Manta League Cup Final

It's over! What is? One manager's waiting for a triumph, another's ambitions for a double, but most importantly - this season's Manta League Cup.

A Scudders fan gave the most descriptive summary of what his team achieved that night: "Who would've thought?". Against all odds, with the title holders eager for a double as opponents, manager Guermano's lads fought with everything they had and prevailed in a battle that seemed predetermined. Here's how the game looked through the eyes of another club's manager who was sitting as a guest of honor supporting the "ultimate underdogs" as Scudders are suitably called.

Kif Villans were as cool and determined as only a team confident in it's abilities and talent can be. Surgical passing, tactical awareness, lethal finishing and with the mental setting that the title can be won, the Villans team was all over the pitch. Scudders, whose manager was long satisfied with what his team had achieved, were playing under no pressure that a win was expected, but in the early stages of the game that provided kifd's zealously motivated players with more than an edge. Their dominance in play was finally realized when who else, but their top scorer Gray found the back of Reinhard's net and set the half time result at 0-1.

The second half was no less under the Villans' control. Midfielder Chevarie was the maestro behind his team's offensive build up and if Hirsch at the front was a little more concentrated a 2 goal lead could've easily been established. When kifd decided to sub out his scorer Gray for Milroy, critics remembered the effective substitutions the manager had made in the past two cup matches and this seemed to be the final touch in the Villans' masterpiece of a performance. But less than a minute afterwards things took an unexpected turn. A penalty for Scudders! The one thing kifd could not anticipate and so soon after the substitution and change in game plan it came as a great shock to the defending champions. With 9 goals and the title of the competition's current top scorer, Schwarz stepped up to the occasion and provided Scudders with the vital equalizer. With Kif disorganized and Scudders set to defend the result in hopes of taking the game to penalties, full time came with little to remember.

Extra-time. 30 minutes to either decide the better team or to leave things in fate's hands when the penalties came. It's the period in which teams prefer defending to attacking and this game was no different. However, it was referee Raban making the headlights before it came to spot kicks with his second penalty of the game - again for Scudders. If Schwarz was under pressure to score his previous penalty, then this time he carried the burden of the entire cup's fate on his shoulders. A quick glance at the goal, a step towards the ball, a kick ... and 2-1 for Scudders! The remaining 15 minutes were the slowest Scudders fans had experienced, while time was drifting away at an incredible pace for Kif supporters. But when the final whistle came, it was Guermano and his "underdogs" who were all over the pitch with joy. You'd think the manager would be speechless, but in less than a minute he had no voice whatsoever after screaming "We've won", "I can't believe it" and "2 Mio!!!".

And with this another exciting chapter of Manta's League Cup was closed. The Scudders hero from the final (and almost every other game) is unsurprisingly the competition's top scorer:

Top scorers

Name	Team	Goals
W Schwarz	Scudders	11
R Grey	Kif Villans	7
H Walther	Easyfit Walsall	6
K Tilly	Norwood FC	6

All eyes will now be set on the far more exciting and even more so challenging Super Cup. How far will the Manta teams go? Who will be the last one left? Will Manta have the Super Cup for a first time since Season 1? All of this will be answered within the next 40 days.

Thank you for following the League Cup through my articles and looking forward to providing you with more of them in the future.

chaosmaster