Workdaze beats Survey FC in final after a sensationally coming from three goals down

In a dramatic final between Workdaze and Survey FC, the Workdaze team won the men's division 3 for the first time after a penalty shoot-out despite being 3 goals behind their opponents during regular game time.

Before the game, Workdaze's chances to win the final looked very promising. They never lost a game to Survey FC before with a record of 5 wins and 1 tie. Even the fans on the Workdaze side dominated in the arena, since several co-workers came out to watch the final (btw, thanks to Dave, Clay, Dave, Lisa, Ned, and Michael and his kids Fiona and Julia for coming out!). However, nobody on the Workdaze team imagined that this final would be so thrilling and such a hard win.

The opponent Survey FC showed up very strong. They had a few players we haven't seen before, and they played their best performance so far in a game against Workdaze.
Survey FC played a solid defense and took their chance by focusing on fast counter-attacks. That caused a lot of trouble in the Workdaze defense in the first half. On the other side, Workdaze's game in the first half was too hectic. The team had more possession of the ball, but was too nervous to score. As a result, Survey FC got on the scoreboard first. Joe equalized the score for Workdaze shortly after. But Survey FC managed to score 2 more goals in the first half,
resulting in a 3-1 lead for Survey FC.

In halftime, the Workdaze team analyzed the flaws and looked forward to do it better in the second half. But a few minutes later, Survey FC scored again, and it looked like Workdaze had no chance coming back from this 1-4 defeat. But Workdaze's performance changed dramatically. Jon was the first to score the 2-4 with a strong shot from the penalty box after a pass from Armin, inspiring the rest of the team.

Now, the Workdaze team got back into their game. The Workdaze defense around Kevin, Seamus and Jon was now robust as usual. Joe stayed on the field most of the time and led one attack after the other. But also the subs did a great job coming into the game for only a few minutes to give everything they got. Luiz and Salva gave the defenders the necessary breaks, while Attila, Mark, and Tim supported the offense and midfield with their restless runs whenever they were on the field.

In the next 10 minutes, Survey's goalkeeper saw 2 more goals in his net. Thomas deflected a long shot from Frank just enough to get it into the net for the 3-4, and Armin scored the 4-4 assisted by Joe. Workdaze's recovery was complete. At this point, both Workdaze team and fans were on fire, and there were still several minutes left in the game. The Workdaze team kept on dominating the game, had several shots on goal, but no luck. Survey FC on the other side remained dangerous and forced Workdaze's goalie Kevin to some great saves.

After regular time the score was still 4-4 and so it went to extra time of 5 minutes. The game continued as it ended in regular time. Workdaze dominated, Survey FC had several counter attacks. But none of the teams got on the score board again.

So, it had to be decided in penalty shoot-out. The shoot-out started with a short delay, because player/coach Thomas tried to put himself in goal for Kevin for the penalty shoot-out, since Kevin had no experience in that so far. But after several minutes of discussion with the officials, it was clear that the league rules would not allow that. At the end, Kevin would be the much better choice for Workdaze anyways.

The penalty shoot-out finally started. And again, it did not look good for Workdaze in the beginning. Thomas was the first one to shoot for Workdaze, but his shot in the right lower corner was blocked by a great save from the Survey goalie. On the other side, the first Survey shooter scored and Survey was up again 1-0. After that, it was Frank's turn and he scored the 1-1 equalizer for Workdaze. Then, it was the time of the Workdaze goalie Kevin to save the day for Workdaze. While Armin and Jon scored their penalties for Workdaze, Kevin saved all next 3 shots from Survey FC. After his last save, hero Kevin did not realize that the game was over until both players and fans ran on the field.

This long, tough game finally had a happy end for Workdaze. Both fans and players were delighted at the unexpected comeback, which made the first win of the division even sweeter.

PS
See the blog entry below for the statistics of the final and the full season.