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by Robert "Pennywise" Gray

Insmouth hit the road again for what was to be the last relatively easy match before a string of mammoth clashes. We went to Pancake Park to face the Vacant hosts of Jitterbug Pancakes (506) - a team involved in relegation struggle after barely surviving in Campeonato Série A last season.

Insmouth Gazette pundits expected a convincing win for Cheetahs in this match.

Pancake Park was way under the 8,500 capacity as the hard times and lack of direction caused fans interest to fade and just 4,923 tickets were sold.

Jitterbug played an attack-minded 4-3-3 formation. Key players were keeper Francisco Bernaldez (54) and midfielders Hamish Pomeroy (48.) and Francisco Bernaldez (54).

Insmouth retained the 4-5-1 formation and handed hole player Ottah Okoro (31) a left back role. Striker Takafumi Daiwa (55) was asked to put in a shift as a right winger.

The home team attempted to be bold but they just lacked quality throughout the team. Jitterbur needed something special up front for their offensive formation to work but not a single of their strikers had enough class.

Cheetahs got complete control over the ball and relied on the offside trap to keep the hosts at bay. It wasn't all a walk in the park though. Jitterbug had some quality in midfield and gave us a fight there. Our aggressive closing down lead to a couple bad challenges when their players refused to back down from 50-50 balls and Insmouth central midfielder Ayinde Ojaide (61) saw the yellow.

13' - Yellow Card! Ayinde Ojaide (Insmouth Cheetahs)

Insmouth created a number of chances in this first half but home keeper Bernaldez was on top of his game and kept Jitterbug in it.

That couldn't last long though. Without an offensive outlet to take some pressure off the defense the home side were repetitively under pressure and were bound to make a fatal mistake.

It didn't take long for it to happen. Insmouth left winger Kikugoro Sugahara (63) beat his marker before putting a good low ball in the box and Furtado was there to blast it home!

30' - GOAL!!! 0-1 - Leo Furtado (Kikugoro Sugahara assist)

Shortly after Takafumi Daiwa was involved in a nasty clash down the opposite flank. The referee had none of his explanation he went in for the ball and reached for his pocket.

36' - Yellow Card! Takafumi Daiwa (Insmouth Cheetahs)

Insmouth DM Lyapo Adelaja (70) was very impressive during the first 45 minutes with his tremendous range of passing and precise tackling giving the away team superiority and steel in midfield.

One could say it was poetic justice Adelaja was the one to wrap it up in the second half when Sugahara went for a backward pass and found Lyapo forty feet away from goal. The long range effort was a real beauty and left the home keeper watching as the ball tangled in his net!

68' - GOAL!!! 0-2 - Lyapo Adelaja (Kikugoro Sugahara assist)

Insmouth lowered the tempo and took Okoro off to give Feriani some time on the pitch.

72' - Substitution (Insmouth Cheetahs): LB Ottah Okoro (31) off; goalkeeper Giacomo Feriani (58.) on

Jitterbug managed their only shot in the final minutes of the match but Indian striker Rohit Kokare (31) fired a tame ball that was easily gathered by Insmouth keeper Rosewarns.

The referee blew the whistle after just 1 minute of added time and Insmouth walked away with a routine win from Pancake Park.

Final score: Jitterbug Pancakes (506) - Insmouth Cheetahs (4) 0-2 (Leo Furtado 30, Lyapo Adelaja 68)
Man of the Match: Lyapo Adelaja (Insmouth Cheetahs)

Campeonato Série A Match Day 12 results:

Red Onions (3) - The Rockets (22) 1-0
Peregrinos (7) - Braveheart United (539) 4-1
Cf Craiovitza (440) - Alexandra County (41) 0-3

This round saw champions Red Onions beat contenders The Rockets to stay top while all other challengers got wins. Homeboyz FC continued their good run and even opened a gap in 4th.The Rockets remained 5th but only a single goal keeps them above Alexandra County after this round:

1. Red Onions............ 33 31-3
2. Insmouth...........__ 32 29-5
3. Peregrinos............. 32 25-7
4. Homeboyz FC.._____ 29 25-7
5. The Rockets....____ 25 20-8
6. Alexandra Countyw 25 21-10

Insmouth Gazette Pundits

Time for our pundits section. The title contender derby this round was traditionally tricky to nail and some of our pundits were burnt with a wrong guess here. There were no changes in positions after this round and colins70 continues to lead the chase with a 5 point margin ovr andyoz. Let's see how the leaderboard looks after Match Day 12:

1. colins70............127pts
2. andyoz.........__ 120pts
3. wally............__ 102pts
4. scotty1962..____ 99pts
5. ironpsycho....___ 98pts
6. mackfishy.......__ 97pts
7. AberdeenAngels.. 92pts
8. jpjjpj................. 90pts
9. lawtons11.....___ 82pts
10. ozzymac........... 78pts
11. Tstuff............... 72pts
12. aknight2000..... 70pts
13. Njidda..........__ 35pts
14. taoheedovic_ww 33pts
15. tellofrosh........_ 27pts

Next up was a double Cup day with a lot of games to predict and a chance for our pundits to climb the ladder so wait for another update from us to see what happened:

Brazilian Cup Quarter-finals:
Red Onions (3) - Insmouth Cheetahs (4)
Peregrinos (7) - The Rockets (22)
Tox1cbeasts (82) - Alexandra County (42)
Pennyroyal FC (537) - CF Andorinha de Penhasco (79)

Inter Cup Platinum Cup Round 2:
Insmouth Cheetahs (4) - James Town FC (12)
Black Sails (72) - Beijing Niubi (46)
Demonic Snowmen (16) - Red Onions (3)
Manama AFC (10) - Inter Milan (26)
Norfolk Enchants (6) - The Rockets (22)
Tectonic Mango (15) - Oldcastle United (14)
Turtlesim FC (31) - La Sombra del Viento (11)
Warham (17) - Minor Threat (25)