[DataKing]

U.S. Open Cup – Round 6

Screamin’ Seamen vs. North County Raiders

Date: December 17th, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 25,759 (43,750)
Weather: Overcast

Fans of FOFC are in for a treat this week, as our opponent for the sixth round of the U.S. Open Cup is none other than Ardent Enthusiast’s North County Raiders. Surprisingly enough, despite the long standing of both clubs within the FOFC community, our two teams have never squared off against one another. It’s actually rather funny how things work out. By that I mean that it took the Hattrick Organization to schedule a match between our two clubs, since we never managed to get around to it ourselves.

The Raiders are one of the biggest proponents of the “run-and-shoot” offense that is quite popular within the FOFC, and they’ve been at it for a long time. This means that our defense will have their hands full today, trying to contain the likes of North County strikers Burton Cagle and especially “The Bus,” Jerome Betts.

To tell the truth, I know we’re a bit overmatched today. I had a lengthy telephone conversation with the owner of the Raiders just a week prior to this match, where we discussed our long-term strategies and the like at length. We know that we’ll be facing most, if not all, of the North County starters today, as the Raiders are all but doomed to demotion from Division III at the end of the season, and are therefore concentrating on extending their cup run as long as possible. Still, we have to tip our hats to the Raiders, as the first of the “original” FOFC clubs to make it to the lofty heights of the 3rd Division.

We’ll be playing a mix of starters and reserves today, as we cannot bring ourselves to sacrifice training, even in as big a match-up as this. We will be pressing the matter on the pitch, however, and try to cut off the Raiders’ attack angles. We’ll be at a disadvantage in the midfield (a definite and expected trend this season) and so will need to do whatever we can to cut down on the Raiders’ advantage there.

Formation: 3-5-2
Tactics: Pressing

Starters (# appearances, *s last time out)

Keeper: #1 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan (63rd career appearance, ****)

Right Wingback: #22 Tyler Willard (44th career appearance, ****~)
Central Defender: #2 Cameron “Big Mac” McDonald (23rd career appearance, ****~)
Left Wingback: #5 Arlen “Headcase” Lucas (70th career appearance, *****)

Right Winger: #9 Ad Taxwell (5th career appearance, **~)
Inner Midfielder: #19 Gino Behling (6th career appearance, ***~)
Inner Midfielder: #7 Rune Kolberg (5th career appearance, **)
Inner Midfielder: #10 Milan Dufek (6th career appearance, ***)
Left Winger: #20 Walter Bosch (6th career appearance, ***)

Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson (77th career appearance, **~)
Forward: #14 German Galvez (27th appearance w/SSFC, ***)

Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Darryl Read (32 career appearances, **)
-Defender: #17 Mattias Leier (12 career appearances, ***)
-Midfielder: #8 Javier Tejeda (6 career appearances, ***)
-Forward: #12 Guido Metman (28 appearances w/SSFC, ***~)
-Winger: #16 Reg Nichols (21 career appearances, ***~)

We’re going with our usual four at the back of the formation today, as we’re going to need all of the defensive power we can muster to keep the Raiders honest. In the middle our hands are pretty well tied, as we want to continue to get all of our young trainees all of the match experience we can muster. Up front, Johannes Henriksson will try to help German Galvez find the twine, as well as provide leadership on the pitch and handle all of our set pieces opportunities.

Match Report

PRE-GAME

At The Docks, 25759 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came.

Screamin' had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Jernigan - Willard, Mcdonald, Lucas - Taxwell, Dufek, Behling, Kolberg, Bösch - Henriksson, Galvez.

Raiders started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Neto - Kalinowski, Nguyen, Mihai - Peris, Stoye, Worrall, Curnow, Posey - Betts, Cagle.

FIRST HALF

Screamin' immediately set off pressing their opponents.

Raiders seemed to prefer attacking in the middle.

Screamin''s weak ability to press their opponents all over the field paid off frequently.

A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 22nd minute allowed Jerome Betts to score 0 - 1 for Raiders.

David Curnow came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan, hitting the bar.

The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. Raiders, bringing the final ball possession rate to 61 percent, dominated the battle.

SECOND HALF

The visitors Matt Worrall took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 56:th minute. 0 - 2 for Raiders.

Cameron “Big Mac” Mcdonald of Screamin' received a yellow card in the 65:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Raiders held the ball, with a clear 62 percent possession rate.

POST-GAME

The most dominating Screamin' player was without a doubt Arlen “Headcase” Lucas. Rune Kolberg on the other hand, had a terrible day.

Most important Raiders player was Jerome Betts. Mark Nguyen on the other hand, had a terrible day.

Final Score: North County Raiders 2, Screamin’ Seamen 0

Goals

None

Cards

McDonald – yellow (1)

Player Ratings

Jernigan: ****

Willard: ****~
McDonald: ****
Lucas: *****

Taxwell: **~
Behling: ***
Kolberg: **
Dufek: ***~
Bosch: ***

Henriksson: **~
Galvez: ***

Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen “Headcase” Lucas

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Passable (6)
-Right Defense: World Class (13)
-Central Defense: Magnificent (12)
-Left Defense: Magnificent (12)
-Right Attack: Solid (7)
-Central Attack: Solid (7)
-Left Attack: Solid (7)
-Experience: Wretched (2)
-NSI: 76

North County Raiders
-Midfield: Formidable (9)
-Right Defense: Passable (6)
-Central Defense: Passable (6)
-Left Defense: Weak (4)
-Right Attack: Magnificent (12)
-Central Attack: Outstanding (10)
-Left Attack: Solid (7)
-Experience: Poor (3)
-NSI: 72

Comments

Things started off well enough for us today, as the press seemed to be doing its job early on. However, that did not last as a couple of rare mistakes by our defenders led to a pair of goals for the Raiders. And with our midfield deficiency, that is all that North County would need for the win, as our young midfielders weren’t able to generate any real scoring chances for us today.

I can’t say that I am surprised by the result, just a little disappointed. But we do wish the Raiders the best of luck as they continue on in the cup. Do us proud, Ardent.

Elsewhere In The Series Of The Beast [tm]

Three other clubs from Series IV.49 participated in Round Six of the U.S. Open Cup

-Big Reds continued in what appears to be a dominant season for them, defeating the Bulldawgs 2-nil.
-Team 917 ended the Ramblers cup run, also by a score of 2-nil.
-Sweden Heights failed to advance as well, falling to Trailer Trash, 2-1.

Big Reds are looking like a very strong team this season, and remain the only club to represent The Series Of The Beast in the U.S. Open Cup.

Up Next: The weekly training results. Stay tuned!