistle blew.  Like most playoff games, this one was fought in the midfield as both teams found it hard to create clear cut chances.  Nightmares scored first through Hans Wang and led at the interval.  Five minutes into the second half and the game was even again when John Altinian scored from close range.

The word “hero” and “Metinho” go hand in hand and a fiercely whipped corner was met by the equally fierce eyes of Metinho who headed the ball so hard that he tore the fabric of space-time.  Nightmares celebrated like they had just won a quarter-final match.  Congratulations to Nightmares and good luck in the semi-finals.

Direwolves Vanquish Vaders

After his own game finished, this writer headed over to get the result of Direwolves & Vaders.  As he walked by the referee he asked about the result and was told that “the black team won 3-1”.  This was great news as not only did the top seed get knocked out, but the wildcard spot was currently held by the Bulls.  The reality was that it was the silver team who had won and after consulting the legal team, it was determined that no, we can’t accept a 3-1 win for Vaders just because the referee said so.

The highlight of the match was Alex Wong’s wonder goal.  He got the ball off of a corner kick, chipped it to get some height and volleyed a bullet past the Vaders keeper.  Everyone stopped and clapped for Alex in the same way that the fans of Juventus applauded Ronaldo’s overhead kick in Turin.  Direwolves move on.

Lightning Edge Emeralds

After a tense 50 minutes, neither team was able to score so they headed to a shoot-out.  The shootout is one of the most intense and nerve wracking part of any match.  When it’s your team shooting, the net looks so small and far away from you.  When the other team is shooting, the net all of a sudden gets so much bigger and they can’t possibly miss.  Rumour has it that mysterious injuries popped up and prevented some players from shooting.  It was the brave ones, the ones who never close their eyes who stepped up to take the penalties.

• Emeralds: David – Yes
• Lightning: Seamus – No
• Emeralds: Sam – No
• Lightning: Dillon – Yes
• Emeralds: Paul – No
• Lightning: Christy – Yes

The final score was 2-1 Lightning on penalties. The loss wasn’t all bad for Emeralds though, as they won the wild card spot and move on to the semi-finals.

The semi-final matchups are:

• Direwolves vs Emeralds
• Lightning vs Nightmares