Galveston Pirate Soccer Club Produce Magic Three Points in Houston

Brendan Keyes, coach and owner of the Galveston Pirate Soccer Club, produced a rabbit out the hat moment at Sunday's match. With a Harry Potter-esque flick of his Quiddich broom, this match turned on its head.
 
On a beautiful day at Bear Creek Park, the Pirates played possibly their best game of the season, ending with a wonderful 3-0 victory against a very good Moya FC side.

Goals from Castro, Alvarez and Fabrice Bongo (5 goals in the last 3 games) were enough to see off their formidable opponents in this hard fought match.

With a team effort, the Pirates controlled the tempo of the game from the first whistle and had an early chance to open the scoring. Some fine goal tending from the Moya FC goalie kept the scoreline unopened.

Moya FC had a couple of chances of their own during the opening exchanges, but again it was the keeper—this time the Pirate keeper Heathcock—that managed his position perfectly to keep the net from bulging.

Both teams would have been happy to enter into the halftime break without conceding thus far. The match was tight and could have went either way in the second 45 minutes if chances kept firing in the way they did in the first half.

With this in mind, Pirate coach Brendan Keyes made a David Copperfield-esque move when he announced Bongo to the proceedings.

This move paid immediate dividends, as he set up the opening goal playing through a perfectly weighted pass to Castro.

Castro's blazing speed got him in behind the Moya defense to slot the ball home from 10 yards and give his side the all important first goal.

This goal gave the Pirate crew mates the confidence to step up their play and take control of the match.

This increased confidence flowed through the side and it wasn't long before they added a second goal to the mix, with Bongo again being the main man.

He dribbled one way and side stepped another before darting between three defenders. He unleashed so powerful a strike that the Moya keeper was unable to do anything but get his body in the way to stop it bursting the back of the goal. 

But Alvarez for the Galveston side was first to react to the rebound, sneaking in to make it 2-0. The Pirates were coasting at this point of the match, playing some magnificent soccer.

The third goal was never far away. Only be one man enjoyed that moment of scoring—Fabrice Bongo.

After picking up the final ball of a nice five pass move, Bongo unleashed an unstoppable thunderbolt from 12 yards out. The keeper had no chance of stopping the goal and the scoreline changed to 3-0 for the seafaring side from Galveston.

Man-of-the-moment, Bongo should have added a fourth only one minute later when he found himself one on one with the Moya keeper. But he watched helplessly as his shot drifted wide.

In our normal after match press call, Coach Brendan Keyes told me: "We deserved the win, it was probably our best performance of the season and hopefully we can carry it on into next week against Celtic in what will be the biggest game of the season, with both teams looking to win the division or at least get promotion which means finishing in the top two."

Coach Keyes went on to say: "The guys are playing very well at the moment, it's great to keep two clean sheets in a row as we have been working hard on the defense for the last couple of weeks. We know we can score goals as we currently sit with 23 so far this season, the most scored in the division."

Next up for the Pirates is the big one against Celtic FC, which is especially poignant for Brendan Keyes.

Coach Keyes started the Celtic team over 15 years ago with his best friend Jimmy Hunter, who is sadly no longer with us. This game means a lot to him and the Pirate organisation.

"If we can get a result against the Bhoys, it will mean a lot to me and the club. Celtic will be the toughest challenge we have faced so far for sure," Keyes said.

Today's win keeps up the pressure in the league, showing that the Pirates are competing well. On this form they will be hard to stop.

Galveston Pirate Soccer Club currently play in the Houston Football Association in the Championship League. Next season they will participate in the NPSL, widely regarded as the 4th tier of soccer in the United States below the MLS, NASL & USL.

Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report as well as Not Just Scottish Football and youth development reporter for Ayr United Football Academy. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.

Galveston Pirates Bamboozle Opponents Moya FC