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Pepperell Gets the Better of the DEA Squad, 3-0
Posted by Dale Dubois at May 13, 2012 5:00PM PDT
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Decrepit Old Men. At least that's how I felt at the end of it. We started out reasonably well, played a fair game of back and forth some chances on both sides. Then about half way through the first half Dave's knee started going out on him. Five minutes after he sat down John Guild came out from the accumulated damage of at least four pulls and strains. Then Mohammed went down with a pulled hamstring and with no more subs on the sidelines, Dave was back in. We lost the first goal on a header, which has always been a problem for this team. Entered the half down one but still fighting. In the second half the game swung as Pepperell began to dominate more. We were losing the battle of the middle, and that meant the ball was spending too long in our end. Goal 2 came when one of their best strikers took the ball at the right side of midfield, juked Gimpy Dave, then ran free and clear to the top of the circle, where he hammered a very nice shot into the upper right corner. The final goal was on corner when the same striker crashed in for a strong header.
WE NEED NUMBERS. Next game is home and everyone needs to be there. There's a good chance that both Mo and John will be out for the game. I'll be there, but can't say what the cantaloupe that's pretending to be my knee this morning will look like. We need subs and we need to get back to being a middle dominating, keep it simple, make the good pass team. Time to dig deep guys. We're not going to win this division but we sure as hell shouldn't lose it either. Let's play the way we know we can and play some good soccer for the last 4 games!
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GM Note:
Lets pull this thing together boys. We need numbers and we need a win.
DEA Comes Away with a Tie 3-3 Against Burlington
Posted by Dale Dubois at May 6, 2012 5:00PM PDT
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Last week we got beat. This week we beat ourselves. Not pretty.
The game didn't start well. The first 10 minutes were really ugly, probably because as Jim said we all got there so early and spent too long warming up, but with a bit of luck and some nice play by Steve in goal we made it through them.
After that we settled down though and played pretty well. Kept the ball in the middle of the field and generated some chances. On a nice through ball by Paul, Jimmy took off, beat one defender then lifted it over the goalie in a nice finish to put us up 1-0. We kept the play style the same and once again Jim took a through ball, beat a defender and the goalie and put us up 2-0 which is how it stood at half time. Frankly I'm not always a big fan of depending on the through ball breakaway, but with the shape Sportsman field is in, trying to put together 5 or 6 good passes is very tough, and the way Jimmy is finishing it's working well. The 2nd half started off much like the first one ended, still good control of the ball and generally keeping it on their side. John V lofted one up to the goalie with just enough spin on it that it slid out of his hands and we were up 3-0. And that's when it started to go downhill. Somehow we got off our game. They had nothing to lose and brought more pressure certainly, but we did not respond well. The ball spent almost all of the last quarter of the game in our half. We were no longer clogging the middle and stopping their runs early, instead they were making it into the box and putting pressure on Steve. They got one goal and that seemed to energize them, but not us. The second goal with two minutes to go was one of those that happen when the game is being played in your end. A simple turn and shoot that came out of the crown and passed a screened Steve before he could react. The final goal, with only 30 seconds left, was just a breakdown in defense. The cross found their guy sitting at the top of the box uncovered. A dream shot for him, and unfortunately for us, he didn't miss it.
We need to stay focused for the whole game, the start and the end, not just the middle. At this point we'll need some help to make something of this season, but Harvard lost on Sunday and there is some small hope if we win out. If we don't, then there's not much. We get Harvard and Hopkinton on our home field. We can beat them both. We certainly can beat the other three teams. Let's get our heads back in the game and do it.
Thanks to John V's family for the bagels and Happy Birthday John!
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GM NOTE: We can not be giving up a 3-0 lead. This is clearly one of those games that we should have won. When you have someone down 3-0 you need to squash them. Never let them back in the game.
Godfather
DEA Bounces Back with an Impressive Win Over Westford 3-1
Posted by Dale Dubois at Apr 22, 2012 5:00PM PDT
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Another nice win boys. Fairly even game at the start, back and forth, not a lot of chances, then Jeff Guild let fly a beautiful high shot from several yards outside the box. Sailed right in and the look on Westford's faces was a wonderful thing to see. We continued to do what our system is designed to do, own the middle and Derek's through ball gave Jimmy a chance to show why he's the guy who plays up top as he took it down for a nice one on one win. A loose and bouncing all in the box ricocheted of Ricky for Westford goal but it was still a pretty good half until things started to get ugly. Jeff D. got caught retaliating which is pretty much the way it always works. A yellow for the Westford guy and a red for Jeff, along with a very impressive collection of cleat marks up and down his leg. Didn't take the idiot hacker long to live up to his name though as he drew a second yellow for hacking John Morin just five minutes later and was out of the game as well.
The second half didn't start as well. 10 on 10 our style of play really shouldn't change much. 4-4-1 works much like 4-5-1, but for the first 15 minutes or so they seemed to have the attacks and dominate the field. Stout defense and good play by Joe in the goal kept them from making anything of it though and we turned it back around for the last quarter of the game. Jimmy repeated his earlier performance on a through ball by Dave for an insurance goal and we finished up with a 3-1 win.
Sad to say that the third half was really no contest. They beat us walking away with better beer and more stamina, but still a good day.
Now we have to keep it up boys. Harvard won again, and are undefeated. We can't afford any let downs, we have to keep the pressure on and keep on winning. We know we can beat Harvard when we play them again, and we want to be in a position that that win will put us on top. Goals count too, right now Harvard's one ahead of us in the goal differential, so keep the pressure on the whole game. Time to move up a division!
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GM NOTE: Awesome job boys !!! Keep up the scoring !!!
DEA Bedford Drops a Tough Match to Harvard, 1-0
Posted by Dale Dubois at Apr 15, 2012 5:00PM PDT
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Tough loss yesterday. We all know the issue, can't win the game if you don't put the ball in the net. That said, it was far from all bad. Those who thought their goalie was pretty good, they were right. In the fall Harvard won division 5. They allowed ONE goal all season, and then one more in the playoffs. That's a damn good defense/goalie combo. I counted three good chances for them, and they converted one. I counted 5 good chances for us. Of those, two definitely and maybe a third were us missing the goal, not them stopping us. So, we had the game reasonably in hand and easily could have won. When you remember that we were playing with one sub for the midfield, none for the defense and a substitute goalie, we did okay. We proved we can beat them, next time we just need to do it.
Again, good hustle and effort from everyone there. I'm nominating John Morin for player of the game for his job in net and two excellent shut downs of one on one situation, not to mention a damn good try on the third one. Special mention to Rick who played against 6'3" strikers all day and kept them well contained, not to mention one heck of cross field sprint to break up a breakaway.
Keep playing the way we are, finish off those opportunties, and we're still well on track to win this division.
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GM NOTE: Don't forget our basic rule: If you score one more point than your opponent, you almost aways win the game.
Dale
DEA Starts the 2012 Season with a Win Against Pepperell 3-2
Posted by Dale Dubois at Mar 31, 2012 5:00PM PDT
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And the start of another season is in the bag. We started out a bit slow, with Sportsman Field scoring the first goal when a back pass did a big Sportsman hop past Kevin and Pepperell popped it in for the easy goal. We were back on our heels for the first 15 minutes, but started to get our rythm and last 15 minutes of the half finally saw the ball spending most of it's time in their end, although we still ended the half, Sportsman 1, DEA 0.
Control of the middle was clearly what we needed most, so Jim put us back to the patented DEA 1-5-4 "we own the middle and you can't have it" formation. This worked well and we again were keeping the ball in their end of the field. And then came the German show. On a high arcing cross from the right corner German struck a good sharp header, but caught the post, with the ball bouncing out to the left side. From the back of the field all I could see was three defenders and German racing for the ball, then from the middle of the pack of defenders it came back across the goal with just enough angle to land inside the far post. A great job following the rebound and staying with the play.
A short while later it was German again with a nice through pass to Jim who finished it off for a two to one lead. That lasted about 10 minutes until Pepperell tied it up with a fast breaking pass to the right side which their striker hit with a fast toe poke in stride back across the net. A good play on their part and those are going to happen.
We kept the pressure up and Nitin did some nice work in the corner, then crossed it to Mo's chest inside the box (try not to look so suprised when it hits you next time Mo (<:), who dropped it to his feet and put it past the goalie for the lead again.
The last few minutes got hairy when Sportsman took Dave down, letting their wing cross into the box where we played some ping pong for a bit, but we cleared it out and were heading for a 2 on 1 breakaway when the whistle blew.
A good start for the season, much better that the last couple of years. And we didn't let being down get us down, we stayed on the ball and our game and pulled it through. At some time or other I think I saw every player on the field make a good hustling play, and we had a good rotation going, no ***ing about coming out, and tired players calling for a rest. Let's keep it up for the next few games and then our signature second half surge should take us up to Division 3.
Thanks also to Rick for bringing the beer, we were clear winners of the third half and played through the pain so the cooler went home appropriately empty.
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GM NOTE:
GREAT START BOYS. Lets carry this attitude into this weeks game!!!!
Dale
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