Season 5 – U.S. Open Cup – Round 2
Iowa Gladiators vs. Screamin’ Seamen
Date: November 19th, 2003
Venue: Iowa Dome (Des Moines, IA)
Attendance: 7,000 (7,000)
Weather: Sunny
We’re on the road for our 2nd Round U.S. Open Cup match today, in the happening metropolis of Des Moines, Iowa (first Greenville, South Carolina and now this.
). Our opponents are the Iowa Gladiators, another of the small, local clubs that serve as little more than punching bags and warm-ups for the “big boys.” I guess, at least as far as the Gladiators are concerned, we qualify as “big boys” as well.
The Gladiators somehow managed to win their first round match, but show even less promise than our first round opponents, and should be easy pickings. This will be a good opportunity to get some of our young trainees and backups some valuable match experience, as we prepare for our important showdown with WoM FC this weekend.
Formation: 3-5-2
Tactics: Normal
Starters (# appearances, *s last time out)
Keeper: #13 Darryl Read (31st career appearance, ***)
Right Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon (46th career appearance, **)
Central Defender: #2 Cameron “Big Mac” McDonald (18th career appearance, ****)
Left Wingback: #17 Mattias Leier (9th career appearance, *~)
Right Winger: #9 Ad Taxwell (
Professional debut, **~)
Inner Midfielder: #6 Agustin Alustiza (
Professional debut, *~)
Inner Midfielder: #4 Jaimy van de Kerkhof (9th career appearance, **~)
Inner Midfielder: #10 Milan Dufek (2nd career appearance, **)
Left Winger: #23 Ivan Richardy (9th career appearance, *~)
Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias (35th career appearance, *~)
Forward: #14 German Galvez (19th appearance w/SSFC, ***)
Team Captain: #3 Ben McMahon
Set Pieces: #6 Agustin Alustiza
Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan
-Defender: #5 Arlen “Headcase” Lucas
-Midfielder: #7 Rune Kolberg
-Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
-Winger: #20 Walter Bosch
We’re not going to try anything fancy this time out, as we want to keep things simple for the trainees. We’ll play our typical game, with a 3-5-2 formation, stingy defense, and hopefully make the most of our scoring chances.
On the back line, Cameron “Big Mac” McDonald makes his second appearance in four days. We’ve yet to procure the services of a back-up central defender, and so Big Mac has been pressed into service. Cameron is still young, however, and this is a good opportunity for him to gain some additional match experience in what should be an easy victory.
In the middle, it’s simply a matter of playing the five trainees that did not see the pitch on Sunday. We’re expecting to see some good things from 18-year-old Spaniard Agustin Alustiza. Danish winger Ivan Richardy has been showing some good progress in practice over the past couple of days, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on him to see how that progress translates onto the pitch.
Unfortunately, Guido Metman’s ankle injury has proven to be a nagging one, and he’s still not one-hundred percent. As a precaution, we’ll be holding him out of the match entirely. If he’s not ready to go by this Sunday, however, we’ll know that something is seriously wrong, and will have to send him to a specialist. Guido’s absence gives a rare opportunity for Forrest “Gump” Tobias to see some action. For his sake, we hope he makes the most of it, as his opportunities will probably continue to be a rarity. Argentinean striker German Galvez will partner with Gump on the front line.
Match Report
PRE-GAME
A scorching day at Iowa Dome, where 7000 spectators were in place for today´s match.
Gladiators tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Lineup: Zimmerman - Crowley, Wilson, Barker, Flores - Zuniga, Coburn, Tarín, Smith - Hinton, Wilcox.
Screamin' started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Read - Mcmahon, Mcdonald, Leier - Taxwell, Dufek, van de Kerkhof, Alustiza, Richardy - Tobias, Galvez.
FIRST-HALF
In the games 2nd minute Germán Galvez almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a spectacular scissors shot just past the bar.
Some quick foot work on the left side of the field in the 13th minute left Screamin'´s Jaimy van de Kerkhof completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors.
The game had been on for 19 minutes when Germán Galvez broke through to the right, upping the score to the home crowd´s dismay. Screamin'´s were up 0 - 2.
Screamin'´s Germán Galvez received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 31st minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 3. The home crowd was not pleased with that one.
Mattias Leier received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 38:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score.
Halftime score was 0 - 3. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 80 percent possession of the ball.
SECOND-HALF
In the games 62nd minute Gladiators´s Lucio Flores fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Lucio Flores for taking a dive.
In the 68:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 4 as Forrest “Gump” Tobias finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick.
Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 77:th minute Screamin' goal, making it 0 - 5. Cameron “Big Mac” Mcdonald was noted down as the scorer.
By now Screamin' were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead.
In the 79:th minute Screamin's Ben Mcmahon received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first.
Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 86:th minute Screamin' goal, making it 0 - 6. Agustín Alustiza was noted down as the scorer.
Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 90 percent possession rate.
POST-GAME
Most important Gladiators player was Lucio Flores. However, Jimmie Coburn made a disastrous appearance.
The most dominating Screamin' player was without a doubt Cameron “Big Mac” Mcdonald. However, Forrest “Gump” Tobias made a disastrous appearance.
Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 6, Iowa Gladiators 0
Goals
Van de Kerkhof – 1 (1)
Galvez – 2 (2,3)
Tobias – 1 (1)
McDonald – 1 (1)
Alustiza – 1 (1)
Cards
McMahon – yellow (1)
Player Ratings
Read: **~
McMahon: **~
McDonald: ****
Leier: ***
Taxwell: **~
Alustiza: **
Van de Kerkhof: **
Dufek: **
Richardy: **~
Tobias: *~
Galvez: ***
Team Match MVP: #2 Cameron “Big Mac” McDonald
Team Ratings
Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Solid (7)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Left Attack: Passable (6)
-Experience: Wretched (2)
-NSI: 52
Iowa Gladiators
-Midfield: Disastrous (1)
-Right Defense: Weak (4)
-Central Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Left Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Weak (4)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)
-Experience: Wretched (2)
-NSI: 29
Comments
We got exactly what we expected today, another easy win. The only thing that could really be viewed as a downside is the yellow card that Ben McMahon picked up late in the match, but that should not end up mattering much. Mattias Leier is typically our first choice for the back-up defender slot, and the odds of Ben seeing much of any playing time during league matches are slim.
We had nice ball distribution today, with our six goals coming from five different players, which I like to see, especially with such a young team. Despite their youthfulness, they’re more than willing to dish it off and give other players an opportunity. Hopefully this is the start of some real team unity developing, particularly among the youngsters.
As far as the two trainees that we were paying particular attention to, we have to be pleased there as well. While Agustin’s midfield play still leaves a bit to be desired, he did manage to bag a goal late in the match. Ivan’s play was even more impressive, and even though he did not find the net, it is obvious that he has made some fine progress since joining the club only a couple of weeks ago. This could be a player to watch, indeed.
Up Next: Results from our first ever week of midfielder training. Cross your fingers and stay tuned!