Orangemen vs Alanzia -- Practice Makes Perfect

Although we came up short against Alanzia last Saturday by a score of 1 to 5, it was still a well played match. Tommy scored off a cross from Alfredo that Mooch decided not to touch as it was played into the eighteen.  As the ball swung in the defender didn’t have the reflexes to react and it dropped to Tommy’s feet.  He finished with a low and hard shot that the keeper reacted to and got a mitt on it but not sufficient change the the route of the ball.

Tedd, was coming up with multiple opportunities to score with both his left and right foot.  Alas, it was one of those days for him where the ball just wasn’t going into the net.  On a different day Tedd would have tallied 5 or 6 goals.

Mooch had a great opportunity when the a defender cleared the ball straight to him.  As the keeper scrambled out Mooch tried to lift it over his head and miss kicked it.  The result however took the ball away from the keeper and afforded Mooch another shot at an open goal.  This time he tried the strike the ball from the top of the 18, hard, straight, and on target.  The kick that resulted was soft and wide of the goal a very disappointing shot indeed.

Late in the game Maurcio had a similar great opportunity to score when the ball squirted out from deflected poor clearance from their keeper onto his foot as he advanced just outside the top of the box.  His shot went high and wide.

Karl introduced us to Matt for his first game out with the Orangemen.  Matt brought an entire cheering section, his family, to our game.  One might say they’ve been Orangemen fans for their entire lives based on the abundance of orange they were wearing.  Strangely, most of the Orangemen attire they were wearing was adorned with a strange symbol in the appearance of an orange UT.  We may never know what that means or where the orange clothing originated..  However, Matt fit in well and demonstrated he has some prior training in this sport, could the strange symbol UT have had anything to do with it?  Any how, he elevated our game and we hope he decides to return.

We also had another visitor last night...Steve Harris...who we can hardly say is a visitor because he played for decades on the Orangemen...except he hasn't been out in over a decade.  

As always, Kendall’s speed up top was effective at relieving the pressure on the midfield and back although he was unable to find the net on this night.

Alanzia goals came early and resulted from us playing too high a line -- we didn’t anticipate the speed of some of their forwards and paid the price early on.  As we adapted to their speed they were less effective and allowed us to level off their attacks.

At have time we changed keepers...Chris made some great saves... and then he started to dial in his punting foot...we still don’t know how to get on the end of them but they are traveling, and length and height of his kicks amaze our competition.  I think if Chris can dial back to 95% when he connects with the ball he will still get the great distance but with more control.  He seems to put every ounce of adrenaline through each ball.

In addition to Matt’s family we had young Orangemen show up from a number of different families...which reminds me we should probably start planning for a family event.  I’ll wait and see what our field status begins to look like into Aug and Sept...hopefully we will not be playing these ridiculous 9 pm matches.

We had  20 players show up...once again I’ll make an appeal to check the invite and respond accordingly.    I’m paying close attention to the lineup as well as trying to accommodate the requests to bring visitors.  I try to invite visitors on light days.  Also, if you are on the bubble for a certain match...check the numbers and if we are heavy...that might be a good night to give something back to your family.

Although we were at 20 on the bench, Jim Land Danni opted not to play, which helped.  18 is really the upper end of trying to play a coherent match and make reasonable substitutions.  But once again, there was evidence that somehow substitutions magically happen.  Do not come off the field unless you know who’s replacing you.  At the start of the second half we had eight players take the pitch.  So three came off without being told to come off and without knowing who was replacing them.

So, as always, here are some Orangemen, policies.  I’ll call them philosophies because they are not really policies, rather they are what’s going on in my head as I try to make sense of the masses.

With high numbers showing at the start of the match, the only fair way to start the game is by having the first 11 to the field start the match.  Sometimes this is hard to figure out.  And I like to make the following modification.  The first 11 I see ready to start the match.  That means dressed out, shin pads and shoes on, warming up out on the pitch.  Sitting in your car trying to stay warm or out of the rain doesn’t count.  Jawing with your girl friend on your cell phone doesn’t count.   Taking a natural break in the woods doesn’t count either.  About the only thing that counts is being out field fully dressed.  

That kind of leads us to policy number two with regard to the game itself.  If you want to be substituted into the match be dressed, with shoes and shin guards on, and be standing on the sideline ready to come in.  Wandering around someplace else doesn’t help...if I can’t see you, or not see that you are ready to play, I have to assume the opposite.  Out of sight out of mind.  

And finally, as previously mentioned, keep playing unless you sub out intentionally during a substitution or I tell to have a seat at half-time.  Don’t just step off the field until I talk with you.

OK last thing.  If  you don’t think practice helps, I hope everyone was watching as Greg put on a clinic for the Alanzia defense.  He comes to the Wednesday practices and it is showing with his ball control.  He had an incredible run up the left side of the field.  The ball came out to him on the wing.  He trapped the ball and waited for the defender to dive in.  He cut the ball left and beat his defender on the outside.  He ran onto his own ball stopped it and cut outside shielding the ball from another full-back.  He reversed direction of his run still in control of the ball.  He got his head up and looked inside and passed a diagonal ball to a player in  orange.  It was a wonderful 5 seconds or so.  It required at least 5 touches before the pass all of which had to be perfect, and they were.  So I’m awarding Greg Man-of the Match honors this week for his marked improvement.

Orangemen vs Great Pretenders - Right on the Money

The Great Pretender’s lived up to their name last evening as our secret witnesses observed them recruiting multiple players from the pick-up match that preceded our game.  Concerns were raised, Mooch waived most of them off as we had fielded a good side, the night was spectacular, and if a team is down that many players he would rather play the match then get into a short sided game, or worse, have to cancel the match, particularly when we are obliged to pay the ref.  Mooch, however, will take the matter up with Michael R their manager, to let him know it’s better to disclose their intentions in advance rather and to try to be sneaky about it, even though Mooch himself walked onto the Pretender’s as a “Visitor” in August last year and had a great match vs Mt Vernon. Here is the post from that came.

http://nvaorangemen.blogspot.com/2012/08/great-pretenders-vs-mt-vernon-11-aug.html. 

We also played the Pretender’s in Jan of this year...that was the game where 24 Orangemen turned up.

  

http://nvaorangemen.blogspot.com/2013/01/spring-in-janurary-orangemen-vs-great.html

And prior to that we played the Pretender’s in October last year, which just happened to the be the game Mooch took the line-drive to his eyeball.  Gooch handled the blog post.

http://nvaorangemen.blogspot.com/2012/10/due-to-my-premature-departure-from.html

To their great credit, however the Pretender’s opted to enforce the no-slide tackle rule, not so much to prevent themselves from being taken out by sliding Orangemen, but to keep their own side, with their multiple “Visitors” in check.  Mooch recognized this immediately and immediately agreed with the suggestion at the center circle.

Final score, Orangemen 5, Great Pretenders 5.  Almost everyone on the pitch would agree, it was a spectacular game, right on the money in terms of fun and competition.  It is hard not to have fun when there is so much action going on.  Everyone played their heart out.  We generated offense, midfield, and a scrambling but effective defense.  Dougie returned to D for the first time in many months. He was joined by Jan, Mikie, Karl, and with Maurico, Alfredo, and Chris taking turns in the back.

The game waged back and forth with most of the advantage going to the Pretenders in the first half...which put a lot of pressure on our Defense.  The boys did well enough to contain the damage to 2 goals at the half.  We stayed in it because our first break came off a corner kick to which Tedd didn’t respond to the corner in his typical timely fashion.  Before we could sort it out Chris, of all players, was placing the ball down as if he was going to have a go at the corner kick. A hue and cry went up the field questioning the selection however the criticism was short lived as  Ben scored off the kick that came in.  Chris toe poked a lofty duck, that stayed straight and dropped right into the center of the box.  After the brief melee the ball popped up nicely for Ben to slam into the net at close range.

We ended the half at 1 to 2...still well in the match considering the pressure they were putting us under particularly with their 20 something’s considerable skill and speed.  The Pretenders could outpace us to every single ball.  The only way we could stay in possession was to keep our traps clean and close, and then keep the passes moving.

As the second half started the Pretenders were able to score first taking them to 3.  The potential for the came to move out of reach was real.  However we pulled another one back when Peter scored from another corner kick.  Very similar to our first goal, this time delivered from our veteran corner taker Tedd.  Another melee, but this time Peter got his long leg and size 13 shoe onto it for another close in finish.  The set pieces were working for us. The score was now 2 to 3.  The Pretenders scored again, this time off of a beautifully played series of passing down our right flank.  They passed through our defense and going deep almost into the corner, than bringing the ball back out to the 18 where one of the Pretender’s strikers hit the cover off the ball, placing a line drive through the defense, and into the net.  Our keeper didn’t have a chance to react.  That took the score to 2 to 4. and their was a brief bit of confusion at the center circle as to the actual score.  The ref said 2 to 5, Mooch went over and told him, oh no, the score was 2 to 4 and the ref agreed

Other goals of note include Alfredo scoring during the run of play off a lofty cross from Kendall.  The keeper came out but Alfredo beat him to the ball and lifted it over his head and into the goal. Kendall continued his run and headed the bounce ball further into the net, but the ball had crossed the line before Kendall made contact, therefore the goal stands as Alfredo with Kendall earning the assist.  We were now within one of a tie at 3 to 4.  The Pretender’s were not finished scoring either.  And were able to capitalize on a short sided defense when they caught us on a quick break away.  We were still two goals behind as the score advanced to 3 to 5.

But Orange kept their heart in it and the pressure on.  Our next goal came from Tedd as he scored from the top of the box, with Alfredo once again getting involved.  Alfredo approached deep on the right, got into trouble and then pulled the ball back to Mooch standing on the 18.  Tedd was shouting from his left and Mooch had time to get the lateral pass to him, which he knew if Tedd could connect with his left foot it was a higher probability shot then one he could take as Pretender’s were throwing their bodies in front of him to block the shot.  Mooch moved the ball to his left and punched it laterally with the outside of this left foot.  He gave Tedd a bouncing ball, but it was straight. Tedd pulled the trigger placing the ball into the upper right corner of the net, the Pretender’s keeper had no chance.  The score was 4 to 5.

With 10 minutes remaining, Peter made a run up the left side of the pitch and he had options running into the box.  He could cross it into the box or pull it back to the 18 for a marauding Ben.  He chose the later,  The ball stayed low and as it crossed into the center, Ben hit’s it with his instep curling into the top right corner of the net. After that there were only 5 minutes left in the match, Karl and Gene entered the game to provide closing minute defense.  The Pretender’s made a last minute scramble to win the game but the Orangemen defense held and we finished with a tie.  The ref blew the whistle and indicated to Mooch with his two hands raised, final score, 5 to 5.  It was an awesome match.

Unfortunately, clouding the spectacular night, we had an issue with Orangemen getting upset by other Orangemen for criticizing their play.  First, all Orangemen need to toughen their skin, both to external and internal criticism for their own mistakes as well as to the necessity to comment on another player when they witness other players mistakes.  As previously stated, the only criticism I will  allow on the field from other players is to point out a passing option that was missed.  Criticism of a players ability, direct attacks on another player for failing to do something correctly, or generally being a verbal nuisance as in coaching everyone during every second prior to, during, and after each play is of no real use on our pitch and only annoys other players.  The Orangemen are a collection of players of many ages and skill levels trying to enjoy our beautiful game.  There is no room for criticism, only encouragement at our games.  We’ve taken great strides to clean up our interactions with the other teams players and of course with the referees, who tend to warrant angry words most often.  If we’ve cleaned up there, we can clean up in the other departments as well.  If a player is directly criticizing your action to the point where it is distracting you from your game, tell Mooch, no need to engage the offending player directly.  That only elevates tension, pulls everyone into the argument, and distracts everyone from the game at hand.  That said, some of our stronger players have been working with some of our weaker players off the pitch.  Coaching is not criticism if it is conducted with love.  It’s always appropriate to help a player learn new skills...but the best place for that is off the pitch.  No one is learning a new skill on the pitch, so that is not coaching.  One place where we are having great success learning in skills is at our pick up practice on Wednesday nights...still going and still very useful to get in a midweek run.

Back to the match...Ben, for his two goals, relentless use of the phrase, “Ben’s-In”, and not paying his  game fee with his name sake, a Benjamin Franklin, receives Man of the Match honors last evening.  5 to 5 Orangemen, we all should be hugely proud of that result.

Orangemen vs Sting vs the Blind Ref

The first of June brought our first really hot game of the year...91 degrees.  On grass, 4 pm versus the Sterling Sting. Traditionally the Orangemen wear black during this fixture and we kept the tradition alive, with Jimbo L, even snapping a picture of our team attire at half-time.  Thanks Jimbo, for taking the picture and bringing an umbrella to shield from dad from the sun, as he made a traditional appearance at the Loudon County field as well.

Adrian brought out his yellow bubble bee Sting, on the dry field, and held off the rain.  Loudon closes their field’s at the slightest hint of moisture,  so the result is almost like playing on the hard clay courts of the French Open, except with the dry grass, they are a little hairy.  We might as well be playing on concrete as that is how hard the Virginia clay can seem.  The balls of Mooch’s feet were on fire and it hurt to walk within few minutes on this field.  Those turf fields really spoil us...and make us weak.

As the manager’s discussed the rules of the game at the center circle they both agreed we would allow slide tackles during this match and because of the heat we would take water breaks.  The ref who turned out for the match was very organized and explained in detail how he expect the game to proceed...since he was only one man, without linesmen, he couldn’t see every play and was expecting us to be sportsman and call the out-of-bounds, etc.  This was clear foreshadowing of the game about to be played, since when he said he couldn’t see every play, what he meant was that he couldn’t see anything beyond about 10 yards.  This turned out to be a challenge for both sides, as, with the sliding, both teams played hard and physically, going shoulder to shoulder for almost every ball.  Luckily, even though the ref was blind as a bat, when there were fouls, I think both sides would agree, whereas they constituted fouls, where advantage was taken which when overlooked by the ref, none of the fouls were egregious, therefore tempers stayed in check and all were able to enjoy the physical match.

Visitors were brought to the game...so once again Mooch has to restate the visitor policy...all must sign the liability waiver if they want to play with the Orangemen.  The only way you can sign the liability waiver is agree to the eVite in advance of the game.  We have leads on many players and friends of players who are waiting in the wings to play.  Mooch is maintaining this list based on requests made of him during the season.  If we are going to be down players, Mooch will exercise this option first.  The only way he has a handle on attendance is through the eVite, so if you say you are coming, please show to the match...or change your status.  If you see we are going to have a well manned side...you can use some judgement here...but not much, if 4 or 5 players decide not to show, as happened a few weeks ago, we can be short handed.  For this game, we were not going to be short handed, so it’s still not clear to me how three visitors showed up to the match.  Just for the record, we had two players who did not get single minute of playing time as a result...that’s simply not fair.  

Just after the first water break the Sting scored their opening goal, sadly it came during the realization that the Orangemen were playing a man down and as they were bringing someone else onto the field, without the ref’s consent, and trying to sort it out.  Unlike indoor, there are no free substitution in outdoor.  It’s likely that the notion of free substitution is what caused some of the on-field confusion.

Our defense was playing  well and we dropped back into our legacy Orangemen formation of a single sweeper and stopper on top.  This allowed us to play three in the midfield and three up top, a formation that allows us to exercise our attack.  Opportunities were plentiful, with Chris H pulling the trigger on some great shots, but he wasn’t able to recreate the beauty he scored he scored last year...you can re-live the wonder of that strike against the Sting here in the archives. Orangemen in Black.

A highlight of the match is when Kendall scored a tremendous header off of a signature Tedd corner kick.  The ball came in hard, low and curled to the back of the box where Kendall was able to direct it into the net.

A low-point of the match came  when Mooch was knocked down in the the box, a clear penalty kick should have been awarded, as numerous Sting players sheepishly nodded in agreement.  Rather than a penalty kick being awarded for Mooch being knocked ass over tea-kettle, Mooch was issued a yellow for whispering the F-bomb out-loud to himself...since the decibel level of Mooch’s whisper was at about 140 db, the ref overheard his soliloquy and registered his use of the F-bomb as decent and sent him to the bench for five minutes.

By unanimous decision, Man of the match honors goes to the player who saved two goals off the line.  Jan was working in the back non-stop.  Without his ability continue running and to accelerate long after the play as gone by, he could not make these spectacular saves.  Those saves allowed us to finish the match with our dignity intact.