Millonarios Orlando started off the season with a convincing 9-3 victory. This week they looked to continue their winning ways against a familiar foe, FC Brambles, who were also promoted from Division 1B. Millos has easily dealt with Brambles in the past and were very confident leading up to the fixture.

Unfortunately for the boys in blue, only half of their roster was available for the match. Those absent included last season’s leading goal scorer and MVP, Diego Cordeiro. Also missing was starting keeper Sam Luedke, central midfielder Christian Bustamante, and defender Ben Beasley. Millos was forced to play the full ninety minutes without any substitute players. Lee Speight filled in at the keeper position allowing Msellem Ahmed to earn a start at right back. Juan Pablo Londono was at left back and Nick Hall secured the middle alongside Phillip Kats. Brian Phillips and Philip Hall controlled the midfield flanked by Luciano Mendieta and Jimmy Montes on the wings. Leading the attack up front was Hector Espitia and Taylor Moore. Leading Millos from the sideline was coach Joel Kats.

The first half hour of the match was filled with high intensity and vicious tackles. Two Brambles players picked up yellow cards as well as Philip Hall for Millos. Despite the reckless play from Brambles, Millos kept composed and played their style of soccer distributing the ball all over the pitch when on the attack and quickly closing down any threat from the opposition. Luciano Mendieta had the first real chance of the match after a foul just outside the box. He took a beautiful left-footed free kick that rocketed past the wall towards goal. The keeper managed to get a fingertip on the shot that did just enough to push it onto the crossbar before being cleared away by the Brambles defense. A short while after, Luciano Mendieta turned provider with a nice ball into the middle for Jimmy Montes. Montes beat a defender and set up for a shot just outside the box. With his left foot he hit a cracker to the keeper’s right to give Millos the well-deserved 1-0 lead. Just before the half Hector Espitia nearly doubled the lead. Taylor Moore did much of the work breaking down the Brambles defense and sent in a cross for Espitia. With the keeper out of position he placed his volley across the goal and it looked to be a quality finish until it hit squarely off the crossbar and was cleared away by the defense. Brambles had no credible threats in the first half and the score was 1-0 at the break.

The second half proved to be much of the same from both sides. Millos maintained most of the possession and Brambles continued their confused style of play seemingly more focused on injuring Millonarios players than scoring goals. Millos continued to pressure creating several chances but the Brambles defense held strong against the attacks. The second goal came after some nice work through the midfield to set up Taylor Moore just inside the box. As he took his shot a Brambles defender clumsily fouled him, the shot went just wide but he earned a penalty kick for his efforts. Stepping up to try double the lead was Philip Hall, the Millos workhorse and core central midfielder. He placed a very clinical low driven shot to the keeper’s left to secure the two-goal advantage.

Millos found a third goal on the foot of defender Nick Hall. Luciano Mendieta put in another perfect corner kick that teased the keeper just enough to draw him out. Philip Hall leapt with the keeper and was able to pop the ball up into the air. With the keeper out of position Nick Hall hit a beautiful one-time side volley to stretch the lead to 3-0. Millos seemed to relax a bit in the last ten minutes and surely fatigue played a factor as Brambles started to find some openings in the Millos third of the pitch. With less than five minutes left Brambles managed to spoil the shutout. Some lazy play in the midfield led to a breakaway down the left side and a cross into the box was put on goal that Speight nearly saved but the forward did just enough to make it 3-1. Earlier in the half Brambles did have one good scoring chance from a shot outside the box. Lee Speight was equal to it though keeping the shutout alive. 3-1 was the final score.

Given the circumstances, it was a very strong performance overall from all the Millos players. Man of the Match for this one is the entire squad for playing some quality soccer with the makeshift starting lineup. Next week Millonarios Orlando face off with Dream Team for the first time and look to pick up their third straight victory on the way to another Championship!