DEA Bedford Over 30

DEA got back on track after last week's slip-up, cruising past Pepperell and restoring their playoff chances with a 4-1 win. Willie Davis and Gary DuPlessis each had two goals for DEA. With the late morning start, the extra two hours sleep seemed to cause some problems for DEA. Knowing they didn't have the 8:30 game, a vast majority of DEA players took the opportunity to drink a little bit more on Saturday night. By gametime, they were short numbers. They managed to get a full squad together just before the tap-off, however Chris Florek and Chris Laberge were still en route when the whistle blew. This would immediately open up some controversy as Florek was bidding for a 900-minute season, and he pulled in three minutes late. However, according to his watch he was on time, so a protest has been filed as the referee may have started the match a bit early. Florek's watch has been sent to FIFA for testing. Back to the action on the pitch, this was a DEA-dominated game throughout. With Lucas Hill on the shelf for the day, Chris Cloutier manned the pipes...and he had a yawner. Only a few shots made their way through, and one scored (more on that later). The defensive backfield of Florek, Jon Cloutier, Chris Jones, Willie Davis, and at times Mike Friedin and Peter Cline were outstanding all day. The game was won, however, in the midfield. With class throughout, DEA rotated through a bevy of players in the middle of the pitch, and they carried the play. Elvis Zukovic and Jerrold White manned much of the center midfield, with some assistance from Laberge, Jeff Bailey and DuPlessis. The wings saw Rob Cissel back in action on the left, and Barry Fitzgerald on the right. Both had great games and continued to drive the action from the wings. The games first goal saw the first legitimate "Goal of the Year" nomination off the foot of Willie Davis. To this point, DEA had scored 19 goals on the campaign, but with the possible exception of Laberge's header against Pepperell earlier in the season, none were particularly artful. Davis broke that string when finishing beautifully from Barry's corner. When Davis chested the driven pass, many thought he should have just headed it back to the goal. Instead, he brought the drive down and punched a solid shot into the upper ninety that brought the crowd to it's feet. DEA was in the lead fifteen minutes in. They kept the pressure in the offensive third, forcing Pepperell talisman Reyad Mahmoud all over the pitch. Willie Mungere broke through once, but he finish trickled wide. Another hard shot from Barry from a tough angle on the right also turned some heads, but missed the post and settled into the high grass behind the net. As halftime came, it was only 1-0 and DEA had an uneasy feeling about themselves. There was a worry that this would be a match where they would dominate, but were always a mistake away from giving up the lead. Midway through the second half, just that happened. Pepperell forward Barry Doust skated seemingly harmlessly through the middle, and cut to his right. As he squared to the goal, he drove a low drive that seemed to catch Cloutier in the middle of a REM-sleep cycle. He dove late, hoping for a furtituous bounce that was not there. The drive found webbing and as well as DEA had played, they were now level and their playoff chances seemed to be slipping away. Then, more magic in the offensive third would salt this away. Bailey sent a little chip into the box. As DuPlessis sneaked from the left, he beat the keeper to the ball and touched off to the right. He then hit a beautiful tricyle drive, with his back fully to goal, over the keeper and into side webbing to restore DEA's advantage. The ensuing dance was awful, but the goal was pure class and suddenly the race was on for the GoTY Award. DuPlessis would get another ten minutes later. Florek's long restart from just inside the midfield stripe lofted through the middle, where DuPlessis rose to head home past the keeper in another display of quality finishing. His third of the year gave DEA some insurance. DEA would close out the scoring, and again it was Florek setting up the play. When Steve Mirasolo was hammered outside the box (as payback to a run at Cloutier earlier), the restart was blocked by the wall. Flo hammered a clearance, and found Willie Davis streaming down the left side. He beat the keeper to the ball and lofted over him to make it 4-1. With he and his wife due to deliver their first baby at any moment, the two-goal gift was something special. DEA then looked to pad their stats. Both Laberge and Willie Mungere missed some bunnies from close range. Laberge did all the hard work before his final touch left him. Willie's chance was poorly taken when he got caught between hops on a half-folley from three yards out. A defender would be allowed to have a touch like that, but coming from a forward that touch was frightening. The final would be 4-1, and was a deserved result. With Cloutier's GAA staying at 1.00 GAA, he is making a move to bump All-World Kepper Lucas into the clipboard role. Stay tuned for that action. In other results, Hollis upset Seacoast 5-3 and Stoneham nudged past Ipswich 2-0. The playoffs are still up for grabs. Seacoast still is in the lead with 17 points taken from 8 games. Ipswich is in second with 16 points, also in 8 games. DEA climbs to third with 14 points with two games to play. Stoneham also has 14 points, but only has a match with Hollis left. Stoneham has been docked points for excessive cards, again. This seems to be a yearly event for them. Next week's Game of the Week will see DEA traveling to Ipswich. A win will put them in the driver's seat to go from promotion to the playoffs, a monumental feat. As of today, DEA still has a makeup game scheduled with Hollis on the table for June 20th. Details for that match are soon to follow. The third half got ugly. With such a beautiful day, and the last home game of the year, it was about 3:00 when the last stragglers left.