FC77 Rangers 4:0 No Subs

FC77 Rangers 4 - 0 No Subs

(Burden 15', 65'; King 30'; Sibanda 75')

The Hatfields vs. the McCoys. Batman vs. the Joker.

The Federation vs. the Borg.

Guys who love cute, furry puppies vs. guys who don't love cute, furry puppies.

FC77 Rangers vs. No Subs.

It's just that big.

After seasonal rains and a plethora of recreational football matches reduced the Montessori Earth School into an Everglades-like bog of muck and standing water, sans the alligators and manatees, the long-awaited and much ballyhooed match up of new old rivals FC77 Rangers and No Subs took place at West Sylvan Middle School. A late afternoon kick-off on nearly the longest day of the year ensured plenty of daylight as 'Gers sought to make amends for a string of three consecutive losses to the No Subs dating back to the Spring 2009 inaugural match. With almost 40% of the squad unavailable due to work, vacation, and children's tournament obligations, the Gaffer was a little concerned about fielding a full squad...but the thirteen Rangers who showed up were in a vendetta kind of way and owned the field as though we were playing with all twenty players at once.

Starting XI:

Silverman, goalkeeper

Fahrbach - Calkins - Gaffney, fullbacks

Snyder, holding midfielder

Bennouri - Radigan - Sibanda - Burden, midfielders

Ingersoll - King, strikers

Reserves: Freiwat and Seaton

Feeling pretty yet again in the new black kits, 'Gers lined up in our familiar 3-1-4-2 against a No Subs side that actually had some substitutes. Referee Oscar ("Don't Play the Offsides Trap!") got the proceedings underway promptly at 6:00 p.m. and 'Gers started stringing together a few passes right from the start. Finding success on the wings, FC77 went wide while the opposition started out with several balls up the middle, only to be shut down by the excellent "defensery" of the Gaffney-Calkins-Snyder-Fahrbach (and later Seaton) Axis of Not Evil. King and Ingersoll started getting some good bounces and made the sprints deep into the box, only to miss out on a final killer pass or shot. As play developed and the wingers also got forward in numbers, the crosses started coming in with more regularity. Radigan and Sibanda asserted their authority over the central midfield and both broke up No Subs possession as well as serviced the forward forays, eventually getting closer and popping a few shots of their own. One such surge into the box ended with Radigan being hacked down from behind and with referee Oscar ("Kind of a Crap Shoot When I Blow the Whistle") quick to toot his own horn, 'Gers leading scorer found himself at the charity spot for a penalty kick.

Radigan slotted right and the keeper, to his credit, made a good lunge to parry the shot out around the post. Either on the ensuing corner kick or another one immediately thereafter, Ingersoll served up a juicy slice of set play goodness. The ball loped into the mixer on the opposite side of the penalty spot and dropped to Burden's feet, who showed little hesitation to pull the trigger and fire the ball back through the assembled players and into the net. 1-0 after a quarter hour.

'Gers started finding more possession at both ends of the pitch. My recollection was that Silverman wasn't overly bothered for most of the first half--but do tell me if I'm incorrect--and smartly played No Subs' over hit long balls into his clutches. Gaffney, recovering from injury, showed no signs of being slowed down as he repeatedly turned the corner again and again to deliver long sideline balls to Bennouri...who in turn generated several good runs and link-up plays himself. I believe one such release sent King barreling through their fullbacks and toward the keeper. No Subs' central defender pulled his shirt in an attempt to slow him for a good fifteen yards--it was like watching a dragster chute deploy at the end of a funny car race. King's shot went just wide right and Oscar ("Squirrel!") apparently saw nothing wrong in the act, leading me to believe he and Koman Coulibaly were classmates in Refereeing 101.

King would get his redemption a few minutes later. Scampering onto a left side thrust into the box, the striker found himself pulling free of his markers just outside the six and with only the keeper to beat, fired a sharp angle worm-burner towards the far post that just eluded the diving stickminder. King's shot found nothing but the inside of the side net and doubled up the score, much to the frustration of the opposition.

Freiwat subbed on and also found himself on a hero run as the defense chased after him. Radigan, Sibanda, Ingersoll, and Burden all found looks at the net but the half ended at 2-0 with spirits high.

"One more goal," Gaffney said. "One more goal to crush their spirits!"

Okay. The second half started with a minor kick-off snafu, but soon returned to the familiar pattern of pass-pass-send the striker on his way Route One. Ingersoll quickly found himself the beneficiary of one such beautiful pass and bolted into the box. The woodwork loomed large and the handsome manager planted for a lethal deathblow when--KABOOM!--he was savagely thrashed from behind deep in the box. With the pained roar of the "f-word" echoing through the West Sylvan hills, Ingersoll won the second penalty of the night from Oscar ("That's the Way, Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh, I Like It, Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh") and hobbled to the spot.

Carefully choosing his spot, Ingersoll let fire a wicked stinger that, um, that...was...expertly deflected by the lunging keeper,"Matrix-style" in slow-motion bullet time. Truly, it was the greatest penalty save in the history of the game. Not even Van der Saar could have made such a...such a...um, awesome...save. Oh, hell. I effed it up but good. I launched it so far over the crossbar PDX actually tracked it on their radar for a good portion of a minute and scrambled a pair of F-15s to intercept. I could say that my leg still stung from being hacked but truthfully, I just wanted to "announce my presence with authority" and bust one hard into the net. Alas. Let us move on to the part of the story where Burden scores a killer goal.

The Part of the Story Where Burden Scores a Killer Goal: Maybe five minutes later, 'Gers go marauding down the right sideline and fire a wicked cross/shot across the face of the No Subs goal. The defense missed it, the keeper was out of place, and with it rolling out of play, Ingersoll runs onto it, smartly thinks against shooting ever again, and turns it back to the edge of the box looking for another lob into the mixer. Burden had other ideas and screamed for the ball. Unmarked near the sideline, maybe thirty yards from the posts, Ingersoll slotted a pass back to him thinking he would take the cross, but oh no. Burden popped a gracefully arcing drop shot over everybody. The keeper scrambled for position but I think he knew when the shot was at its apex he was in trouble. The ball splashed down just underneath the crossbar and past his gloved fingers for the third of the night. Burden gave himself a well-deserved "touchdown!" arm gesture, arguably his finest goal since he joined the club.

Silverman eventually found a few crosses to smack away and there was a spell when No Subs seemed to have a lot of corners for us to clean up. There was also a dramatic sliding save off the toe of the striker and a rolling clutch as the minutes went on to add to his Greatest Hits collection. Wasn't there one off the top of the woodwork, too? I choose to believe there was. Still, the defense held firm and even when Fahrbach seemed to get body-slammed but no call from Oscar ("I Wonder What I Shall Have for Dinner?"), Seaton or Snyder slotted in comfortably and the next verse was the same as the first.

The final goal, Bullie's third of the season (I believe), was also pretty fine. Ingersoll picked up a tidy pass from the back line and turned it back to the middle to King, who left-footed it forward. Sibanda took the through pass, outmuscled the trailing back for position, and then mightily chipped the keeper from just inside the box to finish the scoring. 4-0. The last fifteen minutes hinted at another goal, but as several No Subs players left early, the match finished around 7:40 with another 'Gers win.

All in all, it was a fine, satisfying result. It's not often that a team can expertly save two penalties--well, expertly save one penalty and watch bemusedly as the other goes into low geosynchronous orbit--and still be soundly defeated. 'Gers showed good possession, control, steely defense and opportunistic finishing, all critical as they go into the final two matches of the season.

Match Notes...Attendance was a heart-warming 17, with many Junior Rangers in attendance and expertly watched by several spouses on the sidelines...This was the first match 'Gers has played at West Sylvan Middle School...I may have seemed like I was picking on the official in the above match summary, but when both sides independently say "This guy doesn't call anything!" well, then, you have to wonder...

Next Match:

FC77 Rangers vs. FC PFA

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Montessori Earth School

4:00 p.m. KO

Note: Due to MES storm damage, this may change,

depending upon pitch recovery.

Watch your emails this week for details!