Result: Firsts 4/20/08

C.D. Iberia 2 Barnstonworth Rovers F.C. 1

An uninspiring performance, the worst of the spring, saw the Rovers drop 3 points to Iberia. More, they wasted the Italian’s gift to take first place, who beat Pancyprians. Now the division is open to all 4 teams. The Firsts, lacking concentration, conceded within the first minute, when after the winger got deep and fed the tall Iberian striker who found the seem in the back line, beat the defenders to the ball and finished well to the upper 90. Rover 0-1.

The Rovers response was almost immediate. Jordi won a free kick just outside the area. And Colin executed the Iberia back-up goalkeeper (Kratzman was away), curling it to the far upper corner. Rovers 1-1.

Once again it the Rovers should have been in control thereafter. But it was the Iberian’s that were playing the better football, and had the hunger. In a similar fashion, a good build up and a through ball in the back of the Rover centre, waived off a hint of an offside, dribbled past Boosh Jr, who tried to recover but not in time to stop the Iberians’ taking the lead once more. Rovers 2-1.

The last 15 of the first half and the entire 2^nd half was a Rover monologue of chances but most were fashioned by unorthodox methods. An endless stream of Dix’s throw-ins that look like corners went begging. One deflected by Einar to the far post, was well parried. Another Wiggin flick saved by the crossbar, and yet another ended with a powerful strike after a weak clearance, that shaved the far post. But the Rovers were not playing football, failing to adapt to the field dimensions, and were not creating through possession as is their normal fashion. In fact it was Iberia that always looked the better footballing side, keeping the ball moving accurately on the pitch. And as the Rovers’ took more chances they could have had the chance to finish the match, but for the Boosh Jr saves.

Team: Matt Borchard, Dixon Hayes, Sam Wiggin, Jon Nessa, Mark Kushemba, Einar Benediktsson, Colin Marshall, Vidar Ekehaug, Jordan Chirico, Andy Abramovits, Stephen Pugliese. Subs (played) Randi Lee

Result: Reserves 4/20/08

C.D. Iberia Res 0 Barnstonworth Rovers Res 2

The Rovers – Iberia matches have never been tranquil affairs, as Andy Horan can attest to, and this was no exceptions. The Rovers dominated much of the football, but the Spaniards won the boxing match on a split decision. The match ended 20 min early after Austin was punched and then attacked by the Iberia bench before Felix could rescue the decision by landing some of his own. Admittedly, several stupid word exchanges preceded the events initiated by me.

On the pitch, the Rovers took the early lead on a nice build up across the field, finding Lexi whose clever through ball to an overlapping Alfonzo left him one on one in the box. Unselfishly he cut the ball across to a waiting Yuri who only had to push it over the line. Rovers 1-0.

The Iberians balanced the play for the remaining of the half, and the Rovers failed to take the sparse chances, notably a Lexi header inside the area. The narrow and long field was difficult to negotiate, making the match a contest for space in the midfield.

The Reserves, more determined, and tactically adjusted became more menacing from the start of the 2^nd half. Within 10, they doubled their lead to secure the result. A brilliant through ball found Austin streaking from the across the middle of the Spanish defense. He collected, turned and finished. Rovers 2-0.

Then the Spaniards started to focus on the other matters.

Team: Mark Kushemba, Bobby Hanifin, Mahesh Submaranian, Randi Lee, Andrew George, Stash Rutkowski, Stavros Zomopoulos, Alfonzo Nanclares, Yuri Krym, Austin Harris, Alex Schardt. Subs (all played) Brian Schmidt, Simon Caton, Felix D’ambrose.

Zenit FC (1) - Barnstonworth Rovers Thirds (6), 04/20/08

The Thirds romped to an emphatic win early on Sunday morning thanks to 3 goals either side of halftime. The margin of victory was surprising considering that Zenit had inflicted the first defeat of the season on league leaders Pythagoras Samos only the week before, and the Rovers had to put Mackers in goal due to Zac being absent. The asscrack of dawn start in deepest darkest Queens probably helped the Rovers as, anticipating a 6am rise, we all stayed off the booze on Saturday night.

The 8.30 kickoff slowly became 9am as Zenit tried their best to stall long enough for their keeper to show up. Come 9, however, he still wasn't there so the whole 240 lbs of their manager took the gloves. We soon discovered he was no goalkeeper as he just about scrambled a ball away from Brown's feet in the opening minutes, but the Rovers didn't have too many more chances to test him before being awarded a penalty about 20 minutes in. A through ball to Brown sent him wide of the goal and not posing much of a threat, but that didn't stop their big defender barging into Brown to give away a needless penalty. Cesar stepped up to take the penalty, and just at that time the Zenit keeper showed up on the sidelines. Zenit were screaming for the substitution to be made but the ref was having none of it so surely this would be a formality for Cesar? Think again. Obviously feeling sorry for the coach-turned-keeper, Cesar made it easy for him and put the penalty fairly central without too much power. Amazingly,
their keeper dived the correct way and got a hand to the ball. Fortunately for us, it wasn't quite enough and it only served to deflect the ball off the post and into the net for the opening goal.

Zenit finally made their keeper substitution but Rovers were now growing in confidence and 10 minutes later scored what must be the goal of the season so far. Building up from the back, with fast one touch passing, a lovely move that involved 5 or 6 players resulted in Mauro sending Donald through on goal down the left side. From a tight angle Donald lashed the ball low and hard to the far post giving the keeper no chance.

The third came shortly after. A lovely cross from Joe out on the right was met by Mauro who out muscled a defender twice his size to nod down to Brown who finished with a great shot into the corner of the net. Now 3 goals up Vincent just had to indulge in some showboating. Collecting the ball with his back to goal 6 yards out, he flicked the ball up, took it on his chest and went for the flamboyant bicycle kick. The ball flew over the bar, the Earth shuddered on his landing, and the ref gave a free kick for dangerous play. 3-0 was how it stayed until halftime.

The beginning of the second half was a bit disappointing in that we let Zenit back into the match and after some 10 minutes of pressure they managed to get a goal back. A low shot from the edge of the area left Mackers watching it hit the back of the net. At that stage there was the danger of letting them back into the match but it was not to be. With Zenit pushing forward, the Rovers launched a quick counter attack and sent Brown through on goal with only the keeper to beat. With the keeper rushing out, Brown had only to take the ball round him and slot into the open net to make it 4-1.

Things were now so comfortable that Juan allowed himself to remain on the pitch for the remainder of the match. Zenit were increasingly pushing men forward and were leaving acres of space for us to exploit at the back. Donald soon got his second and the Rovers' 5th when he got the ball 25 yards from goal, spotted the keeper off his line, and chipped it perfectly over his head and into the net.

The game was as good as over but it didn't stop Brown crying like a little girl after being caught offside despite being in his own half at the time the pass was made. He proceeded to sit on the centre spot and slap the centre line to show the ref that he could not possibly be offside. He got a yellow for his troubles. However, it was perhaps worth the trouble as only a minute later the
exact same move was let play. Brown was again through on goal with only the keeper to beat and his 3rd goal of the game was a carbon copy of his second as he took it round the keeper and finished into the open goal. 6-1 and that was the final play of the match.

An excellent performance from everyone and a well deserved victory. Bring on next week!

Rovers: Mackers; Sarg, Jay, Darrell and Wine; Vinnie, Negro, Donald and Paul; Juan and Brown.
Subs: Sholltrain, Mauro and Joe (all played).

Result: Firsts State Cup Quarter Final 4/13/08

Barnstonworth Rovers F.C. 1 Greek American Atlas 4

The Rovers crashed out of the State Cup failing to match last year’s semi-final appearance. The Greek’s Metrostar/Red Bull’s career top scorer Giovanni Savarese scored twice late in the second half following Rover defensive lapses to avenge the Greek’s cup exit to the Rovers last year at the same stage. The Rovers, too tentative in the first half, fell behind after a typical Greek foray down the left resulted in a simple tap in. Boosh Jr, had already made an superb save tet-a-tet in the area from Savarese.

The Rovers thought they had leveled the score with the last kick of the half, after Wiggi’s header bounce off the crossbar and Chirico pounced on the rebound, but the ref called it back for an offensive foul.

The start of the second half saw the Rovers assert themselves, settle and dominate possession. Pugli had a good chance to equalize but aimed the goalkeepers gut, and Jordie had a good effort from a difficult angle. But the equalizer that was on the cards, soon materialized. A flowing move from the right, Einar and Colin found Andy who got it across to Jordie. He controlled with the left, moved to the right and from the D drilled it to the far post. Rovers 1-1.

The momentum had swung to the Rovers, but instead of dictating the same pace, for some reason lapsed in a helter-skelter up and down 4 v 4 skipping the Rovers strength in the middle. With the pace out of control, the Rovers were called for a free kick at left midfield. One, or more, of the Rovers failed to follow their marker and when the ball grazed over Wiggi hair, it fell to Savarese all alone, who even as he miss-hit it, did not miss. Rover 1-2.

Pugli could have scored if he connected on Andy’s cross deep in the box, but his lunge was a fraction too late.

Now with 15 to go, the Rovers were the ones pushing the envelope. But another sprint on the right this time, beat the Rovers. The cross to the far post seemed diffused but a miscommunication allowed the ball to bounce and remain in the Rover 6 where another Greek forward effectively finished the match. Rovers 1-3.

Einar had a great shot just over the cross bar. And Jordie effort could have resulted in a second.

Instead, another Greek sprint down the right, and Randi beautifully rugby tackled the guy down, except that the football ref called it a penalty. Rovers 1-4.

Rovers can now concentrate in the league.

Team: Matt Borchard, Dixon Hayes, Jon Nessa, Sam Wiggin, Mark Kushemba, Einar Benedicktsson, Vidar Ekehaug, Colin Marshall, Jordan Chirico, Andy Abramovits, Stephen Pugliese. Subs (all played): Randi Lee, Ron Baskin, Bobby Hanifin.

First Touch 4/7

First Touch Online - April 6th round-up < www.firsttouchonline.com/>

Jay Mwamba

Standings, results and other stats

Three wins in a row have moved Barnstonworth Rovers to within two points of Pancyprian Freedoms atop the First Division (West) standings.

In imperious form since the end of the winter break, Rovers' latest victory came last Sunday against flagging Polonia who succumbed 3-0 at McCarren Park.

Sam Wiggin (40th) Stephen Pugliese (55th) and Andrew George (85th) upped Rovers' record to 7-3-1 (22) while tightening their grip on that second playoff berth in the West.

Polonia Roman Gierczak graciously conceded defeat.

"Rovers was [a] much better team. Future games will show if we're good enough to stay in the First Division," said Gierczak, whose men shore up the East.

Rovers' latest result follows victories over defending champs Brooklyn Italians and New York Athletic in the past three weeks.

"We have been consistent - something we'd been missing the last two years -- and that brings the results," explained Rovers coach Stavros Zomopoulos. "This year we are beating all the teams we should beat."

Another factor has been the prolific Pugliese, whose strike against the Poles brought his season tally to 11 goals in ten matches in all competitions this campaign.

In the curtain-raiser at McCarren, Austin Harris gave the Rovers reserves a 1-0 victory.

Barnstonworth Rovers Thirds (0) - EMC FC (1), 4/6/08

BRFC went down by a goal to nil against EMC on Sunday after their huge striker grabbed the winner in the final 10 minutes. The last half hour of the game was enormously entertaining, so mush so that the onlooking groundskeeper was so enthralled that he just had to run on to the field to get in on the action.

If the final 30 minutes were exciting then the first 60 were anything but. EMC had most of the possession in the first half but no clear cut chances. BRFC had little possession and little in the way of chances. In fact the first 45 was so boring that the only highlight was your esteemed author taking a throw in right on the chin, to the intense amusement of all onlookers. I'm sure I even heard the blonde doing laps round the pitch having a chuckle to herself.

The second half started with EMC again having all the ball. For the first 15 minutes I don't think BRFC got into the opposition half. However, the BRFC defense was not having too much trouble keeping the attack at bay and only allowed a few long range efforts. Then suddenly BRFC sprang into life. Why they waited until the final 30 minutes isn't clear but it is worth noting that the afore mentioned blonde had decided to call it a day so perhaps the players attention was now on the ball. For the next 20 minutes the EMC goal was bombarded. Some great corner deliveries from Negro were inches from going in with Bernfeld extremely unlucky not to be able to get quite enough of a connection on the ball. Then Brown had 2 excellent chances, one resulting from the pass of the match from Okey who split the defense leaving Brown with only the keeper to beat. A combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping kept to score at 0-0.

Then the sucker punch. After all these chances, EMC managed to break and their extremely fast forward scored with a nice finish from just within the 18 yard box. Despite having a great game up until this point there was nothing Zach could do to prevent the goal.

And to make matters worse, the final 10 minutes were cut short in the most ludicrous fashion, preventing BRFC getting the chance at scoring the equalizer they deserved. Out of nowhere came an orange clad gentleman running onto the pitch while the game was still underway. No one, including the ref, had any clue who this plonker was but he was demanding the game be brought to a close. Turns out he was the groundskeeper who was eager to lock up and wanted us out of there. This was at 1:53 when we had the permit until 2pm! He was eventually escorted from the field in the most genteel of manners by Mackers but by that time there was only a couple of minutes remaining and the game ended 1-0.

Rovers: Zachary Rubin; Eric Hamm, Pek Subchart-Ann, Derek Kilfedder and Jeremy Wine; Jeremy Brown, Vincent Billiard, César González and David Bernfeld; Juan González Casares and Okey Obudulu.
Subs: Jason Moore, Bruce Sholl, Bobby Rawiophap, Paul Bryans and Mackers (all played).
Sick on the sideline: Joe Sangsong.
Drunken Scotts who were not able to make the game after Tartan weekend: Donald Robertson and Gavin Dick.

Result: Firsts 4/6/08

Polonia S.C. 0 Barnstonworth Rovers F.C. 3

The Rovers are on a record breaking roll, recording their 3rd consecutive league clean sheet victory, both BRFC firsts in the top CSL flight. They destroyed Polonia in front of their distraught large crowd 3-0. The Rovers were the only team on the pitch capable of winning the match. Wiggi got the game winner with his first of the year, when his return volley deflected inside the far post. Pugli put the result beyond doubt with a typically clinical finish after a Jordi cross, and Georgie nudged the third in the closing minutes, his first for the team.
Lately, these Polonia affairs have been closely fought to the finish, with a piece of brilliance deciding the result. Not this one. The 1sts were in complete control from the start. They had all the possession and initiative. Had they kept the ball on the ground more, they would have ended the match in the first half. Still, Pugli just missed from close range at the end of a superb Andy cross, and Einar took one touch too many inside the box and his shot was blocked. Nessa had a good header from a corner well parried all before Wiggi broke the deadlock.
It was another set piece to the far post, half cleared by the Polonia defense to the top of the D, Wiggi one-timed the return, which after a slight deflection ended in the far corner in the net. Rovers 1-0.
In the second half the Rover domination only increased as they put the ball on the ground and stroked it around. Jordi should have made it too right away, but tet-a-tet with the keeper his effort was saved. Then, a well conceived move between Colin and Tom got Andy wide, he played a perfect ball to Pugli all alone in the area with space and time. Probably too much of both, and a bad first touch ended the threat. Minutes later Colin and Andy, got Jordan deep in the right flank behind the static defense. He put in a powerful cross to Pugli just outside the six. One touch and Rovers 2-0.
Broach came up trumps the one time he was called upon blocking the Polish forward's across the grain effort from close range.
The Rovers enjoyed the smooth sailing thereafter. Georgie put the icing on the cake with a pelvic finish inside the six a few minutes before the final whistle. Rovers 3-0.
With Iberia dropping points, the Rovers are, for now, safely in the playoff spots.

Team: Dave Borchard, Mark Kushemba, Sam Wiggin, Jon Nessa, Vidar Ekehaug, Einar Benediktsson, Colin Marshal, Jordan Chirico, Tom Davison, Andy Abramovits, Stephen Pugliese. Sub:(all played) Randi Lee, Dixon Hayes, Ron Baskin, Andrew George.
.

Result: Reserves 4/6/08

Polonia S.C. Res 0 Barnstonworth Rovers Res 1

The Reserves returned to winning ways with a very well taken Austin strike midway through the first half. They should have moved on from there, with their 17 strong squad against the Polish old men, but their profligate finishing let the opposition hung around with a sniff until the end. The Reserves, in control for 90 mins, still showed signs of being unsettled with the many substitutions required to manage the large turnout, and they were missing the ebb and flow shown in the fall.
It did not help that their decision making, especially in the middle third of the pitch and beyond was all over the place. Still they created enough chances. First Lexi missed from close range, and Giancarlo had a good run through the defense end in naught. Baskin headed from a free kick at the keeper, and just failed to connect on a flick from the next one. Mike got on the end of a corner, but his header was well saved by the Polish keeper.
It was right after the substitutions that the Reserves finally finished one. A few nice short balls got to Simon on the left whose cross found Austin streaking in the middle of the box. His off-balance acrobatic strike found the back of the net. Reserves 1-0.
Kush, making his Rover goalkeeping debut, was magnificent in parrying an effort over the bar, then saving at the feet of a Polonia forward. He made a third save diving to his left to push the ball around the far post on a well place low drive.
The second half was much of the same story, with the exception that Kush went unbothered and the Rovers never doubled their tally. Lexi missed several late chances, and Stash could have had one on his return after a Hiro through ball, but took one touch too many. The second half also saw Felix return to Rover's action after almost a year.

Team: Mark Kushemba, Brian Schmidt, Vilhelm Klariskov, Mike Alexander, Daniel Cardozo, Andrew George, Stavros Zomopoulos, Ron Baskin, Giancarlo Cavallo, Austin Harris, Alex Schardt. Subs (all played) Randi Lee, Dixon Hayes, Simon Caton, Hirofumi Takeuchi, Stash Rutkowski, Felix D'ambrose

R2D2 reborn

Hey Kids (cough cough Courtney) -
Tuesday afternoon and still no match report?! I know that none of you have been able to eat or sleep, just waiting… hoping… wondering…. Where could the match report be? Had it, too, been left in the trunk of a taxi??
Now we all know that I don't do any work all day, so I'll be honest. Writing this damn thing is probably going to be the highlight of your day (unless it monsoons during practice again tonight) – maybe even of your week. Don't even lie, Nicolas, I know you have been clicking your gmail refresh button every 4 minutes. So you can stop popping pills.. it's here.
For those of you who missed the ESPN672928 coverage, R2D2 rocked Appletown FC, 3-1. And not only was it a win for us, but more importantly it was a GOOD win. We communicated, we hustled, and, dare I say it, we even had some physical contact. As usual, Coco held it down in the back, and Bridget "the wall" Caster stepped up to really set the tone of play for our team, winning every 50/50 ball that came her way. Fortunately for our D, R2 offense wasn't in a sharing mood, and we kept the pressure on their goalie with a number of close opportunities.
All the effort paid off with a quick goal. Now, I was warming up on the sidelines and so I actually missed this first goal (naturally I blame Nicolas for insisting I actually move around… who ever heard of such a thing). My sources tell me that we fired a couple rapid shots, and one took a couple of deflections, finally bouncing off of their own player and then into the net. That girl has definitely been relegated.
Not remotely content with only one goal, the team collectively kept the pressure high. Lauren and Sandra had some brilliant give and gos and Courtney fed a number of great through balls to our wings. Defensively we contained well, and offensively we were composed.
Still in the first half: a great cross from the right hand side was punched across the goal when BAM!! the weather took a turn for the nasty and lightning flashed.
Okay there was no lightning – it was just Lara moving at incredible speed – but we may as well call her lara lightning because girl made. it. raaiinnnnnn. Rover 2, Applebees, 0.
While we kept up the intensity in the second half, we gave up a late goal off of a deflection. I am pretty sure the team collectively blacked out for a minute.
But for what it's worth, after she scored, I coughed all over the girl. So we can all take comfort that she is probably home sick now.
Remember that girl from Ladybugs who always got distracted by butterflies? I think they called her Choo. She was awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ2hL9eMn28 Okay back to business. Let us just take a moment to discuss the lunacy of Miss Shawn Matteson. Unlike the rest of the human race who was fast asleep at 8am, or like the rest of the Rovers who were crawling home from the bathroom at the bar, Shawn woke up and thought hey, my knee doesn't already hate me, so I'd like to go for a run before my soccer game today. In fact, let's just not go for a regular warm up jog, what I think sounds like an AWESOME time would be to run a half marathon. At 8am. On a Sunday. Before going to soccer.
So, we're late in the 2nd half, Shawn's got the ball around midfield on the left flank and thinks to herself, hey running that half marathon THIS MORNING didn't tire me out enough, so I am going to sprint the side of the pitch and burn… let's see… one, two, three players! (as if we expected any less from our Shawn). So Shawn pulls some crazy moves around these three girls in a row and now, about 25 yds out, just rips this really dirty shot that goes straight into the upper 90. So I guess the moral of the story is that Shawn needs to run 13 miles every Sunday while the rest of us nurse our hangovers and we are guaranteed a W.
As if our 3-1 domination wasn't enough, the ref who is in love with us came over afterwards to take a group pic with us to send back home to his family in another country. He obviously has phenomenal taste – and no, it is not just because last weekend we were standing next to the meaty Skulls…. This week our opponents were of the pants-wearing stragglier variety, but as Coco reminded us, we are just so lovely still.
And somewhere in the background of that heart-warming photo op, there is a dog squatting squarely in the middle of the field, leaving a plump, steamy, hearty treat for all to enjoy.
Is there any better way to end a match report than by a detailed description of dog crap? Like I even have to ask.