[DataKing]

Season 3 – Week 5 Friendly Match

Louisiana Cyclones vs. Screamin’ Seamen

Date: May 7th, 2003
Venue: The Cyclone Center (New Orleans, LA)
Attendance: 1,038 (14,050)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

We’re in the Big Easy this week for the last friendly match prior to the beginning of FOFC Cup III. Our gracious hosts are Doug5984 and his Louisiana Cyclones, and the match should be a tough, defensive one. Both clubs run a 5-4-1 formation, so scoring opportunities should be few and far between.

The Cyclones’ b-team looks to be a pretty decent one across the board, but the question mark for them will be up front. With the sale earlier today of striker Elliott Aguilera, we’re not sure who will be the main forward for the Cyclones in today’s match. It will be up to our defenders though, to contain whoever it is that is trying to score goals for the opposition.

Formation: 5-4-1

Starters

Keeper: #13 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam
Central Defender: #18 Cameron McDonald
Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma
Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs
Left Wingback: #17 Mattias Leier

Right Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
Left Winger: #25 Paul Peralta

Forward: #14 Jesper Gravesen

Team Captain: #14 Jesper Gravesen
Set Pieces: #14 Jesper Gravesen

Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan
-Defender: #22 Tyler Willard
-Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
-Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
-Winger: #3 Ben McMahon

The two Seamen to watch today are central defender Cameron McDonald and wingback Mattias Leier. Both of them showed marked improvement in practice over the past week, and we are eager to see if this translates into better performances on the pitch. Of particular interest is Mattias Leier, who also appears to be recovering from a minor form slump. We’re expecting to see good things from the young Estonian today.

Match Report

PRE-GAME

1038 spectators arrived at The Cyclone Center, where weather conditions were pretty good for football.

Louisiana tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. The following players had been chosen: Glenn - Stubblefield, Henry, Batts, Blalock, Gravbrøt - Blissenbach, Spalding, Gabrielsen, Neely - Mastroianni.

Screamin' had chosen a strategic 5-4-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Read - Kvam , Lerma, Stubbs, Mcdonald, Leier - Mauffret , Tere, Smith, Peralta - Gravesen.

FIRST HALF

Ralph Batts of Louisiana received a yellow card in the 3rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Screamin'´s Zarpas Lerma could have put the guests one up in the 10:th minute, chasing a through ball but Erin Glenn was fast as a snake, grabbing the ball from under his nose.

Christian Kvam of Screamin' received a yellow card in the 16:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Halftime score was 0 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 62 percent possession of the ball.

SECOND HALF

Screamin'´s Zarpas Lerma could have put the guests one up in the 63rd minute, chasing a through ball but Erin Glenn was fast as a snake, grabbing the ball from under his nose.

Screamin' took the lead after 64 minutes with 0 - 1. Jesper Gravesen placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left.

Christian Kvam seemed to be floating in the air at will as he elegantly headed in 0-2. The previous Screamin' corner kick was executed by Jesper Gravesen.

Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 74:th minute Screamin' goal, making it 0 - 3. Zarpas Lerma was noted down as the scorer.

The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 65 percent possession of the ball.

POST-GAME

The most dominating Louisiana player was without a doubt Cody Stubblefield. Lawrence Neely was a disappointment, however.

Most important Screamin' player was Keith Stubbs. However, Lucian Tere made a disastrous appearance.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 3, Louisiana Cyclones 0

Goals
Gravesen – 1 (GWG)
Kvam – 1 (assisted by Gravesen)
Lerma – 1

Cards

Kvam – yellow

Player Ratings

Read: **

Kvam: **~
McDonald: **
Lerma: **
Stubbs: **~
Leier: **~

Mauffret: **~
Tere: *~
Smith: **
Peralta: **

Gravesen: **

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Formidable (9)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Poor (3)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)
-NSI: 46

Louisiana Cyclones
-Midfield: Wretched (2)
-Right Defense: Formidable (9)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Passable (6)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Wretched (2)
-Left Attack: Wretched (2)
-NSI: 37

Comments

We certainly cannot argue with this sort of performance. While neither Cameron McDonald, nor Mattias Leier performed as well as we were hoping for, they still both had productive (if quiet) matches. Keith Stubbs continues to perform admirably on the back line, and both Jesper Gravesen and Zarpas Lerma appear to be coming around. Just in time for FOFC Cup III to boot.

The B-Team has actually been performing well as of late, and have outscored their opponents 9-1 since our early exit from the U.S. Open Cup. This certainly bodes well, and will hopefully equate to a nice, deep run into the FOFC Cup.

We would like to thank Doug5984 and his Louisiana Cyclones for their gracious hospitality.

Up Next: After training results and the weekly financial update, we return home to The Docks for league play. There we will be fighting for a much-needed victory (and three precious points) against Neon Genesis Evangelion. Stay tuned!