3United faced the Cosmos once again on Saturday morning to battle for a place in the Hebeiguchi Cup quarter finals. Having faced each other earlier this year in the league, both teams knew that this would be a tough match, having to battle through every minute for a result. The game did not disappoint.
As soon as the whistle blew, the Cosmos put the pressure on hard. The first 10 minutes 3U struggled to fight off their attacks but were able to thwart any chances on goal. 3United finally regained its composure and soon dominated possession of the game. In the 20″ David Lazarowicz, of 3U, was able to put a solid right-footer off a free kick down the left side of the goal for the first score of the game. The Cosmos answered back quickly with a well placed cross across the 6 yard box past the keeper and put in easily by {Cosmos Scorer}. 3United did not let their heads hang however, and were able to take back the lead with a lofting cross/shot near the goal line by Vernon Tebong Mbah followed up by Nick Law, putting it safely away into the net. The half ended with 3United up 2-1.

The Cosmos came into the 2nd half putting in a 110% effort to turn the game around. Ball possession quickly became Cosmos dominated pushing their entire forward down the pitch. However, the 3U defense was nothing short of brilliant barely letting a shot on goal, closing down on every Cosmos player on a ball within a second of receiving it. Winning the ball from the Cosmos offense allowed 3United quite a few pushes themselves but were unable to score until Alvaro Roca Benetiz made a most atheletic, single man run from the midfield. Maneuvering past two defenders and the keeper, he passed the ball calmly into goal to give 3United a 2 goal cushion, before retiring to the bench trying to catch his breath. The Cosmos were relentless and continued to push for goal the rest of the half but were unable to make anything dangerous happen. With only 15″ to play in the half, Alvaro Roca Benetiz and Nick Law were not yet finished, and had back to back goals with shots from the edge of the box to give 3United a 5-1 lead.

With heart-filled efforts by both team, it was 3United who was victorious this week with both an impressive defensive and offensive performance. The game ended 5-1, 3United, who will now continue as the only 1st division team to the quarter finals.