Following a cancellation from our original opponents ČAFC Prague stepped in to take on the Prague Raptors Men's team in only our second game.
In a mirror image to the Raptors first game against English side Tooting Bec, there was a goal in the first 3 minutes, but this time it went to the Raptors with German Striker Tim Sommer scoring on his debut.
The game ebbed and flowed for the next 10 minutes, and although ČAFC started to build up some momentum it was the Raptors who scored the second goal of the match - with Frenchman Florian Lafitte knocking the ball in after a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-0 the Raptors.
The lead only last 60 seconds as ČAFC immediately responded to keep the heat on and bring the deficit back down to 1 goal.
More bad news came for the Raptors when left-back Dean Da Lança took a blow to the back and had to be taken off. Dean was taken to the hospital by Club Treasurer (and general Guardian Angel of the Raptors), Petra Moss. Thankfully Dean has no serious injury and will be back playing soon.
The Raptors struggled to get hold of the ball as ČAFC continued to press forward and eventually the space left by the chasing players let ČAFC in behind the defence and leading Captain Seve Burlefinger to give away a penalty. ČAFC stayed calm and struck into the corner past Raptors keeper Arij Oosterling. The half-time whistle blew seconds later, with the teams going in 2-2 at half time.
During the half-time team talk, Head Coach Jon Davies again rallied his troops and explained to them the need to both press and get the ball into the feet of Sommer, who had caused ČAFC problems throughout the first half with his electric pace.
The second half was very scrappy with little momentum from either side, although ČAFC had the best chances with a couple of spectacular efforts from outside of the box going just wide.
The Raptors had a chance to take the lead midway through the second half with Sommer missing a good chance with a back-post header.
The game looked to be heading for a draw, when a long ball to Sommer was quickly taken under control and he slotted away superbly - cancelling out that earlier miss.
A first win for the Raptors and against a team who will start the season 3 leagues higher was a great warm-up for next week's trip to Slavia Praha Under 18s.
The Raptors had a few stand out performances, in particular from captain Burlefinger, trialist Sergio Lopez who had a strong game in the number 10 position and full-back Marin Marian who worked tirelessly throughout whilst also putting some good crosses into the box from set-pieces.
Man of the Match though had to go to 2-goal hero Tim Sommer who not only grabbed the winner but also stretched the ČAFC defence all the way through the game.
Go Raptors!
Raptors: Arij Oosterling, Vojta Baštýř, Marin Marian, Dean Da Lança, Seve Burlefinger, Florian Jeunet, Iriah Okaisabor , Antuan Guzman, Alberto Pellegrini, Andrew Argent, Florian Lafitte, Abdallah Essa, Sergio Lopez, Jay Medetbek Uulu, Xavier Terrine, Lucian Zavioanu, Heri Hernandez, Tim Sommer
Head Coach - Jon Davies
Photo Credit: Ipsi.cz