YR: This game reminded me of the games with Sputnik. A lot can be said about what did not work well but we should say - JA United is a very good team - organized, skilled players. They were not selfish, passed well and converted their chances into goals.

LF: We did a better job in the second half of today's game compared to all previous games. Even the last week's one which we won. Jenn did not have luck with shots, neither did I, Barsik and Ryjouk (I actually set my personal record of this season: 2 shots on goal in a single game, although it still sounds quite miserable :))) )

We should practice the basic things (passes and shots on goal, long-range passes - J.A. were really good at that, and one-on-one encounters with the goalkeeper)........

VB: First of all we again had only 14 people for the game. Including one extra player (Jenn's friend). I do agree with Jenn that JA is a very nice team, but I think we played better than them, and if we had executed our chances we should have won. This game was not like a game vs. Panamerica. We are getting better and like Leonid said we need practice

GV: Based on comments I read after the game... It seems like we didn't have good organization around substitutions this game. Also, Rikshpun performed his signature trick to play an attacking defender :-)

A muddy, messy and hard victory

The result is in line with what one would expect from the standings. But the game was more than that. Very difficult conditions for play and a very intriguing development in the game luckily ended on the good side for us. Another disappointing attendance record. If we have 21 people on the roster, why can't we get more than two substitutions lately? On top of it, I and Fima arrived five minutes after the game had started thanks to my mistake of taking the wrong directions... It was fortunate that we were able to reach Moldovan on his cell just before he had to start the game.

As we were getting ready to play with Fima, we witnessed the first goal in our favor. Barsik came one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The keeper was closer to the ball and he fell on his side to block it and catch it but it went under him. Barsik is known for his sixth sense for scoring goals and didn't miss this chance to catch up with the ball and shoot at a sharp angle into the net.

The bad news is that once we got into the game with Fima, we received two quick goals against us. I was thinking to myself, we should have just watched from the sidelines :-) Both goals (actually all three) happened in the same way - a cross and a finish.

The first goal for Hunterdon was from a corner kick. We missed one guy on the far post and he scored with a header. The second goal came after another cross from the right side that was passing right by Alik at waist level. Alik called it and tried to catch it but couldn't. A forward was there to finish it. Although Ljonja was able to block the first attempt at the goal line.

The field was very tough. These non-stop rains we've had for the last few weeks are starting to depress all of us. At least the fields at Lenape Park were maintained well, so the muddy match was a little more bearable but not a bit easier. Not only was it hard and exhausting to run in the mud but many plays just didn't work. The ball stopped easily on the ground, change of directions wasn't easy and trying to run without the ball was difficult.

The good thing was that Hunterdon's players had a much worse technique than us. Forget about stars on their team - there were none. Most annoying was their dirty play and their bitter attitude. Maybe they got it from too much losing :-) They were strong physically and were playing a relatively rough game. On top of it all, the ref was surprisingly whistling in their favor. I usually ignore the ref but this guy should have had a green Hunterdon shirt instead of yellow.

When I came to play, I substituted Korsunsky in the middle, so I was spending more time in the attack. The Hunterdon defenders weren't any good and Jenn on the left was causing a lot of damage to them. During one of his attacks he outran a few defenders on the left and crossed in the box. I had run at the far post in anticipation of the pass but when it came, I couldn't reach it well and hit the ball wide.

Minutes later Maradona was teaching Hunterdon's defenders a few tricks on the right flank. He came back a little and saw a few of us in the box. The pass on the ground was perfect and made it behind a few defenders and right on my foot. I just had to finish it, although I could hear a defender breathing in my neck. I kicked it low and the ball made it into the net. My first goal this season. Yeah! It was a great feeling not just because it was my first and because we needed it, but because it was a great scene. We were like a bunch of struggling pigs crowded in the muddy box and chasing a ball :-) It was nice to see the resolution of this scene with a goal for Tornado. 2:2

The third goal for Hunterdon came at the end of the first half. The same way - a lob (maybe from a corner kick) and a header. We have to do something about defending those crosses.

So, we were a little down at the break - tired, behind in the score, a ref against us, and all this against the last (remaining) team in the group. Hard weather and a bad field can really make you desperate if you are behind. You feel like coming back is an impossible task. But Moldovan cheered us at the break and told us a mother-in-law joke (very relevant with Korsunsky preparing for a wedding) :-)

Fortunately, Hunterdon was pretty much dead by the second half. They had a few attacks in the starting minutes and even hit the far post with a slow shot from the left. We were tired, too, but we played in their half for the most part and controlled the middle more, building attacks from there. I was more active on the left but came back more towards my regular position further back. Korsunsky was experimenting sometimes how many defenders he can swing around. Jenn would take a long pass and take it all the way to the Hunterdon box. Our defense was impenetrable - Moldovan was taking many balls from the air, Borisov and Ryjouk were having a sliding practice and annoyed the heck out of the Hunterdon forwards. Sergey was helping more with the attacks. It was a nice team effort from everyone.

During one of our attacks Korsunsky made it inside the big box (I think after a pass from Slava) and passed to the left to an open Maradona. Maradona probably had the biggest miss of the game - he hit the post from a few meters away.

I don't remember how but Jenn scored the goal to tie the game at 3:3. It was interesting and annoying to see Hunterdon waste time even after the score was tied. They were definitely afraid and wanted to hang onto the one point that they don't get very often.

I had another good chance to score. A defender couldn't clear the ball in the box as it was rolling sideways. I beat him to the ball when he started to chase it, then I stopped the ball to switch the direction, turned around and took a shot. I was too excited at the good opportunity and my shot was wide and up.

The Hunterdon defenders were pulling up a lot and with a favorable ref were achieving many offsides. After a nice pass from behind and Jenn coming forward with the ball on speed, the ref, surprisingly, didn't whistle. Barsik was running on the right to help Jenn's advance on the left if needed. Jenn was one-on-one with the goalkeeper but chose to take a nice distance shot in the near corner instead of closing in further. We were up again. 4:3

With very little time left Hunterdon were probably regretting now that they wasted time before. It was a sweet moment :-) Barsik came through nicely with a pass from behind but was called in offside, I was sitting at the sidelines and could clearly see that at the moment of the pass he had defenders ahead of him. In the final minute Hunterdon had a corner kick. Ryjouk was telling me how scared he was at the moment because he felt that all his trash talk from the sidelines with a Hunterdon defender could be punished by the football Gods. Well, it wasn't and the final whistle came right after we cleared the ball.

It was a nice and difficult win. Everybody's efforts were really needed in a tough game like this. Ljonja came despite having some eye problems that started days before - a nice gesture! We can really use the three points, too. We don't have even theoretical chances to catch up with Panamerica and our practical chance for playoffs are less than 1% but we should save face and finish with a better standing than this. We can start by bringing more people to a game - for a change.

Big-Score-Losses'R'Us

This wasn't a good time for us to play Panamerica but with these guys it never will be. I still wonder what Panamerica is doing in this group, they really should move up to semi-pro.

Even though we didn't really have chances against Panamerica, we should have at least showed up with more people. Ryjouk could only play 30 minutes coming out of an injury. And one substitution was for the goalkeeper position. So, we really had only two substitutions.

And we could have used some substitutions. Panamerica did have some subs but they didn't really need any. These guys were very fit physically and with great technique. Some defenders seemed a little shaky but we didn't really test them. Plus, they did a good job at clearing the few balls that made it their way.

The game started very one-sided and it stayed that way for the first half. Just like R&R could pass the ball in their own half in the last game, Panamerica could do the same everywhere on the field. They completely dominated us, everywhere. So, every minute there was an attack against us that ended with a decent shot or chance for goal.

We held up until about the 20-th minute. I don't remember how the first two goals were scored but they could have come many times before that.

The third goal came after a shot was saved by Vova but an uncovered forward scored on the rebound.

The fourth goal came from a penalty. It was given when Panamerica was going through our big box and the referee saw the ball hit Moldovan's hand.

At the end of the first half we did have a few successfull passes in a row and, in general, we could see some fatigue in Panamerica. The half ended. 4:0

In the second half the game was still one-sided but not so pronounced. We started to posess the ball more. I saw Merckie a few times stealing a ball and then seeming surprised that he could drible the ball for a while.

Panamerica kept taking shots at goal but some were just too wide to be called shots. During one attack for Panamerica, a pass in the box put one of their forwards one-on-one with Alik, who played the second half. We thought there would be offside but we did have a defender covering another forward on the left that was deeper. Alik did a great job at coming forward a little and saving the shot.

Our best chance was a nice pass on the left to Barsik, who took it at speed and did a nice run as three defenders were closing in. The goalkeeper came out and Barsik took a shot to the lower right but missed.

This was the fourth game that we loose with a very bad score. The only soothing fact is that we lost to Panamerica.

After the game we discussed some organizational issues. A lot is happening off the field lately. It sucks enough to be losing badly but it's even worse when we have to play with few or no subs. We probably need about 4-6 new people. We need to have more accountability from the players when they don't fill their attendance, don't come to practices and games or come late for them. We are even considering dropping competitive football and going back to pick-up games. On top of it all, we screwed up and pissed the management at Cook College and we can't use the field now. Plus, we need someone to take over organizational issues as Barsik can not do it anymore (but still does it for the moment).

GV: The score is a little misleading. It wasn't as bad as it looks :-) Except for the first 30 minutes. As far as I'm concerned this was our best game so far this Spring. We had a very bad attendance but the people that showed up played a corageous game, except that they did it a little too late.

We played at Kennedy Park in North Brunswick dressed for the first time in our new white uniforms. Nemetz was joking before the game we should use the intimidation factor of our nice uniforms with our names on the back and the AVARIA sponsor on the front of our vests :-)

We had a miserable attendance. Three people that had said they would come - didn't. Worst of all, we didn't have a goalkeeper. So, we started our injured Ryjouk who had come to watch the game. Sergey didn't come until the 15-th minute because he was at work. Kian came as the second half was starting.

Barsik had new ideas for this game but had to make do with the handful of people that showed up. He swapped me and John and played our familiar scheme with two forwards.

The game didn't start bad. R&R were good at passing the ball in their half and helping each other. We were trying quick counter attacks but nothing much was happening in either direction. Until they made one of their first crosses in the box. They were very good at crossing the ball and finding a well positioned player there. Their headers were just as good. And we had an injured, non-goalkeeper at goal. Still, I don't know whether Ryjouk could have gone out and cleared the cross in that situation. We also had a problem with defenders guarding forwards too loosely in the box and allowing them a clear header.

I think R&R realized at this point that we don't really have a goalkeeper :-) So, during one of their attacks, a guy took a slow parabolic shot from far and left towards the far corner of the goal. The shot was somewhat tricky but nothing to cause danger for an experienced goalkeeper. Ryjouk watched the ball pass him above and enter the goal :-) That was a clear mistake by the goalee.

Pretty much, like John said, two shots at goal - two goals. We are still thankful to Ryjouk for his brave sacrifice! The good thing is that by this time Sergey had arrived and we put him in the game quickly. The bad thing is that we replaced Ryjouk on goal with another non-goalkeeper with only a little experience at goal - I was the new goalee :-)

R&R was in high spirit and kept attacking. I was still out of breath and definitely not ready for the goalkeeper's position yet. You tend goal the best when you are very relaxed and confident. I wasn't either. So, with their next cross in the box they had another header and another goal. It was a deja vu of the first goal. It was probably a mistake of both the defense and me. 0:3

Just when I thought they couldn't possibly get any more goals from crosses, they advanced on the left flank and a guy lobbed a slow cross at the opposite corner of the small box. This time it was clearly my mistake. I should have come out and taken the ball away from the guy's head or both the ball and the head :-) Instead, I watched helplessly the header go to my right. I did throw myself just for the cameras and for a closer look at the goal :-)

After another cross, this time from the right flank into the small box on my right, a guy hit a header into the ground towards my left corner. After the ball had passed me slowly, I threw myself back and deflected it away from the goal. I was proud of myself at this point. On another occasion, I came out well to stop an attack on my right when a guy received a long pass but I got to it first. My third proud moment was in the second half when I took a dive to my lower right corner after a not so dangerous and pretty predictable shot. But back to the game :-)

We didn't have much going forward at this point. We just watched R&R attack. During one attack the referee gave them a direct kick very close to the top left corner of our big box. This was for a hand ball. They didn't play it directly but passed to the middle and took a shot. The shot took a bounce from one of our defenders, I was helpless. 0:5

I started to feel more relaxed and rested at this point. A little too late? I noticed that it helped us a lot when I guided the defense with shouting. We have a tendency to stay in zone and not cluster at the point of the attack. Another thing we do is that even if we have people where the attack is advancing, we don't necessarily mark the individual players. I was able to remind people about these mistakes and they started to play a perfect defense. No kidding! After R&R scored their fifth goal, they only got two more real goal chances for the rest of the game. We really owned them in defense in the end of the first half and during the second one.

Even with Kian coming in the second half and providing us with one substitution, we couldn't match R&R with about five subs or more. At times they substituted four people at a time! Despite this, we didn't allow them to create much in attack. R&R was good at switching the ball from one flank to the other but after a switch or two their attacks still ended in our posession. This started numerous attacks on our part. We could have easily scored three goals this game. One of our biggest misses was when we gave a pass to the right in the box, then passed a little to the left for Barsik who took a nice shot but about half a meter above the top right corner.

Strangely enough, I don't remember who scored our goal. But I remember that it was a one-on-one between a forward coming from the side and the goalkeeper. Or I could be wrong. But we had so many similar chances that to me it didn't matter on which one we scored. 1:5

R&R had their best chance for goal when they passed a ball to the right and the guy passed it quickly to the left in the middle-right of our box. I was in the left corner and had no chance but the guy that took a diving header sent the ball high. Later, R&R kept lobbing some balls in the box in desperation from our excellent defending but most of the time they didn't even have a guy to meet the pass or the ball was just too easy for intercepting. So, I ended up collecting a lot of their crosses.

Their goal came during one of their counter attacks on the right. There were many defenders in the box and the guy with the ball, who was very skillful, beat a defender only to get to another one and me throwing my legs at the ball. He was able to escape my slide and passed perfectly to a teammate in the middle of the small box inbetween other defenders. I was coming back from my slide and knew I would be late to defend against the shot. The guy made a shot just as defenders were getting at him and I saw the ball cross the goal line as Ljonja was making a desperate slide to stop it. 1:6

I am very happy with the fight we gave given the unfortunate circumstances under which we had to play. I am proud of the defense and the midfield for the way they were able to stop the opponent's attacks. And our forwards created many dangerous situations from counter attacks. I think we came very strong as a team and everybody gave a lot from himself. I think we can really congratulate ourselves for this game and arrange a better attendance for the next one.

This is what happens when I play goalkeeper, the people that weren't at the game are probably the only ones reading this paragraph :-) This position is just too good for observing the game. We could always use another point of view and we need to find out who scored the goal for us.

LF: Slava scored the goal as far as I remeber, but we should have scored at least 5 more...

Sometimes If You Play Fine You Still Lose

The field and the weather were almost perfect. Just as it should be for the 99% Russian derby! We had great attendance this time but the score ended up awfully the same :-(

I came with my children today and didn't pay much attention to the game when I was not on the field. I am hoping Jenn (who came sick and watched the game) will share with us what he saw. I want to thank Larisa and Katja, who took care of my kids so that I can play. They are not only veteran fans of Tornado but also veteran babysitters of Martin and Victor :-) Ryjouk, John and Yuriy brought their girls to the game, too. Larisa and Barsik brought their baby boy. If it was sunny and more people had brought their families, we could have had a picnic after the game.

After a few practices and friendly games with the "shadow" (quote from Barsik) Sputnik, we finally met the competition Sputnik. Last time we hardly got enough people and couldn't contribute much to the exhibition of Soviet football in New Jersey. This time our attendance was great.

Compared to the last game, we played much more organized but we are still not in our best physical shape. The game turned out very pleasant and mostly friendly. We weren't at our best but we had a fine time and Sputnik took a deserved win.

The first goal was scored by one of Sputnik's ex-professionals - Dima. He made a nice run to open himself and received a nice pass. Rikshpun, who I found out later was supposed to guard him personally watched the pass and shouted to Moldovan to stop him. I think Rikshpun should still have run back and closed the middle, to make it easier on Moldovan, who could then concentrate on guarding the flank. So, Dima made a run from the centerfield to the big box - unopposed. Moldovan was one-on-one with him, Dima coming on full speed. Dima pushed the ball on the side and shot it in the far corner. A nice goal by Sputnik.

We had several attacks in the beginning, too. On one of them Korsunsky let a ball through and I hardly reached it to make a shot. The ball missed the lower left corner but the shot wasn't very strong. We had a couple of dangerous crosses but didn't have someone to finish them.

I think the rest of their goals came in the second half. I saw all the goals from the sidelines but now I don't remember the second or the third. I have a feeling these goals were similar. Anyway, the second or the third, or both came with a shot from a distance to Vova's right. The guy that made a shot was busy with the defenders and stretched to take a shot. It was a similar situation to my chance in the first half.

The third goal must have been with a distance shot, too. I think on this one Vova seemed to me as in slow motion. I had a feeling he knew he'll get the shot. After the game Vova said that he had lost idea where the goal behind him was.

The fourth goal came after one of our defenders beat an opponent to the ball but his kick was caught by Vova and the ref considered it a pass to to goalkeeper. With an indirect kick at the top of the small box, it was almost as hard to defend as a penalty shot. They passed it to the middle and took an easy shot.

It was nice that during this game we could play the goal kick with the defenders. This was made possible by the nice field, where you can make passes without worries that bumps will deflect them. Sputnik was also giving us more space in front of our goal.

We had attacks in the second half, too. We had some chances, especially when Sputnik started playing its second team. Barsik had several good runs and on one of them won a nice direct kick at the top right corner of Sputnik's box. I think we passed it to the middle but Nemetz was off step and made a few steps too many :-)

We started using our left flank a little, too. And Yuriy was winning some good balls in the middle. Borisov helped to build some attacks from defense on the right. I missed a good chance during one of our attacks. We were attacking through the middle and I was waiting for a pass at the left inside the big box. I think Barsik gave me the pass. I was stepping backwards before the pass to avoid an offside. When I got the pass I touched it once and tried to make a quick shot. It came out miserably terrible :-(

Rikshpun played a forward for a while in the second half but didn't get chances. Vova made a few nice saves. Kian was swapping with me in the middle on some plays.

We lost to a better team but we did it with grace. We didn't fall into shouting to each other or expressing anger through rough play. We should keep the team spirit, bring more people to practice and hope for a little warmer weather. This should guarantee a good time and the wins will start coming, too.

A Bad Start

GV: It was nice to finally play a competitive game after so many missed games. Even though we played a friendly game with Sputnik earlier, we had a remarkable lack of organization and team play.

The game started in the usual fashion for GSSL games - a little disorganized but mostly in our favor. During the first 15 minutes of the game we were energetic and pressed B/R throughout the field. We didn't really have good cohesive play but we were keeping the ball in their half and causing some danger.

B/R was playing much more organized and more concentrated. After we got a little tired and started to loosen our pressure, B/R started to own the middle. They were building their attacks from the back as we were outnumbered in the middle. This is one of our typical mistakes - our defenders sit in front of the big box even when there aren't opponents there. The first goal was scored in the 15th minute not because we didn't have enough people in defense but because the one forward they had was unguarded in front of the small box and was able to receive a pass and shoot. We had at least three defenders nearby. The game had turned around.

Not much changed for the rest of the first half. We were playing against the wind and we couldn't even put the ball in their half with long passes or goal kicks.

The second half started as a continuation of the first. The wind wasn't impeding them much as they played with short passes on the ground. We were still struggling. One of their attacks ended with a pass in the middle at the top of the box and a guy on speed took it and was about to cut forward. He had about three defenders in front of him, so it didn't look that dangerous. But he fell down and the ref gave them a penalty.

The team was down. We knew that we wouldn't be able to come back easily from a 2:0 deficit, especially with the way we played. Alik was calm as always, you had a feeling that he was at practice - nerves of steel. As the guy started running towards the penalty spot, Alik made a fake move to the left and then came back in the middle. The guy was obviously thrown off by that and he ended up shooting up in the middle. Alik saved the shot and at the rebound we were able to defend.

The saved penalty shot, even though amazing, was only part of the great work that Alik did on Sunday. He saved a direct kick in his left corner and a few other shots. He also defended superbly on several one-on-one situations. His great goalkeeping must have saved us at least three certain goals. The goalee for B/R congratulated Alik several times during the game and then after it was over.

After the missed penalty shot, we had the psychological advantage. We also started to pull up more to the centerline. As soon as we had the middle, our game was going much better. We started blocking more of their attacks and had much more good scoring opportunities from counter attacks. On one case we had three of our forwards just meters away from the right corner of the goal fighting to get first to a rebound. Rikshpun got to it first but it was a little crowded and tricky to score. Still, three red jerseys so close to the goal looked almost like a goal for a while. In general, we had our fair share of chances to score - almost as many as B/R had. Most of them didn't come from a built-up attack but from counter attacks or some lucky long ball.

B/R used the fact that we had pulled up and was able to have a couple of counter attacks on their own. They scored their second goal with a pass from the right flank to the middle-left, at the top of the box. The guy took the ball and shot from very close distance, Alik couldn't do anything about it.

The game ended somewhat sooner than I expected. Nothing really interesting was happening and it didn't seem like the end of a game. Both teams must have been tired at this point.

B/R didn't have better players than us but they played much more like a team. We need to do the same if we want to win. And what better time than against Sputnik next week :-) My suggestion is that Rikshpun should start at the sidelines and direct the team from there, so that we can start well and organized.

LF: Interesting historical parallels:

05/05/2002 Hellas Utd - Tornado 2-0
04/27/2003 Bridgewater/Raritan - Tornado 2-0

things in common: sunny, good field, good attendance on our side, girls playing soccer nearby, opponent wears blue jersey, we concede 1 goal in each half, same guy (forgot his name) comes to play with us, I have my hair cut short one day before the game.....

A Windy Game

GV: The wind was a very decisive factor in this game because it was very strong. We started off on the bad side and that's when Pegasus scored a goal on us. And in the second half we were on the good side and we scored our goal.

I do have to say that Pegasus probably had more chances and were reaching our goal even in the second half (something that we almost never did in the first half). They supported each other more when they had the ball and had more of the posession.

LF: Their goal was scored after a nice shot from ~20meters. I tried to block the shot, and it actually made things worse. The ball went above my leg and had nowhere else to go except for left (from Vova's position) "devjatka", it hit the post and went into the net. Vova tried to clear it with his right arm, but missed just a little bit...

GV: I saw our goal but didn't see what happened before it. I was on the sidelines and I saw Barsik and the goalkeeper running towards the ball from opposite directions. Barsik got there first and with that one touch put it in the net.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the ref didn't punish rude tackles early in the game. The bad thing is that we were on the receiving end most of the time. And Vova in particular got hammered several times at the goal. We know Vova. After the next hit on him, Vova wasn't sure whether the ref would give a card and started chasing the guy... So, he got a red card himself. The guy that hit him probably got a yellow. When Alik came to replace Vova, he got hit once too - I remember that for that they got a yellow.

LF: About rude tackles and rude play against us - it happened in several games already: sometimes we keep the ball for too long and let the opponent do a tackle or other dangerous move. I remeber, either Alex Rikshpun or Gene Klein or somebody elese mentioned it before. We should pass the ball faster and open up better to support our player posessing the ball. I am quite sure, some of our opponets play American football as well and have a temptation to crash into us if we keep the ball and don't know what to do with it :)

GV: A very good and surprisingly hard game.

What a pleasure it was to play on a gorgeous day in a surprising Indian Summer! We were planning to bring over families to come and enjoy the good weather with us. We only got two spectators to come and cheer on our side. Everything seemed lined up for a great game against the next to last team in our league. And the game did turn out a very good one. But it wasn't as easy as we expected.

In fact, for the whole game Hunterdon must have had at least 60% possession of the ball. They came with plenty of people, they were very organized and they played a very well coordinated game. It is not surprising that they performed well in their last two games and they should finish better than the way they started the season.

Hunterdon played with a lot of passes. They provided good support to each other and they were doing pretty well. What they lacked was a couple more players with very good skills to create dangerous chances for them. That said, the game still could have gone each way.

The game even started in Hunterdon's favor. One of their guys received a pass on the left side in the big box. He was blocked from advancing but he could take a shot. The shot was going very slow on the ground but Vova was very slow to fall on his right side and the ball went under him. So, early in the first half Hunterdon was up 1:0.

The game was very interesting and a lot of fun. It was going both ways with Hunterdon getting more of the ball possession. We had our turn arounds but our forwards were a little lethargic. I found myself on many occasions with the ball in the middle where one change in the direction would give me an open man who could then start a good attack. That was probably because Hunterdon was very eager to attack us in our half and put several people on one player. So, we had our cuts into their territory but we couldn't get over their defense. Maybe we didn't have enough people forward but that was a good show of discipline on our side as we have had problems when we do that.

The first half ended with us trailing 0:1. We could sense some signs that Hunterdon was getting tired despite their substitutions. And in the second half we started to see more openings. But the goals just didn't want to get in for us. We didn't really have 100% chances but we had good opportunities. After the 70-th minute we were still one behind. At that point I just shouted to the team "How about we score some goals?". And the goals fortunately came.

EK: I think it's worth mentioning that Hunderdon played with 10 players in the last 20 minutes. That black guy got a second yellow. We scored both goals after that guy got red carded.

GV: Barsik (Val B.) found himself chasing a ball and running face-to-face with the keeper to get to it first. Barsik got the first touch but it wasn't an easy chip shot to make. He tried to put it on the left side but it went wide. A few minutes later a similar situation happened. I got a ball on the defensive end. I was on the left flank. I took my time and saw Ryjouk open nicely towards the middle. I gave him the ball and he took on. We know how he can do it sometimes. He doesn't get that chance often and he enjoys to take a fast sprint and cut through some space. One guy came to him from the left but Ryjouk sprinted past him. Then he made his famous long shot and it landed perfectly for Barsik, who led the ball a little and successfully chipped the coming keeper. What a relief! Finally, a goal! Thank you, Barsik!

Hunterdon was down. They were playing with one man less and were losing energy. They had hoped to hang onto their lead but now it was back to an even score. We enjoyed the long awaited goal and were hopeful for a win. And the winning goal came. Jenn was once more on the left trying to dribble past defenders. He was going overboard with this the whole game. A pass to the center or behind him never crossed his mind, he just kept running forward on the left flank. Even if there were four defenders ahead of him. This time it was different. He passed! ...to Korsunsky, who was able to squeeze through the guy covering him a great cross in the air. The keeper was beaten as the ball flew above him and on the right post Ljonja had smartly situated himself, ready for the header. A beautiful goal!

Hunterdon increased the pressure but we pulled a little back and for the most part diverted their attempts to score. They did have two great chances after long crosses from the left. I think both of them came from corner kicks, but I am certain that on both occasions it was the same tall guy that barely missed to the right with headers.

A good win! I couldn't understand why our game wasn't better but it must have been Hunterdon. They were a pleasant team to play with, except for a few rude tackles. But the ref was good to give out two yellow cards for the worse fouls. This reminds me that the ref was pretty good. We didn't notice him for the most part and that's a good sign. But he was always there and maintained a good, competitive game.

GV: A good game for us under bizarre circumstances.

The story about this game is almost as important as the statistics. Barsik organized this postponed game but he prepared us for Elizabeth Pegasus (second in the standings) and we actually played Elizabeth Portugal. We beat Elizabeth Pegasus in a friendly game when the ref didn't show up but their standing in the chart is impressive. Well, things started to look the same when the ref didn't show up for half an hour. It would have been funny to postpone a postponed game. Ultimately, we found out that this was Elizabeth Portugal. We didn't play them in the first round because they didn't have a field. So, it seems they had no problems this time to come and play on ours.

The two teams decided to still play an official game. And Alik volunteered as a referee.

The whole game was played out in the same rhythm. We would hit the goal kick, they would get the first ball and we would end at the goal kick again or with a good and dangerous counter attack. You could say this was the kind of game that we aim to play. So, soon in the first half we scored our first goal. It was a beautiful combination between Korsunsky and Jenn on the right. Here I should mention that Jenn was on fire today. He ended the game with three goals and he showed the Portuguese his great stealing skills on the left flank.

YR: I scored the first goal after Korsunsky's pass. Everything was absolutely the same as 10 min before. Korsunsky tipped the ball to the Elizabeth box. I beat the defender and scored one-touch. I felt like the goalie would guard the near corner so I just kicked the ball to the far low corner :) I tricked him by my first attempt when he cleared the ball by his foot:)

GV: The rhythm that I mentioned above was even more pronounced once we scored our first goal. It was a little frustrating (though, in the end effective) to watch the goal kicks be taken by them all the time. We have to somehow practice taking the first ball or find out what we're doing wrong.

We had most of the dangerous chances in the first half and even during the game as a whole. Still, I have to say that Elizabeth Portugal hit the bar twice. In general, they were taking more shots from all kinds of positions and this resulted in lots of weak balls that Vova could handle easily or in a ball dangerously close to the edges. That is how their first goal came at the end of the first half. It wasn't clear whether their forward on the right flank wanted to make a cross or a shot in the far corner but he ended up hitting the corner right next to the post. There was nothing Vova could do on that one. But Vova played a great game for us. He was boxing air balls, saving those shots that drop just below the bar and behind the keeper and coming out bravely on a few occasions to meet a forward.

Our best chances were usually from a short distance after a cut from our forwards. Except for our second goal in the middle of the second half. Our attack from the left was blocked and Yuriy made a nice pass in the middle at the top of the big box.

YR: We scored the second goal in a fast counter attack. Yuriy got the ball on the left flank, ran to the left corner of Elizabeth box and very nicely passed a ball above a couple of Elizabeth defenders to me at the center. I stopped the ball with my left foot, let the ball bounce once and kicked the ball to the left corner. There was a slight ricochet from a defender's ass :) and ball ended up in the left corner. Very close to the post.

GV: That was a great way to end an attack that was in danger to be over when 4-5 defenders had come back already.

By this time (even since the end of the first half) the game had become pretty rough on their part. That's understandable to a point considering that they were trailing throughout the whole game. But nothing justifies such dangerous and desperate moves. Moldovan was tackled in the box when he had taken the ball away from them and was about to clear it. I took a bad tackle that stressed my right knee. Nemetz took an elbow (I think) in the face. Ljonja took a nasty hit in the right knee after he cleared the ball in our box in a very dangerous situation. Rikshpun was hit a couple of times.

Elizabeth Portugal possessed the ball more than us but we had dangerous counter attacks. So, on one of their obsessions one of their forwards was on the left flank. He entered the left side of the box and was running straight to the out line along the edge of the box trying to avoid Rikshpun coming at him from the middle of the box. It seems like Rikshpun got the player more than the ball on his slide, so Alik whistled a penalty. Vova's fake move helped him force the player to hit his left corner but it didn't allow him to reach the ball. The score got even 2:2.

Whit less than twenty minutes remaining we were even more eager to capitalize on our counter attacks. By this time we had advantage on the energy front as we had more people for substitutions. We had 17 people today and even Boris and Ryjouk came to support us from the sidelines. Elizabeth had only one or two subs.

Our third goal was a little controversial. It came after a long pass from midfield. Elizabeth claimed there was an offside. It was a weird situation for us because the ref was our guy. But for the most part he let them get away with very rude play and he was giving them direct kicks outside the box very easily. This was an important goal and it was understandable for Elizabeth to be more picky and ask for an offside. The goal was very nice.

YR: Yuriy scored the third goal - Korsunsky nicely passed Barsik to the center of the box. Barsik kicked the ball but goalkeeper cleared the ball to the right. Yuriy finished against the empty goal.

EK: The fourth goal came from a long cross from right side and Jenn headed it in.

YR: I scored the fourth goal in a fast counter attack. Korsunsky got the ball on the right flank from someone in the center. He did an absolutely superb header to the penalty kick area - I finished beating the goalkeeper with a ball bounced from the field.

GV: I remember how I intercepted a pass in the middle and passed it over to Yuriy. We had a lot of open space in front of us and reached the box unchallenged. I was open on his right but he played it alone. I don't remember what happened but this was a great chance for a fifth goal.

YR: Fima had 2 great chances. The first one in the end of the first half. Goalie cleared. The second chance - after my shot to the right low corner - goalie cleared, Fima was first at the ball but kicked the ball right into the goalie.

GV: It was a very solid game for the team as a whole. Defense, midfield and forwards were all playing well. This was the first game with Rikshpun as a coach. Maybe this somehow helped us to be more organized. But our opponent wasn't as good as Panamerica. And in a game of unlimited subs, it helped us to have good attendance.

It is good that we have won our games against the teams on the bottom of the chart. We helped put them at the bottom, after all :-) But besides the next game against the next to last team (Hunterdon), we have important games coming up against the third (J.A. United), second (Elizabeth Pegasus) and sixth (Rahway & Rio) teams. We have seen JA and Pegasus and we should be able to beat them. The other two games are must wins. We have to hope we can come out of the injuries in this last game and that we can assemble a big team for most. If all goes well we can end the winter with the second spot.

We had only 13 people but Bridgewater had only 9!

GV: We were worried about our low attendance until we noticed Bridgewater's roster. And we started the game looking for blood. We ended up shifting so many people forward that we were probably interfering with each other :-) And the defense rightly complained that we left them at disadvantage or equal in numbers.

It was only a question of time when we would score. The advantage in numbers was easily converted into good scoring chances. I have to admit I found myself at the top of the attack much more often than I usually do, and I was missing great chances. The first goal was scored by Ljonja (Leonid) but we don't have details on it. Ljonja was where the goals were today. He ended the game with a hat-trick.

I don't remember the goals too well but I do remember the second one. Jenn (Ryazanov) on the left flank beating a defender just enough to smuggle a mid-range shot in the near corner and then falling down. The goalkeeper expected it and threw himself on the ground with his arm stretched. But the shot made its way just between the near post and his hand. It must have been painful for him to watch the ball go in because the shot wasn't that powerful and it went in almost in slow motion.

LF: Bridgewater had a free kick inside our box - could have been dangerous, but those guys wasted the episode...

GV: We ended the first half 2:0. But we didn't play as good as we could have. We weren't very organized and we didn't pass the ball around enough. It's true that on a muddy field it's not very easy to do that but we could have given it a try. As someone on the field mentioned we should have used this game as a practice of how we should play. We didn't.

Nevertheless, it was obvious that even though Bridgewater had some good players they wouldn't be able to catch up with us without substitutions or even a full team. I pulled back after I realized we are opening up our defense and after I missed so many chances up front. I realized then how much we needed to have someone just behind the center line. Someone who won't just rush forward and try to open himself together with five other guys of his team. I was pleasantly surprised that some midfielders did pass the ball back to me when they didn't see other opportunities.

One very important thing I should add here is that we got a new player on the team. And his name is... You guessed it. We have another Eugenie :-) Eugenie Voitkevich. This was the second time we saw him play after last Wednesday's practice and he showed us again that he will make a big difference on our team. He ran back and forth just like most of us were used to during our childhoods playing on a small field. He showed great physical shape and skill.

Val B.: Georgy passed the ball to me on the right side, I stopped it, saw the goalie come out and chipped the ball over.

Goal #4 - I was on the left side, shot at the goal, the goalie saved it, then I shot again defense blocked it, finally I decided to pass, so I just put the ball across and Ljonja headed it into the empty net :)

GV: Ljonja scored goal #5, too. That came after a rebound on a shot from Yuriy.

To me the culmination of our dominance was when Alik scored his goal on a rebound.
LF: Alik nearly missed from 5 meters into empty net :-)
GV: We had some healthy arguments during and after the game. The other team must have wondered what it was that was bothering us so much :-) It is nice that we try to improve our game even when we are winning decisively. These are the times when people are more relaxed because of the win but we can still try to be a little cooler. I think it's best if people hold on to their comments and then send them later to all in an email. That way they can be a little cooler, more precise on what they mean and bring out all their arguments at once before being interrupted by someone. It is a completely different matter once you decide to put something down in writing. An email is also guaranteed to reach everyone, unlike many of our comments that don't even reach half the team.

We finally met the leader of the group and we had a first chance to see why they are the leader :-)

We had a pretty good attendance despite the reduced size of our team lately. But we had no chance against Panamerica. These guys were fit, quick and with good technique. They had no weak links.

From the very beginning we got a taste for what was to come. These guys were very energetic and were opening themselves and finding openings in our midfield and defense. They attempted shots at goal at any chance and many of them were on target, even if many of those were not that dangerous. In the beginning of the game I was thinking "That's why these guys are so successful in an amateur league - they take shots. And some teams might not have a decent goalkeeper like we do."

Surprisingly enough, we scored the first goal! It was a beautiful combination where everything had to go perfectly and it did. Yuriy cut into the right flank and when he was blocked by defenders passed along the touch line to Fima. Fima controlled the ball and was able to lead himself closer to the big box almost at the goal line. When he was blocked he crossed it on the ground to the left where Val B. was left open at the far post. Val is famous for not missing chances easily and he didn't miss this time either.

I was very glad but I also saw how much better Panamerica was and was wondering whether we'll continue to get lucky. The goals eventually came and they didn't stop until the end of the game. They came from all kinds of situations but they were all very well deserved. In fact we got lucky that the score is the way it is. Panamerica hit the post two times and had many near misses. Some of their goals came from mistakes but those were not exceptions. They were just the result of Panamerica's superiority. Those guys were creating chances wherever they saw them. They had great movement on the field, great passing, great cuts.

The first half ended at 1:3. In the second half they kept their scoring pace. In the last 25 minutes they got a little tired. That was not surprising as they only had two substitutions. We started to see some openings and were creating dangers. But we weren't in that great a shape at the end of the game either :-) Ultimately, they were the ones that scored on some counter attacks.

I will be VERY surprised if I don't see Panamerica at the top in the end of the season. These guys are as good as an amateur team can get. We should not take this loss too dramatically and just accept the fact that we were several levels below them. The good thing is that weather is finally better, we are healthier and with some practice we can achieve our best performance. And if that happens we should have good chances for the second spot in the league.

Four Long-Term Injuries, Sickness, Additional Injuries, A Wedding & No Funeral

GV: This game could have been a great spectacle of communist football :-) For those that aren't too familiar with the situation - all the players on the field were from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc. - roughly the Soviet Union and its satellite countries. Instead, we came unprepared and suffered a deserved loss.

I am saying unprepared just because we had a very low attendance and in addition to it we had Yuriy playing sick, I injured myself during the game and Val Ryjouk came with an injury that didn't allow him to play. So, we had the equivalent of 12 people pretty much. Sputnik came with a big team and some recently added quality players.

The game started with the play going both ways. I came out soon after the beginning with a slight injury that I was able to play through later. Both defenses were good and nothing very exciting was happening in front of the goals. In one of their attacks they had a corner kick or a throw in on our right side. One of their guys got the ball near the edge of the big box. I don't remember whether he got the ball and turned quickly or whether he made a one-touch shot but the shot was amazing. He shot at a very small angle (25-30 degrees) but he hit the near top corner of the goal. Vova had no chance with this one.

Their second goal came from a direct kick outside the big box. Their guy shot at the corner that wasn't covered by the wall. Maybe Vova should have been sitting closer to the open corner but the shot was very good.

The second half started and we seemed to have some edge in possession and in where the game was played. We had some chances but they weren't that great. Even I got two chances to get close to the goal. Sputnik had another direct kick dangerously close to the goal. The same guy that scored the first direct kick was executing this one. This time he put the ball above the wall (might have been the wall's mistake) and surprised Vova with another great shot.

I left the game about 20 minutes to the end with my second injury. When I got outside, I found Val R. who was injured and Fima who was very tired. We watched from the sidelines as our team was getting more and more tired and Sputnik was playing their game. Sputnik was getting a lot of shots at the goal and some of them were on target. Vova was playing very well intercepting the crosses in the air and blocking shots. On one case they hit the post. And later they scored their last goal. I didn't see it as I wasn't watching the game at this moment.

YR: If I remember it right, the last goal was a result of their fast counter attack. Goal was transferred form our right flank to the center and then to our left flank to their guy with gold teeth. :) I could not get a hold of him - was running behind - he took the ball, did 2 steps and kicked the ball to the low corner.

GV: The loss isn't that important but we will be getting more losses if we keep coming with so few people. We are about four people less from what we were supposed to be based on the permanent absence of some people. For this particular game we also had additional injuries, sickness and Alex Vorotilo was getting married. It's a pity that we couldn't win this one as a present for the newlywed but we wish him good luck and a happy married life! We also wish Vorotilo the impossible - to get a permission from his wife to play as much as he wants! :-)

We finally started the season! Whew! It was about time. After two postponed games we were eager to play. And we started the new season well and as usual. With lots of scoring chances and lots of misses.

I have lost training in writing these reports and I didn't think of them at all while playing. So, this one will be short unless others contribute.

We started off really well. We were playing great defense and were creating many chances on counter attacks. We missed many but on one of them Ryazanov stole a ball from a defender... Let me stop here for a second and highlight this. This guy is amazing! He has the longest legs in the league but he also has this ability to close in on a defender and fool him that he can make a pass. Then he blocks the pass. He was successful about six times during the game and his success rate was about 80%... So, Ryazanov took the ball after a little juggling with it, and ran towards the goal from the left. As soon as he reached the big box he paused and took a shot in the near corner. The goalkeeper jumped well but had no chances. A beautiful goal!

The thing that annoyed me the most is just how Bridgewater/Raritan wasn't prepared to lose graciously. They got frustrated at their inability to go through the defense and they started to act like dicks. This didn't help them in any way but it did make the game much less pleasant to play. The ref was decided not to whistle too much and the game got pretty rough.

At the end of the first half we should have been leading 4:0 at least but it was just 1:0.

In the second half, B/R had the motivation to even the score and it showed. The kids were running around, keeping the ball in our half but they couldn't get too dangerous. They did have a couple of cases where it seemed dangerous but still things were under control. That just frustrated the B/R guys even more and the game didn't get any better.

We did have a couple of great counter attacks that should have given us at least two more goals.

The ref gave at least 7 minutes of overtime. It's true that Rikshpun wasted about two minutes asking for a spray after an injury but the extra time was more like a gift to the host team. In general the ref was favoring B/R more than us. He was falling for many of their simulations but didn't whistle some obvious fouls in our favor (and he didn't fall for our best simulations from Val Ryjouk :-)

It felt good to defeat these guys not only because we deserved to win but also because they need to learn how to lose. We defended well and were lucky to have Ryazanov in a goal scoring mood. We have to convert more chances or we might not get so lucky in the future.