Even with a few minutes of sub time, both Dave and Karl still really had and amazingly full game. Dave had an enormous number of touches on the ball, and by the expression on his face, Dave really enjoyed the match. Karl was able to spend some time forward, and as always, got on the end of a few balls, put some crosses in, and had a shot on goal. All this with a tweaked groin...
I’ve very proud of how the defense played...considering that our 1st team line-up failed to materialize. Rumor has it at least one of them was at some black tie affair call the JAG Ball...whatever that means. Our starting defense consisted of Gooch and Greg sweeping, with Karl on the right, Chris B on the left, and Chuck playing the central stopper ahead of Gooch and Greg. The formation was so effective they Gooch and Greg were sweeping at midfield. This, generally speaking, I would advise against. Sweepers sweep. It’s hard to sweep from the attacking half of the field. Regardless, by playing that high, we were able to put incredible pressure on the midfield and it paid off. We did get punished on two breakaways, as with the young sons of several of their fathers, their speed on the break was hard to cope with.
I was also proud of how our defense insisted on honesty in the box, calling the ball out on themselves if they were the last to touch the ball. That sets a good example and whereas the favor might not always be returned one for one, occasionally it is. And it was returned in our game last night.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Mooch is not proud of his on field behavior, particularly when he went on a cursing spree at a Herdon defender for coming in hard and inadvertently smashing his foot. While the defender was trying to apologize Mooch was letting fly with a long chain of expletives that would make a sailor blush. I’m pretty sure he got the F-bomb in quickly followed by the A word, etc. The ref called him out on it and told him to calm down and to set the example since he was the coach. Fabulous words, but Mooch continued to back-talk to the ref. Although he was awarded the foul, in hindsight, he should have been shown a yellow card for the foul language and the back talking. I sincerely apologize to both teams for my R-rated outburst.
With regard to the game proper...it was hard to count goals...I think the final was 3 to 6/7. But the score wasn’t important last night. The fact that we were able to hold well and counter attack successfully made it all worth the effort.
After Herndon scored first, off a fluke that ricocheted of Goochs cranium to beat Kendall high and to the left, nothing he could do about it, it felt like the Herndon pressure might get the better of us. But then up top Dave played a through ball straight up the middle to Ben. Then Ben made a spectacular run up the field beating 3 defenders with his speed to score unassisted. A Herndon player was overheard shouting out to his defense to warn them that Ben was fast...just as Ben touched the ball past the last defender and ran onto it ahead of the keeper. It was a fabulous goal and signalled the Orangemen would not go quietly into the night but rather, were there to play.
Herndon scored the next two goals on breakaways from midfield. With the sweepers taking the highest line in soccer...midfield...once the counter attacking ball was played through it was impossible to recover and that left our keeper in 1 v 1 situations a number of time. Kendall came up big and was able to advance off his line and recover the ball several times. But at least two times in the first half Herndon was able to stretch the net on these breakaways. Even Greg’s speed recovering was not enough to overcome the speed of some of the younger Herndon attackers. One word of advice to Greg, although he played exceptionally well for a very inexperienced player, if you get your foot on the ball, give it a ride. Several times you actually beat the defender to the ball, got your foot on it as if you were going to control it, but the more experienced attacker was able to play off of your touch and continue is run. If you can get your foot to it, better to end the attack and put your foot through it, rather than trying to do something fancy to beat the player. Although later in the second half, you did pull a fast one on the same attacker, and reversed the ball, turned, and came running up the field with it. I over heard the striker commending you for the move. It was a good move...just keep in mind...safety first.
The score was 1 - 3 at halftime. We asked for Herndon to provide us a sub, and they obliged...thanks again. We pulled Kendall from the net and Anne graciously agree to play keeper during the second half for us. The decision was made with a clear conscious that the game was already out of reach for us, and if we wanted to mount more attacks, Kendall’s speed up top would complement Ben’s. As it turns out, this played out correctly. Kendall immediately made a difference up front. We were able to work the ball through on several very sweet combinations. Numerous players got into the attack with shots coming from Tedd, Kendall, Ben, Karl, Mooch, and even Chuck who was stopping made a fabulous run into the box. Kendall saw the run and played a delicious ball into him. The ball was almost too good as it hit Chuck in the laces...alas he was unable to finish.
Kendall however, scored twice, making a scorching run up the left side of the field and running onto a ball played over the top by either Tedd or Ben, finished. And then on a break away as the ball was played through the defense and slowed it roll near the top of the box, Mooch was sprinting after it and the Herndon keeper had yet to realize the danger and was slow leaving his line. Kendall saw the opportunity and also pursued the ball. Kendall easily outpaced Mooch and called him off. He arrived yards ahead of the keeper, opened his body and drove a hard shot to the keepers left. The power on the ball gave the keeper no chance and ball glanced off the keepers foot without a change in direction. Kendall was now on a hat trick.
As the game progressed, Herndon continued to have fast breaks and shoot on Anne in our goal. I don’t remember how many we allowed during the second half, but at least two were low, and hard shots, that kissed the left goal post on their way in. Anne dove for those balls committing her body to the ground and just a fingertip out of reach. Those shots had a little bit of luck on their side...and inch left and it would have been post. And inch right and Anne would have had a mitt on it. As a third shot, very similar, did come in and Anne dove again and was able to deflect it wide. Fabulous play from her and we appreciate her taking a turn in the net.
Didn’t know for sure but Herndon had at least 2 maybe three father/son pairings on the field, which is always good to see. For the Orangemen, Mikey returns to play with his dad Jan for the Summer starting next week.
I’m going to give Kendall Orangeman of the Match honors for playing in goal during the first half, a position he will no doubt see more often, and for his two goals as an attacker during the second half. Now I’m going to figure out how to move around more today...none of my joints seem to work this morning.
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