Where the rain came from nobody knows. But at 8 pm last night, with the temperature dipping below the mid 70’s, the rain came down at Bryant Alternative School. At game time there was a brief respite as the doors and trunks in the parking lot opened up and players streamed onto the field, both sides dressed in Black and White. Not an orange shirt in sight. Where were the Orangemen? Turns out the 11 August Orangemen game was cancelled by FC Valpo so they would not have a chance to play. Not a good sign for the league as most teams in the Grey Division have been struggling with low numbers at every match. FC Valpo couldn’t overcome the player deficit and cancelled the match...since it would have been a home game for them they would have to pay for the Ref.
Undeterred by diminishing numbers, Michael Reles the manager of the Great Pretenders Soccer Club invited any members of the Orangemen who wanted to get a match in on Saturday night to play with them. This is the Great Pretender’s forth season and Michael is confident that his numbers will climb. Mooch was the only permanent team member to show for the match. Peter, one of our regular visitors also ventured down from Maryland to play, although he has a track record for visiting a few teams in the Grey Division, having started in this league with Michael back on the Chantilly Casuals some 15+ years ago. But let’s get onto the game...
After deciding that Mt Vernon would wear white and the Pretenders would wear Black we took to the Pitch...with Peter opting to play for Mt. Vernon since the Pretenders were already at full strength. Mooch started at left half-back with the team manager, doing something the current Orangemen manager would never do, start at Keeper. Already getting soggy feet from the initial downpour the ref blew the whistle and the game was on.
The Pretenders started with a 3,3,4 as did Mt Vernon. Since the field and ball were soaking wet the game was fast with the ball slipping and sliding at lighting speed. The Pretenders controlled the ball well for the first twenty minutes having run after run up the field, but losing possession of the ball near the box due to the difficulty controlling the ball. Mt Vernon was unable to penetrate for most of that time. After the first 20 minutes however the rain couldn’t hold and began dumping on the park. The rain immediately saturated the field an slowed the pace of the game, it also reduced visibility and in Mooch’s case, streaming into his eyes, played havoc with his contact lens. By the end of the first half the teams moved to the sidelines still scoreless.
Stepping off the field in the pouring rain, Peter suggested to the Ref that we don’t take a full half time and return to the field to keep playing. Both teams agreed, second half substitutions were made and we were back on the pitch. Standing on the sidelines in the pouring rain, Mooch was getting a chill...everybody was soaked to the bone and the only warm place was to be out playing. Michael stopped playing keeper and an new Pretenders keeper took charge between the sticks.
Before Mooch was subbed back in however, Mt Vernon had their first break through as as a result of a Penalty Kick. A Mt Vernon striker ran into the box and played the ball past the Pretenders, long bearded sweeper. The sweeper reached out for the ball and the Mt Vernon player caught the leg going down. Appeals to the ref for blatant diving went out but the Ref held his ground immediately warning the PK. The Mt Vernon striker didn’t miss. The score was 1 - 0. Undeterred the Pretenders continued to pressure. Boths sides were passing well, despite the torrential rain, with most of the play happening in the mid-field. Building from the back a Pretender’s mid-fielder collected the ball on the left side of the pitch, switched fields, and made a run forward. An opportunity was building and as he received the ball back near the top right of Mt Vernon’s penalty area, made a great shot which stretched the back of the net. The score was tied. The game continued with both sides in even possession of the ball but seemingly balanced. Mt. Vernon would begin to see more and more of the ball and their shots became more frequent. The new keeper for the Pretenders made two spectacular saves to keep them in the match, one where he was off his line and had to run backwards and jump to tip the ball over the goal. Finally, however, Mt Vernon made their breakthrough and it came on a corner kick. The ball came in low crossing from right to left. The largest member of Mt. Vernon’s team, who looked very similar to the Brazilian “Hulk” leaped into the air over top of the ball playing it between his legs with his heel of right boot crossing up behind him to connect with the ball and loop it over the keeper into the top right corner of the net. It was an amazing goal and the stage for a Mt. Vernon win...as with less than 10 minutes to play the score was now 2-1.
Undeterred the Pretender’s kept the pressure one and the rain began to subside. With less than five minutes to go a substitution was made. After the substitution the ref whistled for the throw-in to continue but Mt Vernon still had 12 men on the pitch. The Pretender’s had the break, so the Ref allowed the play to continue with several members of Mt Vernon screaming at the ref that they still had 12 men on the pitch. The Pretender’s took advantage of the confusion and scored their second goal tying the match with less than a minute to go. Mt Vernon appealed to the ref that he should have stopped the match but since the 12th man was to their advantage he didn’t stop the play and allowed the goal to stand.
In the final minute there was an injury which took the game past full time. However the ref, in a very uncharacteristic move, allowed for the game to continue into injury time. I can only believe he was having as much fun as we were in the game. With three minutes extra to play the Pretenders continued their nervous attacks. Mooch was playing right half back. The break came on the left side of the field with almost every Pretender moving forward to follow the break. Open on the right Mooch ran to the top of the Box and the ball was played diagonally across to him. He then did something he has absolutely no recollection of and made 10 miles of space for himself in the box. He knew the ball was out from under his feet and he had another 10 minutes to size up the strike to connect cleanly with the ball. He hit it hard and low, but straight at the keeper. The keeper brought his hands together and could only deflect the ball down and back straight into the penalty area with an Pretenders forward ready to pounce and finish the ball past the Mt Vernon keeper. The Pretenders were now ahead, 2-3. Thirty seconds later the game was over with the Pretenders winning in the rain. After the match Mooch told Peter he picked the wrong team. The Orangmen should look forward to playing both of these teams later in the season. Mt Vernon hosts the Orangemen on 24 Nov, the last game of the season at Bryant with the Pretender’s hosting the Orangemen earlier in the season on 13 October at Braddock Park. Thank you Michael for offering the Orangemen the opportunity to play on your team.
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