DEA Bedford Over 30

DEA came home with an efficient 1-0 victory against Westford today, finishing up their Massachusetts travel schedule with a 4-0 record. Coupled with Ipswich's 2-1 victory against 2nd place Windham, DEA now leads the Division 2 North table by 4 points with three matches left. The Westford pitch has provided some mixed results for DEA in the past. When they bring a full squad, they usually win. When they play short numbers, it isn't pretty. today, they had 2 1/2 subs and it was just enough for the win. Westford, battling to stay in Division 2, took the first touch of the match and stormed right at DEA. Knowing that is always been DEA's toughest part of the match (the first 2 minutes), Westford came out aggressively. They stormed the DEA net and had a couple of good looks at goal. It took DEA almost 20 minutes to sort out their end, but not before Westford's Joe Almasian just missed from 12 yards. At the other end of the pitch, Willie Mungere and Chris Laberge were on the receiving end of Jerold White's creativity. However, any good chances were shot wide. Elvis Zukovic broke clear, but his low scorcher just missed the right-side post. Peter Cline was sprung clear on a tough angle, and his attempted pass to Mike Friedin was blocked around the crease. As halftime came, Jerold had to leave, which left DEA with two subs. Plus, the strong wind that was at DEA's back was now right in their face. Ultimately, this proved a benefit as DEA had to play short and on the floor. Their play immediately picked up. The first 30 minutes of the second half saw almost all of the action in Westford's zone. Willie broke through on the left, but his shot bounced around the area before being cleared. Kurt Englehart had a clear chance from 12 yards out, but a sniper in the trees took him out. The prettiest chance saw a tic-tac-toe that started in DEA's end. First, Chris Florek fed Peter Cline. Cliney sent a little chip to Laberge. Laberge headed down to Elvis, and sped down the middle. Elvis one-timed his return to Laberge, who was in clean. His drive was sent high, but the buildup was impressive. Jon Cloutier got a fortunate bounced and got by the keeper. His drive was headed toward the vacated goal before Graham arrived to clear it off the line. Some still insist it was cleared from beyond the line, but the ref was adamant with his "NO-GOAL" decision. He had the best angle, afterall, standing at the center circle wearing sunglasses..... Not five minutes later, Jon took a left-footed restart and sent it to the far-side upper 90. Westford keeper Paul Peterson punched it aside, allowing for a corner. Mike Friedin took the restart, and put it perfectly in the box. Eight yards from goal, just over the outstretched arms of Peterson. Laberge and Graham went up, and Laberge nodded home the eventual winner. Controversy erupted when Laberge (who was in the middle of a few tussles today) went for Elvis' cross and collided with the keeper. No malice here, but the both ended up on the floor. Westford left back Joe Royal flew into Laberge and started swinging. Seconds later, there were 20 players scrambling about. It took a few minutes to clear it up, and Laberge and Royal both picked up yellows. Fair enough...but it was DEA's first card of the year. That in-of-itself is impressive enough. With 15 minutes left, Westford got back into the flow and began to put some pressure on. The DEA backfield of Chris Jones, John Demerrit, Dale Dubois, Chris Florek and Chris Cloutier held firm, but not before being bailed out by Lucas Hill on a couple of occasions. First, a cross was sent in just as the backline stepped up for an offsides. However, it wasn't a clean step and Westford was kept onsides. Tai Ansiri was open, and as he headed Westford errupted into cheers...thinking they had tied the match. What they didn't count on was DEA had Lucas Hill in the cage. Making maybe his best save sequence of the year, Lucas saved Ansiri's header, threw himself at the feet of an open Mike DiLeo for another save, then smothered the loose ball before Eric Kalid could get to it. DEA dodged a bullet. They would need Lucas again to come up big minutes later. After Dale's clearing header was blocked, DEA had to scramble back as Westford again had a clean look. Again, Lucas was huge, making one save before flying out to get the rebound. Sometimes, you need a keeper to come up with a huge save once or twice in a match. Lucas pulled DEA's fannies from the fire here, and DEA held on for the win. The Third Half wasn't much of a match at all. Westford usually can bring it for the Third Half, but they weren't in the mood and left before many DEA players had even finished their first beer. They are having a tough season, currently in last place, but hopefully they can stay ahead of Marblehead as the season winds down. DEA is now in the driver's seat for the Division Championship. With a four-point advantage, they play home games against Ipswich and Barley, sandwiched around a trip to Windham. DEA can still win the title by absorbing a single loss, and could even still win it with a loss and a tie. The best bet would be to keep winning, and keep playing outstanding defense. So far, DEA has allowed a paltry seven goals so far. First choice keeper Lucas has only allowed two goals in five matches, and both were on PKs. He has not allowed a goal in the run of play this year. Quite impressive. Game next week is again at Joppa Field International Airport. Gametime is 8:30 against Ipswich, who DEA dropped 2-1 earlier in the year.

Lucas Hill can talk the talk, but he can back it up by walking the walk. After threatening to toss a shutout on Sunday, Hill did just that in backstopping DEA to a comfortable 3-0 win at the Joppa Hill International Airport. DEA still stands at the top of the table with a lofty 5-1-0 record, one point above 4-0-2 Windham. DEA came out flying, and began to pepper Marblehead's Purple Pizza Eater in the net. However, the first 35 minutes had nothing to show for it as DEA continued to be stymied in similar fashion to the Windham game two weeks prior. DEA Outside Midfielder Barry Fitzgerald was flying down the wing today, having lots of space to roam and continually attacking the right flank. The recipe seemed simple, build out of the back, find Barry with lots of space, let him skate into the box, where his precision crosses found their mark. Unfortunately, the finishing was just off as Willie Davis scorched one wide and Jerold White's shot was saved. Barry himself had the two best chances, one that whistled wide and another that was parried aside as it was bending inside the far post. Back at the other end of the airstrip, DEA employed Chris Jones in the sweeper postion as a reward for leaving an anniversary weekend with his wife to come play the match. That's good stuff. Jonesie was fronted by Dale Dubois, with Peter Cline, Jon Cloutier, and John Demeritt rotating on the wings. Thirty minutes in, Marblehead created one of their first adventurous runs into DEA territory. After Barry cleared the corner, Jerold's long clearance sprung Willie Davis. Davis dribbled the keeper, and was brought down after a 15-yard gain...creating a first and goal from the....oops, wait, wrong sport. Let's try again: Davis dribbled the keeper, and was brought down inside the area when he was in clean. With Marblehead's mouthy forward Adil Nmili chanting on the sidelines, Davis slammed home the ensuing PK to get DEA on the board. That was the halftime score, but DEA was looking for much more. With more and more of the action in the Marblehead Zone, DEA kept creating chances. Willie Mungere had an open look, but dribbled into trouble before being cleared aside. Jerold's backpost run was just seconds late. DEA was patient, but really needed to put this to rest. That came midway through with one of the first touches of the match for Jeff Bailey. Classic Bailey. Lucas' long punt was settled by Jerold about 50 yards from goal. As Jerold turned toward goal, he sprung Bailey on the right with a seeing-eye through ball. Bailey's first touch was all netting, give DEA a 2-0 advantage. Make no mistake, this was a professional goal by two quality players. As is the case with all DEA teams, this cushion meant they no longer had to defend. Marblehead kept pushing, and after chance after chance was either cleared or saved, it looked like Marblehead was going to break through. Sander Van Otterloo turned from the left flank and caught Lucas wrong-footed. He could only watched as the soft drive dilly-dallied it's way toward the far post. "The Post is a Keeper's Best Friend" goes the age-old saying, and it surely was here. The soft drive bounded off the post but skirted across the goalmouth where Lucas swallowed it up to preserve the shutout. To put a finishing touch on the afternoon, Bailey and Fitzgerald linked up again on the right flank. Their quick passing allowed Willie Mungere to spring free, where he unselfishly fed Jerold two yards from goal. Jerold doesn't miss these, and he emphatically slammed it home to close out the scoring. A workmanlike win on this chilly day, this match was never in doubt from the first whistle. The only doubt was who was going to win the Third Half. Marblehead brought their 'A-Game' for the Third Half, playing much better than they did in the first two halves. Attacking with numbers, many in chairs and sunning themselves in the rapidly warming weather, DEA had a battle on their hands. With the big spread they put out, DEA was able to keep themselves fed and the beers kept flowing, and ultimately wore down Marblehead. Thanks to the players who provided a full menu of hot dogs, sandwiches, chips, salsa, brownies, cup cakes, pretzles, potatoE salad, and of course The Magic Cooler. Marblehead finally moved on, and almost on queue DEA squelched the last from the cooler and packed up. DEA next battled Westford on the road next week. Game time is 11:00. Look for updates as the week moves on.

Jerold White scored twice and assisted on yet another goal to lead DEA Bedford to a crushing defeat of FC Barley in Melrose, MA yesterday morning. It was an early game at the field that no one can seem to find. DEA would come up with 12, then 13 and eventually 14 players to take on the Barley team on their quick turf field. DEA would take control of the game from the opening whistle, knocking the ball around and getting many looks at the Barley net. It would not be until about the 20 minute mark that Jerold would get his first of the day and put DEA on the board. The play would start out of the back as Chris Jones would find Peter Cline on a through pass. Cliney would make his way into the right corner and launch a cross to the 6 yard box. Willy would take a crack at it but it would be deflected right to Jerold's feet. Jerold doesn't miss from there and DEA was up 1 nil. On the ensuing kick off however, Barley would work the ball into their striker, Paulo Neves. Dale would attempt to heard him to the side and Paulo would take a dive and draw a PK. Barley would make good on the PK despite the attempt from DEA keeper Lucas Hill. Play would resume. About the 30th minute, "Just give me the ball" Willy Mungere, would beat a defender to the left side of the net and send a nicely hit cross to Scott Sharby. Sharby would one time it, with his right foot, into the net. Nice finish. The first half would end at 2-1 for DEA. The flood gates would open in the second half for DEA. The fitness of the DEA squad on this quick field started to pay off. Barley had to really work hard to keep this game from getting way out of control. DEA put a few just over the bar and one was cleared off the goal line by former DEA midfielder Mark Wilensky. Willy Mungere would get the next goal for DEA on a semi bicycle kick (one with the kick stand down) on a rebound shot from Jerold. Next up would be Jerold's turn. After hitting two shots directly to the keeper, Jerold would try something different. DEA would get a free kick just beyond midfield. Barry would take the strike. Fitzgerald would hit a perfectly served ball to the head of Jerold, who was shielding the defender. Jerold would flick the ball over the defender and keeper into the goal for DEA's 4th goal. At the other end, Lucas was getting cold so he volunteered to retrieve the balls that were knocked out of bounds... The run did him good as he would start the drive for DEA's final goal. Lucas would come out to the right of his goal and make a save. Hill would find Barry with a toss to midfield on the right side. Barry would turn and send a through ball to Chris Laberge that was even with his defender. Laberge would beat the defender to the ball and beat the keeper to wrap up the game. DEA 5 Barley 1. A fine performance. DEA remains in first place with the victory and is back home this weekend against Marblehead. Game time is at 8:30 AM and will be at Joppa Hill Field.

Second-place Windham upset top-level DEA today with a 2-0 victory at the Joppa Hill Fields Complex. DEA outshut Windham nearly 25-5, but couldn't come away with a goal in dropping their record to 3-1. They still are the overall leader, however, with Windham in second by a single point with a 2-0-2 record. The field was newly lined, and it was huge. How huge was it? Well, it was so huge the sidelines were worked by Air Traffic Controllers! Ba-doomp-cha. The big pitch was slick with the morning dew, but the grass was in great shape and provided some of the truest hops one can imagine. DEA looked to take full advantage from the start. With Willie Davis and Gary DuPlessis manning the front lines, havoc started right off the bat. Windham's keeper was up to the task, however. First, he punched aside a hard volley from DuPlessis. Next, he got down and parried a Jerrold White low screamer. Kudos to Jerrold from making it back from his honeymoon in Vegas, caught a quick nap, and played a stellar game. OK, back to the action.... Barry Fitzgerald had yards to roam on the right side, and sent cross after cross into the box. Each found their target, but nothing was finished off. Marco Koolman's header was wide, as was Scott Sharby's side volley. DEA was all over the place, but was patient in their attack. Back at the other end of the runway, er, field, the defensive quartet of John Demerrit, Peter Cline, Chris Laberge, and Chris Florek clamped down the Windham front line. Any chances that did come through were soft shots that keeper Chris Cloutier had no problem with. Surely, it was only a matter of time before DEA broke the ice. Unfortunately, just the opposite happened. Windham forward Corlton Simmonds took on three defenders on the left side. Somehow, he got a clear look and popped a little chip into the box. It found an unmarked forward who headed home. DEA was dominating, but losing. More of the same followed. Overall possession was equal, but Windham couldn't get anything going inside 25 yards while DEA took chance upon chance at goal. The halftime whistle blew with DEA confident, but still losing. Second half was a virtual mirror of the first, except DEA clearly held more of the possession. 75% of the action was in the Windham third, located just off Runway 8. Willie Mungere just missed a header. Jerrold elevated only to push his header wide. Marco Koolman's clear look was saved. Barry's drive went wide. Mungere's in clear attempt was saved. One could go on and on. With 15 minutes left, Corlton found himself clear. As he approached Flo, the wet grass got the better of Flo and he slipped to the pitch. He surely deserved better for his fine efforts today, but that's the game we play. Corlton corkscrewed Cloutier into the pitch before popping it into the vacated net. Cliney almost got back to clear it off the line, but on this day DEA was not getting any breaks. More DEA chances ensued, and all were missed. Dissention in the ranks followed. How could we possibly be upset out there? Looking back, other than finishing better it is hard to say what DEA could have done differently on this day. Credit must go to the Windham keeper, who was just pulling some serious saves out of his rear. So, that's the final. DEA played a great game against a solid team, and got shut out. Tough to take. Look for DEA to get back on the winning track next week in Melrose. This field uses Field Turf, so gear yourselves accordingly. Also, look for some directions to follow as this field is a tough one to get to.

DEA would have to struggle to win this match over Ipswich, 2-1 in the 85th minute. Although DEA controlled 75% of the possession, it would go down to the wire for the victory. DEA showed up with only 11 of their travel squad to start the game on the Mile Lane pitch, which was in very good condition except that it was not clearly lined. Lucas would get the nod and take control in the net as he once again made his trek up from Connecticut with fan of the year nominee, Heather. DEA would start smart with the 11 players they had. Kurt Engelhardt would show up a bit into the game to give Bedford a sub. It would be Ipswich who would come out strong to start the match sending a few long balls through to test the DEA defense. The DEA defense would play exceptionally well throughout this game lead by Chris Florek at the sweeper position. At about the 10 minute mark, DEA would turn things around and start to maintain possession. DEA would miss a couple of chances and decided that they should test the stand in keeper for Ipswich. Chris Laberge, who would put in a very strong effort at Central mid, would start things going as he would find Barry Fitzgerald on the outside. Barry would neatly flick the ball on to, DEA scoring leader, Willy Mungere. Willy would beat a defender and dribble across the 18 yard line and take an outside of the foot shot that found all net. DEA was up 1-0 and looking for more. Laberge and Peter Cline, also strong in the midfield would both get good opportunities, but would miss the target. Things got a bit physical all around the pitch as Ipswich was determined to equalize. Willy would be taken down hard in the Ipswich end and Dale would retaliate with a hard slide tackle in the DEA end. Kurt would then go up for a head ball on a corner kick and collide with the Ipswich defender who took serious exception to this. The Mexican blood would boil and he came out swinging. I don't really know what he expected to do with Kurt. But anyway, he would sit down on the sideline to cool off a bit. Ipsich would then send their striker in hard with a long through ball. Flo would battle for the ball on the left side of the goal and get called for a foul just inside the box, as the Ipswich striker would hit the ground. A very shitty call that resulted in a PK. Ipswich would score on the PK, which put Flo over the deep end. The half would end 1-1 but DEA was clearly in control. The second half would be all DEA at the start. They were determined to test the shaky Ipswich keeper but the crosses and head balls seemed to keep sailing over the bar. Lucas would need to make some good saves to keep the score leveled on the DEA end. DEA had the ball pinned in the Ipswich end, winning all of the head balls down the center on the goal kicks. Willy would get a great chance and hammer a rocket towards the goal. Somehow the Ipswich keeper got an outstretched arm on the ball and deflected it over the bar. The DEA offense would continue to pressure and Willy would be taken down in the area. Another weak, possible make up call, from the referee that would result in a DEA PK this time. Willy would go to the stripe. This was sure to put Willy at his two goals per game quota set out in his contract. But, Willy being the sport that he is, decided to pass the ball to the keeper on the PK instead of taking the easy goal. The score would remain knotted as the clock was winding down. Finally, in the 85th minute Ipswich would commit a foul about 25 yards out to the left side side of the goal. Barry Fitzgerald sized up the wall in front of him. Barry hit a perfect bender between two in the wall that would catch the inside of the left post and into the net for the game winner. DEA would put 5 men behind the ball for the remaining 5 minutes and walk away with the important road victory. A great effort by all that showed up for DEA. DEA has upped its record to 3-0-0 and heads into a tough match with long time rival Windham at home this coming Sunday. The game has been moved to the Joppa Hill Fields due to football at Sportsmans. Game time is at 8:30 AM.