Orangemen had their first encounter with Cris S’s team INTER MITENTE last night and perhaps, the name of his team rings true as Cris expressed to Mooch the frustration of being a manager. The lack of funds coming in, having to pay for the ref out of his pocket, and the difficulty in getting 11 players to the match. As well as the on-time arrival of the players, including the ref, the the inconsistency of the officiating. Boy was he singing to the choir. As Cris has never been dropped from the Orangemen roster perhaps he will return to our line-up in the fall.
We played at our old pitch, Bryant Alternative, on a beautiful May evening...although it was getting close to 9 pm before we kicked off. Most of us were reminded of the reasons we really don't like playing at Bryant...even though it is very close to some of the players...Karl and Gene for instance...and Luke, although Luke failed to materialize.
Despite his troubles Cris has put a good team together, inclusive of his family, friends, and a few Brazilians. The two teams were evenly matched last night and we went 2 to 4 at full time. Although the Orangemen came up short we had plenty of opportunities to score we just couldn’t hit the back of the net. In fairness to Inter Mitente, they had a few more opportunities last night as well however Gene was on the top of his game. On one particular save where a shot came in from out of nowhere, he dove to his right with nothing by instinct and made, from every vantage point a world class save. Every player on the field applauded for Gene. To see Cris’s team shouting out to Gene “Great Save” and to hear them applauding was an incredible act of sportsmanship and shows that the players Cris has recruited are not in this game to win the World Cup, they are in it for the Love of the Game. I hope Cris can keep his team together because we need more teams like his in our league. Too many teams have become combative and lack the Sportsmanship we have been renowned for since the 1970s.
Pete brought some visitors last night, which saved our match. Without Mike running the midfield, Ike running the defense, and Pete running his mouth, the game would have been a bust. We had 13 so two subs, but that included Dave N, who gave up 4 coolers of beer and roast lamb to be at the match. As well as Karl who seems to have recovered from his groin injury. Mooch is still playing lame, and might be at 85%. Mauricio was also doing a lot of limping, but it’s not sure the source of his distress. As we all train for the World Cup in Brazil in June, Mauricio might be doing some mountain rides in his off time to prepare for France in July.
Bernie was on hand to make some runs up top. Alfredo, Jorge, and George were there to play midfield and defense.
Mooch kept screaming and yelling about passing and the Orangemen actually did settle down and started passing very well. We had numerous flurries of great passing and control. When we simply made the simple pass to the open player it worked time and time again. This culminated in a flurry from the back when Ike stated a run up the field. I can’t remember the exact sequence but the ball changed hands at least four times, maybe five, before coming back to Ike as he ran into the box and finished far post with the outside of his right boot. Ike also scored our second goal late in the second half with a blistering shot from the top of the box that the keeper put gloves on but just couldn’t handle.
All in all I was very proud of the Orangemen for staying in it and for the sportsmanship both sides showed one another all night long. We finished the evening by drinking from a few red Solo cups in the parking lot after the game...a tradition that we our getting started once again. Ike and his family stayed, as well as Johnny H, his daughter, and Betty the hunting dog. Dave N, Gene, Karl, Mauricio hung around to Johnny H’s retelling of the day his foot was shattered and the medical assistance that was required. I wish I would have been in town back then to have captured the details in writing. I’ll need to hear the story a couple of more times before I can realistically and truthfully capture the events. But his miraculous recovery instead of being sidelined for life shows a huge dichotomy in what modern medicine is capable of...between the have’s and the have nots… More to follow on that front…. We also heard the Ike’s story...believe it or not Ike’s neck was broken in a car accident and he plays with his C6-7 fuzed, with plates on both the frontside and backside of his spine. Incredible that he is still able to play.
Man of the Match last night will have to be split between Gene for his “Standing Ovation” worthy save, and Ike for scoring two goals and putting in a strong defensive presence. But the way, in the absence of Jan, we reverted back to our two sweeper defense which I think we will roll out more during the Summer months. With the W formation in the back, it really opens up our opportunities to pass through the midfield.
