Result: Firsts 10/25/09 vs Landsdowne (h)

Barnstonworth Rovers 2 Landsdowne Bhoys 0

The Rovers cruised to 2^nd place in the table beating Landsdowne easier than the score would suggest. The Rovers took a commanding 2-0 lead in the first half and then shut off as the Bhoys, frustrated at the difference in quality, reverted to MMA tackles eventually being reduced to 9 players.

After squandering a number of chances, Waddell put the Rovers ahead midway thought the first half to open his BRFC account. The ball started with Colin and Jordan on the right, before opening to Einar in the middle. What Einar should have done on purpose – open the ball to the other flank – was accomplished by a timely long Irish deflection. Waddell received brilliantly, cut inside one defender and curled it to the upper far 90. Rovers 1-0.

10 mins later the Rovers doubled their lead. Another foray on the right, found Pugli on the top of the box, he calmly laid it back to Colin arriving with purpose. He hit a “frozen rope” to the lower near 90. The keeper had no chance. Rovers 2-0.

The Irish keeper made a couple of superb saves, one of a Pugli flick of a Jordi cross – that prevented the Rovers from killing the game in the first half. In the first 15 mins of the 2^nd half it became clear the points were settled. Frustrated even the better Landsdowne players started to go in late and high. First Waddell had to be taken off, before a 2^nd such tackle on Einar resulted in the first Bhoys red card.

Then, Oren was almost taken out by their keeper, Lucas got it knee high, and Georgie almost lost his leg leaving the Irish lot with 9. Not strangely, that is when they made their presence felt.

A terrible miss on a rebound inside the Rover area, was followed by a superb 1 on 1 save by Ben to keep the clean sheet.

Team: Ben Kartzman, Alan Alcade, George Tagaris, Mark Kushemba, Vidar Ekehaug, Colin Marshall, Einar Beneditksson, Scott Waddell, Jordan Chirico, Andy Abramovits, Stephen Pugliese Subs (all played) Dirk Swaneveld, Randi Lee, Lucas Weirthein, Oren Nhaissi, Ajene Green

Result: Reserves 10/25/09 vs Landsdowne Res (h)

Barnstonworth Rovers Res 1 Landsdowne Bhoys Res 1

The Reserves salvaged their undefeated start with a last gasp, but brilliant, equalizer to stay top of the league. A first half that saw Landsdowne hold a slight edge, was followed by Rovers dominating the chances in the 2^nd half. But a very well taken chest and first time dipping volley from the top of the D to the far post gave the Irish the lead with 20 mins left. Kaplan, who had just come in, had little chance. Rovers 0-1. But it was Kaplan that kept the Roves in the hunt with a reflex point blank double save, first from an unmarked Bhoy inside the Rover 6, then rebound to the far post to swat out the effort from the other side. The Reserves did not let the chance to stay in the game go to waste. With injury time looming, the ball came up on the left, then back to Sammie in the middle. He carried before releasing Chandis on his right. Chandis clipped the ball to the far post where Ajene one timed volleyed it inside the near post. Rover 1-1

And still undefeated.

Team: Bobby Guelich, Felix D’ambrose, Stash Rutkowski, Yuri Krym, Bond Griffin, Ron Baskin, Zach Chandis, Lucas Weirthein, Ajene Green, Sam Minaya, Yannick James Sub (all played) Michael Martocci, Stavros Zomopoulos, Mat Kaplan

Rovers Metro Match Report - The Bellwether Match, 10/25/09

Barnstonworth Rovers Metro: 3
Astoria Gaels: 0

by Jeremy Wine.

Rovers Metro turned out a comprehensive and Rovers-worthy display against perennial battlers Astoria Gaels, keeping themselves a game back from first as the league contenders start to shake loose from the pretenders. Following last week's cup trouncing of second division Ridgewood reserves (something on the order or 8-0 in the sloppy, sloppy mud), Rovers Metro seem to be finding their form as they get healthy bodies back.

Sunday's league clash began with a whimper, with a non-present referee forcing a game-time agreement between the sides to allow an injured Gael to referee the match. Full credit to him--he called an even-handed and accurate match, possibly one of the better officiating jobs we've experienced in the league. And a heck of a nice guy. The Red Hook turf pitch was more rubber pellets than turf, and featured a tectonic fault line on the south side, but after two visits to soon-to-be-condemned Commodore Barry Field, it might as well have been Wembley.

The first ten minutes, you might have said the Gaels were favorites, but a breakthrough at the other end left team-leading scorer Rowley through, holding up his run nicely, and equally nicely finishing to put Rovers on top early. Gael's new #10, a fellow named Kenny, showed some threat coming out of the midfield and a familiar Gael's player did cause some havoc up front, but luckily this time didn't actually follow through on his threats to punch any of our players. Somewhere, I think, Bobby's jaw is still sore. Nevertheless, the Rovers played the rest of the half equal and neither team threatened the opposing goal too terribly much. The first half flew by and Rovers were up by one.

The second half was all Rovers throughout. Schlatter, moving forward from the right back position, angled in a laser cross to Rowley who, in the box, surprised all by not heading home (which he should have done), but chested the ball down, made his signature move past a player to gain half a yard, and powered home a shot (which, somehow, he also should have done). That's probably 72 goals in 7 matches for Rowley. The proverbial "You knew it was over when" moment came on a Gael's corner that sailed over Kilfedder's head (Putting the cross probably 40 yards high), and dramatically fell onto the head of an on rushing Gael head, destined for the near side of the goal. Krapp switched direction in no time at all and stuck out a paw to make an amazing save, sparking a counter up the right side. Duca on the right side of midfield switched the ball from his right to his left, and volleyed home a tremendous...volley...to the far side--golazo. Three to the
good and Rovers coasted a bit, trading a couple chances, but never was the result in doubt.

Now 3-1-1, Rovers are only a few points back and should expect to win every game. We're in touching distance and we should know it.

Errata on Metro match report, from Jeremy Wine:
My match report was perfect except for attributing every single goal wrongly.
The second goal was the first, the third goal was the second, and the third goal was a beauty scored by none other than Gavin Dick, about whom I've consistently denied goal accolades.

Lady Rovers 1 - 10/25/09 - by Nicolas

Laby Rovers 2 NY Magic Reserve 0
After 2 big wins against B Division teams in the first round of the State Cup last week, it was back to League business for our ladies this Sunday. And big business with that since rovers 1 was playing against last year's (and the year before that) champion, the NY Magic, while Rovers 2 was against the number 2 in the tables this year so far, CPR Red.

Apart for the fact that we had to start the game with 8 players and wait a good 12 minutes for the last 4 to arrive, Rovers 1 gave us a great display of top soccer this weekend. A perfect combination of first touch, accurate passing and dribbling allowed us to entirely dominated the game from start to finish. Not much to say about our defense since they did a perfect job and prevented our guest goalie, Anne, who had made the trip from Connecticut for the occcasion to ever be threatened. The two goals on the other hand were more than noticable. A first half pin-pointed long cross from the midfield line by Amy P found Liz Dyjak wide open in the box and she volleyed it in the goal without any hesitation. In the secon dhalf, Shannon managed to pick up a ball that had abruptedly stopped in a puddle of water inches from the side-line, dribble it down the line, then cut inside the box, driblle two players and lifted it. Her perfect assist found Liz D, unmarked who headed it in from close range for her second goal of the day and 4th of the season.
The 2-0 win confirms Rovers 1 as the League leader, two points clear of Vendaval and The Kickers.

R2D2 match report - 10/25/09 - by Nicolas

R2D2 1 CPR Women Red 1
On the other side of town, in Brooklyn, Rovers 2 had a very solid game against CPR Red. After weathering the first 10 minutes storm, Rovers 2 defense pushed higher on the field and turned the game into a well balanced and evenly matched event. A great trademark run out of her goal and save by Emily allowed us to stay par until ten minutes from the end of the first half, Courtney coming up from her left full back position took a great cross towards the first post. Jamie saw the ball coming from behind her, jumped higher than anybody and from about half way into the box, on the near side, delivered the most stellar header just past the post. As expected, in the beginning of the second half, CPR Red threw everything they had at us, and the rest. A poor coaching decision to keep our 4-4-2 formation against their 3-5-2 allowed for too much space in the middle and when their best player of the day saw that nobody was going to step up to the ball she was carrying dangerously close to the box, she didn't hesitate and took her chance. Her shot curled perfectly under the bar, out of reach of Emily and the game was tied 1-1. Better late than never, we took one player off the back line and brought an extra midfielder and the game was evened again. Both teams had one additional significant chance each. A great shot from Lissa passed just inches from their goal, while Mary's head (and the top post) prevented a great shot from entering ours.
Final score 1-1, a solid result not only comforting Rovers 2 position in the middle of the table but helping widen the gap between Rovers 1 and CPR Red.

Next game: Rovers 1 v Rovers 2. Stay tuned for the home derby report.

BRFC o30's (winning!) match report - by Martin MacKinnon

BRFC o30's 3 Greek American Atlas o30's 2
we finally seem to have got our season going - last time an impressive win over high flying Old Boys and this sunday we came from 2-0 down to top even higher flying Greek American Atlas 3-2.

i obviously don't need to remind anyone on this list that Greeks in general are a bunch of tossers but this mob made our one look like a saint!

constantly trying to influence the ref and complaining and being dirty seems to be their gameplan...i got in a fun verbal spat with their manager but the best i could come up with was 'go eat some feta cheese ya c#nt ya"

all 13 who were there played great and missing were 4 or 5 of the usual starters....noticable outing from our Aussie Roger who quite often when running looks like he's on one of those slow moving escalators at the airport...big workrate from him this week and a well taken goal which tied the game after Nick getting us back in it with a cheeky lob over their complete wanker of a goalie.

a great cross from Nick to Jasons head was the winner with little time remaining and the scumbags couldn't handle it - their captain no less punched Gary so hard that he suspects he has a broken rib!

luckily the ref saw it and he was sent off...and luckily the league president went over and stopped the ref from giving him his card back at the end.

postponed cup match for us this Sunday and amazingly after such a horrific start to our season we're only 1 point out of 2nd place in the league!

Old Boys report Oct 25th - by Sheero

BOB - 1 Tesoro - 3
In stark contrast to the Rover O30s, the Old Boys' form has taken a distinct dip after a bright start to the season.
We were familiar with Tesoro having been promoted from Div II with them last season. They're a typically strong and skillful Caribbean team, but appear to have added "annoying niggly b*stards" to their resume. Maybe it was payback for last season (we were the only team to beat them and snatched a 40-yard last minute equalizer in the 2nd game), but they seemed determined to literally leave their mark on every BOB player after the ball had gone - it almost reminded me of the way Astoria Gaels always played, just less obvious.
Anyway, we didn't prepare well before the game, started slowly and were deservedly 2 down in the opening 20 minutes. Possession given up way too cheaply, we were outstripped and outmuscled for both goals. But we recovered well and got our just reward when the ever-lively Jason was put through on goal - his shot went wide and I looked away in disappointment, but hadn't noticed Jeff following up who tucked it into the corner.
We had the better of the early 2nd half and I definitely felt we could get something out of the game, but we couldn't quite get the breakthrough. And then Tesoro put the game away with one of only 2 shots they produced in the half - their striker left alone in the box 8 yards out made no mistake. That took the wind out of our sails, until they turned up the heat with a disgraceful late tackle on Josh which must have been close to breaking his ankle. Quite how the referee didn't show a red card is mystifying, although he was probably distracted by the pushing and shoving which followed. The ref told me afterwards that if he'd shown red, he'd have to do the same for Bryan who apparently swung a fist - not quite sure I follow the logic.
So a disappointing result, but good to see us battle back after a bad start to the game.
And a warning to our other 2 O30s teams - when you play these guys, get your kicks in first.
BOB: Sheero, Bryan, Billy, Scooby, Dom, Macca, Bazza, Colin, Luxury, Jeff, Josh, Jason, Magnus

Premier o30 Match Report 10/25/09- by Kevin

Barnstonworth Premier 0 Eintracht 0

Virtual total domination by Rovers, minus the scoring obviously. Possession must have been at least 70-30 in our favor. We outshot them 20-1 with about half of our chances on goal. At least 3 gilt-edged chances that we squandered against an over-matched Eintracht side. But we just couldn't convert. Duane and Kendall were excellent as usual, delivering top quality crosses and the defense, Robbie, Narces, Kenton and Emman were solid. With Dinamo up next week, we'll have to much much better.

Kevin, Choen(sp?), Kenton, Emman, Narces, Robbie, Stav, Alex, Allen, Duane, Kendall, Marlon,
Kevin O'Donovan

Result: Reserves State Cup 10/18/09 - by Ron Baskin

Barnstonworth Rovers Res 6 Newfield Res (LISFL) 2

Long trip, worst weather I’ve played in recent memory; 39 degrees, driving rain, nice wind so you could not get warm. Score should have been way worse, but for the bobbley field.

Goals: Oren 3, Baskin 1, Lynch 1, Yannick 1, 12 guys, we all played well.

Team: Matt Kaplan, Corey Dempsey, Stash Rutkowski, Ron Baskin, Yuri Krym, Nick Lynch, Yannick James, Sam Minaya Felix D’ambrose, Michael Martucci, Oren NhaissiSubs (all played): Bond Griffin

R2D2 match report 10/11/09 by Nicolas

R2D2 1 CPR White 0

For the first time this year our two Rovers ladies teams were playing back to back at the same field and in a position to cheer for each other. Add a beautiful sun and a light breeze and we had perfect conditions to play, give or take the usual schizophrenic refereeing.

R2D2 was first to take the field at 9 am against CPR White.

Little trip down to memory lane, in September 2007 R2D2 opened its season with a 4-0 loss against CPR White and lost again 6-0 in the away game in March. That year, CPR White went on to win the B division title and was promoted to the A division where it did very well and installed itself in the middle of the table. That same year marked the beginning of the ascension for R2D2 as the 6-0 defeat for R2D2 was followed by a string of victories leading to last year's title.
So the game of Sunday was very much a chance for R2D2 to assert the progress achieved in 2 years.

R2D2 took to the field with only one sub for the second game in a row but full of confidence. From the kick off we dominated the play entirely, keeping possession of the ball a good 70% of the time. Fluid circulation and possession are however not always enough and very efficient defending from CPRW prevented us for bringing serious danger close to their goal. Shots from outside the box it had to be then and Emily K, Lindsay P, Jamie, and even Mary coming from her full back position and Bridget from center back took their chances in turn, all ending in the hands of the goalie. A long free kick over the defense was flicked with a header by Stacey just past the goal. Little by little, our wings moved closer to their line to open up space in the field and when three defenders rushed to tackle Emily, Jamie saw that space in the middle. Getting the ball in her feet she didn't hesitate and took her responsibility, made for the gap, beat one defender and nailed a great shot from inside the box under the cheers of her parents, very happy to have come for the day.
R2D2 1 – CPRW 0.

From then on, the game changed completely. Getting slightly cocky we left gaps wide open between our offensive line and our defense and forgot to come back when we lost the ball. Armed with 3 extra subs having just arrived, CPRW pushed and pushed and only some heroic 2 v 3 defending allowed us to keep the score at half time.

CPR White who was 2d in the standings before the game was not to go down easily and from the beginning of the second half they threw everything at us and the rest. For 20 minutes we bended and bended and fought and didn't break, in part thanks to an outstanding run of Emily out of her goal for a 1v1 with a striker in which she dove at perfect angle and closed down the angle and capted a ball that would otherwise have gone srtaight inside the goal, and in part thanks to a post that deflected a high shot. Little by little we picked up the pieces, regained our composure and brought balance back to the game, focusing on passing again rather than just clearing the ball and running. A few times we proved dangerous and had chances on goal, including on a couple of set piece corner kicks and a beautiful header from Jamie that moved just above the post. With 45 seconds left we obtained a last corner kick. Everybody but 2 defenders went up and the coach, aka me, went livid. The corner was taken, the ball headed out, picked up by a CPR player who rushed it to the midfield, a good touch and go and a pass forward and our defense was beaten and a striker was heading straight for our goal. Emily came out perfectly but there was not much she could do. She went down. The CPR striker adjusted her shot just past Emily. The ball rolled straight towards the goal… and missed the far post by less than a millimeter. The sideline gasped, the referee whistled the end of game and we had our revenge 2 years in the making. Spirit and a hint of luck made for a great 3 points.

Lady Rovers 1 match report 10/11/09 by Nicolas

Lady Rovers 1: 0 - Vendaval: 1
Having cheered the whole second half for R2D2, Rovers 1 took the field at 11 am for its own big challenge of the week: a game against one of our two arch rivals – Vendaval.

With just 11 players for the first half and 9 for the second half, Rovers 1 knew it was gonna be a difficult game. Yet our ladies really are exceptional and were more than decided to win the game.

Exactly like R2D2 had done before it, Rovers 1 took early control of the game. Splendid defending and utter control of the midfield made it look like it was gonna be a one way game. And so came the tenth minute. A Vendaval player tackled one of our own just by the midfield line. The referee whistled. As our midfield and defense moved up to take the free kick, a Vendaval player put the ball on the ground and pass it forward to one of its own player who was rushing in the open space. Apparently the referee – without signaling it to us – had called a foul in favor of Vendaval?!?!……… (there had been a similar incident in the R2 game where the same referee called a foul against us after Stacey was kicked in the ankles from behind). The Vendaval striker not thinking twice and with no defense whatsoever to beat went at it alone and left no chance to our X-factor goalie whatsoever. Rovers 1 0- Vendaval 1 and all was to do.
Rovers 1 picked up were it left and regain its utter domination of the game. Shannon on the left was dancing around the midfield and combining with Brynne, Ana, Amy F and Amy P to drive Vendaval crazy. But efficient catenaccio style defending kept our girls at bay from the goal. Here too they resorted to long framed shots which just couldn't find a good enough angle to beat the goalie. Having outrageously dominated the entire game we couldn't come back by half time, a problem since Shannon and Brynne had to leave us for work and a wedding.

The question is what do you do with only 9 players against a top team that has several subs. The answer: you fight and you play smart to avoid getting exhausted. And did our girls play smart. For 45 minutes, perfect defending led by Nat and Andi in the center, Amy and Abbey at full back and solid goalkeeping by Annie X allowed us to let Vendaval do the running and holding the ball but really us controlling the pace and direction of the game. Despite having 2 extra players on the field, Vendaval just could not find the space, any space to bring the danger to us. And on the contrary, we slowly started to regain possession of the ball to the point that the last 10 minutes were an all Rovers affair. 5 minutes from the end a great ball through the middle ended up in Jenn's feet. With three defenders coming at her she kept her composure and dribbled one, another and just in front of the box, looked like she was gonna squeeze past the last one to take a shot, just to be stopped in her stride by a lucky heel. 2 minutes later a well taken free kick was caught by Vendaval goalie.

As the referee whistled the end of the game, Rovers 1 had lost 3 points but had gain serious street cred as the team that could do the job being short of 2 players.

Rover 0-30's Snatch Points from Old Boys 10/11/09 by Ben Weiner

Rovers 030s 5 Rovers Old Boys 3

Starting with no subs is always a scary proposition. In this case we had to do more than that to juggle positions and personal. With 10 signed members either hurt, out of town, or left in the gutter on Saturday night, we had our work cut out for us. The Old Boys had been on a winning streak to match the depth of our losing streak, and all the momentum seemed in their favor. This head-to-head club match, however, was to tip in the 0-30's favor.

The lack of numbers put several people in unusual positions, such as Zee at left back, and forced us to reach out to Ron Baskin to make one of his re-occuring appearances for us through the years. The new positions ended up suiting people fairly well even though we switched to a 4-3-3, and the first 20 minutes saw the ball mainly in the Old Boys half. We could not break into the Rocco directed defense as of yet, and one of their many counters saw an unfortunate hand ball in our box leading to a nicely slotted penalty by Bazza. 0-1 Old Boys

The 0-30's were not to be denied when a few minutes later Ben made a rare leap where his feet actually exceeded 10" off the ground thereby launcing him over Greg for a header which found Ron at the 6yd where he neatly volleyed it in the net. 1-1.

The Old Boys pushed hard and had a few clear chances, even a breakaway, most of which were kept out by a couple key saves by Jean-Marc.

Then the dam broke. The order of the following goals may be off, but suffice it to say it was a flurry. Jason gave one of the better through balls of the year, piercing the defense and leaving it perfectly at Brian's feet. Brian neatly stepped it around Mark Artis and slammed it home. 0-30's 2-1. Ron took advantage of Artis stuck at the near post and sent a punishing shot from the 25 into the far netting. 3-1. Jason put the nail in the coffin with a shot rounding past Artis. 4-1 . Game over.......

.....Or so we thought. Right when most teams would start to buckle, the Old Boys got warmed up. They pushed us back on our heels and Bazza starting launching shots from outside. Two of them in the span of 5 minutes found the back of the net, and we stood suddenly on the other side of the seesaw. 4-3 with 16 minutes to go.......Not being much help, the ref became to predict a 4-4 tie.

Mike then knotted up his hamstring leaving us with the wounded Gary bravely standing in as a warm body to keep our numbers. It wasn't looking or feeling good for the 0-30 side until Brian did put the final nail in, once again chopping it past Artis. 5-3

Good cheers, beers, and war stories were had by all.

Result: Firsts 10/4/09 vs Polonia (h)

Barnstonworth Rovers FC 5 Polonia SC 1

The strongest Rovers squad in some time took care of business against the weakest, for a longer time, Polonia. Profligate Rovers finishing kept the score at nil for the 1^st have and within logical boundaries after 90. Andy, recovered from an knee injury, made the difference coming off the bench. He did the hard work up top and latched onto a goalkeeper rebound from Wedding Boy Jordi thunder, early in the 2^nd half to open the floodgates. Rovers 1-0

Pugli finally kept calm as he slotted a tap in at the far post. Jordi, once again was the provider. Rovers 2-0

The result was sealed as Polish players lost discipline and were reduced to 10 men when their monstrous forward needlessly lashed out at Salvo in the far corner, in front of the assistant and ref.

Soon, Pugli, having rediscovered his finishing touch, punished them with a nice lobbing finish around the penalty spot. Rovers 3-0

And when Levine, who took far less time to get Jordi his assist hattrick, headed in nicely at the far post, the rout was on. Rover 4-0

A soft penalty – and we know Broach has an aversion to saving them – blemished the clean sheet, before Levine, closed out the scoring. Rovers 5-1.

Levine also scored earlier for the Reserves to make it an unusual and rare 2-team hattrick.

Team: Dave Borchard, John Salvucci, George Tagaris, Alan Alcade, Mark Kushemba, Vidar Ekehaug, Colin Marshall, Einar Benediktsson, Jordan Chirico, Scott Waddell, Stephen Pugliese. Subs (played): Randi Lee, Pat Brown, Mat Levine, Dirk Swaneveld.

Result: Reserves 9/27/09 vs Polonia Res by Stefan Lysak

Barnstonworth Rovers Res 5 Polonia SC Res 3

The reserves won easily in fairly lack luster affair. Rovers came out strong and went up 3-0 in the first 25 minutes with well worked goals from Lucas, Levine and Baskin. The Poles answered with a well executed chip over a stranded Kaplan and the game came to life. The Rovers again pressed and had a plethora of chances but couldn't add anymore goals before halftime. The second half again brought a wave of Rovers attacks but early-on only resulted in a fourth goal and second for Lucas on the day. By now the game was more about staying healthy as a few of the Poles were determined to make sure it was still a contest with a few high placed boots and late tackles. In addition the referee was determined to 'even things out' and wasn't interested in calling a fair game. Well, actually I think that is what he said but his 9th grade mouth retainer was making it hard to understand him. The Poles added a second via a free kick squeezing under the wall, followed by Lynchie adding a fifth and Yuri hitting the post from 2 yards out after a well worked attack. The Poles scored on a long distance blast by the biggest a-hole on the pitch with the last kick of the game , who then proceeded to run by the Rover bench, doing one of those ridiculous shhhhhhh things with his index finger on his lips. Yup, they were losing by 2 at the time. Kudos to Brownie for kicking him at every turn.

Team: Matt Kaplan, Stefan Lysak, Jon Nessa, Dirk Swanveld, Pat Brown, Pete Watson, Sam Minaya, Yuri Krym, Ron Baskin, Lucas Werthein, Matt Levine. Subs: Alex Cruz, Oren Nhaissi, Bond Griffin, Andy Abramovits, and a tardy Nick Lynch.

Old Boys reports - 10/4/09 by Sheero

BOB 2 - SC Eintracht 0

It was warm, it was sunny and it wasn’t quite as early – and we had an excellent referee – so the Old Boys dominated Eintracht to grab another 3 points. Bazza O’Driscoll returned from wherever he’s been hiding since last season, and popped up with the goals to seal the victory. The first came directly from a corner, sneaking in under the bar at the back post – nasty for the keeper. For the second, he was given too much time and space on the edge of the box, and slotted a low shot inside the right stick. One comment after the game was some might think he’s fortunate with his long-range shots, but he just keeps doing it.

At the other end, the defense was once again as solid as a very solid thing indeed, and I had another very quiet morning in goal. Just one goalmouth scramble was the only nervous moment, but Brian was in the right place at the right time and took a kick in the ass for his trouble – you can’t buy commitment like that.

We will undoubtedly encounter tougher teams along the way, but 7 points from the first four games is a good base.

DAS.

o30 Premier Match Report-10/4/09 by Duane

Barnstonworth Premier 4 Brooklyn Italians 1
Goals: Nedgy Nazon 51', Duane Pena 60', Maurice Wellington 70', Kendall Villareal 75'

Nervy first half... where they hit the bar in pretty much the first 2 mins and had us under early pressure.... but we steadily gained control of the game, but just couldn't break through.
Duane started off in goal... and then Emman when he arrived went in for the last 10 mins
0-0 at the half.
Robbie took over the goalkeeper gloves at the half.
Nedgy around the 51st min
It was a through ball and the keeper saved the shot but Nedgy slammed in the rebound. He got hurt and had to come out.
Duane around the 60 min.
Cross came in from the deep on the right side and Duane beat the keeper to the ball to head into an empty net.
Brooklyn scored somewhere around here... a cross along the ground beat Robbie in goal and their right winger tapped it in.
Maurice scored around 70 mins
After Alan's free kick clipped off the wall, he was fastest to the rebound and dinked it over the diving keeper.
Kendell in about the 75 min.
A beautiful build up that started at the right back position that must have been about 20 passes... involving our right back (forget his name), Duane, maurice, Narces, and others ended when Alan slipped a beautiful through ball to Kendell on the LEFT side.. who somehow slapped a RIGHT footed shot pass the keeper at a ridiculous angle for a the fourth goal.
This pretty much ended the game because Brooklyn began arguing for an offside call on the goal and would not back down. After the ref shared out a couple of yellows and then a red, he blew off the game prematurely.
Next week, its an 8am kickoff! versus newly promoted Tesoro who like us tied Pele Masters.

Over 30's match report - 10/04/09 by Martin

well it's official - we stink!

another awful loss this time 4-1 to the Kickers....maybe someone who knows football can explain it to yas 'cause i'm clueless.

we have a stronger squad than ever before and it's just not gelling or something?

giving up goals we wouldn't normally and not creating anything up front.....although our one on sunday was a beauty with great wingwork from Unmackers cuting the ball back to coach Ben who drove it home...that made it 2-1 and i was sure we were coming back but it wasn't to be.

i've gone back on my 'no Irish need apply' policy as we now have 2 in the team and new recruit Aidan was our biggest threat when he came on making great attacking runs.

this week it's the real Rovers derby when we face the Old Boys who are 7 points ahead of us! MacKinnon

Rovers Ladies result - 10/4/09 by Nicolas

Rovers 1: 2 - Slackers: 0
Goals by Liz Dyjak and Natalie Rudd

Fingers crossed for Courtney C who is undergoing an MRI this week to evalutate the state of her ACL after an apparent knee disclocation at the game.

R2D2 match report - 10/04/09 - courtesy of MaryH

Not-as-pretty (and slightly smelly) girls (aka Kickers) – 2, Pretty Girls (aka R2D2) – 1

On an unseasonably hot October afternoon, the Not-as-pretty girls managed to hold on as us pretty girls staged a sweet late game rally. The start looked promising as the Kickers kicked off with only nine players but soon enough (like 2 minutes later) the troops arrived. By halftime they were sporting five subs to our none helping fuel their offensive pressures. We held them off through the first half thanks to good defensive pressure and the one and only Emily knocking down shots. Newly minted forwards Bridget, Dar and Dani for a bit tried to keep on top of their off-side trap and did a good job of shaping play up top. The strong old sweat/mold smell coming off one of their defensive players was however too much to bear and kept our offensive line at bay (thanks to Megan for finally buying a new set of shin guards and making sure we don't take the smelliest shins awards home this year).

About 20 minutes into the second half the Not-as-pretty girls scored after a player streaked down the right flank and hit a strong cross that was headed home from about four yards out. They struck again about ten minutes later after a questionable non-called off-side and a good shot from the top of the 18. Bridget then stole the show with about 7 minutes to go in the game, stealing the ball right off a one of the defensemen's foot and streaking to goal to close the gap to one. Despite a good surge to the end, the pretty girls couldn't pull another goal before the whistle finally blew.

Barnstonworth Rovers Thirds Match Report, 10/4/09, by Jeremy Wine

Rovers Thirds (3)- NYPC FC 2 (3)

A disappointing draw on a disgraceful "pitch" leave the Rovers Metro with a lot of work to do to stake a claim for the league title. Granting a side their first point of the campaign wasn't part of the plan.

The scene was set at Commodore Barry Field, a near-condemned under-bridge American Football field, turned kind of diagonally into a makeshift soccer pitch with the liberal usage of baking flour (some of which was dispensed by a Mac(kers)Guyver contraption consisting of duct tape, a Bustelo coffee can, and a banana stroller with a hole cut out of the bottom. This was professional level stuff and I think we were all a bit shocked that we skipped the anthems before the match.

To their credit, NYPD came out physical and committed, belying their 0-2 start, and before long, hit the game's opener from about 25 yards when the shooter wasn't quickly shut down. Rovers struggled to set themselves apart on a pitch that made short controlled passing difficult, and the narrowness of the pitch made it difficult to play directly to Sergio "Menudo" Restrepo and Brandon "Oatmeal" Rowley up front. The same was true with Okey "Does the bike riding do much for MS?" Obudulu working his way at the top.

However, in what would be the first of three clawbacks, Thomas "Carlito" Obaseki finally found a bit of room in the center of the field, made a nice move to get free, and an equally nice low, hard finish to beat the keeper to his right and all were level. Phew, order restored. Somewhat. The level scoreline wouldn't survive long, as NYPD's most dominant player, a good 6' 5" giant of a man who dominated much of the middle of the pitch, found the ball at his feet at a bit of an angle at perhaps 28 yards, and looped a perfectly placed shot over James O'Krapp into nearly the upper 90 and Rovers trailed once again. With Dusan "Sir Alex Short List" Zivanovic and Tommy "Tex" Chenoweth asserting themselves in the midfield, Rovers earned a free kick from 25 yards out. Obaseki drove it hard and low to Restrepo, who expertly and without mussing up his hair backheel-flickingly deflected it to wrong foot the keeper. Rather pretty, actually. Halftime, 2-2.

It would be unfair to say either team was ever in the ascendancy at any point, but NYPD did come out of the half with a higher workrate. Early in the half, their giant midfielder took an aerial ball down a bit to set up an impressive instep volley from no closer than 35 yards, once again beating Krapp high and away. It was one of those throw up your hands goals; what are you gonna do about that? He has no business even taking that shot. Three goals from distance.

To the Rovers' credit, they didn't give up, even resorting to some pseudo headbutting and increasing being fouldedness. With about 5 minutes to spare, Rowley finally found himself free with the ball at his feet, diced his way right through the backline, and finished well to even the score. Bond "All Time" BondBond picked up a ball at midfield and made a thrilling run to see the finish gasp just wide, leaving Rovers' a little disappointed not to nick it in the end, but fair play to both teams to get a point in a mudbath.

Why was it so muddy? I don't even remember it raining?

Squad:

James Krapp (g)
Sarg "Has All the Hookups" Schlatter
Darrell "Ice-T" Crane
Derrick "Derrick's Ball" Kilfedder
Jeremy "Wint-o-green" Wine
Thomas Obaseki
Tommy Chenoweth
Bond
Juan "Neither Played Nor Coached" Gonzalez Casares
Sergio Restrepo
Brandon Rowley
Okey Obudulu
Mackers
Bruce "Dr. Feelgood" Sholltrain
Dusan Zivanovic