Season 3 – League Match #4
Screamin’ Seamen vs. Sweden Heights
Date: April 27th, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 21,542 (30,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy
We’re back home this week for league play, as we play host to the league-leading Sweden Heights. Heights look to be a decent club (like just about everyone else in the series), and have a good defense that can perhaps rival our own. But their first place standing and nine points is a little misleading, as they have had the luxury of playing against some of the weaker clubs in the division.
We’re looking for solid defense on both sides of the ball, and expect good scoring chances to be few and far between today. Still, we should have the advantage in the number of chances we get, as we appear to have the superior midfield. The question is whether or not our suspect offense can take advantage of those chances.
Formation: 3-5-2
Starters
Keeper: #1 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan
Right Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #22 Tyler Willard
Right Winger: #3 Ben McMahon
Inner Midfielder: #8 Niklas Ivarsson
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin
Left Winger: #9 Valentin Rubio
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias
Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Darryl Read
-Defender: #24 Christian Kvam
-Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
-Forward: #14 Jesper Gravesen
-Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret
We’re back to our regular starting eleven this week. Charlie Bautista continues to struggle, but even a struggling Charlie Bautista appears to be better than a top-form Jerry Smith in the midfield. Both Johannes Henriksson and Forrest “Gump” Tobias are struggling with their form, but Jesper Gravesen is in coach Brown’s doghouse at the moment, and is not about to see the pitch except for in an emergency.
Match Report
PRE-GAME
Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 21542 to The Docks.
Screamin' started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Jernigan - Lucas, Scales, Willard - Mcmahon, Ivarsson, Bautista, Tomlin, Rubio - Henriksson, Tobias.
Heights had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Wilkinson - Flamkvist, Bergman, Claesson - Stoner, Jansson, Eriksson, Thomas, Song - Leijonstål, Doyle.
FIRST HALF
The referee showed Screamin's Arlen Lucas the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge.
Tyson Doyle came close to putting the visiting team one up in the 30:th minute, following a solo raid down the middle, but Cornelius Jernigan managed to tip the ball to a corner.
After 31 minutes Heights´s Lars Eriksson contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game.
Johannes Henriksson gave his Screamin' the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post.
In the 32nd minute Heightss Mats Claesson received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first.
Due to a severely mistimed tackle,Chuck Scales spent some on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game.
1 - 0 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate.
SECOND HALF
With 53 minutes played Forrest Tobias could have brought this one home for Screamin', had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high.
Heights got a chance to level the score as Tyson Doyle suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar.
In the games 73rd minute Screamin'´s Tyler Willard fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Tyler Willard for taking a dive.
A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 78 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Screamin'. However, Trent Wilkinson made a spectacular save.
In the 83rd minute Screamin' put themselves up 2 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Tyler Willard coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home.
The structure of the game started to change as Screamin' decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone.
Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 62 percent, dominated the battle.
POST-GAME
The most dominating Screamin' player was without a doubt Arlen Lucas. Johannes Henriksson was a disappointment, however.
Most important Heights player was Mats Claesson. Tomas Leijonstål on the other hand, had a terrible day.
Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 2, Sweden Heights 0
Goals
Henriksson – 1 (2, GWG)
Willard – 1 (1)
Cards
Lucas – yellow (2)
Willard – yellow (1)
Player Ratings
Jernigan: ***
Lucas: ****
Scales: ***~
Willard: ***~
McMahon: **
Ivarsson: ***~
Bautista: **~
Tomlin: **~
Rubio: **~
Henriksson: **
Tobias: **
Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas
Team Ratings
Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Solid (7)
-Right Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Central Defense: Brilliant (11)
-Left Defense: World Class (13)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Passable (6)
-NSI: 72
Sweden Heights
-Midfield: Inadequate (5)
-Right Defense: Formidable (9)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Solid (7)
-Central Attack: Solid (7)
-Left Attack: Solid (7)
-NSI: 61
Comments
BOOYEAH! We finally got our first victory of the season, and a solid one at that. Team captain Johannes Henriksson gave us the game winner, and wingback Tyler Willard scored the first goal of his young career as well. The match also earned Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan the eighth clean sheet of his career.
Arlen Lucas performed admirably at wingback, earning his (and the team’s) first ever four-star rating. Unfortunately, Arlen also received a yellow card, and now has two. He has already been suspended once this season, and will have to cool his heels if he does not want to get suspended again.
Series Scores and Standings
-Ramblers managed their second victory of the season, defeating Neon Genesis Evangelion in a 4-3 shootout.
-SoccerWussies narrowly escaped from Syracuse with a 1-nil victory over the Supers.
-Big Reds claimed the top spot in the series, defeating Croats in Miami, 2-1.
No. Team Played Goals Pts. NSI
1. Big Reds 4 7-1 10 76
2. Sweden Heights 4 11-5 9 61
3. SoccerWussies 4 9-5 9 61
4. Croats in Miami 4 10-4 7 65
5. Ramblers 4 8-8 6 69
6. Screamin’ Seamen* 4 4-6 5 72
7. Neon Genesis Evangelion 4 7-13 0 60
8. Syracuse Supers 4 0-14 0 46
While the victory did not improve our sixth-place standing, it did serve to tighten things up a bit in the standings. Only five points separate the top six teams in the series now.
Week 5 Matchups
SoccerWussies vs. Screamin’ Seamen
Croats in Miami vs. Ramblers
Sweden Heights vs. Big Reds
Neon Genesis Evangelion vs. Syracuse Supers
Next week’s match against SoccerWussies is definitely a winnable one, even if we will be on the road. I suspect that Big Reds will be able to handle Sweden Heights, and Neon Genesis Evangelion should finally get a victory against Syracuse Supers. Croats in Miami vs. Ramblers is anyone’s guess, however.
Other News
Please help me in welcoming the 33rd and 34th members of the Screamin’ Seamen Support Club:
West Henrietta FC (Owner: bigjdotcom01, currently 3rd place in Series V.53)
Frankfort United (Owner: DukeRulesMAB, currently 7th place in Series V.22)
Welcome, and thank you very much for your support.
Up Next: We’ve scheduled a friendly match this week against another FOFC club, Reign. Stay tuned!