DEA Bedford Over 30

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.