Controlled Chaos 2 : 2 FC77 Rangers

Controlled Chaos 2 : 2 FC77 Rangers

(Muralt 10', King 18')

'Gers kicked off their inaugural winter season with a respectable draw against familiar foes Controlled Chaos in Match Day One action in the GPSD Over-30 1st Division. Crisp, clear skies greeted the squads at Dick Baker Stadium in Gladstone for the 10:00 a.m. kick-off--because ironically, winter outdoor soccer weather is usually better than half of the fall matches--and the Yellow and Black got off to an impressive start, netting twice before twenty minutes had ticked off the clock. Chaos battled back to equalize with ten minutes left in the match, but Rangers held on to earn a point and announce they were no longer going to be the friggin' Over-30 doormat anymore...

Starting X (Yes, X. Ahem.)

Payne, goalkeeper

Pullen - Calkins - Ingersoll, fullbacks

Burden - King - Muralt - Switzer - Schutte, midfielders

Youssef, striker

Reserves: Brian Gaffney (yay!), Silverman

Not Available: Bauman, Snyder, Gullung, Harris

Ingersoll maintained his ongoing streak of losing the coin toss but the Yellow and Black still kicked off and maintained a fair bit of possession. Calkins and Payne--ably filling in as substitute goalkeeper while Silverman made his way to the pitch (he even has his own goalie shirt!)--marshaled the back line impressively, keeping the Chaos strikers at bay and forcing a lot of long passes that Payne was able to easily collect. Playing a modified 3-5-1 until friend of Rangers and former player Brian Gaffney just happened to show up early for the Newcastle-Old Nicks tilt at 11:10, he quickly took up a holding midfielder role and allowed King to push forward into his own preferred striker position. The ball rattled around the stacked midfields for most of the opening ten minutes until long distance sniper Muralt took a free kick from approximately 25 yards out and dropped a tricky bouncing ball through the mixer and into the back of the net. Youssef's whoop of victory signaled the first score and buoyed the collective spirits of the squad.

King doubled up the scoreline a scant eight minutes later when a break through the middle found (Switzer?) lob another bouncing ball back through the box. King hit the pass sweetly on the volley with his left foot and completely beat the keeper as 'Gers surged forward through the back line, making it 2-0. 'Gers finished out the half with comfortable play. New player Paddy Schutte did a great job battling on the left side and didn't hesitate to drop back on defense to help Ingersoll when the Chaos outside players tried to run the flank.

Payne moved to his more typical role as left back for the second half, allowing Silverman to mind the sticks. Chaos started to find their rhythm and more of the play, getting more mileage out of long balls and testing our defense. Chaos scored ten minutes into the second half off a well-executed corner kick play and equalized in the 50th [Note: winter season plays only 30 minute halves] when a sideline play appeared to be offsides, momentarily stymying the team when the linesmen's flag refused to go up. The resulting scrum in front of the goal involved several deflections and haphazard bounces before the ball stopped in the net. While 'Gers played demanded to know why the play wasn't offsides, match official Padman explained that the player offsides was not a part of the play and that the pass was made by a deep running midfielder who was onside, thus his eligibility.

Still sucked, but at least there was a reason.

Muralt fired a few more middle and long distance shots to find a winner and Chaos responded with two hero runs that looked very threatening. Silverman snuffed both forays out with monster legitimate slide tackles--not a fun thing on artificial turf--at the edge of the box and, in the second instance, a good distance outside the box. Both attacks ended with a striker sprawled on the carpet and somebody griping about a card that was not coming.

While most would probably see the draw as a bit of a letdown, a point against a team that beat us 3-2 last season and 6-3 in a fall 2008 championship isn't a bad result...especially since we've only had one team scrimmage and started with only ten guys. 'Gers return to Dick Baker Stadium next week for the always epic, usually chippy match against No Subs.

Next Match:

FC77 Rangers v No Subs

Sunday, 20 February, 2011

Dick Baker Stadium - Gladstone High School

Gladstone, Oregon

10:00 a.m. KO