The Legends embarrassment of squad riches continued this week with Ciolli generously stepping down to allow the game day squad to reach the maximum of 18.  Even with 2 late no shows in Jones and Nizam the squad was a healthy 16.  Sawyer strode around with purpose describing his 4-2-4 (in reality a 4-2-3-1) and giving each squad member a detailed breakdown of his role.  The debut of the new kit with the number randomizer was beneficial to the fitter members of the club, not so flattering for the…older gentlemen.

CPR were playing a new league team Astoria United SC, who appeared capable of scoring a lot of goals but also shipping them.  The Legends started off purposefully and used their mobility versus their stouter opposition to pin them back.  However, despite having a strong defence CPR were showing some definite miscommunication as they were exposed a couple of times on the break, forcing Arrocha off his line for some last minute clearances.  Relatively early the Legends struck, a hopeful dribbler from distance from Sawyer could only be lamely pushed away by the keeper right into the path of the grateful Subah.  A second and what should have been decisive goal came from a deep corner by Phillips that Sawyer converted much more assertively.  The Legends composure seemed to desert them at this point as simple passes were being botched up and Astoria were winning the physical battle.  Rather than fold, they kept coming and earned a way back into the game, a corner to the top of the box resulting in an accurate shot that was deflected enough to wrong foot Arrocha and pull the game back to 2-1.

At half time the Legends knew they needed to stretch the lead as the opposition were not going away quietly.  Right on cue, a scramble in the box had Sawyer blocked in the act of shooting for an obvious penalty.  As Astoria surrounded the referee Sawyer waited calmly for his opportunity.  A little too calmly as it turned out, as his shot lobbed over and wide past the gaping right side of the goal.  With barely time to digest this misfortune, the Legends gave away a free kick in the middle of the field resulting in a booking for Belizan.  Perhaps still discombulated, Astoria launched a long ball that their striker somehow corralled and scored from, the type of mistake that would not have been expected from a defence of the caliber of the Legends.  From 3-1 to 2-2 in a matter of a minute was certainly a gut punch, with the bright side that there was a full 40+ minutes still to play.    Most of the match followed a similar pattern, the Legends left hand side wide open for whichever left side midfielder was deployed.  The ball was then brought up only to meet an unyielding low block, with few clear cut chances created.  On occasion Astoria would clear the ball and immediately be on the counter attack.  Indeed, the clearest chances of the game were presented to them only for their finishing and Arrocha’s goalkeeping to save them.

In the end there was much huffing and puffing but no more than half chances for the Legends to seal what should have been a routine victory.  Astoria proved to be a stout opponent in more ways than one, but hopefully CPR learn from this and make sure they take better advantage next time.

Competition: Astoria United SC, League Opposition

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

Conditions: Brisk Autumn morning

Fans: 3, Brindley (managing the subs), Resnik, Ciolli

Result: 2:2 HT: 2-1

Goals: 1:0 Subah Assist Sawyer

2:0 Sawyer Assist Phillips

Yellow Cards: Stower, Belizan

Red Cards: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Despite the abundance of strikers forcing Vale and Ciolli to drop out, Nizam was an incommunicado no show.  Not the best way to endear yourself to a ruthless management team. Jones shenanigans in the last few weeks got to him, but he had been in close communication with management about a potential drop out.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Ciolli was the only one of the fans who was capable of playing, but based on the mooted attendance did not bring his kit with him.  Given Nizam’s no show, he could well have provided added heft in the box for the last few frantic minutes.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Given the maximum number of substitutes few people were out long enough to get injured.  However, some of this was also due to some dainty footwork as there were a few agricultural challenges that could well have caused problems had they connected.

Old Man of the Match: Pablo Arrocha made several key saves on the counter attacks to keep the Legends still in it.  Jeremy Phillips gets an honorable mention for several trademark winding runs that gained the Legends some dangerous free kicks.

Old Man of the Bar: With a long overdue award, Morse and his cooler deservedly win Old Man of the Bar/Pitch

El Presidente (Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None, as the players made it to the game to watch and stayed on the sidelines for refreshments.

Statistic of the week:  Legends first consecutive league 2-2 draw in their history saw them give up the lead in both games, in different forms of brutality.  One last minute, one giving up a dominating two goal lead and with a missed penalty.

Team Bar Showing:  12 out of 16 (75%)

Team Bar Night: 3.5 out of 5. Morse’s cooler proved the main attraction once again as it ended up keeping most of the team around for a fair amount of time.

Team (No new profiles this week): Pablo Arrocha (GK), Manohar Venkataraman, Neil Stower, Gavin Moore (DF), Danny Azzo, Charles Linehan (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF), Manuel Casanova, Eduardo Mazzi (DF), Mark Edmunds (DF), Chris Impey, Ernest Subah, David Sawyer, Jeremy Phillips, Steve Morse, Takeshi Tsujita

After administering the usual thrashing of Banatul a few weeks ago, management appeared unusually cautious for this week’s cup game. A number of Banatul players that had not been used in the first match were expected to play, and the sting of losing 7-0 was supposed to light a fire under them. Quite how this match would be different given a 7 year history of domination was unclear, but it seems Legends management took it seriously. For the first time in Legends history, more players showed up than could be accommodated by the maximum 18 game day roster. Banatul themselves had a few substitutes, but the squad comparison clearly favored the Legends.

The game quickly set itself in a predictable pattern, with the Legends attacking and counterattacking with verve. Although Banatul’s roster reinforcements were clearly of a higher quality, their traditional “strategy” of having multiple players attack but not come back to defend was still in effect. Playing only 1 up front in a rare departure from the 4-4-2, the Legends were having difficulty penetrating into the penalty area with enough attackers. A lot of sound and fury was signifying not a whole lot, while Banatul started to grow into the game on the attacking side. Eventually the Legends broke through, a rampaging fullback run by Shobowale crossing in for Ciolli to finish. The Legends knew they would need a 2 goal lead to break Banatul’s spirit but defensive mishaps at the back led to an equalizer. With a few minutes to go until half time the Legends were able to take the lead, some nice interplay leading to Ciolli finishing well.

At half time CPR was confident that they could outwork and outlast Banatul, and with the large number of substitutes they had quicker rotations and started taking advantage of the spaces that were opening up, particularly down the left hand flank. Both Impey and Hahn continually made hay down the left hand side and one such foray set up the cushion the Legends were looking for. A pass into Ciolli resulted in beating the keeper but the ball going agonizingly wide. However Linehan was swift enough to retrieve and return the ball to Ciolli who this time finished at the second time of asking. The fact the Legends looked the favorites to score was more impressive given that they had been reduced to 10 men with the slightly harsh second yellow for Shobowale on contact that was greatly exaggerated by ex Legend Santiago Morales. The game continued to be somewhat chippy with plenty of hard tackles on both sides producing several bookings.

	Anatomy of a dirty foul and opponent’s booking, in 4 steps. No Venkataramans were harmed (much) in the making of this collage

Now CPR started creating an abundance of dangerous opportunities, however few of them turned into clear opportunities. Perhaps the best was Hahn to Venkataraman, whose sliding finish was a few years too late in many respects. Finally Linehan received yet another opportunity and was able to convert it on target giving the Legends a comfortable final edge. With the welcome change to a purely Over 40 cup, the Legends should start having more chances at victories in cup competitions.

Competition: Banatul SC, League Opposition

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

Conditions: Warm morning

Fans: 4, Arrocha (not eligible), Carlsen, Subah (over the 18 game day maximum), El Presidente (Emergency keeper, team photographer)

Result: 4:1 HT: 2-1
1-0: Ciolli Assist Shobowale
2-1: Ciolli Assist Azzo
3-1: Ciolli Assist Linehan
4-1: Linehan Assist Ciolli

Goals: 1:1 Subah Assist Stower
2:1 Sawyer Assist Ciolli

Yellow Cards: Hahn, Linehan

Red Cards: Shobowale for 2 bookings, the second of which was harsh

Mike D’s aka No Shows: None

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: A record number of extras showed up, especially odd considering the ease with which SportEasy displays the team members showing up for the game. Arrocha wasn’t aware of the cup age limitation. Carlsen suffered from some miscommunication over need, while Casanova and Subah both signed up a few hours before game time when the available numbers were already clearly high. Although high interest is obviously a positive problem to have, the process will have to be properly defined given people arrange their weekends around the games so they shouldn’t have playing time penalized due to the last minute whims of other players.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Given the maximum number of substitutes few people were out long enough to get injured.

Old Man of the Match: Although lots of people played well, a hattrick and an assist did not make this decision for Ciolli particularly hard. Given his impact and versatility over the first few games this could well be the first of many.

Old Man of the Bar: None.

El Presidente (Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): Morse, and more importantly Morse’s cooler made it just after the game to give people some well needed sustenance.

Statistic of the week: Now that the Legends will be playing against teams in the Cup near enough their own age, the hope is they can significantly improve their cup record from its current paltry 3 wins out of 16.

Team Bar Showing: 9 out of 18 (50%)

Team Bar Night: 3.5 out of 5. Several players stayed by the field watching Wolves glorious victory over City, then Faherty, Venkataraman, Pattinson and Subah made it to Blooms to watch Newcastle’s equally glorious victory over United.

Team (No new profiles this week): Scott Brindley (GK), Manohar Venkataraman, Neil Stower, Gavin Moore (DF), Danny Azzo, Charles Linehan (DF), Olatokumbo “Tokes” Shobowale (DF), Mark Dean (DF), Mark Ciolli, Pete Hahn (DF), Luciano Belizan (DF), Manuel Casanova, Willian D’Andrea, Tom Pattinson, Eduardo Mazzi (DF), Steve Teesdale, Mark Edmunds (DF), Chris Impey