8am games are always a mixed bag.  In theory the positives are that it allows plenty of time at the pub on the Sunday, but the reality is that it throws a looming grim shadow over the weekend, affecting Saturday plans and testing the recovery of old men after the game.  There might be only one other worse feeling than the alarm going off at 6:45am on a Sunday morning, and that would be arriving at the field and immediately realizing that the rosters that were your responsibility had not been printed out.  Fighting through the first few seconds of panic resulted in a madcap dash back to the UWS from Randalls Island, a quick print out and similar rush back, only to find one of the usual suspect referees in clearly no hurry to get much of anything done.  There was still time for a warmup, chat and eventually getting the game going.  A pivotal coin toss allowed the Rangers to attack the goal facing the low sun, but it didn’t affect play too much since the Over 35s league isn’t known for its aerial prowess.

	What could have been a complete disaster was averted by Willian D’Andrea’s superbly aggressive driving and a lackadaisical referee as a record speed round trip journey from Randall’s Island to the UWS to print the rosters was completed without any permanent damage

Banatul appeared to have a full roster with 4 subs, but a number of players resembled the squad who had been thrashed two years ago by 9-0.  However the Legends were vastly different from that squad, the high intensity fast runners having decamped for the greener pastures of Division 1 Football with the Over 30’s.  In exchange CPR tried to play more of a possession game and have slightly more energy than their opponents, something that paid early dividends as Williams scored a well taken goal from an acute angle past the goalie.  A few more scrambles in the box did not result in much, however a corner from Solinas found a wide open D’Andrea who executed the simplest of headers for a 2-0 lead.

A rout was hoped for, but the Legends turned out to be their own worst enemies in the second half. The early hour and the increasingly searing heat had something to do with it, but in a round robin fashion each member of the team started making simple mistakes.  None of them proved to be deadly, but all of them were frustrating.  The Banatul goalie played his part too making two excellent saves on one on ones, but the Legends should really have done more to trouble him.  Meanwhile the CPR Legends appeared under no real threat, the only chance of giving up a goal would have to be either via a set piece or a calamitous error like last week.  Fortunately neither happened and the Legends were able to weakly shepherd the game towards a winning conclusion.

After 3 weeks the Legends have improved significantly, experience helping them adapt to new teammates and trying to ensure an identity of patience & possession.  A few tweaks to improve productivity in set pieces and more players in attacking positions should help them increase their goal tally, something that should see them grow in to their potential.

Competition: Banatul SC, League Opposition

Location: Randall’s Island #74, Randall’s Island

Conditions: The beginnings of a scorcher, certainly felt in the second half

Fans: None

Result: 2-0 (2-0 at H/T)

Goals:  1:0 Williams

2:0 D’Andrea Assist Solinas

Yellow Cards: None

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Mike Cassidy, whose flight the night before was apparently cancelled but didn’t feel the need to notify anyone until hours after the win.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: None, the substitutes tending to work quite well in resting most players

Old Man of the Match: Despite disintegrating somewhat in the second half there were some excellent performances but none that quite jumped over the bar required.  The closest were probably Ollie Roberts & Willian D’Andrea who also deserves a special mention for his lifesaving driving to pick up the rosters.

Old Man of the Bar: None, weren’t there long enough

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Statistic of the week: Resnik continues to extend his Defensive Shutout lead to 15 and overall Defensive points.  Resnik/Venkataraman/D’Andrea are now on 30 lifetime caps, 2 behind overall leader Ochoa at 32.

Team Bar Showing: 4 out of 15 (27%)

Team Bar Night: 2 out of 5: With the Percys fiasco of not being open until noon, we immediately lost 2-3 players on the hunt for an open pub.  We eventually walked all the way to Nevada Smiths for the West Brom vs Burnley game, but there was no incentive to stay unlike there would have been at Percys with the Old Boyz & Women’s Whites finishing at noon

Team (No new profiles this week): Telly Vamvouris (GK), Mark Resnik (DF), Andrew Faherty (DF), Oliver Roberts (DF), Paul Vale (DF), Mark Dean, Tony Vamvouris, Manohar Venkataraman, Randall Klitz (DF), Steve Morse, Tom Pattinson, Ugo Solinas, Willian D’Andrea, Chris Williams, Manuel Casanova

After last week’s dispiriting beatdown it was hard to toe the line between remembering the old guys came out to play versus wanting a good result.  Some review of last week’s debacle was done as well as looking forward to what the team could do better.  The improvement was immediate as the Legends started keeping the ball for long spells, turnovers occurring for understandable old man physical mistakes as opposed to mental errors of trying to make the Hollywood ball.  As per the previous week though, distinct chances were in short supply.  However Gjoa were having their own problems generating any significant offence, with the game mostly taking part centrally.  The deadlock was finally broken with a ball slid out to Casanova on the right.  He put in an Ozil like pinpoint cross that ran across the defenders & Solinas only for Venkataraman to slide in at the far post and slide the ball back in towards the back of the net.  This time the Legends were able to successfully navigate the few remaining minutes to half time.

With the Legends in the ascendency the game was for the taking.  Gjoa had only brought the bare minimum 11 players and it was clear that a two goal lead would break their spirit.  Unfortunately, this was easier said than done.  Early in the second half there was an unfortunate confluence of a clumsy looking foul, a dramatic fall and a mediocrity of a referee which resulted in a penalty.  Not the most egregious ever awarded against the Legends, but poor in its early timing and in providing the lift that Gjoa were looking for.  It was not the best penalty ever taken either, but it did the job to tie the game up.  The Legends undertook attacking intent with renewed urgency, the appearance of Williams producing an additional cutting edge to attack a tiring defence.  It looked like he had made the difference when from an acute angle he thrashed a ball goalward that the goalie got a touch on, hit the post and then appeared to roll over the line.  The goalie shrewdly did a Manuel Neuer and pulled the ball back, but despite entreaties the referee just waved play on.  This time it was hard to fault the referee too much with deciding to do no harm on such a close call, especially given the numerous other opportunities to find fault with him.

	My Kingdom for Goal Line Technology!

Gjoa had a few breakaways of their own but their whiny forward usually self-immolated when given any decent opportunities, most amusingly when lined up one on one against Resnik instead of blowing by him decided to just push through him, about the most obvious wasteful foul it’s possible to make.  This week unlike last, the Legends looked menacing enough to get a goal but a decent keeper and poor finishing combined to keep them out, most egregiously when Roberts conspired to miss from 3 yards out at the death.  There was time for one last ditch attempt by Gjoa that was thrashed wide, although a Legends loss would truly have been an unfair result.

Although clearly an improvement in performance, its hard to tell against a Gjoa side that were forced to have everyone play 90 minutes and struggle through various injuries.  Credit to them for grabbing a point, but the Legends will hope that continuous improvement will see them start winning soon.

Goal line technology: My Kingdom for goal line technology

Competition: SC Gjoa, League Opposition

Location: Randall’s Island #74, Randall’s Island

Conditions: Weather still nice at noon

Fans: 4: Mrs. Morse & kids

Result: 1-1 (1-0 at H/T)

Goals:  1:0 Venkataraman Assist Casanova

Yellow Cards: None

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: John Hodges with expected new baby drama.  Over/Under this season, 2.5.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None, although Chris Williams did manage to arrive at half time and was a welcome menace to the opposition

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: None, although both Teesdale & Morse played extended minutes again and will need to be watched going forward

Old Man of the Match: A vastly improved performance team wide included several good performances but none were voted on at the pub.  This will need to be remedied going forward.

Old Man of the Bar: None, just a regular day at the pub after the game, Tommy Accordino’s punishing Beer Hall extravaganza the night before not helping matters

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Statistic of the week: Drew Faherty breaks a tie with Pete Hahn for the Legends lifetime record of Defensive Assists with 4.

Team Bar Showing: 5 out of 15 (33%)

Team Bar Night: 2 out of 5: It was good to meet up with the Old Boyz after their huge victory last week, and we got our own table again without issue.

Team (No new profiles this week): Telly Vamvouris (GK), Mark Resnik (DF), Andrew Faherty (DF), Steve Teesdale (DF), Oliver Roberts (DF), Mike Cassidy, Tony Vamvouris, Manohar Venkataraman, Randall Klitz, Steve Morse, Tom Pattinson, Ugo Solinas, Willian D’Andrea, Chris Williams, Manuel Casanova