Orangemen Victorious!

Hetalia Fandom - Katsucon 19

A very cold Saturday for the 19th Annual Katsucon being hosted at the Gaylord Hotel at the National Harbor...where Mooch ran into Orangemen Scott R in the Dealer’s room.  Scott will return to Orangemen play when his foot fully heals.  Scott hasn’t played since the summer and whereas he has read about  our 2 flat in the back system..it will be interesting to see him play in that formation.  

At 3 pm Mooch left from the Katsucon to get to the game in Herndon as snow and sleet began falling all round...he worried that the game might be called if it didn’t let up.  By the time he reached Fairfax it was dry...but still cold and it looked that it would hover right around 34 degrees at game time. 

Let’s cut right to the chase...the Orangemen defeated the Turtles in a 3-1 victory that further defines the 2 flat in the back formation as one we should play in the future...at a minimum begin the games until we have settled in and understand what we are facing.  As we prepare to face the Vienna Metros this Saturday, this formation will be key as the Metro’s crushed us last December 9th scoring 10, unanswered goals and prompting much consternation among the team as to the Orangemen future.    The Metro’s game this weekend will be a true test of our the Orangmen Meddle and hopefully we can rally around our latest success and redeem ourselves as footballers in some small way.

Onto the game.  Our first game goal came from a spectacular move Emile made inside the goal box.  He settled the ball, side stepped a tackle and adroitly slotted the ball with the outside of his right foot to beat a sliding Jeff H, the spectacular Turtle's Keeper.  It was a magically goal which the keeper decided to call back due to his belief that Emile was in an offsides position when he first received the ball.  This was a questionable call since there were so many jammed into the goal box...but the good news is that Emile was on target.  Mooch forced Emile to take warm-up shots on goal this game...since his only problem recently has been his finishing accuracy...

Although the goal called back the Orangemen we nevertheless lifted by the attempt.  Within minutes they were putting pressure on the Turtles.  Louis, a guest player for the Orangemen who Tedd recruited off the Pentagon squad joined us for the game.  After his performance we are thinking about putting him on contract. Louis lifted the ball over the defense and Emile, using his long legs, ran onto the end of it.  The play was almost identical to his previous run.  This time he was a few yards further out, but the motions were the same.  He controlled the ball, beat the first defender, and using the outside of his right foot, slotted the ball past the same keeper sliding out of the goal again.  This time Emile was judged to be onside so the goal countered.  The Orangemen we up 1 - 0.

Play continued with the Orangemen controlling the ball and passing extremely well.  We were stringing three and four passes together before losing possession.  And most of the time we lost possession was when we played it forward for an attack. 

With two flat in the back our defense was solid.  Doug and Mauricio were running down most of the leakers, with Karl, Alfredo, and Chris B breaking up  the play before it could progress smoothly.  The Turtles #32 play a ball forward to his winger.  Chris B closed him down.  The winger tried to beat Chris on the outside and the ball rolled over the sideline.  Chris raised his hand because the ball was six inches or more over the sideline, Mooch raised his hand as well.  The the winger actually slowed his run.  #32 for the Turtles, clearly in a position to see the ball cross over the sideline, screamed for the winger to “keep going”.  I say he was in a clear position because he was forward of my position and I saw it clearly.  The referee, however was further behind the play and didn’t blow his whistle.   In fact, if anyone was paying attention, this ref rarely blows his whistle.  He is one of the better refs in the league and can always be counted on to keep control of a game.  When the ball rolls out of bounds, or over the end line, you pick the ball up and look in his direction, and he indicates which way play should continue.  He typically only blows his whistle for fouls or close calls.  Whereas I can’t speak for him in this instance, he definitely believes in the sportsmanship of the players in this league.  And aside from this instance, we saw at least 2 or 3 times during the game when a player called the ball out on himself.

This is sportsmanship and if you play with the Orangemen, I expect this to continue, we have been spectacular in this regard, almost to a fault.  This doesn't mean if you are “uncertain” but you felt the ball connected with you, but the ref is calling the play in your favor, do you need to give it up.  This means if you are “certain” you played the ball out of bounds, give it up.  Uncertainty doesn't mean you are unsportsmanlike...it means you are uncertain.  At that point let the ref make the call and back out of the controversy...either way.  Then play on, regardless of the call.  I was proud when this happened on the field.  I was disgusted that #32 fooled the ref and actually coached his teammate to play on.  The League Sportsmanship Summit is next week, and whereas I will not bring up this specific incident, I will be bringing up this type of behavior.  And not so much that individual acts of deception may be a part of the game, outright dishonesty leads directly to confrontation and fights on the field.  That is what has to be avoided.

What happened after the bad call is that the Turtles got the ball into the box and after what looked like field justice, the ball bounced off the post, twice and then Kendall (a former Orangeman) was able to get a head on it and put it away. That goal tied us up 1 a piece at the half.  This was particularly frustrating because we were playing so well.  Maurico must have observed the disgust on my face during half-time  because I was feeling in my bones we could win this match but had been victimized by a bad call once and then flagrant cheating.   Mauricio approached me and said, we can still win this game.  And you know what?  He was right.  And then when I saw the Turtle's #1 keeper Jeff H) take up a field position to start the 2nd half, I knew we had an even better chance.  We had the right side, the right system and the right energy.

We continued our possession play and it seemed like a matter of time before we would convert.  Several opportunities presented and went wanting...including Emile shooting wide on an guaranteed goal.  Now it looks like I will not let Emile rest at half-time...instead he will be using the half-time to take more shots on goal...I say this but Emile is play wonderfully, dishing out a ton of energy and making countless runs forward.  It will not take him long to be our leading striker and perhaps in a few years, the Orangmen's all time leading scorer.  Based on the opportunities he creates, 6,7,8 a game his score tally will sky rocket soon.  

We didn’t have to wait long after this to  go ahead.  With Tedd and Louis commanding the midfield we attacked from the right.  The ball was played into Mooch when he was standing with space at the top of the penalty area.  Mooch turned on the ball and the defense collapsed behind him to block the sure shot that was coming in.  Instead Mooch played a diagonal across the top of the box to an on running Chuck from the left.  The right full back had left his position to protect the back of the goal leaving acres for space for Chuck to work with.  Mooch expected Chuck to blast the ball past the keeper, but instead he took a step to the right as the keeper went to ground.  Mooch thought it was a mistake as it gave the defense a chance to close him quickly, but Chuck remained composed, didn’t panic, and finished the ball straight into the net before the defense arrived.  A classy goal and Chuck’s second classy goal in as many games.

Our third and final goal came from our new player Louis.  Louis seem ansty to shoot most of the game...and kept his head up looking for opportunities when he was near the box.  Late in the second half he lifted his head, observed that he had yards of space outside the right side of the penalty area.  He played the ball to his left, ran onto it, and struck a hard bending ball with ihs left foot into the top right corner of the net.  He was 3 or 4 yards outside the penalty area when he connected...and the ball stayed flat as he hit it very hard.  We seldom see as quality of a strike at that on in our Grey Division.   So Louis just increased the money we will offer him...as of yet I today I haven’t heard from his agent...

All in all it was a terrific match...and the Orangemen should take great pride in this match.  It shows we deserve to play in the over thirty division...even though our team average age is well into the forties these days....closer to the fifty side  of it.