Bush Terminal Piers Park was the site of the first two games of the Legends season.  Each one of those games had at least 17 players available pitch side, but even at that point management was warning the players that not every game would prove that bountiful on the sideline.  Back again, and the prediction could not have been more true.  Until game time the Legends weren’t sure if they would manage a bare 11, and it wasn’t until Morse showed up that CPR knew they’d at least able to field a full side, albeit with no subs.  With a couple of players in Enrico and Frank who hadn’t played for the Legends before it was going to take some rearranging of players to fit in a formation against the typical formidable Cozmoz team playing at home.  Management’s message was dripping with pragmatism.  Slow the game down, save your energy.  Retreat when Cozmoz have the ball at the back, keep possession.  So naturally once the game started the Legends did none of this.  Pressing from the front, chasing down lost causes, driving at the opponents.  Remarkably this impromptu strategy was working given the wind advantage and general tempo set, but the danger as always was that the Legends would run out of steam given that they did not have the overall stamina to be able to play 90 minutes.  Slowly, Cozmoz came into the game and started exploiting space in the middle of the large field.  A long counterattack finally exposed the Legends as Comzos made their breakthrough.

CPR should have been able to go into half time with a slender deficit, but instead the referee decided to enhance his normal mediocrity with a dash of higher than usual incompetence.  When asked how long there was left in the half, he said 6 minutes despite the fact it was 2:53pm for a 2pm kickoff game.  When challenged how he calculated the time, his only defence was to whine that nobody else was allowed to have a time piece on the field.  With the Legends desperately seeking a break, Cozmoz pounced with 2 more late goals to put a stranglehold on the game.

Physically the Legends were in decent shape at the half, but now they would also have to contend with the wind, and fatigue was naturally going to start creeping in.  A few of the Cozmoz late arriving substitutes were also making a major difference with speed and athletic ability that the Legends simply could not match.  Slowly the goals started dripping in.  With the wind and a tiring CPR at their disposal Cozmoz started neglecting their defensive duties in lieu of trying to score as many as possible.  Expecting CPR to play two way football on the vast pitch with no substitutes was a big ask, but they heroically attempted it and indeed started creating more clear cut chances.  From one of the CPR corners Phillips was able to score his first Legends goal, a surgical strike into the side netting from just inside the box.  Unfortunately the score was not to be respectable as the incompetent referee was now a disgruntled one. Close decisions would go Cozmoz way, and in particular two large ones went against CPR. A great save from Resnik ricocheted against the striker’s outstretched arm only for the referee to allow the tap in.  Meanwhile at the other end Cristaudo was ripped down for a blatant penalty only for the referee to inexplicably ignore what happened, an event that even had the defender apologizing afterwards.  Of course, none of these events had any material bearing on the final score, but they certainly discouraged the Legends and allowed Cozmoz to continue sweeping in goals with abandon.  The one hope is that in a tight fight for playoff places, the goal difference doesn’t come back to haunt the Legends.

Competition: Cozmoz, League Opposition

Location: Bush Terminal Piers Park, Brooklyn

Conditions: Mildly chilly fall afternoon

Fans: 0

Result: 1:8 HT: 0-3

Goals: 1-5: Phillips

Yellow Cards: None.

Red Cards: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Thankfully none.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Steve Morse managed to show up at the last, helping keep the score to single digits.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Phillips reaggravated his groin and calf, but remarkably considering everyone played 90 minutes there were no more injuries than pride and sore muscles.

Old Man of the Match: Everyone played hard but when conceding 8 its difficult to look at the positives.  Resnik put in a much more accomplished performance than previously although his rapid short distribution raised eyebrows.  Azzo as always provided interceptions, physicality and neat distribution.  Narrowly edging them out was Phillips whose attacking drive produced the best work in the first half and who continued working in the second, including a pinpoint finish for his debut goal.

Old Man of the Bar: N/A

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

Statistic of the week:  Philips with his debut goal, hopefully the first of many once his confidence matches the finishing ability of his first goal.  Venkataraman is now on 99 Legend caps, which should spark wild celebrations and an Honor Guard from both teams next week for the Century.  Maybe.

Team Bar Showing: 0 out of 5 (0%)

Team Bar Night: 0 out of 5. 11 exhausted players in the Brooklyn pier wilderness did not set the stage for any type of pints, let alone an hour to get back to Manhattan with dreadful traffic.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Resnik (GK), Steve Roberts (DF), Manohar Venkataraman, Steve Morse, Danny Azzo (DF), Mark Dean (DF), Neil Stower (DF), Jeremy Phillips, Enrico Tomassoli, Franco Denari, Frank Cristaudo

The Legends managed to scrape together 15 with a late drop from all-time points leader D’Andrea, a couple late responses ending up as No’s, and one late borrowed player from Oldboys.  But while 15 on the surface seems sufficient, the Legends once again proved why in the O39 division it is always prudent to bring 16 when possible.  Was a cold and extremely windy morning.  Wind would surely play a part.  Legends won the toss and had the wind in the first half.

The first half could barely have gone worse, short of an injury or goal, for the first 10-12mins.  Legends despite having a pretty solid lineup and everyone in their position of choice, were completely out of sorts.  They could barely string 2 passes together, were late to every 50:50 ball, could barely get the ball out of their half, and were very lucky to have avoided an early goal with several half chances for the Rovers and several balls being bumbled about and ending up within several yards of goal line and a Legend pouncing just before a Rover.  After 12 or so minutes the Legends finally settled in and started stringing some passes together and getting some deep possession on the counter.  Things were going well, and then in the blink of an eye it all went horribly wrong. On the same sequence both Edmunds and Belizan went down and were forced to retire for the day during the same stopped play.  A couple tactical moves from the sideline by Resnik to add back some speed to the middle of the back line with Rosenbloom, but it wasn’t enough.  Just 5mins later, a seemingly harmless thru ball by Rovers 20+ yds behind the Legends last man was held up just enough by the wind, and combined with some miscommunication in the Legends defense, left Martins too slow off his line, and the Rovers striker happily ran onto the ball at the 15yd line, rounded the keeper and slotted home for 1-nil.  Azzo in the middle, Hahn in the back, and Sobczak up top were spurring on the Legends to keep their heads up, with some tireless running and beating the nearest Rover to ball almost every time.  But it went from bad to worse when Nizam limped off and the Legends were left with just a single substitute for the remainder of the game.  Just when it felt like the game may turn back again in the favor of Rovers, Pattison slotted in Sobczak who finished nicely from inside the box.

The Legends scrambled to hold on and the halftime whistle couldn’t come quick enough.  A quick talk and few constructive reminders at halftime.  Despite now being shorthanded and playing a decent team, the Rovers had some weaknesses, and this was a winnable game.  But as is all too often the case in amateur soccer, some of the points went in one ear and out the other.  Most notably the idea that with the wind now in Rovers favor, maybe balls back to the Legends GK were ill advised.  Not five minutes into the second half a ball back to Martins, resulted in an unfortunate clearance directly to the Rovers striker on the 18, who was able take the gift and finish the 1v1 for 1:2 in Rovers favor.  Despite the lack of enough subs, Legends kept the game fairly even.  There was a chance here or there at both ends, but most notably Legends just couldn’t get a head on a bouncing ball inside the Rovers 6yd box when they had numbers, and Sobczak agonizingly hit the ball wide after shaking off the last Rovers defender and getting a good angle just right of the Rover PK spot.  Both teams were complaining a little about offsides, but in the referees defense he was fairly consistent in calling most all the close ones as off every time.  Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the Rovers striker from getting behind the Legends makeshift backline from near 35yds out.  He dribbled all the way inside the box and was met by Martins at about 8yd line who went low and pushed the ball wide right with strong left hand.  A fantastic 1v1 save.  However the play was not over and the ball was near immediately sent back into the box, and the scramble left the Legends late to clear a ball which fell to Rovers  for a tap in for 1:3.  Legends continued to push to try to salvage some respect if nothing else, when a thru ball down the lefthand side to Stower, saw him turn the corner and just as he entered the side of the box was taken down.  A clear penalty, no complaints.  A little bit of discussion ensued as penalty taker D’Andrea was out of town, and his back up Resnik was on the bench.  Rosenbloom stepped up, and after several attempts to get the ball to stay put on the spot in the wind, strode up and calmily struck it home for 2:3.  Game on, but Legends were pretty tired.  Legends and Rovers both moved the ball around in the final 8 or so minutes, but it wasn’t to be for the Legends this day.

What if the Legends had kept all 15 healthy?  What if Legends hadn’t given up a couple goals on mistakes?  What if Legends had finished their chances?  Well, that is Over 39 soccer.  In this division nearly every team is capable of beating or losing to everybody else.  Bring plenty of players, play hard for all 90 minutes, expect a few physical mistakes, realize injuries are inevitable, and hope at the final whistle you did enough that week.  On to Cozmoz next week to continue the Legends up and down Fall…

Competition: Barnstonworth Rovers Veterans

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

Conditions: Cold and very windy morning

Fans: 0

Result: 2:3 HT: 1:1

Goals:
1:1 Sobczak assist Pattison
2:3 Rosenbloom (PK) assist Stower

Yellow Cards: Frazier.  Dissent after being called offsides in the first half.

Red Cards: None.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: D’Andrea was late drop due to travel just 24hrs in advance, while Phillips and Casanova left themselves as maybe’s and gave less than 24hrs notice on final reply.  A reminder that we need all Yes/No responses by midday Thursday at the lastest.  After that all Maybe’s are assumed No’s and your PT may be given to Oncall or to other players in the club.  We proved this week that we need a full 16 at every game whenever that is possible.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Unfortunately on a single play/stoppage Belizan & Edmunds came off, and shortly after was Nizam as well.  All pulled muscles in the cool chilly air, and none were unable to return.

Old Man of the Match: Danny Azzo for his relentless running for 90mins.  Honorable mention to Pete Hahn for 90mins of aggressive defending.

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: Nothing significant.

Team Bar Showing:  0 out of 15 (0%, Season Low)

Team Bar Night: 0.5 out of 5.  Unfortunately with couple Tier 1 out of town, no one instigated a trip back to Blooms, but a few beers/shots were consumed on the sideline of the 12-2pm Orange game with the OldBoys who were having a post-game celebration of their 10am win.

Team (No new profiles this week): Rich Martins (GK), Pete Hahn (DF), Steve Roberts (DF), Mark Edmunds (DF), Gavin Moore (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF), Bevan Rosenbloom (DF), Neil Stower, Franco Denari, Danny Azzo, Tom Pattison, Mark Resnik, Tim Frazier, Hakan Nizam, Sebastian Sobczak

The Legends struggled a little more than usual in getting players out for the game, one reason being the new rule for the state cup that the league decided to share with minimal notice that players from other rosters would not be allowed to be shared.  This eliminated a few on call players the Legends would normally have gone to, but they were fortunately able to scrap up 15, even though a few of those were walking wounded.  CPR were also playing in the Over 30’s cup as the notice from the league regarding the Over 40’s cup was less than 24 hours, not nearly enough time to weight the pros and cons of eliminating the 7 players 39 and under.

Traditionally the Legends have suffered grievously at the hands of younger whippersnappers, including last years all time thrashing against the Greeks at the Met Oval.  This time the Legends were somewhat hopeful as Celtic only had the bare 11, but once play started it was clear that most of those were in shape and up to the challenge of 90 minutes.  The Legends started out decently but were unfortunate to give up the first goal after an even spell, a shot from a sharp angle spilling kindly out of Martin’s hands to the opposition striker.  Soon after Celtic made it 2-0 with a long cross finding a Celtic player in acres of space at the back post, and an ill advised cross field ball at the back quickly resulted in a third.  With the Legends trying to hold on until half time, another mistake made it 4-0.

There wasn’t much to be said at 0-4 down, the hopes of holding on for penalties having now faded.  Azzo’s encouragement to win the second half was positive and indeed the Legends started making increased substitutions to try and wear Celtic down.  A few of their players appeared to be carrying injuries, one necessitating a goalie switch.  Indeed the Legends had to make one of their own as Martins collision with a striker required a few minutes on the sideline.  Frazier came in as an imperious sweeper keeper and changed the dynamic, but CPR was unable to take advantage of his longer kicks.  The closest the Legends came to the scoreboard was a scramble in the box which resulted in the ball hitting the crossbar twice in quick succession, but it was not to be.  At the other end the Legends let in one and then near the end a comedy of errors resulted in two quick goals to unfairly pad the score line.  CPR had played decently, but not enough to make up for several mental errors and the natural physical mismatch of 50ish year olds playing against players in their mid 30’s.

Competition: Manhattan Celtic Bhoys, Over 30’s

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

Conditions: Pleasant morning, back on the astroturf

Fans: 0

Result: 0:7 HT: 0-4

Goals: N/A

Yellow Cards: None.

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: Martins had a significant collision with an onrushing striker and had to take a few minutes off, but was back soon after.  Venkataraman’s calf surprisingly survived and the subs helped lessen the load on the rest.

Old Man of the Match: With a 0-7 drubbing it was hard to pick an OMoM but there were a few honorable mentions, notably Teesdale, Azzo and Phillips.

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: Nothing significant, with the loss dropping the Legends to 2-13 lifetime in the Cup, mostly because of playing significantly younger teams.

Team Bar Showing:  6 out of 15 (40%, Season High)

Team Bar Night: 3 out of 5.  A decent group back and a few ones for the road, finishing the entire first slate of NFL games.

Team (No new profiles this week): Rich Martins (GK), Andrew Faherty (DF), Manohar Venkataraman, Neil Stower (DF), Gavin Moore (DF), Franco Denari, David Sawyer, Willian D’Andrea, Jeremy Phillips, Steve Teesdale (DF), Danny Azzo, Mark Resnik (DF),  Mike Conboy, Tim Frazier, Hakan Nizam