Archive for: March, 2015

Reds Stifled in Staten Island: Draw 0-0 to Mr Dennehey’s FC

Mar 31 2015 Published by under Reds

CPR Reds are off to a lackluster start after a record performance in the fall. They’ve lost their 3 leading scorers to injury and as a result, struggled to generate much offensively. Once again, the Reds team defense was a strong point anchored by Andrew Snell in the cage; they limited Dennehey’s to very few looks at net. Perhaps the best chance for the Reds to break through came off of a free kick by the captain Blake Berg from the top of the box that he curled beautifully towards the net but took a sharp deflection off of a defenders shoulder and dipped inches over the cross bar. In the second half, corner kicks and free kicks led to a few scrums in the box but despite the potential opportunity to bang one home, the Reds couldn’t slot one in.

With injuries and a 1-1-1 record to start the spring, the Reds welcome a 2 week break before facing division foe Lansdowne boys in a rematch of an early season game that has MAJOR title implications.

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results from 3/29/15

Mar 30 2015 Published by under Club

In the big Derby:

Women’s Red beat Womens White, 2-1

And in the Cosmo League:

Men’s White fell 0-2 to Manhattan Celtic

Men’s White Reserves beat Manhattan Celtic 3-2

Men’s Red drew 0-0 with Mr. Dennehy’s FC,

Old Boys lost 0-1 to Manhattan Kickers Premier

The Grays lost 2-4 to NY Dinamo

The Legends fell 1-4 to SC Eintracht

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Self-inflicted wounds doom the Legends against SC Eintracht

Mar 30 2015 Published by under Legends

A wildly fluctuating squad went from 18 to 14 before finally settling on 15, a good round number to play one of the elite teams in the Over 35 division.  SC Eintracht had put on a clinic in the debut game of the season against the Legends, winning handily 3-0.  Although CPR came back to win the follow up it was always going to be a tough match, especially given the lopsided nature of the squad.  Once again the Eintracht team showed themselves technically adept with universal ball control as well as crisp passing and aerial ability.  Fortunately the stout defence of the legends ensured the trenches were set in the middle of the field, with Eintracht shading the play but to no large advantage.  Indeed, the Legends had chances of their own but they tended to be half chances from distance, the exception being a dubious handball called on Venkataraman inside the 6 yard box which should have been called on a defender for a penalty.  Right at the end of the first half a pleasing interchange by the opposition gave them a one on one near the penalty spot that Telly brilliantly came out to block and ensure a half time deadlock.

The half time talk was blunt.  This was indeed a team that as constructed on the day was better than the Legends, but that did not necessarily mean a victory was out of the question.  The important part was to stop the thrust coming down the middle and then try and make more from set pieces that were currently impotent.  The second half did start well only for a tragic mixup at the back allowing the sharp Eintracht striker to waltz in and finish this particular one on one.  Trying to tamp down the Volcanic Vamvouris eruptions the Legends tried to rebuild again, but soon after a scramble at the back resulted in another goal. 2-0 was going to be exceedingly difficult to come back from, but fortunately Eintracht showed it wasn’t immune to the defensive buffoonery going around with an ill-advised cross field pass at the back resulting in an expert finish from Nizam.  Alas, with the wind in their sails and the formation aggressively changed to a 3-5-2 the Legends could not quite get that equalizer.  A wayward volley by Venkataraman and a snap shot directly at the keeper by Nizam were the closest they came, but another gift was presented to the voracious Eintracht strikers who gleefully accepted to put the game beyond doubt at 3-1.  There was time for an additional strike, the pick of the bunch with a pirouetted turn and strike from Eintracht to make the final score 4-1.

4 consecutive losses from the Legends is no doubt worrisome, in particular the scoring of only 2 goals in those games.  Although those games were all against top notch opposition CPR should and can do better, starting with the next match.

Competition: SC Eintracht, League Opposition

Location: Randalls Island #74

Conditions: Bitterly cold, temperature in the mid 20’s (virtually in April!).  The wind started picking up as well later on

Fans: 1, new papa Hollins showed up early to say hello before his game

Result: 1-4 (0-0 at H/T

Goals: 1-2: Nizam

Yellow Cards: None

Red Cards: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Volper updated the evite late Saturday regarding an injury reoccurrence.  Fortunately D’Andrea was able to make it which helped the numbers.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Pete Han welcomes himself back to the Legends with an injury that took him off the field.  Cassidy complained about a knee issue but was able to run it off.

Old Man of the Match:  There was some healthy discussion at the bar including the old saw that to be voted OMoM you should actually be in attendance.  In the end, despite another stellar performance by Telly it was Hakan Nizam who got his debut OMoM with a smart piece of poaching.

Old Man of the Bar: This award will only be given for an exceptional performance, or what in the old days we called a normal Sunday.  There certainly wasn’t one this Sunday.

 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 hits the 40 cap mark.  Another 10 and he’ll hit an impressive 50+ caps for 3 different CPR teams.

 

 Team Bar Showing: 9 out of 15 (60%)

Team Bar Night: 3 out of 5. Adjusting to the new normal we will give the rating an above average score as more than 50% of the players made it back for awhile

Team (No new profiles this week): Telly Vamvouris (GK), Mark Resnik (DF), Olle Roberts (DF), Pete Hahn (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF), Steve Teesdale (DF), Drew Faherty (DF), Tony Vamvouris, John Hodges, Tom Pattison, Ugo Solinas, Hakan Nizam, Mike Cassidy, Manohar Venkataraman, Willian D’Andrea

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Poor Futbol and Mixed Results for Whites

Mar 30 2015 Published by under Club

The reserves game barely started when in the 3rd minute, Celtic’s worst player played a weak back pass which was easily intercepted and converted by Hamza. It was just a foreshadow of the sloppy play that was to follow, and some daft defending from us allowed Celtic to equalize in the 6th minute. Both teams played poor futbol, until a long kick from Shane and Norelli’s pressure led to confusion between the Celtic keeper and defender, and a bizarre own goal. Once again we literally gifted Celtic the equalizer after a questionable penalty was called and converted. If anything we were worse in the half, but some further nonsense from the Celtic keeper who found himself in no man’s land trying to clear the ball allowed Brent to lob him just two minutes before half time. We defended quite well for most of the 2nd half, and should have scored a 4th late on, but at least got all the points to move us closer to a playoff spot. Final score 3-2.

First team faced a solid but mediocre Celtic side. Celtic had more of the ball as we were poor in possession, but we defended well and both teams created virtually nothing the entire first half. An early 2nd half goal out of nowhere made life difficult for us. We responded well enough and had some chances. One of Kwesi’s shots was well saved by the keeper and we had periods of pressure as we pushed players forward. However, in the end we simply didn’t create enough and Celtic killed the match late on with a breakaway goal. Final score 0-2.

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Old Boys Spark Greek American Collapse

Mar 25 2015 Published by under OldBoys

It’s been a long 3 months in football since the Old Boys last donned the famous Red shirt and descended upon Randall’s Island. Harry Redknapp retired due to a dodgy team knee, Pardew swept from Newcastle to Crystal Palace with the discretionary retreat of Ochoa to the Greys, West Ham content in reaching the magic 42pts have begun celebrating this feat a whole 3 months ahead of schedule, it appears Sepp Blatter will finally be ousted from the FIFA presidency, whilst New York City FC began life at Yankee Stadium with a comfortable 2-0 over New England Revolution.

Love it or hate it, football is a game enjoyed as much for its surprise extremities as its relied upon dependencies. And let’s face it, you can always rely on each and every member of the O-30 NY Greek American team to be a stand-up James Blunt. For those of you unfamiliar with the native tongue of Messrs. Stower and Edmunds, please see here: Cockney Translate

The Old Boys dusted off the winter break with an early-bird 8am KO. Having lost the away fixture 1-0 back in September, there were wrongs to be set right. The side had a new look about it having lost Sean Street and Dan Ault to warmer climates, whilst Edmunds and Penrod were AWOL and the Goalhammer was enjoying a ‘happy ending’ to the winter break on the beach in Koh Samui. The team did welcome back Steve Morse from his Legends sabbatical, and new Striker Ernest (or ‘Hemingway’ to his new team mates) was due to make his league debut for the Reds.

CPR had the better of the early engagements. Levy had a shot wide, and then smashed one onto the underside of the crossbar, whilst Hollins had a good long range effort sneak the wrong side of the post. The opposition showed little threat in the early exchanges. The only moment of note, Becker racing from his line to claim a long ball shouting “Keepers!’, leading the defense and attack in his path only for the ball to emerge out of the sun about 15ft away from where the keeper and play had followed. The man For Whom the Bell Tolls entered the fray with 10 minutes to go and proved a useful and physical addition to the CPR front line.

Following halftime, a different opposition emerged. Whether news of the Greek government stopping the production of taramasalata and humus in order to avoid a double dip recession had just broke (oh, come on!), a Yoghurt factory collapsed in the nether regions of long island, or a shipment of party-plates were found to be plastic dupes… Then, not since Stowers return from the CPR Miami soccer tour has any Greek ever looked so angry. Yet alone, 11 of them! Or soon to be 10…

Tackles flew in, punches were thrown, and eleven men flew around the field chasing the ball retained by the CPR midfield like the blind bull of Knossos. Shortly after the Athenian goat herders were reduced to 10, Hem found superior pace against the opposition defense and upon the second time of racing past the stagnant fullback, the ball fell kindly to Matt to tuck the ball away into the net. Game over.

As the poet once said: one angry Cretian doth not a euro-politician make. But in light of the country’s current problems, lets raise a pint of Percy’s finest to Angela Merkel.

–By Dave Sawyer

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Reds suffer 1st loss of campaign.

Mar 25 2015 Published by under Reds

CPR Reds impressive unbeaten league run came to end Sunday at the hands of a very average Brisha side. The result topped off a bad week of football for the Reds after being knocked out of the Cup on penalties on Thursday by NY Supreme after they equalized with the last kick of the game.

A rough start to Sunday’s fixture was always on the cards with an 8am kick off scheduled. The typical high attendance was also missing, with only 12 players attending the game, the smallest attendance of the season. Despite the small attendance, the players available certainly had enough quality to get a result from the game.

The match saw Brishna control much of the early play, but didn’t trouble the Reds solid defense of Eddie, Sam, Tim and Ian. The few occasions the Reds did get the ball they too struggled to break down the Brishna defense and create a clear cut chance. The Reds conceded half way through the first half with Brishna’s only real attack of the game. A ball from the left was delivered into the Reds box and evaded all defenders, falling kindly to a Brisha forward to convert from close range. The half ended 1-0, with the Reds only managing to produce a handful of half chances.

The Reds began the second half with more purpose and intent, with Filipe showing some great footwork in the center of midfield and Jonny and Mack pushing high up the filed to cause the Brishna defense some trouble out wide.  With the Reds fresh impetus, Brishna began to time waste, taking an age to play throws in, goals kicks and committing needless petty fouls to slow the game down. Credit to them, it worked, and the Reds continued to be frustrated with a lack of clear cut changes.

The best chance of the game arrived half way through the second half when some slick movement down the right opened up the Brishna defense and Eddie Walter ran through on goal. After skinning the Brisha left back and serving him on toast, Eddie drove a shot across the Keeper, only to see his effort come off the inside of the far post and back out into play for, falling kindly to a Brishna player to clear. More chances followed as Lance hit the woodwork, Filipe had an effort saved and saw a volley go inches over and Chris tested the keeper from range. The equalizer was coming.

Finally the Reds found the net as a ball in from the right was met by a half volley from center forward Matt, who for most of the game had been a solitary isolated figure. The game was tied at 1-1 with less than 5 minutes to go.

Unfortunately, for the second time in 4 days the Reds conceded in the final play of the game. Moments after equalizing the Reds attacked the Brishna defense. The conceded possession and the opponents, who hadn’t seen much of the play during the entire second half countered down the left hand side. A ball into the back post found a Brishna forward who had the simple task of heading home from 5 yards out. The full time whistle blew and with it the Reds unbeaten run came to disappointing end. They play on Staten Island next week with and need to get back to winning ways.

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Women’s Derby and Full Schedule for March 29th

Mar 23 2015 Published by under Club

It’s time for another Derby:

Women’s Red vs Womens White, 3pm East 6th

And in the Cosmo League:

Men’s White vs. Manhattan Celtic, 4pm Randalls #75

Men’s White Reserves vs. Manhattan Celtic, 2pm Randalls #75

Men’s Red @ Mr. Dennehy’s FC, 12noon Greenbelt Recreation Center, Staten Island

Old Boys vs. Manhattan Kickers Premier, 10am Randalls #72

The Grays @ NY Dinamo, 6pm Randalls #75

The Legends @ SC Eintracht, 8am Randalls #74

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Legends agonizingly lose to league leaders SC Gjoa

Mar 23 2015 Published by under Legends

Competition: SC Gjoa, League Opposition
Location: Randalls Island #72
Conditions: Cold, but not bitter.  Maybe upper 30′s F.  Gusty winds at times but not too bad
Fans: 0
Result: 0-1 (0-1 at H/T).   Legends had good possession all game.  Gjoa scored on a bullet at the 38min mark into the side netting from a full 35yds out that seemed to be hit just right and sort of rode the wind in.  Second half similar to first half in the first 20mins.  Highlight was a pseudo 1v1 in on the Gk by Williams with a shot-save and follow up shot just over the bar. The last 25mins Legends threw defense somewhat out the window in an effort to take some points.  As a result they gave up several good chances to Gjoa where Telly did well to keep the ball out, once with help from the post.  The extra offensive push resulted in multiple good chances for Legends at the Gjoa end.  One memorable one was a header by Hahn from the 6yd line which resulted in a last second touch over the bar.  And most frustrating was a pass back to the Gk which he picked up which resulted in an indirect kick from the 6yd line just wide of the goal. As Tom placed the ball and was about to play it quickly across the face of goal, Eric made a move to get free and was headed to spot a where a squared ball would be a tap in and was absolutely leveled by the nearest defender from the side/behind.  The referee offered a yellow card for the deliberate and blatant foul, but since the ball was not actually kicked yet, he took the most literal interpretation of the rule and didn’t award a penalty on a ball not yet in play.  The resulting indirect kick was pounded knee high at a wall of 9 Gjoa players on/near the goal line, but did not squirm in.
Goals: None
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Baron called in sick to his driver the morning off.  Cassidy was a complete no show.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None
”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: None.

Old Man of the Match:  Luciano.  Nice start to his return to Legends.  Nothing was coming “through” the defense today with Lucian and Olle commanding the center of the pitch.

Old Man of the Bar: Resnik was the only Legend to go.

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

Statistic of the week:  Likely the lowest bar attendance ever, when at least one person showed up.  The legends need to better the rest of the Spring

Team Bar Showing: 1 out of 14 (7%)
Team Bar Night: 1 out of 5. Few Oldboys there and the Chelsea/Hull game as on.  Waitress was pretty attentive and nice.

Team (No new profiles this week): Telly Vamvouris (GK), Mark Resnik (DF), Olle Roberts (DF), Pete Hahn (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF),  Tony Vamvouris, Randall Klitz, John Hodges, Tom Pattison, Ugo Solinas, Chris Williams, Hakan Nizam, Eric Volper, Paul Vale

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Whites get crucial wins vs Rovers

Mar 23 2015 Published by under Club

With two crucial wins against NYC Rovers, the reserves moved into a playoff spot and the first team took an important  step towards avoiding relegation.

The reserves faced a Rovers team that was somewhat disorganized early and without a real keeper, and should have scored when Hamza set up Alberto who scuffed the shot. Instead we conceded two minutes later on the first chance Rovers created. Our intensity was lacking until the subs came in and made a real difference, first James burst forward and won the ball to Sol who found Norelli all alone in the middle with a crafty pass. An easy finish for the new Father and an appropriate cradle celebration. Then, Mike D hit a terrific shot from far out to stun pretty much everyone who hasn’t seen him do it before. We were against the wind in the 2nd half, and had to defend in numbers for a while, but stayed reasonably solid and even got the 3rd goal from Hamza. We should have had another, but instead a miscue in the back meant we had to bite our nails at the finish. Final score 3-2.

Firsts faced an average side who had one quality striker. That striker was causing our back 3 all sorts of problems, but overall we were better for most of the half and took the lead when the ball was cleared to Josh just outside the penalty area, and the keeper was unable to stop his well-taken shot with the crowd of players ahead of him. With the wind against us in the 2nd half we switched to 4 in the back, and defended well and in numbers for most of the time. Rovers created virtually nothing and as they were getting desperate we had multiple chances on the counter. First Dan Z broke the offside trap and set up Kwesi who couldn’t finish, then Kwesi won the ball on the right side and put in a good ball across which was initially fluffed by Conor–who once again forgot his shooting boots–and then well-saved by the keeper from Dan Miller who was following up. Later, an even better chance fell to Greg, but the keeper saved again. As a result, we had to endure a nervous final 5 minutes to grind out the result. Final score 1-0.

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Results from March 22nd

Mar 23 2015 Published by under Club

Women’s Red beat Rovers1 4-0

Women’s White drew 0-0 with NY Magic Reserves

Men’s White beat NYC Rovers 1-0

Men’s White Reserves beat NYC Rovers 3-2

Men’s Red lost 1-2 to Brishna

Old Boys beat NY Greek Americans O-30 1-0

The Grays drew 3-3 with Barnstonworth Old Boys

The Legends lost 0-1 to SC Gjoa

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