Announcement
DEA Masters 2 Win a Real Battle With the Lowell Alligators 3-1 (9 stitches, 2 red cards)
Posted by Dale Dubois on
Nov 03 2009
at
04:00PM PST
by Steve Morgan
It was meant to be All Saints' Day, but the messing with clocks in the middle of the night must've inadvertently let a few zombies through from Halloween the night before.....
Bedford's second seasonal excursion to the short, tight and bumpy Gage field in Lowell started in clear blue skies following the now seemingly regular nightly downpour. However, unlike Sportsmans' Field, the pitch seemed to be in better shape because of the heavy rain, although bouncing balls remained unpredictable for the inexperienced and unwary.
The game was taken to the home team from the start as Bedford looked to make amends for a very lacklustre performance the previous week. The lmited size of Gage Field doesn't lend itself to expansive free-flowing football and, as a consequence the midfield players got to know each other very quickly. As it turned out, perhaps too quickly.
After initial skirmishes, the Alligators took the lead after fifteen minutes largely against the run of play when a long diagonal ball was played forward to their right winger, who crossed the ball across the penalty box to Lowell's tall, but skillful, centreforward who was able to control the ball before lashing a fierce volley past stand-in goalkeeper Joe Parrinello. There was a faint whiff of offside about both of the final two passes, but it's a difficult game for a one-man system to officiate and any complaints from Bedford were at best half-hearted.
The game reverted back to Bedford attacking and the inevitable equaliser came ten minutes later when a goal-line cutback by Jimmy McCall from Bedford's right eluded the Lowell defence and Jeff Downing hit a sweetly timed half-volley from the opposite side of the six yard box.
Several more chances fell to Bedford with John Speaker's doodlebugesque projectile throw-ins in particular providing several moments of utterr panic in Lowell's defence, but without any positive end result. Given his performance in the prior game with the Alligators, Bedford probably needed John to be throwing to, errr, well John.
The 1-1 halftime scoreline definitely flattered the home team, but Bedford were pressing hard and the second half wind helped Joe Parrinello launch dropkicks into dangerous areas.
The go-ahead Bedford goal came from a high ball bouncing around the penalty spot that was controlled by John Valickus and laid back to Rick Plichta who quickly sized up the situation before chipping over a despairing goal-line defender into the roof of the net with the Alligator's goalkeeper otherwise stranded.
By now, it was clear that several of the home team were getting more than a little frustrated with their lot and it came as no surprise when Jimmy McCall was fouled for the umpteenth time on the edge of the Lowell penalty box. The ball was a yard or so to the left of centre and Jimmy himself hit the ball hard to the right of the makeshift wall and the keeper was unable to keep it out.
The score was 3-1 to Bedford with about five or so minutes to go and the away team continued to push forward with the hope of reducing their lousy goal difference in their bid to escape the relegation dogfight.
This time John Valickus was fouled in a similar area to where Jimmy had been upended only a few minutes earlier. With Jimmy McCall understandably looking to retrieve the ball to take the free kick, some form of secret signal for Lowell's midfield walking dead must've been transmitted and the zombies decided it was time to attack.
And attack two of them did: to the extent that mild-mannered Doug Wolfe - who was not even on the pitch at the time - was violently assaulted without any provocation, ultimately needing nine stitches to a gash opened up over his left eye.
There's obviously no point in dwelling on what happened, since most of the Lowell players were themselves shocked, embarrassed and extremely apologetic about what ensued, but the bottom line is that two of their colleagues (#8 and #11) were deservedly red carded for their impromptu auditions for UFC's fall tournament.
In the circumstances, the referee had no real options at his disposal and wisely decided to call the game early. This, in a game featuring "mature" players over the age of forty. Crazy.
"To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."
Sun Tzu
It was meant to be All Saints' Day, but the messing with clocks in the middle of the night must've inadvertently let a few zombies through from Halloween the night before.....
Bedford's second seasonal excursion to the short, tight and bumpy Gage field in Lowell started in clear blue skies following the now seemingly regular nightly downpour. However, unlike Sportsmans' Field, the pitch seemed to be in better shape because of the heavy rain, although bouncing balls remained unpredictable for the inexperienced and unwary.
The game was taken to the home team from the start as Bedford looked to make amends for a very lacklustre performance the previous week. The lmited size of Gage Field doesn't lend itself to expansive free-flowing football and, as a consequence the midfield players got to know each other very quickly. As it turned out, perhaps too quickly.
After initial skirmishes, the Alligators took the lead after fifteen minutes largely against the run of play when a long diagonal ball was played forward to their right winger, who crossed the ball across the penalty box to Lowell's tall, but skillful, centreforward who was able to control the ball before lashing a fierce volley past stand-in goalkeeper Joe Parrinello. There was a faint whiff of offside about both of the final two passes, but it's a difficult game for a one-man system to officiate and any complaints from Bedford were at best half-hearted.
The game reverted back to Bedford attacking and the inevitable equaliser came ten minutes later when a goal-line cutback by Jimmy McCall from Bedford's right eluded the Lowell defence and Jeff Downing hit a sweetly timed half-volley from the opposite side of the six yard box.
Several more chances fell to Bedford with John Speaker's doodlebugesque projectile throw-ins in particular providing several moments of utterr panic in Lowell's defence, but without any positive end result. Given his performance in the prior game with the Alligators, Bedford probably needed John to be throwing to, errr, well John.
The 1-1 halftime scoreline definitely flattered the home team, but Bedford were pressing hard and the second half wind helped Joe Parrinello launch dropkicks into dangerous areas.
The go-ahead Bedford goal came from a high ball bouncing around the penalty spot that was controlled by John Valickus and laid back to Rick Plichta who quickly sized up the situation before chipping over a despairing goal-line defender into the roof of the net with the Alligator's goalkeeper otherwise stranded.
By now, it was clear that several of the home team were getting more than a little frustrated with their lot and it came as no surprise when Jimmy McCall was fouled for the umpteenth time on the edge of the Lowell penalty box. The ball was a yard or so to the left of centre and Jimmy himself hit the ball hard to the right of the makeshift wall and the keeper was unable to keep it out.
The score was 3-1 to Bedford with about five or so minutes to go and the away team continued to push forward with the hope of reducing their lousy goal difference in their bid to escape the relegation dogfight.
This time John Valickus was fouled in a similar area to where Jimmy had been upended only a few minutes earlier. With Jimmy McCall understandably looking to retrieve the ball to take the free kick, some form of secret signal for Lowell's midfield walking dead must've been transmitted and the zombies decided it was time to attack.
And attack two of them did: to the extent that mild-mannered Doug Wolfe - who was not even on the pitch at the time - was violently assaulted without any provocation, ultimately needing nine stitches to a gash opened up over his left eye.
There's obviously no point in dwelling on what happened, since most of the Lowell players were themselves shocked, embarrassed and extremely apologetic about what ensued, but the bottom line is that two of their colleagues (#8 and #11) were deservedly red carded for their impromptu auditions for UFC's fall tournament.
In the circumstances, the referee had no real options at his disposal and wisely decided to call the game early. This, in a game featuring "mature" players over the age of forty. Crazy.
"To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."
Sun Tzu
Comments
There are no comments for this announcement.
Seasons
Sponsors
