DEA Bedford Over 30

DEA travelled to Duxbury for an 8:30 game against Division 1 South Champions Braintree Celtic, and were promptly sent back to New Hampshire after receiving a 5-1 drubbing. While it was a disapointing end to a solid campaign, DEA is determined to put it behind them and are secure in the knowledge that they are in Division 1 to stay. They vowed to make it back next year. With the early gametime and the 90-minute travel ahead of them, many woke before the roosters cackled and hit the road. What they found waiting for them was a big, beautiful pitch...but a short bench. They would start the game with 11 players, and after two late arrivals were able to at least have a couple of subs. There was an air of anticipation about them. DEA felt they had played well against the top tier squads in the North Division (taking points in half their games), but were interested in testing their mettle against a Braintree squad often listed as the class of the league. ***Editor's note: I attempted to match the players with their jersey numbers as provided, but could not. There wasn't a single player that this reporter could recall that had a name and number that matched. Curious, indeed.*** DEA almost immediately dug themselves a hole. Braintree attacks with skill. Their ball movement is very impressive, and it was this ball movement that sprung a player down the left side. He crossed beautifully to the back post, where it was volleyed at goal in full stride. Incredibly, Lucas Hill saved the initial shot. The rebound, however, was batted back at goal (questionably from a hand-ball) and eventually home to give Braintree an early lead. They made it 2-nil at the 15-minute mark when the Braintree striker took a ball in the right corner. He jockstrapped Chris Cloutier, went around Chris Florek, and hit a screamer upstairs. It was troubling, as DEA was actually playing pretty well. They were playing a bit more direct than is their style, but some of that was predicated by the strong Braintree defenders. Some can be chalked up to DEA’s impatience in getting back into the game. Twice, the midfield combo of Elvis Zukovic and Jerold White sprung Barry Fitzgerald (playing solidly on a bum knee) on the right side. His shots, however, whistled just over the bar. Tom Labonville continued to be a force in the middle. He was dominating in the air and distributed the ball nicely. DEA tried to key of imposing striker Chris Laberge to feed Willie Mungere or Peter Cline coming through the middle. It seemed however strong the buildup was, the last touch just wasn’t there. DEA’s best chance to get back in the game came when Jerold sent a ball to Laberg, who flick on to the corner where Kurt Englehart tracked it down. Kurt took his man to the corner when he fed back to Elvis. Elvis scorched a low shot from a tough angle that was blocked. Kliney pounced on the rebound like he does a thick, 20-oz. steak, and shot toward the open goal. Somehow, the Braintree keeper gloved it aside and the rebound just laid there. With Jon Cloutier and Kliney in the scrum, Jerold’s on-rushing shot from the clearance was blocked and eventually Braintree cleared from harm’s way. At times, Braintree twisted and turned DEA all over the pitch. However, Flo, Jonesie, Tommy, and Chris Cloutier held strong. Lucas did was Lucas does, meaning he came up big on three different occasions to keep DEA in it. While down 2-0 at the half, DEA felt pretty good about themselves. They needed to put one of these chances away, and early, to get their confidence up. Instead, a bad break forced an own-goal ten minutes into the second half and DEA was in an insurmountable 3-0 deficit. The half continued with Braintree running DEA in circles, where a shot was taken and saved by Lucas. DEA would then try to get three goals back with a single play, hence turning the ball over and back came Braintree. The wobbly, tired legs of DEA were really getting ragged. Braintree took a four-goal lead when one of their many attacks beat Lucas down low. He deserved better on the day, but alas it was not to be. Kurt restored some measure of respectability to the match when he was at the end of an Elvis-Laberge-Mungere buildup. Any thoughts of a miraculous comeback were erased five minutes later when Braintree finished off a 2-1 that was scored from an offside position. Tough to take on a long, hot day when you turn to the sideline referee to see if he was in position, and he is instead using his sideline flag like a butterfly net and not watching the play. On a more positive note, his net was full of some prime specimens. He even caught the rare and elusive “Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly”, a species thought to be indigenous to the western US. So, while he missed the call, he surely made the Catch of the Day. 5-1 isn’t a true measure of the match. However, it must be noted that DEA was outclassed today. With an early start, short bench, big pitch, and an unknown opponent, DEA had the deck stacked against them. They leave knowing they can compete, but to honestly say they deserved to beat the well-assembled Braintree squad would be a stretch. It is this reporter’s opinion that Braintree is the class squad of OTHSL. DEA will surely work hard to get back into position to take them on again come this fall, and will play with the confidence that should see a much better result. A great season for DEA. They beat the teams they should have. They can look at two losses as most troubling: Giving up a late lead in the opener against Stoneham and the egg they laid against Seacoast. If they took a minimum of four points from those two games (which is a conservative estimate) we might’ve been talking about DEA as Champions. Look for the end-of-the-season report to be published after the 9th Annual DEAs Award Ceremony to be held at the Las Vegas Bellagio on July 1st.

DEA closed out the playing season by dropping a close 2-1 decision to Ipswich. Ipswich takes the title, having only lost one game (earlier to DEA) all year. DEA gave up a long counter midway through the first half. The backs were outnumbered and Ipswich capitalized on the fast break to put them in the lead. Chris Laberge came back a few minutes later to level it for DEA at the half. Early in the second half, Lucas Hill went down with a back injury. DEA had to call on Chris Cloutier to man the pipes. He promptly gave up a 35-yard scorcher to put Ipswich back in the lead. It looked like DEA's playoff chances were lost after Jerold White beat the Ipswich keeper and deposited into the seemingly empty net. However, Ipswich got back to pull it off the line. The final was 2-1. Third half was a battle, but with many DEA players still with two more games to play, a group of four stayed as long as possible. They bummed a couple of beers and some food from the Ipswich folks, but eventually lost out on the third half, too. In a serious of fortunate breaks, Hollis had to forfeit to DEA to close out the season. This put DEA into 3rd place. Next, Seacoast called to say they could not field a team for the playoffs, to the option went next in line. As a result, DEA will travel to Division 1 South Winner Braintree Celtic at 9:00 on Sunday. This should be interesting.

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.

DEA came into the day with their sites set on taking over the top position in the OTHSL Division 1 rankings. They left downtrodden after Seacoast secured a 3-0 victory. DEA had not lost since giving up a late lead in the opening match of the year. The loss drops DEA into third place, while Seacoast and Ipswich have begun to separate themselves from the pack. DEA can still secure a playoff spot, but will now have their work cut out for them in their last couple of matches. However, they have officilally assured themselves of avoiding relegation. If DEA is playing Seacoast, the weather must be crappy. Having never played them on a dry pitch, this Sunday morning again found a light drizzle falling from the overcast skies. The pitch, however, held up nicely and the weather didn't appear to be a factor. DEA had a strong start, possessing nicely but their last touch was generally left wanting. It was encouraging to be pushing the action on Seacoast, as DEA felt the importance of the early goal. With all their slick play and energetic movements, Seacoast keeper Tobias Svantesson wasn't tested. Back on other side, DEA keeper Lucas Hill was also not involved, as the action was contained in the middle of the pitch. Twenty-five minutes in, Seacoast broke through when Javier Corredor crossed into the box to a bevy of players. Poor communication by DEA allowed some players to step up, and some to lag behind and mark. The result was an open header by David Towle, and he finished to the low right side, just past the outstretched hand of Lucas. While the goal did appear to be against the run of play, DEA had played with deficits this year and were comfortable that there was still a lot of ball left to play. Seacoast began to attack more after their goal, and in the final minutes of the half won a corner to the left. They again broke through, this time the driven corner was wrongly headed by Gary DuPlessis for an own-goal, and putting DEA in a hole. They certainly couldn't say they dominated the half, but also didn't deserve to be down by two. The opening minutes of the second half almost saw Seacoast return the lucky break back to DEA. A backwards header from the Seacoast backline forced Tobias to parry over the bar. Down by two, DEA threw caution to the wind and kept pressing. The reasons were many: A good buildup would see a breakdown at the final pass; they would abandon the short passing game by launching long balls to the corner; or Seacoast sweep Jeff Cook was there to clear anything away. Barry Fitzgerald did spring Willie Mungere with under ten minutes left, but Willie got caught between taking a touch and chipping the off-the-line Tobias. Instead, his shot was poorly taken and went wide. Elvis Zukovic teamed with Jerold White to an opening 20 yards from goal. He scorched a low drive, but again Tobias punched it aside. In the final moments, with DEA short in the back with numbers pushing forward, Mark Griffen slammed home a short drive to make the final 3-nil. As mentioned earlier, it didn't feel like a 3-0 loss by the way they played. The central field trio of Jerold, Elvis, and Chris LaBerge played superbly. Lucas had no chance on the goals, which was disapointing. Chalk it up as "one of those games" and come back next week against reeling Pepperell. DEA needs to find their goal-scoring touch that has left them in the last two weeks. After a stretch where they went 3-0 and tallied fifteen goals, they have seen them light the lamp only once -and that was off a deflection- in the last two weeks. Man of the Match goes to Jerold for bringing the grill and dogs this week. Just fabulous. Match time is 8:30 at Legacy Field next Sunday.

DEA drew with Stoneham 1-1, keeping their five-match unbeaten string alive and dealt Stoneham's chances at postseason glory a serious blow. Pending the posting of the Ipswich-Seacoast match, DEA looks to be in prime position for moving to the top of the table next week when they host Seacoast. DEA started down a man, and got the full squad after five minutes. The field was lumpy and not level, so it made for some creative soccer. The referee was determined not to take any flack, and started handing out yellow cards like candy whenever Stoneham had a gripe. DEA took notice, and barely said a word all match. The on-field action saw DEA looking to get an early advantage. Willie Mungere and Chris Laberge teamed up, but Laberge's right-footed half-volley would tickle the woodwork before falling away. Barry Fitzgerald was working the flanks, but chances were breaking down at the last touch. Again, the defensive duo of Chris Florek and Tom Labonville were huge for DEA. The skillful Stoneham squad were relentless, and time and time again they were thwarted by the impervious DEA defense. Chris Jones and Chris Cloutier stepped up when needed on the outside. After DEA's initial forrays came up fruitless, Stoneham had two great chances. The first was a scorcher from the right side that Lucas Hill palmed aside. A few minutes later, a similar drive clanged off the crossbar. DEA had dodged a couple of bullets. Then, they broke through. When Laberge tracked down Jerold White's pass in the corner, he pushed aside his marker and found Elvis Zukovic 25 yards from goal and with space. Elvis callibrated, and steamed a low shot at goal. Slick Willie, lacking luck to this point inside the box, caught a break as Elvis' shot took a deflection off Willie and into the open side to put DEA up heading into the half. The second half saw Stoneham come storming out. The play was basically build crossing the midfield stripe, send their right winger in clean, where he beat Cloutier and crossed into the box. A combination of Jones, Labonville, and Florek cleared aside. Then, the play started all over again. Things were getting harried in the back. Cloutier slid once to block a shot from close range. Florek took a hard drive off the cheek. Jones headed clear when he was left alone at the back post with pressure on. Lucas came up twice more by making the save on hard shots and preventing any rebounds. Stoneham levelled midway through the second half when a through-ball allowed Stoneham to post up Tommy. He got turned, and the clean look was all they needed to bring the match level. A nice play on Stoneham's part. DEA then tried to get the winner. Jon Cloutier began to impart himself on the match, creating buildups with Jerold on the left side and sending Laberge and Willie in. However, Stoneham was up to the task. Fitzgerald scorched a drive just wide. Elvis sent one over the bar. A mad scramble off another Fitzgerald chance was batted around like a ping-pong ball, but nothing could make it's way through. Lucas then saved the match for DEA when Stoneham stormed through on the right side. The touch went a bit too far, and Lucas slid out, taking a boot in the process, while making the save and swallowing the rebound. All that was left was more bitching at the ref, and more cards followed. Rumor has it the ref is scheduled to see Dr. Louis Yokum on Tuesday to have "Tommy John Sugery" as he went to his pocket so much for the cards he threw his elbow out. After the match, the fun was just getting started. Stoneham Management, in their typical classy fashion, tore into the ref. Kudos to the ref for not allowing Stoneham to get away with some of their shanagans. Then, the third half turned into an unexpected battle. After emptying the cooler, there was no sign of Stoneham heading home. This was unexpected. DEA then pawned a few beers off the Billerica O-40's squad while Lucas headed for more. Before Lucas had a chance to get back, Stoneham refilled, and even provided DEA with a 12-pack to tie them over. A lot of ill-will towards Stoneham was washed away. A classy jesture to be sure. Lucas arrived, DEA settled their debts, and continued going beer-for-beer with Stoneham well into the afternoon. DEA's numbers dwindled to two, with Tom and Lucas hanging in as the last of the Stoneham O-30's called it a draw. There were still players from the O-40's match lingering about, but DEA will take the "Tie" for all three halves today. Next week, Seacoast travels to DEA in a match that could go a long way toward deciding who will take the division. They levelled earlier in the year in a mud bath. Look for DEA to come guns ablazing as they look to build on their already impressive 3-1-2 record.