Orangemen and Turtles Draw 3 - 3 in a Classic Late Night Skirmish

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Well written by Gooch--

Thirteen players gathered for the game well before 9pm allowing plenty of time for warm-ups. The Turtles only had 10 at kick-off, so Scott Fearing graciously agreed to play for their side. Within 5 minutes of game start, a visiting Peter took off on an uncharacteristically fast sprint up the left flank and very characteristically yelled for the midfield to “send it over the top”. Gooch smacked a high, long lob from behind the halfway line thinking: “OK, Peter, let’s see if your legs are as fast as your mouth.” As the ball landed with a backspin at the Turtle’s 18, Peter streaked passed everyone and gave the Orangemen an early lead. It was a nice goal and a nice start.

Within 15 minutes, the Turtles gathered full numbers plus two subs (returning Scott Fearing to Orange).  One of their late arrivals was a 19-year-old wearing the traditional Center-Forward’s #9 and playing with punishing skill and speed.  The Turtles had another young ball-handler, #10, as well as two or three other decent supporting mid-fielders.  The Orangemen defense featured Danni at left back, Jan and Gooch in center, Chris on right and Scott as sweeper.  Jan put in a full 90 minutes of total soccer – as usual, he dominated from touchline to touchline and goal-line to goal-line.  Gooch stayed back as a more traditional Stopper to delay the center action until Jan could recover to the backfield.  This worked for the first 25 minutes of play until Gooch was sent off with a yellow card for “playing through” the other players.  There were no worries among the Orangemen as Chuck was waiting to sub in.  Chris also subbed for Scott Fearing and Ann replaced Danni.  Shortly after the change of line-up, the Turtles struck with a fast-break-in-masse and leveled the score at 1-1. 

Scott took charge of the defense and organized a system that proved to be effective ensuring at least one Stopper stayed back to mark #9 leaving Scott free to sweep as a backup for the two outside backs.  With Karl watching from the touchline in street clothes (injury rest), it was a reminder of his expert technique at outside back.   If you play defense and are wondering how our system works, please consider Karl’s example.  While Karl has lost the speed of his youth, he is a great defender because he reads the game and puts himself in perfect position 90% of time.  If Karl is beaten, he is beaten to the outside and he recovers goal side – this forces the attacker to take a wide angle around him.  The attacker must also push the ball further from his feet to allow a sprint between dribble touches, thus allowing a speedy sweeper (Scott or Jan) to swoop in on the ball and control/clear out of danger.  Karl also rarely stabs at the ball in an attempt to ‘pressure the ball’ – he stands-attackers up, delays, and he forces the attacker to make a mistake. This is the essence of team defense and works with slower outside backs supported by a strong center.  This is an important component with our defensive formation and it makes good use of our personnel.

With Scott’s leadership, the defense organized and played a solid game.  Scott played a masterful game and showed quickness, skill, and superior decisions distributing the ball from midfield.  The entire Orangemen team usually communicated well – who is attacking, who is supporting, calls for passes square/line/18, etc..  One note here: if you want to call teammate off an incoming ball, call your own name.  Example “Ben’s in”.  That’s clear, concise and leaves no doubt the Ben is taking the ball.  Silence means you expect your teammate to take it.  For example: Center-mids (Ted/Ben), by design, will try to take every ball (including those close to your foot) unless you call your own name.  Please avoid saying “Mine” because that could be an opponent calling for it.  So this adds credence to Mooch’s admonishment to arrive early so that we can learn each-others names.  Another note about communication: last night there was some inter-Orangemen verbal blaming – “Defense you’ve got to take the ball away!” “Offense you need to finish your shots!” Really? Who is this helping?  If you don’t know the difference between constructive and destructive criticism, just shut up and play soccer. 

Back to the action. Our mid-fielders and attackers dominated possession.  Kendall and Ted worked well together with Alfredo and created many scoring opportunities.  When we settled into our game of short, smart passes; give-and-goes; hard runs off the ball to win in open space; etc. we produced excellent results.  Our second goal came from a combination of these techniques with Kendall and Alfredo dissecting the Turtles and setting Ted up for a strong shot to finish (2-1 Orangemen).

The Turtles second goal came from a well-stuck corner landing at the feet of #9 who blasted a powerful worm-burner into the right side netting from the 18.  This takes nothing away from Chris’s performance minding the net in place of Gene (we hope to see return).  Chris made two great saves, charged out to disrupt 4-6 goal-scoring breaks, and his punts thundered past the halfway line every time.  His goal kicks improved from last week and Jan and Chuck provided some pointers to assist with his accuracy.

The Orangemen missed two empty net, point-blank scoring opportunities and dominated possession time throughout the game.  A highlight of our attacking game was our wingers’ (Kendall and Alfredo) technique of maintaining possession wide, drawing the defense out.  Orangemen ran well to support our flank attacks (Jan, Scott Fearing, Scott, others) and there was always a triangle with opportunities to quickly connect Orangemen and work the ball into the center (under control) and present scoring opportunities.  With 15 minutes remaining, the Turtles pulled ahead after a through-ball to #9 resulted in a 1-on-1 situation with GK Chris.  Chris came off his line to challenge and did all he could to stop the inevitable (3-2 Turtles).

The Orangemen attacked hard in the last few minutes throwing alternating defenders into the fray.  With time running out Scott stepped up and took a throw-in from the right touchline.  Scott launched a rocket throw to the center while Ted made an excellent diagonal run and directed a wonderful header over the keeper’s outstretched right glove and into the net for the tying score.  The score ended 3-3, the Orangemen played well, and will improve with the return of a few key regulars in the lineup.

Any Orangeman who sincerely cares about broadening his knowledge base may find interest in the word directly from FIFA’s Laws of the Game.  Did you know there are only 17 Laws governing our beautiful game?  Law 11 deals with “offside” - please note “offsides” is incorrect terminology revealing ignorance and overexposure to Monday Night Football commentators.  Page 102 expands on the offside position definition with descriptions such as any part of the body (except arms) extending past the second-last defender.  Law 9: The ball in and out of play – the lines are part of the field; therefore, the whole ball must be over the whole line – a ball on the line is in play.  Law 12 discusses Fouls and Misconduct including a direct kick when a player “handles the ball deliberately” – not when the ball hits a player’s hand.   Page 113 expands on handling the ball to include “the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an infringement” and “the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)”.  Law 12 also states an in-direct kick is awarded when a player “impedes the progress of an opponent”.  Page 116 expands by describing how shielding is legal, but if the ball is within playing distance, the player “may be fairly charged by an opponent”.  Law 15 describes the throw-in and (as Jan correctly pointed-out last night) the Laws are silent about ‘spinning’ throw-ins – spinning does not matter.