Shane kick off their campaign with intent

Shane secured a 1-0 victory over Taipei Mambas to kick off their 2022 campaign with a win.

Flush with new signings, Shane controlled the game from the early stages to keep the Mambas pegged back inside their own defensive third. Shane’s build-up play was excellent, passing the ball with intent and creating space with intelligent movement, but the final finish always seemed just out of reach.

It took some good fortune for Shane to break the deadlock when superb debutant Carl Puchner had his shot at the back post bundled over the line in a desperate attempt at a clearance from the opposition defence.

Shane couldn’t apply the same intensity in the second half but gathered themselves well to nullify the Mambas attack partly thanks to an outstanding Dan Engel performance at CB. He and his defensive partner Danny Miller worked well as a unit to snuff out any danger and leave the Mambas feeding off scraps for large parts of the game. At the other end of the pitch, winger Carl Puchner played some cutting passes across the box that would’ve been finished off on another day.

Shane can take great encouragement from this performance, and were unlucky not to win the game by a greater margin. The midfield trio of Enoc, Paul and Zach dictated play in the centre of the park for large parts of the game, and Jayke always offered himself as an outlet on the wing.

Shane look forward to their next game against Triangle on March 13th!