Cards, cards, cards. Goals, goals, goals.

We had a decisive win yesterday with a final score of 5-2. There were nearly as many 'cards' as there were goals and the ref's earned there money. On the positive side, we all wanted the refs to protect players and believe they at least attempted to accomplished that.

We started early with a goal by myself inside the 18 off a cross from Matt Rollman to Bobby K. Bobby had the presence of mind to pull off the ball at the last second, allowing me to take the shot. Unfortunately we let up a goal within minutes which tied the game back up.

Then the flood gates opened. Within what felt like 10-15 minutes, Bobby K put 2 goals in from inside the 18. And guess what, both goals did not involve a 'head ball. Matt G added his own 'body colliding gritty' goal. We ended the half 4-1. The Yellow card count was 2-1 against us. Funny thing was, on all 3 occasions, the team that was penalized with the card also was awarded the free kick (all three were cards after the play)

The second half was kicked off with a Red Card by our very own Brian D. And guess what, we earned the free kick.
This put us down a player and we made the adjustments needed. Gut wrench added their second goal to make it 4-2 sometime early in the second half. Mike K drew a PK which Ray finished to put us up 5-2.

I think Mike K leads the team in Offensive PK's Earned. Jeff M had the previous season or so title of most Defensive PK's earned. I think Chuck is most appreciative of Jeff's Tidy Aggressive play this year. In defense of Jeff though, I think he usually got dinged for a BS handball call similar to Steve F's "Sculpted Abs hand ball" call against the Green Ons.

I overheard one of our defenders mention that defense was somewhat boring. This is a positive thing overall. I think it was boring not necessarily because the midfield was impenetrable, but rather the defense was more organized and there were few rushed plays. Communication and speed of play was much better. Our midfield and strikers were better outlets for the simple pass. A special thanks to Randy for moving to the stopper/sweeper rotation (at the expense of his face), as well as usual great smart play from Winnie, Rob, Steve, Jeff, tony and ray.

This was a strong game against a team that beat us earlier in the season. There was noticeable increase in our pace of play with regards to passing, traps and the like. One other note regarding team play; we kept in mind that we must attack WIDE with our midfield but at times forgot to defend NARROW. There were times, especially when we were man down, that our outside midfielders stayed out too wide and didn't suck in centrally.

NOTEABLES: Bobby K had a chance of adding a coveted third goal. The problem was he forgot that he could head the ball. Matt Rollman was fashioning a Breath Right Strip which significantly helped his speed but think impeded with his ability to score a goal. Joe Fish decided to 'do a dribbling jig' on Gut Wrench's 18 in an attempt to demoralize the other team with his fancy foot work. He did eat up about 1 minute of the clock, and then quickly called to the side for a sub.

Chuck had a great game and was noticeably very aggressive. He collided with a striker at one point and still made the clear on the ball. I think the striker was disoriented afterwards because he wined that chuck should play the ball. It was quickly pointed that chuck had in fact played the ball since it was chuck who cleared the ball; as well as bulldozing the striker. The striker had no response.

I will not be at our remaining 2 games. You guys may want to organize a Ray S Tailgate for the last game.
I will post the check ins as usual. Someone needs to write the Post Game Wrap up though.

Sean