The Legends had a rare opportunity to play on grass at Randall’s Island #71, a delight for strikers while a reason for groaning for defenders.  The field wasn’t as bad as intimated beforehand, but the unexpected bounces still required a higher level of technical ability than normally available at an Over 39 match.  For a change, the Legends had only 3 substitutes but this was bountiful compared to the mere 9 that appeared for Banatul.  With a young and efficient referee, the game started on time and the Legends looked to take advantage of their shorthanded opposition.  A towering header from Oli Roberts from a typically dangerous corner from Pattinson, but the Legends struggled to create many other clear-cut chances.  Shots from the outside were narrowly wide, while the Legends were either gun shy or ran into a stubbornly packed Banatul within the area.  For a change CPR were using the width cleverly, with fullback Hahn on one side and striker Philips on the other driving to the byline but then moving in rather than crossing aimlessly into the penalty area.  Although nothing came of it, this was a promising scenario for future games.  Eventually the Legends added to their lead with a harshly struck shot by Frazier.  With Banatul now up to 10, the Legends had slightly less room to roam. With the field multiplying a careless touch at the back, Legends alumnus Santiago Morales was able to pick up the ball from the halfway line and strike a perfect lob to get Banatul back into a game they had no business being in.  The defensive lapse was a symptom of a much larger defensive malaise where Legends were not picking up the opposition despite having the extra man, then allowing Banatul players to stroll through the middle with aplomb.

Leading 2-1 at the half against 9 and then 10 men was a poor display, especially given the Legends had a decent team out.  There was some focus on tactics but the overarching principle hammered in by management was an increase in intensity and urgency against a team of older players that surely was going to tire out.  With Rosenbloom adding to the tactical choices the Legends started the second half well, pushing players further up and swarming Banatul players every time they received the ball.  With the grass field adding a level of unpredictability, forcing errors in the final third enabled the Legends to create a few more chances.  D’Andrea did his typical Brazilian samba in the box, toying mercilessly with defender and goalie before arrogantly touching the ball to a wide-open Casanova for the easiest of tap-ins.  Frazier had recovered from his usual absurd hijinks to provide some stellar running and an additional goal from an assist from D’Andrea.  Meanwhile Banatul hadn’t quit and were taking advantage of the Legends increasing greed by counterattacks led by the suspiciously young-looking midfielder.  However, their second goal was inexcusable, their young attacking midfielder collecting the ball in the penalty area with 3 legends defenders nowhere near him, allowing him to chip new goalkeeper Rich Martins.  Fortunately, this was just another consolation as the Legends added to their lead with a hopeful lob from Rosenbloom being poked home by D’Andrea amidst a penalty area scramble.

Its hard to be too negative about a 5-2 win, but against a short handed older weaker team the revamped Legends should be doing better.  There were positive glimpses, but the carelessness in midfield and at the back needs to be cleaned up in a much stronger division.  Playing against the defending champions next week should provide a much sterner test.

Competition: Banatul SC, League Opposition

Location: Randall’s Island #71, Randall’s Island

Conditions: Comfortable autumn temperatures

Fans: 5 (Mrs. Azzo and kids, Jones Jr and Sr)

Result: 5:2 HT: 2-1

Goals: 1-0: O. Roberts Assist Pattinson

2-0: Frazier Assist Casanova

3-1: Casanova Assist D’Andrea

4-1: Frazier Assist D’Andrea

5-2: D’Andrea Assist Rosenbloom

Yellow Cards: Jones and Denari for late tackles, Frazier for being Frazier and essentially begging the referee for a card with his actions.

Red Cards: None.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Conboy and Hodges with late flu, but this inadvertently helped solve the recent issue of too many players to manage.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Rosenbloom was a maybe but helped with his second half appearance and positional flexibility.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Venkataraman missed the goal festival in the second half having to limp off with a calf strain.  Rosenbloom’s advent meant Jones could rest his strained groin.

Old Man of the Match: Several good contenders including Hahn’s industry along the entire sideline and Philips working hard up top.  In the end Frazier’s two goals and not knowing that D’Andrea scored the last goal helped Frazier gain his first OMoM.  Now, if only he could curb the asinine stream of bookings…

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:  D’Andrea continues to stretch the all-time scoring record to 30 while Pattinson increases his second place assist lead with 14.

Team Bar Showing:  5 out of 15 (33%)

	A bit young for the Over 39’s, but hopefully CPR will be ready for Jones Jr in the future

Team Bar Night: 2.5 out of 5.  A decent appearance and the end of the first NFL games watched.

Team (No new profiles this week): Rich Martins (GK), Manohar Venkataraman, Tom Pattinson, Pete Hahn (DF), Danny Azzo, Gavin Moore (DF), Franco Denari, Willian D’Andrea, Andrew Jones, Oli Roberts (DF), Jeremy Phillips, Manuel Casanova, Bevan Rosenbloom, Drew Faherty (DF), Tim Frazier

The typical early season phenomenon of high attendance continued into the second game, with a late scratch of Phillips still resulting in a full 17 available for the game.  This brought about some positional juggling that resulted in some Monday morning quarterbacking late in the game as dissension over who should start and who should substitute in rumbled on.  Barnstonworth had many of the same familiar faces but new season syndrome had benefited them as well as they had a full squad available, critical in the sweltering heat of the afternoon.

Initially the Legends didn’t look anywhere near as free flowing and dangerous as they did the previous week.  There were a couple of hopeful jaunts up front but the fullbacks had nowhere near the space they had the previous week to attack.  Meanwhile Barnstonworth were making hay in the midfield as their fullbacks drew CPR in merely to bypass them to their central midfielders in the vast spaces open in the big field.  The Legends were caught in fragmented defending from the front which allowed the Rovers to advance the ball easily to the final third.  With the heat resulting in a drinks break midway through the half, the Legends tried to reorganize.  In particular, the need for better (any) communication and tightening up the defensive coordination were made paramount.  To their credit, the communication was indeed improved although there was still far more negative shouting than productive instructions.  Unfortunately, the opposition were able to take the lead with a winger’s shot parried back by goalkeeper Faherty, resulting in a cross and tap in at the near post.

CPR attempted to regroup at the half, but with the number of players, the size of the pitch and the distribution of players to positions this was a tricky effort.  The lack of menace from the attack was palpable as Sawyer plowed a lonely furrow up top with the second striker all too often dragged into the midfield to help.  The Rovers started putting more pressure in the final third and were able to turn that pressure into a couple of goals.  The Legends started pressing up which in turn opened more gaps at the back.  With the frequent substitutions and players unfamiliar with each other, the Rovers were able to take advantage on counterattacks with brutal efficiency.  The opposing forwards speed and ruthlessness had the goal count inexorably increasing.  Finally, the Legends were able to salvage some pride as they were able to eventually win a corner from which Oli Roberts header was clinically dispatched left footed by Venkataraman.  Soon after a beautifully flighted ball left the keeper in no man’s land with Venkataraman turning provider to gift D’Andrea with an open net.

Too little too late as the Legends suffered from an unexpected thrashing.  The good news is that with all the quality players added, the issues are more of organization and familiarity which they should be able to figure out.  As attendance flattens to a normal 14 or 15 this will make it much easier for the players to adjust to well defined roles.  Just as last week’s exceptional result didn’t make them title contenders, this unexpected setback didn’t make them bottom feeders either.  CPR will be hoping to get back to winning ways against Banatul next week.

Post Game Player Interviews

Competition: Barnstonworth Rovers Old Boys, League Opposition

Location: Bush Terminal Piers Park, Brooklyn

Conditions: Extremely warm autumn afternoon

Fans: 5 (Mrs. Stower/Azzo with 1/2 kids)

Result: 2:7 HT: 0-1

Goals: 1-6: Venkataraman Assist O. Roberts

2-7: D’Andrea Assist Venkataraman

Yellow Cards: Hahn received a booking for a robust tackle, perhaps a bit harshly.

Red Cards: None.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Phillips was a late scratch, but would have made a full 18 so not needed.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: A lingering injury for Oli Roberts wasn’t particularly damaging given the numbers, but the heat definitely took a toll on a number of players.

Old Man of the Match: The general malaise hit everyone in the second half, where even the quality players were struggling to make basic passes.  After a 7-2 loss, there weren’t enough positives to give anyone a vote for the scant 4 who made it to the bar.

Old Man of the Bar: None, not surprising given the high bar for this award.  It will probably only be awarded a couple of times a season, if that.

El Presidente (Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): Shafranek is an honorary mention as he made it to Blooms for a couple.

Statistic of the week: After a barren season Venkataraman made it onto the score sheet to start creeping up on the now dormant Mckeown for 3^rd all time goal scorer.  D’Andrea continues to stretch the all time scoring record to 29.

Team Bar Showing:  4 out of 17 (24%)

Team Bar Night: 2 out of 5.  4 present at shady Irish Haven in Brooklyn, Tier 1 made it back to Blooms.

Team (No new profiles this week): Andrew Faherty (GK), Manohar Venkataraman, Tom Pattinson, Pete Hahn (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF), Mike Conboy, Danny Azzo (DF), Neil Stower (DF), Gavin Moore (DF), Franco Denari, David Sawyer, Mark Resnik (DF), Willian D’Andrea, Andrew Jones, Oli Roberts (DF), Mark Edmunds (DF), Steve Teesdale

Much ado about nothing was the motto of the Over 30’s offseason for Central Park Rangers.  After contraction, consolidation and merging had all been on the table, the teams ended up exactly where they were at the end of the previous season.  Well not exactly, as heavy recruiting from the Over 30’s enabled the Legends to capture several Old Boys and a Gray along with a long time CSL stalwart.  As usual at the beginning of the season, there were more than enough players available.  For all their increase in roster and depth, a full time keeper still eludes the Legends but for this game they were able to borrow Carducci.  A strong team with good numbers would be needed against a perennially strong Manhattan Kickers team playing on a deceptively large pitch.

The Legends started the game brightly with good basic passing movement and bringing numbers into attack.  Both Stower and Azzo provided good attacking width from the fullback position allowing the wide midfielders to get closer to goal.  CPR were able to take advantage of this attacking spell as Sawyer twisted and turned and took a hard shot that was going way off target only for Conboy to be in the right place at the right time to twist a header over the keeper at the far post.  Soon after, Pattinson turned around and walloped a sweet shot that thundered off the cross bar and couldn’t be converted off the rebound.  Meanwhile the Kickers were no slouches with some intense pressure of their own, their striker missing an open header at the back post.

It was a very solid first half of the season with not much needed in the way of a half time team talk.  Perhaps that was a mistake as the second half was nowhere near as good for the Legends.  The slick surface started having more of an effect as players were unable to control the ball, and the Kickers came out strong.  A few physical incidents disrupted some of the rhythm of the game with the Legends sideline jeering every decision in true Sunday league style.  Gaps started showing up as the game opened up more and more, with the Legends defence having to take several last minute heroic tackles.  The frustration of the Kickers started increasing as the Legends tried to keep possession and see out the game.  They had a couple of glorious chances near the end to seal the victory but were unable to take advantage, however they did just enough to seal the win.

This was a very encouraging first game and victory against a seasoned playoff opponent, and the influx of quality was clear.  The only thing stopping the Legends from a serious playoff push may be the lack of a full time keeper, but hopefully they’ll be able to cobble things together until they are able to recruit one.

Competition: Manhattan Kickers Legends, League Opposition

Location: Bush Terminal Piers Park, Brooklyn

Conditions: Persistent rain, fortunately not quite cold enough to be miserable but no fun

Fans: 1 (young stower)

Result: 1:0 HT: 1-0

Goals: 1-0: Conboy Assist Sawyer

Yellow Cards: Lots of minor incidents based on physicality from both sides and a laissez-faire referee.  Belizan took exception to persistent hard fouling and was booked for retaliation while D’Andrea was also booked for remonstration based on fouls.  Not to be left out, Frazier made sure to keep his streak alive with a pointless booking in the last minute of the game.

Red Cards: None.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: None.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: With 5 substitutes and frequent interchange nobody was on long enough to get injured, and the physical tackles did not result in any injuries.

Old Man of the Match: A battling overall performance with the defence doing very well.  There was a choice of new boys but it came down to Stower’s energy and availability down the left for attacking purposes while also putting a body in when needed.

Old Man of the Bar: 6 pm finish in Brooklyn was not conducive to heading back to midtown east.  Tier 1 and 2 did make it back for a couple of beers to UWS.

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

Statistic of the week: Lots of debut points for the new guys between a defensive shutout and an assist from Sawyer

Team Bar Showing:  2 out of 16 (13%)

Team Bar Night: 1 out of 5.  Only 2 present at the bar for a couple of beers.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mike Carducci (GK), Tim Frazier, Manohar Venkataraman, Tom Pattinson, Steve Roberts (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF), Mike Conboy, Danny Azzo (DF), Neil Stower (DF), Gavin Moore (DF), Franco Denari, David Sawyer, Jeremy Phillips, Willian D’Andrea, John Hodges