The only good thing about the expected conditions were that the storm was coming south to north, so the temperature was relatively warm even though the rain was relentless.  With some late roster managing the Legends had a solid roster and enough transit for all, but on arriving the debate was to stay in the cars or not.  Finally reason prevailed as the extra few minutes in the car weren’t going to be a match for 90 minutes on the field, with the tiny tent set up by the opposition at least allowing the roster to be signed.  Anticipating the referee to not spend any more time than necessary the Legends started strongly and had some good high possession without being able to convert anything.  Soon however it was clear that the opposition’s low league position belied the talent they had available.  The conditions appeared to have no effect as they were able to immediately control balls sent to them long or short, and were able to set up triangular passing pleasing on the eye all over the field.  Meanwhile the Legends were as sloppy as the conditions with sliced touches and balls continually slid too far away from teammates.  Despite this, CPR’s stayed in the game until the referee intervened.  Already under fire for letting too much physical contact go, the referee missed a blatantly obvious handball which had a material effect in allowing Doxa to take the lead, albeit with a well taken shot.  The Legends continued to press and had a glorious opportunity at the end of the first half when having done all the hard work Venkataraman committed the cardinal sin of taking his eye off the ball in sloppy conditions and looping a ball over the bar when well placed to tie the game.

The Legends knew they were going to have to tighten up on the mistakes and compete better since Doxa clearly had the individual skill and team game to win.  Unfortunately near the beginning of the second half a long run and cross resulted in a hard header for a two nil lead.  Interestingly this had the effect of stretching the field and opening up play as Doxa appeared to go for more goals rather than protect the lead they had.  One goalmouth scramble had CPR agonizingly close to getting the ball in, and as the wings opened up the fullbacks started moving up further and further.  About halfway through the game the Legends made the tactical change they discussed and moved to 3 at the back, with Teesdale moving into the midfield.  The increased pressure saw the Legends take the lead in unorthodox circumstances.  The Doxa goalie appeared to win a race with Frazier for the ball but after strong arguments from Frazier the referee decided to award a free kick to CPR for handling outside of the area.  Naturally there were some handbags regarding the decision, but CPR took full advantage.  Having two skilled free kick takers from close range is a boon for the Legends, and this time it was Mckeown who scored over a several person wall to put the Legends back in the game.  As the pressure from CPR matched the relentless rate of the rain, the Doxa backline broke off another free kick.  This time the scramble resulted in Rosenbloom hipping the ball into D’Andrea’s pass who made no mistake with an exquisite finish.

Having come back to tie the Legends were in no mood to give back a share of the spoils, moving back to 4 at the back.  Despite that Doxa had the lion’s share of the possession at the end and it took a couple of spectacular saves from Miller to deny them at the death and ensure a point each.  At the end Doxa were probably the most disappointed, not just for giving up a two goal lead but for having played better overall.  This was a good scrappy point for the Legends, matching the performance they had against Shamrock earlier in the season.  It also displayed the increasing strength of the league as even the teams near the bottom are no cakewalk.  The ultimate test should be against Banatul next weekend to see if the league really has improved top to bottom.

Competition: Doxa Legends, League Opposition

Location: Herbert Lehman HS, Bronx

Conditions: Rain sheeting down in a rare southern storm

Fans: None

Result: 2:2 HT: 0-1

Goals: 1-2: Mckeown Assist Frazier

2-2: D’Andrea Assist Rosenbloom

Yellow Cards: This is now a streak of Cal Ripken proportions, something that will never be broken.  Frazier has started his career with 6 bookings in his first 6 games.  The question is more what will break that streak, not getting booked or getting sent off when he finally meets a referee who won’t put up with the dissent. Ironically for the first time in recorded history his dissent actually appeared to change the referee’s decision and winning a critical goal for the Legends.

	In a streak that will surely never be beat, Frazier has started his CPR career with 6 bookings in his first 6 games

Red Cards: Fortunately Frazier’s booking came too late in the game for the referee to snap.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Santiago Morales added to a previous Mike D with a quiet change to No on the evite only a few hours before game time.  That’s not how this works.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Fortunately El Presidente Faherty stepped up when Morales snuck out and although he didn’t play, was available if needed.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Conboy was on the shelf with last week’s hamstring injury.

Old Man of the Match: Lots of good performances and enough people at the bar to actually have a debate.  Miller’s stunning game ending saves warranted him strong consideration as did Pattinson’s steady role in the middle.  Belizan’s consistent excellence (all-time leader in OMoM) hurts when the performances are close, and in this case his center-back partner Ollie Roberts took the nod for an equally assured performance.

Old Man of the Bar: Teesdale stuck it out to the bitter end of the astonishing Game 5 World Series game even though he had to drive back home at 1am in the sheeting rain to the far reaches of Weehawken.

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

Statistic of the week:  Mckeown and D’Andrea push their all-time goals further up to 23 and 22 and have a good race for Golden Boot with Mckeown leading 5-4 (winning it last year 6-5).  Frazier now ties the all-time bookings at 6 in 6 games (!!!).

Team Bar Showing: 6 out of 15 (40%)

Team Bar Night: 4 out of 5. 6 fit perfectly in a Dive 96 booth, and the initial dual games of Sunday Night Football and World Series ended up with one of the all time great World Series games.  You know its good when you end up with 2 tabs and a free pitcher!

Team (No new profiles this week): Mitch Miller (GK), Mark Resnik (DF), Drew Faherty (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF), Manohar Venkataraman, Simon Mckeown, Tim Frazier, Willian D’Andrea, Steven Teesdale (DF), Ollie Roberts (DF), Steve Roberts (DF), Tom Pattinson, John Hodges, Bevan Rosenbloom, Steve Teesdale (DF)

After a couple of dire attendance weeks it was nice to finally be back to having a full squad available. Although Barnstonworth Veteran’s record wasn’t good, as has been displayed many times in this league it all depending upon who showed up on the day.  Looking across at the opposition it was clear that they had managed a full squad as well, but with their starting center backs, center midfield and forwards the Legends felt quietly confident.  In addition the new recruit Simon “Harry” Harrison looked like providing the midfield size and steel that CPR had been lacking.  In fact, the Legends were boasting so much of riches that when the Grays came begging they could afford to graciously donate Santiago Morales to go play a full game for them.

The early exchanges were fairly even, with the Rovers bringing out a taller heftier side while the Legends had more skillful ball control.  As usual Conboy rampaged down his wing but unfortunately his crosses in the middle weren’t able to be converted.  Frazier was put out on the wing and was able to provide an attacking thrust from a different angle, but apart from Harry’s unfortunate shot pounding off the post there were few clear chances on either side.  At half time the Legends were unusually calm as they felt that as time went on clearer and better chances would present themselves.  Meanwhile some on the opposition looked winded even with 3 substitutes, giving CPR heart.  Soon after the half began gaps yawned open between Barnstonworth’s midfield and defence.  The Legends defenders crept up and the team as a whole started pressing.  D’Andrea took a ball and dribbled through the defence before being scythed down.  The only surprise about the obvious penalty award were a couple of defenders trying to defend the indefensible, much to the bemusement of the Legends and indeed some of their own teammates.  After a full day’s tailgating the day before Venkataraman decided discretion was the better part of valor in a tied game and had D’Andrea take and convert in his usual calm manner.

Barnstonworth still failed to yield and indeed had a near miss of their own, the ball bouncing off the top of the crossbar.  Shortly after a nice one two had D’Andrea take another shot that also crashed off the crossbar.  Eventually with all the space available the second goal arrived, D’Andrea drawing two defenders before dishing off to Mckeown for whom the chip finally came through.  A few more chances arrived but in the end a 2-0 win felt fair.  Hopefully the Legends have their midseason attendance hiccoughs behind them and can start to string together a series of good results.

Competition: Barnstonworth Rovers Veterans, League Opposition

Location: Randall’s Island #73, Randall’s Island

Conditions: Warm morning

Fans: None

Result: 2:0 HT: 0-0

Goals: 1-0: D’Andrea (pen)

2-0: Mckeown Assist D’Andrea

Yellow Cards: Like a broken record, Frazier once again was booked for a foolish barge into the goalie who had dropped the ball several seconds before but had completely covered it up.  Unnecessary, but perhaps Frazier wanted to add a degree of difficulty in trying not to get sent off over the remaining 85 minutes.  Mission accomplished.  Hahn also got booked for a typically robust tackle.

Red Cards: Despite Frazier’s best dissension efforts, none.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Fortunately none, which actually helped to the extent that the Legends were able to donate Santiago Morales to the Grays who only had 10.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Frazier forgot he had responded, but by adding Bradley late it enabled the Legends to bolster the Grays.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: With the large numbers it allowed people more rest than necessary.  Hopefully Conboy’s hamstring isn’t a lingering issue.

Old Man of the Match: A general overall good performance against a stronger than usual Barnstonworth Veterans team.  With several good performances including a recently rare defensive shutout the OMoM goes to D’Andrea.  Not just for the productivity in winning and converting the penalty and setting up the second but for generally putting the opposition under constant pressure with his dribbling.  He was also unfortunate to not score again on hitting the crossbar.

Old Man of the Bar: None

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

Statistic of the week:  Mckeown and D’Andrea push their all-time goals further up to 23 and 22 with D’Andrea pushing up the all-time assist lead to 17.  Resnik pushes the all-time Defensive Shutout score to 22.  Frazier now ties the all-time bookings at 5 in 5 games (!!!).

Team Bar Showing: 7 out of 16 (44%)

Team Bar Night: 3 out of 5. Good breadth if not the usual length.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mitch Miller (GK), Mark Resnik (DF), Drew Faherty (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF), Manohar Venkataraman, Simon Mckeown, Tim Frazier, Willian D’Andrea, Charles Bradley, Mike Conboy, Santiago Morales, Steven Teesdale (DF), Ollie Roberts (DF), Pete Hahn (DF), Tom Pattinson, Simon Harrison

For the second game in a row injuries and travel decimated the Legends squad.  In addition the fact that it was a cup weekend and thus potential help from other squads would be cup-tied hurt recruitment chances even further.  Casting the net far and wide it looked like the Legends would have the bare minimum 11 but come Sunday morning they were down to 9, an unpleasant prospect against an Over 30’s team.  The potential bright spot was that this team had only scored a single goal all season, and soon after the game started it was apparent why.  The Legends played in the ever popular 4-1-3 formation, hoping that the front 3 could somehow conjure something out of nothing.  Meanwhile 3 of the 4 defenders were aged 47, 49 and 50 but what they lacked in speed and athleticism they more than made up for with communication and knowledge of the game.  Keeping strictly narrow and inviting the opposition to cross or shoot from distant worked beautifully as Mega continued to oblige.  The few times they did play one-twos down the middle they easily outran the Legends and developed one on one chances.  Nobody expected to shut an Over 30’s team out entirely, but keeping them down to 2 goals in the first half was a triumph of organization and obliging opponents.  Meanwhile D’Andrea, Frazier and Mckeown continually showed the ability to take on multiple players and weren’t far away from scoring.

Early in the second half the Legends snatched one back, Frazier taking on multiple players resulting in Mckeown having an easy tap in for a goal.  With Mega having so much possession and chances they managed to score despite themselves, although 2 goals were from acute angles and one was well struck from outside the box, while another was from what they should have been doing all game and sliding a ball straight down the middle for a foot race.  The front 3 of the Legends continued to create chances, with some of the Legends starting to creep up in support.  A second goal came in an unlikely fashion with a long punt by keeper Miller being chased down by Frazier who converted past a hapless defence.  Unfortunately the game ended with some unseemly shenanigans, with Frazier always one to annoy the opposition and a few of the opponents unnecessarily showboating and tackling hard despite being up 6-2 against 9 old men.

	Apparently Frazier’s secret is that he’s always angry, something his record of getting booked in every game certainly matches

In the end, the Legends can be proud of their effort, and although Mega willingly obliged with inexplicable tactics given a 2 man advantage the Legends gave them enough rope to hang themselves.  What was more galling was that with a full team or even one more player there was a more than even chance of winning and advancing to the next round for an intraclub derby against CPR Grays.  As it were, a rare kind draw was squandered and the Legends ignominious cup record was dropped to 1-11.

Competition: Mega Alexandros, Over 30’s League Opposition

Location: Randall’s Island #73, Randall’s Island

Conditions: Warm morning

Fans: Mitch’s dogs, who didn’t appear too thrilled with the proceedings

Result: 0-2 HT: 2-6

Goals: 1-2: Mckeown Assist Frazier

2-5: Frazier Assist Miller

Yellow Cards: Once again after a solid start a robust challenge set the red mist going for Frazier who keeps a remarkable 100% booking record going.  The fact that none of these has resulted in a sending off is almost as remarkable, the referee phlegmatically and thankfully shrugging off the nonstop berating.  Belizan also got a booking for a tackle from behind despite winning the ball.

Red Cards: Thankfully none, with Frazier continuing to tiptoe the tightrope.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Bradley on receiving an ID reminder the day before mentioned a hurt foot.  That’s what the evite is for, and that’s what we count on.  Similarly Cristaudo on the day of the game, although this was a more understandable issue in having to play goal for the team he coaches. Regardless, when playing with 9 any missing person makes a huge difference.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Almost from Teesdale and Conboy which would have been huge, but understandable reasons why they couldn’t.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Remarkable how there were no injuries considering the stress they were under.  Casanova briefly went down with a calf injury but fortunately it stretched out.

Old Man of the Match: Several good performances given the large gap in youth, agility, speed and stamina.  As always honorable mentions to Belizan, along with the front 3 of D’Andrea, Frazier and Mckeown.  However Miller wins his first OMoM despite conceding 6, none of which were his fault.  His masterful command of high crosses along with sure hands and distribution helped improve the confidence of the defence, and one particular long kick resulted in the first goalie assist in Legends history.

Old Man of the Bar: None

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

Statistic of the week:  Mckeown closing down on D’Andrea for the all time goal lead 22-21.  Frazier continuing the unprecedented start to his career of 100% bookings and 100% pub appearances.

Team Bar Showing: 4 out of 9 (44%)

Team Bar Night: 3 out of 5. Stayed through the first slate of NFL games along with CPR Reds.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mitch Miller (GK), Mark Resnik (DF), Drew Faherty (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF), Manohar Venkataraman (DF), Simon Mckeown, Tim Frazier, Willian D’Andrea, Manuel Casanova

As opposed to the sunny Caribbean (b*stards!), it was heavy rain that greeted the 9 Legends arriving at the lesser seen Pitch 50 on Randalls Island. The last of us arrived late owing to Roberts’ starring role in goal for the Oranges (stay on your line Steve!), and enthusiastically lined up in our 4-3-1 formation.

Cosmoz scored on pretty much their first attack, and managed to notch 2 more goals in a difficult 20 minute spell. Pattinson looked particularly confused in his unaccustomed CB role, and the genuinely talented Cosmoz wingers were thriving whilst most around them struggled to keep their footing on a very tricky playing surface

But for the next 50 mins either side of half time, we matched the league leaders. Much of this was due to three courageous Orange players coming in following their earlier game, and we created some good chances. Willian, Simon and Santiago began to grow into the game, and Manuel caused their defense some real problems.

As our chances came and went, and several of our number began to succumb to knocks and niggles, we got punished on the break, quite severely. Cosmoz smelt blood and only the reactions and bravery of Mitch in goal prevented a bigger score. Quite bizarrely the referee seemed to enjoy himself in our misery, doing us no favors on many tight offside calls, culminating in Roberts telling him what we all thought of him, getting himself a yellow card for his troubles.

The final score of 0-8 doesn’t quite tell the tale of the fantastic effort all Legends put in to a very difficult game. Next time lads, we’ll get them next time…

Conditions: Mild, puddles and pot holes in the centre after a downpour

Fans: Manuel’s daughter (I think?)

Result:  HT: 0-3, FT: 0-8

Goals: Lots unfortunately

Yellow Cards: S. Roberts, after giving the referee some very frank, accurate and well deserved feedback after another offside call went against us

Red Cards: N/A

Mike D’s aka No Shows: All 9 Legends showed, and very special appreciation for the 3 Orange guys show showed for the second half (James, James, Jonah)

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: N/A

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Roberts ran off what looked like a nasty twist, Pattinson didn’t do as well with a groin strain.

Old Man of the Match: All players come away with great credit for battling in the circumstances. Special mention to Manuel, Eduardo, Santiago and 90 mins of pure graft from Rigby, but MOM must go to Mitch for several great saves and excellent distribution.

Old Man of the Bar: N/A

El Presidente (Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): N/A

Statistic of the week: Biggest loss in Legends history, predictable if unfair given 9 players against a team that has dropped 4 points in 2+ years

Team Bar Showing: 0 out of 12 (0%)

Team Bar Night: 0 out of 5

Team (No new profiles this week): Mitch Miller (GK), Bill Rigby (DF), Tom Pattinson (DF), Steve Roberts (DF), Eduardo Mazzi (DF), Simon McKeown, Willian D’Andrea, Hermilio “Santiago” Morales, Manuel Casanova. Later joined by James Carrico, Jonah Smith (MF) and James Brown (F)