Result: Firsts 11/18/07 vs Stan Meilec

Barnstonworth Rovers F.C. 2 Stan Meilec 1

The Rovers returned to league play with 3 points beating newcomers Stan Meilec 2-1. A powerful Levine header to the far upper corner from Colin’s teasing cross 10 minutes from time put an end to a seemingly endless missed opportunities for the Rovers. Levine, oddly became the first in memory to have scored the winning goal in both fixtures for the Rovers on the same day, netting 2, including the winner also earlier on for the Reserves. Colin, earlier in the half, had pulled the Rovers level with a neat turn and finish inside the box.

The Rovers held 75% of the possession in the first half but it took them a while to re-adjust to playing with 2 up top. With the polish back 4 sitting deep, Rover possession often fizzled near the opponents 18teen and when it didn’t the incredible Pollack between the sticks got to everything. Undisputedly their best player, he single handedly kept Mielec in the match stopping first Einar from 12 yards, then Andy on a flick from Jordan’s cross and Pugli inside the six. Nessa certainly though he had scored after a turnover in the final third had him free in the box, only for the keeper to amazingly tip it for a corner. Sam’s shot from 20 was parried and then cleared. And so on.

Expectantly, Meilec went ahead at the first time asking. First a wicked corner was cleared for a second, before Broach could only punch down the second attempt. The ball pinned down in the Rover area, a polish forward back-healed it for the lead. Rovers 0-1.

The Rovers attacked the entire 2^nd half. It took only a few minutes to first level the score. Einar and Andy combined the ball slipped to Colin inside the box, he turned and put the ball under the keeper despite his partial block. Rovers 1-1.

The chances kept coming. Pugli broke one on one and somehow chipped the ball wide. And just afterwards, he was denied from 2 yards out in the near post. Einar’s headed postmarked for the back of the net, was rejected by the keeper, who also stopped a similar effort by Andy minutes later. Jordan sliced through their defense and launched a strike that the keeper somehow parried.

It was all one way traffic. And it finally paid off when Colin got the ball from Vidar after a Meilec attempted clearance on the near side, perfectly picked out Levine in the far post. Levine rose and buried it. Rovers 2-1. Match and 3 points done.

The Rovers will likely host their next match vs Landsdowne at Pier 40 next Tuesday. It would be fantastic to have a good turnout to support and later drink at Bayards.

Team: Mike Zawada, Jon Nessa, Dixon Hayes, Mark Kushemba, Sam Wiggin, Einar Benedktsson, Vidar Ekehaug, Jordan Chirico, Colin Marshall, Andy Abramovits, Stephen Pugliese
Subs (all played): Dave Borchard, Andrew George, Mat Levine, Yuri Krym.

Result: Reserves 11/18/07

Barnstonworth Rovers Res 5 Stan Meilec Res 2

The Reserves clinically shred Stan Meilec 5-2 to take another 3 points and erasing the nightmare that was their last cup match. The Rovers patiently kept at the task, turned a one goal deficit and a 2-2 score to a rout.

The Rovers fell behind in the early minutes to an avoidable a near post strike. Reserves 0-1

But a double Mat combination drew them level in the 20^th, when a through ball on the left flank was turned inside for a Lowe finish. Reserves 1-1.

Then, they took the lead on a Levine far post header. Reserves 2-1.

Only to see Meilec respond almost immediately after their outside winger turned the defense, tucked the ball inside and finished past Zawada. Reserves 2-2.

As the Reserves attacked looking to regain the lead, Austin found himself wrestled to the ground by the neck. A Greco-roman display ensued in-front of the ref who was left with no choice but to brandish the red card for both players.

The Rovers calmly continued and after a goal was disallowed for offside (even though their back had passed it to the Rover player), a Alfonzo strike saved from close range and a Yuri incredible miss from 1 yard out at the far post, they got the winner. Lowe cut in, got the ball Alfonzo, slipped in Levine on the left and he placed it to the far side netting. Rovers 3-2

Much of the 2^nd half was the Rovers looking to ice the match and but for their profligate finishing they would have done so much earlier. As it unfolded they had to wait for Stavros to do the job in the 75 min after an George pass through the defense. Reserves 4-2.

Alfonzo then finished the job with a surgical run through the Meilec defense and an easy finish. Reserves 5-2.

Team: Mike Zawada, Brian Schmid, Mike Alexander, Stash Rutkowski, Vilhelm Klareskov, Alex Carabano, Stavros Zomopoulos, Hirofumi Takeuchi, Austin Harris, Mat Levine, Matt Lowe. Subs (all played) Alfonzo Nanclares, Yuri Krym, Andrew George

Pythagoras Samos (2) - BRFC Thirds (1), 11/18/07

The most blatantly one-sided referee I've ever witnessed cost the Thirds a great victory over table-topping, undefeated Pythagoras Samos late last night.

The 9pm kickoff coupled with some injuries meant that we had to play a totally different defense from our usual. And considering the quality of the Greek side this was always going to be a difficult job. The opening minutes of the game proved as much and Samos had most of the possession but the Thirds defense did a good job in not letting them through. Then, out of the blue, the Thirds scored with their first venture forward. I'm not entirely sure what part of his body got the final tough, but Okey got in on the rebound after the initial shot had been parried by their keeper. 1-0 Thirds.

It was around this time that the game took a bewildering turn. For whatever reason, the ref had decided he wanted the points to go to the Greeks. Possibly this was because we had been shouting at him early on for some decisions we disagreed with, or maybe their had been a brown envelope exchange before the game. Who knows why, but from that point on every single decision went the way of Samos.

I've seen some bad refereeing in this league, and it is easy to be biased in these things, but in this case the ref wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he didn't want us to win. A some decisions there were even laughs from the Samos players at how ridiculous he could be. One in particular was when Okey was clearly fouled on the edge of the area when going through on goal. It would have been a great opportunity to make it 2-0 and possibly a red card for their defender, but the ref gave the foul the other way. At that point one of their players confessed to me that he had no idea what was going on.

As to the game itself, Samos were clearly the better side and were throwing everything at us. The midfield was having to do a lot of defending and every time we cleared the danger the only option seemed to be the long ball up the ever more isolated forwards. However, for all their domination the Greeks failed to create and real clear cut chances. Zac had a brilliant game in goal and denied every one of their efforts from long range as well as catching nearly every cross.

As the game wore on Samos were clearly frustrated and things started to boil over, but for the most part they were a good hard team but not dirty. In fact, the game was mostly in a good spirit between the players if not between us and the ref.

We asked the ref how long to go and were told 4 minutes. It seemed that we might hold out for a great win. Those 4 minutes took a hell of a long time and about 6 minutes into the Samos midfielder ran into our box and was felled by a lunging Bernfeld. The player rolled over about 20 times but there was no need as we all knew how the ref would award it. To be fair, there was no arguing with this call, it was probably the only one he got right all night. For the resulting spot kick, Zac dived the right way but the striker put it right on the post so he couldn't quite get his fingers to the ball.

That was 1-1 and on taking the kickoff we again asked how long remained. The referee had a look at his watch, pondered it over, and told us 4 minutes! This time the 4 minutes lasted at least 10 and with all their pressure we eventually conceded a second. 2-1 to Samos and the referee had got what he wanted so the final whistle went.

Why one of us didn't plant a fist on the scumbag is a surprise to me. Mackers was certainly thinking about it. As the ref drove off in his car I'm sure I saw him take the Samos player cards home with him to pleasure himself over.

Thirds: Rubin, Hamm, Brown, Bryans and McLaughlin; Billiard, González Casares, Bernfeld and Sangsong; Dick and Obudulu.
Subs (all played): Robertson and González.

Cup Result: Firsts Rd3 - 11/11/07

West Indies Utd/HAFA (LISFL) 0 Barnstonworth Rovers F.C. 1

A Jordan solo effort in the 75 min ensured that BRFC had at least one representative in the State Cup quarter finals. The Rovers were superior to their LISFL counter parts and it always seemed only a matter of time until the broke the tie. Missing opportunity after opportunity though, did tighten the nerves.

The Rovers had the possession from minute 1, and their movement on and off the ball created space and time. Pugliese got to the end of a Jordan cross only to see his one time shot fly over. Then on a break inside the 18teen Pugli’s effort was well saved. Einar had a powerful strike deflected for a corner, as did Sam moments later. Jordan was a constant threat, breaking from the left either with crossing efforts or cutting in to try it himself.

Nessa’s second effort after a quick 1-2 in the area somehow was cleared off the line, and Colin had a similar effort saved before Pugli again broke through the defense only to be stopped by the keeper. But the Rovers remained patient and kept working with the ball on the ground.

Finally it was Jordan who delivered the telling strike, collecting the ball 30 out, dribbling past the last WI player, accelerating past the keeper and slotting the Rovers into the next round.

Next up, the Greeks on Dec 2^nd, in a rematch of last year’s thrilling Rover 3-1 quarter-final victory.

Team: Dave Borchard, Jon Nessa, Mark Kushemba, Dixon Hayes, Yuri Krym, Vidar Ekehaug, Sam Wiggin, Einar Benedktsson, Colin Marshall, Jordan Chirico, Stephen Pugliese. Subs (all played) Bobby Hanifin, Stash Rutkowski

Result: U.S. Open Cup Rd 2

Pancyprian Freedoms 4 Barnstonworth Rovers F.C. 0

The Rover US Open Cup run ended yesterday at the hands of a very good Pancyprian’s side.

Thanks to Dom, Jamie, Jesse and the others who came to support out at St Johns and had to bear the 100 or so Pancyprians supporters in the garage stands…

The match was a very close affair. The Rovers should have been awarded the lead in the 20^th min when a beautifully flow of passes found Andy on the left wing, he beat the keeper to the ball and chipped it goalbound. After the ball crossed the line a Pancyprian defender cleared in (and fell back into the net) but the linesman somehow ruled that the “whole ball did not cross the whole of the line.”

Before the Rovers could settle, the Pancyprians got the lead in a typically executed move. Their #20 fell deep to check into midfield. Their right midfielder made a run into the vacated space behind and the Rover defense was slow to react. He collected, sprinted through and 1-0.

Broach made a fine save to his left to deny a second, before the Nessa’s header from a free kick, all alone on the six went agonizing over the top.

The Rovers thought they had tied it when Andy’s header in the back post was parried to the post.

And again when in the 44^th, Jordan got a ball free in the 18n tee it and struck a thunderbold that froze the keeper. But the ball dipped only enough to hit the underside of the crossbar hard enough to almost break it. Andy followed in the play but his header from the rebound was cleared.

The first 15mins of the second half was again typical. The Rovers could have, should have held more possession with the space they had gained but didn’t. And they Pancyprians were always a little more compact making it seem they had an extra players everywhere, winning too many of the 50/50 and 2^nd balls.

Yet it was the Rovers that had the best chances. Pugli accelerated past the entire defense but his cut back finish was excellently parried, before the rebound was cleared. Then again, Broach made a super-save to the far post and Pancyprians best chance was a direct free kick from close range (taken by x-Columbus Crew Matteo) that struck the right post.

The Rovers poured forward for the equalizer, and left the rear ever more exposed. The Pancyprians were simply too good for that and scored 3 times in the last 11 minutes, including a penalty in the last kick of the match.

Great experience. Just so to paint a picture of the competition we are facing on a weekly basis: All of the Final 8 team in the State’s Amateur Cup are from our division.

And the final 4 teams in the State’s US Open Cup qualifying rounds were from our division. (Pancyprians, Italians, Greeks and us.)

Team: Dave Borchard, Jon Nessa, Sam Wiggin, Einar Benedktsson, Vidar Ekehaug, Dixon Hayes, Mark Kushemba, Colin Marshall, Andy Abramovits, Jordan Chirico, Stephen Pugliese. Subs (played): Mat Levine, Andrew George, Ron Baskin, Bobby Hanifin (did not play – Yuri Krym).

Cup Result: Reserves Rd2 - 11/11/07

N.Y. Finest (Metro 2) 4 Barnstonworth Rovers Res 2

The Reserves embarrassed themselves in many levels in being eliminated from the State Cup, once again in ludicrous fashion. From a listed 17 players only 10 show it fit to show up for what seemed on paper to be only an obligation rather than a cup elimination match against the bottom side of the entire CSL set up.

And even the 10 who did show up, completely underestimated and misprepared for the encounter. Facing a pitch that was designed for 8-a-side and smaller than the 1/3 of the pitch we train on, they Reserves were glad only 10 of them were there, as 11 would be too many !!

Well the policemen had different ideas. It became obvious very quickly that this was a different cup team that their league exploits suggested. Skilled, hard on the tackle and lethal in the short field. The Reserves had huge troubles adapting to the pitch and limiting the potential dangers created by its size. They paid for it twice in the first 15 mins. Reserves 0-2.

A nice one time strike from Lowe got them back into the match, and seemed to righten the ship. Only to give it back before they could change the tide, in a similarly stupid manner as the first two. Reserves 1-3 at the half.

With 45 to go, the smart money may still have been with the Rovers, especially as Andrew put one away in the first few mins to reduce the deficit again to one. Reserves 2-3. Then the Rovers had 4 incredible chance to change the outcome. First Stavros failed to beat the keeper after a great Austin flick had him one on one. Lowe did the exact same 3 minutes later, and Austin himself had the 3^rd breakaway, actually tucking the ball under the keeper before being clobbered. Ref gave no penalty and the ball trickled wide. Andrew had the 4^th chance inside the area but somehow the police keeper got it out.

As the Rovers started to look good for the equalizer, a ball over the top – to an offsides player – was allowed to be continued by the ref and it was all over. Reserve 2-4.

Simply stupid, as now the Reserves will miss at another game or two.

Team: Mike Zawada, Brian Schmidt, Daniel Cardozo, Mike Alexander, Andrew George, Stavros Zomopoulos, Alex Carabano, Vilhelm Klarerskov, Austin Harris, Matt Lowe.

Photos from o30 game vs Pele

Some pictures that Amy took last Sunday, including our team photo -
I'll ask her to put a bigger version up there so you can order a print
copy if you want one.
Take me to the pictures!

I would reiterate if anyone has any Rovers photos, there is a
Barnstonworth Rovers group on flickr, feel free to add your photos
there, and I can post them for you if you don't have a flickr account.

Result: US Open Cup 11/8

Albanian Eagles 2 Barnstonworth Rovers F.C. 3

The Rovers made club history last night at chilly Verranzano winning their first ever U.S. Open Cup match 3-2 against the NESSA Champions Albanian Eagles (reinforced with several of the better NY Albanian players). And it would have been much easier had Einar not limped up injured in the 25^th minute while the Rovers were cruising at 2-0. Missing Tamu and Wiggi, with Pugli, Jordan suspended and several other 1^st team choices unable to make the midweek contest in the depths of Brooklyn, the Rover bench consisted of – never played a first team match before – newcomer Hiro, Schmidtie and street clothes Stav, who all had to play !! In the end, it took a brilliant Matt header from the penalty spot to the top left 90 with 8 minutes to play to win the tie.

The Rovers clearly had the better talent and took the reins early. They played controlled football, passing when and where they should have and clearing the ball when needed in the bumpy grass pitch. The Rovers warned of their intentions when Andy’s cross was nipped over the bar by Matt. Then Einar would have opened the scoring when Colin put him through the middle of the Albanian defense only to fail to pull the trigger. He atoned minutes later with a wonderful, first time twisting strike that surprised the keeper and beat him in the near post. Rovers 1-0.

A second followed. A flowing passing move from Kushemba, Baskin, Colin, Mat, Einar to Andy resulted in a corner. Matt’s header from Colin’s take ricocheted of the bar and Nessa following in notched his first for the club. Rovers 2-0.

It all seemed over until Einar started to limp. Unable to shake the Charlie-horse for 10 mins the Rovers were forced into a substitution. It unsettled the Rover balance. The very quick and tricky Albanian winger received and skinned a couple of defenders, got into the box and slid it to a forward inside the six. Broach has no chance. Rovers 1-2.

And even though the Rovers resettled for the beginning of the 2^nd half – Baskin should have finished the match from 2 yards out on another superb Andy cross – it was the Albanians who got a break in a goal mouth scramble to tie the score. Rovers 2-2.

Substituting the substitute for the Rovers filled the space and the Rovers regained their touch. Colin got to a through ball first, chipped the keeper, then dribbled around him and a defender but his finish was cleared off the line. From the corner Andy had a header just wide at the far post. The Rovers always looked the side to win it. And they did when Matt buried the header 8 minutes from time (thankfully for his girlfriend who had frozen on the sideline). Rovers 3-2.

Thanks to Club Pres Reid and back-up keeper Zawada who withstood the cold to come and support us out there last night.

It took a lot of effort, coordination and dedication for the 11+4 players to get to this match. Thankfully it was worth it. Next round, likely also midweek - the final 4 round for the state - more that likely against one of the top 3 clubs in our league. If we get a home assignment all efforts will be made for it to be played on Tuesday night at Pier 40 in our practice slot.

Team: Dave Borchard, Jon Nessa, Vidar Ekehaug, Mark Kushemba, Bobby Hanifin, Andrew George, Ron Baskin, Einar Benedtiktsson, Andy Abramovits, Colin Marshall, Matt Levine. Subs (played): Hirofumi Takeuchi, Stavros Zomopoulos, Brian Schmid

BRFC Thirds (1) - Gotham Argo (3), 11/04/07

The Thirds fell to their second league defeat of the season but can take some pride in a decent performance.

An 8am start on marathon day obviously didn't suit Argo as they were short of numbers come the kick off. The Thirds had 14 players and the referee advised that we get kitted up early to take advantage of the opposition's low turnout. Perhaps if we'd taken this advice we could have started the game earlier and played against 10 men for a longer spell. As it was, Argo only had to last out 5 minutes before reinforcements arrived and it was 11 vs 11. Despite dominating, the Thirds couldn't get the early goal in this period.

As it turned out, the Argo's 11th player, number 12, turned out to be by far their best and it was his nice finish from a penalty box stramash that resulted in the opening goal. And again it was the same player's speed that undid the Thirds defense on the right and he supplied the cross to make it 2-0 to Argo midway through the first half.

The Thirds then lost the plot slightly and found themselves dragged all over the park towards the end of the half. Cue Juan's hairdryer treatment at half time. We also switched up the defense to put Darrell in a man-marking role on their number 12. This turned out to be a good move as he didn't pose much of a threat for the remainder of the match.

The Thirds then took control of the match and after Pek disposed their player he decided to have a petulant kick out. At Brown! This got the Thirds riled and we eventually looked like we wanted to win the game. It was a shame that it took this for us to start going into challenges like we wanted to win them; if we'd done that from the start then maybe the game would have gone differently. Anyway, a hard tackle in midfield won the ball for the Thirds and resulted in a nice ball through to Brown from Juan. The keeper came racing out but Brown was quick enough to take it round him and slot into the empty net.

Argo then suffered an injury and the only replacements were their girlfriends on the sidelines. Unfortunately for us they decided to play the remaining 20 minutes with 10 men. The Thirds went looking for the equalizer but it was not to be. In the last 5 minutes Pek put up his arms to protect himself from a hard shot and the ref awarded a penalty. 3-1 Argo and that's how it stayed.

Thirds: Rubin, Subchart-Anan, Moore, Crane and Sholl; Billiard, Krianganan, Bernfeld and Bryans; McLaughlin and Brown.
Subs (all played): González Casares, Sangsong and González.

Result Reserves 11/4/07

Barnstonworth Rovers Res 2 Landsdowne Bhoys Res 2

An opportunity to notch 3 points went begging for the Reserves on Sunday when several unfavorable circumstances conspired. Without a first team match on offer, 15, then 16 Reserves were available for an always tough but lesser opponent, but first a mix up in the email left the team without a goalkeeper for the first half, then due to the NYC marathon several players dialed in unable to negotiate the detours.

In typical fashion the overzealous Irish Bhoys stormed in and the Resreves went down very early when a near post header from a corner beat first make-shift keeper Hiro. Reserves 0-1.

Rovers calmed started to pass around and to look the cohesive unit the can be. After 2 missed opportunities one from Matt Lowe in close range, the Rovers equalized. A perfect free kick and Mike Alexander rose above everyone and speared it to the upper T. The ball bounced over the line before the Landsdowne keeper got his hands to it. The ref spotted it and Rovers 1-1.

Shorty afterwards, the Rovers took the lead. Stash started to victimize the weak right back. Zach and Stav found him down that flank easily streaking past to the open space. He cut in to the end-line cut the ball across past the sprawled keeper where the arriving Alfonzo could not miss. He didn’t, Reserves 2-1.

The Rovers looked a good bet for the 3 points. They created several more chances but were unable to get a telling 3^rd. A free-kick from the D went over the top of the crossbar, when it should have really been on target. And another Alexander header was cleared (instinctively) from the goal-line by the post watch.

If anything typifies these Irish teams, except the number of fouls they commit, is their perseverance. And yesterday it was rewarded when a loose ball was deflected in past he 2^nd make-shift Rover keeper – Austin, just as Zawada was warming up to enter the fray. Rovers 2-2 and half time.

The Reserves did not have a good second half. Often looking disorganized, they turned the ball over far too often and easily. Evidently, they failed muster enough chances to get the winning goal. Result, two precious points dropped.

Team: Hirofumi Takeuchi, Mike Alexander, Brian Schmid, Daniel Cardozo, Andrew George, Stavros Zomopoulos, Zach Chandis, Alfonzo Nanclares, Yuri Krym, Matt Lowe, Stash Rutkowski. Subs (all played): Alex Carabano, Vilhelm Klareskov, Austin Harris, Mike Zawada.