The Contrast between Comets and DJ
/Huacheng – Solis, Capricornus 1, 249
#87 Caleb Houghton takes Dong Ji to school.
That makes 4 wins in a row for Marineris.
They were the clear favourite for the match as they faced one of the league's worst.
Winning has just seemed to elude Dong Ji. Even with a respectable number of goals (14 on the season, which just puts them behind Immortals and Al’amal), DJ has consistently run out of steam by the end of every match. Aside from their opening game victory against the Immortals to an elated home-crowd, DJ has been unable to beat any other team aside from their sister colony’s Wuji club, who has also been struggling.
Today’s loss places Dong Ji at the very bottom of the pack.
It wasn't always easy for the Comets, though, who have been middle-of-the-pack for the first quarter season, but, now, they are confident and disciplined.
“It feels good. We feel like a team and we are playing that way.”
The wins have, indeed, been a team effort. Goals have been made by 19 members of the 25 man squad. And it isn’t just the forwards. Their top scorer is #2 Stephen Liu, a defender.
There has been a lot of talk on social channels about consistency around the league. Without precedence for professional sports on Mars, the MAFL’s first season is proving to be somewhat of a living experiment.
According to Dr. Vijay Lee of the newly founded sports medicine department at Huacheng Institute this is expected: “We have people who originally came to Mars to be genetic engineers or physicists and now they are suddenly thrust into competitive sport. As our educational programs, infrastructure and our culture evolve to nurture athletes, we will see greater consistency and better contests.”
Others disagree.
"It doesn't matter.", says Comets Manager, Gordan Pryce, "There will be always winners and losers, regardless of the quality of talent pool. That’s the magic of sports. We are witnessing a golden age of opportunity here. It’s lit that Nestor (#15 Ramirez, Comets defender) came to Mars on a work visa to be a machine-psychologist."
Both goals in this match came in the 2nd half. #87 Caleb Houghton captured his first goal at 49 minutes. That was enough to unravel Dong Ji. #2 Liu scored his 3rd of the season at the 57 mark, finishing the deal.
Comets are now 8-4 and Dong Ji is 3-9.
