Barnstonworth Rovers o35 Select vs Israeli National Veterans

A Rovers o35 select team took on the Israeli National Veterans team
yesterday at Icahn Stadium, Randalls Island and fought out an
entertaining 0-0 draw.

The visiting team looked pretty fit and sharp in warmups and so it
proved when the game began; they were zipping the ball around the
field with ease and their breaks from midfield were causing problems
for the Rovers defence. Some fine, nay, superb goalkeeping from Pat
Wisnom kept them out - with a couple of point-blank saves frustrating
the Israeli attack in particular.

At the other end, Rovers were limited to counter-attacks but we did
look dangerous on the break, particulary as Brian "The Unmackers"
McLaughlin had the pace to beat the Israeli defence. He had a few
chances but their keeper pulled off some good stops and there were a
couple of narrow misses.

The second half was more of the same with Michael Messmer replacing
Wisnom in goal and pulling off a good stop in the first few minutes.
The Rovers defence improved a little, or their team tired, as there
were fewer clear-cut chances and more long-range efforts. Rovers
midfield came more into the game but there were few occasions to test
the Israeli second-half keeper - though he did spill the ball once or
twice. The best effort of the game fell to Ron Baskin who shot the
ball low from six yards out, but the keeper managed to get down
enough to slow the momentum of the ball and their defence cleared it
off the line.

[At this point, the Israeli clown-cum-coach shouted out that "he
shoots like Diana Ross" (which we think refers to this famous
incident http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXjCKwBtG0I though most of
America was watching the OJ car chase at the time). The same coach
had awarded MVP to the Rovers goalie, thinking that Wisnom and
Messmer were one and the same, and referring to the latter as "Tommy
Hilfiger" for wearing a bright red goalie shirt. At the end of the
game same guy invited us back to Israel once Bin Laden is dead.
Honestly, I'm not making this up.]

In the end, the Rovers just about deserved the draw against a very
capable travelling side who had easily dispatched a Boston team 3-0.
I would concur with our amusing Israeli friend in that the two
goalkeepers deserved MVP and if you make me pick one then Wisnom had
some great saves to shade it.

Rovers: Pat Wisnom, Michael Messmer, Olli Herrala, Kevin O'Donovan,
Gary Sisto, Jason Moore, Brian "Mackers" McLaughlin, Andy Horan, Ron
Baskin, Takamichi Saeki, Ben Weiner, Brian "The Unmackers"
McLaughlin, Colin Reid, Martin Mackinnon, George Box, Russell Davies,
Brian Roth, Brian's mate Donnie, Anday McCarran. [The latter three
were guest players from Westchester though some of you may remember
Anday - a Scotsman who played for us in the late 90s until his
recording contract prohibited him from playing on.]

Prior to the Israeli game, a Rovers 1st/Res select team took on
Coastal Soccer and came back from 3-1 down to tie 3-3 in an end-to-
end thriller. So a good day all round at Icahn in some glorious
sunshine, and a good night was had later at the Galway Hooker.

Photos from the day are here.

o30 Premier vs Pele Masters

One week after The Sopranos ended, so did the o30 Premier season in a disappointing playoff defeat to Pele Masters.

The Rovers game plan was to hustle Pele early, but this backfired as errors led to two quick goals for the opposition in the first ten minutes. Too often reliant on the long ball, Rovers had little flow to our game and rarely challenged the Pele keeper, though in the last 10 minutes of the first half our passing improved and we were camped in their half.

The second half started the same way but it looked like we were dead and buried on the hour when Pele scored a third; however Nedgy pulled one back after toasting their right-back and shooting low and hard under their keeper; and then it briefly looked like a Liverpool-in-Istanbul recovery was coming when some nice attacking play ended with Hernan rounding the keeper to make it 3-2. Rovers pressed further but couldn't create too many clear chances with too many players having off-days.

Unlike The Sopranos, this match finished with closure as Pele sealed the game on a goal from a breakaway, scoring with literally the last kick of the ball.

A frustrating way to end the season as we did not play to our potential and fell to a team we still feel were beatable.

Rovers: Curtis Long, Chivon Thornhill, Andy Horan, Marc Daly, Narces Phanor, Peter Best, Maurice Wellington, Lex Lovell, Steve 'Pompey' Cudjoe, Hernan Paredes, Nedgy Nazon, Colin Reid, Ben Weiner, Paul Cann, Steve 'Dex' Christopher.

Pictures from today's game are on flickr here (taken by my girlfriend Amy).

BRFC 1st Team Goals & Appearances 2006/7

Steven Pugliese	17	14
Andy Abramovits	17	7
Musa Shannon	6	5
Tamu Bowen	13	4
Phil Hobbins	7	3
Colin Marshall	13	2
Vidar Ekehaug	15	1
John Salvucci	13	1
Sam Wiggins	12	1
Kieran Mahon	12	1
Giancarlo Cavallo	9	1
Aaron Samulcek	6	1
David Borchard	18
Mark Kushemba.	17
Stash Rutkowski	13
Mike Alexander	11
Eoin Quane	11
Dixon Hayes	11
Bazza O’Driscoll	9
Eirnar Benedtksson	6
Yuri Krym	5
Scott Leber	5
Ron Baskin	5
Alfonzo Nanclares	5
Stavros Zomopoulos	4
Alex Schardt	4
Mike Zawada	3
Mat Levine	2
Bobby Hanifin	2
Paul Stiell	1
Matt Lowe	1
John Saunders.	1
Fergal Ferguson	1
Brian Schmidt	1

BRFC Reserves Goals & Appearances 2006/7

Alex Schardt	13	11
Alfonzo Nanclares	15	6
Jerome Albertini	9	5
Shadi Shahrokhi	16	4
Ron Baskin	5	4
Mat Levine	2	4
Stavros Zomopoulos	17	3
Matt Lowe	2	3
Giancarlo Cavallo	7	2
Yuri Krym	7	2
Paul Stiell	5	2
Sam Wiggin	4	2
Bobby Hanifin	6	1
Vilhelm Klariskov	6	1
Aaron Samulcek	3	1
Bazza O’Driscoll	3	1
Kieran Mahon	2	1
Mike Alexander	14
Alex Carabano	13
Dixon Hayes	13
Mike Zawada	13
Brian Schmid	12
Stash Rutkowski	10
Tai Anderson	8
Felix D’Ambrose	7
John Saunders	5
Daniel Cardozo	4
Fergal Ferguson	4
Andy Abramovits	2
Austin Harris	2
Mika Tapio	2
Dave Borchard	1
Mark Kushemba	1
Vidar Ekehaug	1
Patrick Duff	1

Barnstonworth Rovers Res 7 C.D. Iberia Res 3

The Reserves did their bit trouncing Iberia 7-3 despite playing for 70 mins without a goalkeeper, but a last minute NYAC winner to edge CPR 2-1 shattered their title dream. Only had they beaten the Fury Reserves !

Baskin, the emergency goalkeeper, contrived to make Sunday’s match interesting by handing Iberia the lead when he let the ball roll through his legs but a quick Lexi equalizer restored order. Baskin put the Rovers ahead in the beginning of the 2^nd half and Stiell got his first for the club moments later to make it 3-1 for the Rovers. Shadi made it 4, converting on a nice build up from the back, before Iberia converted a penalty against the 2^nd emergency keeper Dixon.

Broach’s early arrival and entry in the Reserves’ match secured the points and pinned the Reserves hope on a CPR v NYAC tie that did not materialize.

Yuri made it 5 with a nice finish after turning a defender on the edge of the box, before Stavros scored on a through ball for 6-2.

The Iberia’s first team striker scored another conciliation goal before Stiell closed the scoring at 7-3.

So another season without a 1^st division trophy came to a close. The Reserves are the 1^st Rover team to register 10 wins in a first division season and their 30 points are also a Rover record that will be hopefully broken next season with a title.

Team: Ron Baskin, Dixon Hayes, Brian Schmidt, Vilhelm Klariskov, Daniel Cardozo, Stavros Zomopoulos, Yuri Krym, Felix D’Ambrose, Shadi Shahrokhi, Paul Stiell, Lexi Schardt. Subs (all played) Giancarlo Cavallo, Alfonzo Nanclares, Dave Borchard

Barnstonworth Rovers F.C. 0 C.D. Iberia 0

The 1sts concluded their season with a disappointing nil-nil draw against Iberia. The match lacked interest from both sides other than which benefit in next season’s division allocation, and it showed. The Rovers were the team making all the running but without necessary endeavor resulting in little end-product. Iberia had the best chance in the match when they were awarded a penalty in the 55th min, but man of the match Broach saved it for the Rovers. Broach also pulled an amazing stop from a direct free kick from the area’s boundary line in the 1st half and stopped Iberia’s best player on a point blanc one on one to keep the clean sheet.

The Rovers also had their chances and should have taken the points, easily. In the 1st half, the clear goal-scoring opportunities were scan. Mat should have scored on a Baskin ground-cross but fanned after the Iberia keeper got a deflection just as it arrived. Baskin had his own chance when he intercepted a stray back pass but stumbled before he could finish in front of the keeper.

The same scenario played on in the 2nd half despite increasing Rover’s pressure and attacking formation. In a 15 minute spell midway through the half, the Rovers squandered 5 un-missable opportunities. First Mat dribbled around the keeper and finished wide when a simple placement would have surely given the Rovers the points. Not to be outdone, Alfonzo fanned from 2 meters out and a gaping goal from Vidar’s pass in front of goal. Then Tamu accelerated past the entire Iberia defense only to finish meekly and on to the side netting. Wiggin’s free kick from 20 went high over the bar, Tamu’s same effort was well saved by the keeper. And Wiggin’s effort from an acute angle was again parried for a corner, Einar’s header bounced up instead of in before the keeper snuffed it and finally Paul fanned on a volley inside the six with a few minutes to go.

Mirroring the season and especially the spring half, the Rovers left the points on the table. Next year, hopefully, they will not.

Team: Dave Borchard, Mike Alexander, Sam Wiggin, Mark Kushemba, Bobby Hanifin, Tamu Bowen, Vidar Ekehaug, Giancarlo Cavallo, Eirnar Benedtksson, Mat Levine, Ron Baskin. Subs (all played) Alfonzo Nanclares, Dixon Hayes, Paul Stiell