Season 5 – League Match #8
Screamin’ Seamen vs. Sweden Heights
Date: January 4th, 2004
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 25,769 (43,750)
Weather: Overcast
The first match of the new year finds us squaring off against Sweden Heights for the second week in a row, in the Hattrick organization’s annual rubber-match weekend. These are often some of the most entertaining matches of the season, as teams try to compensate for deficiencies the week prior, or figure out a way to pull the wool over the eyes of their opponents for a second time. Also, these matches are often hard-fought and sometimes violent affairs. Any fan of professional sports can tell you that familiarity really does breed contempt.
Aniara, the owner of Sweden Heights, spent the week lambasting their coaching staff, and head coach Freddy Leon in particular, for last week’s loss in New York. Apparently, ownership did not agree with coach Leon playing midfielder Adam Czerwinski in a forward position, and blamed that decision for the defeat, rather than giving any credit whatsoever to your beloved Seamen. We’ve used these statements to our advantage, and Coach Fluieras has had copies of Aniara’s statements up in the locker room all week. “More fuel for the fire,” as they say.
We expect Heights to come at us full-bore this week, in hopes of redeeming themselves, and have been preparing for just such a match all week. After analyzing tape from the match in New York last weekend, we think we’ve found a weakness in Heights’ wing defense, and will therefore be attacking that part of the pitch in particular (much to the pleasure and agreement of Reg Nichols).
Previous Meetings
(W) 4/27/2003 – Screamin’ Seamen 2, Sweden Heights 0
(L) 6/15/2003 – Sweden Heights 1, Screamin’ Seamen 0
(L) 7/27/2003 – Sweden Heights 2, Screamin’ Seamen 1
(W) 10/26/2003 – Screamin’ Seamen 3, Sweden Heights 2
(W) 12/28/2003 – Sweden Heights 1, Screamin’ Seamen 2
Last week’s victory broke the stranglehold that home-field-advantage had over our two clubs. Now we’re hoping to return to form and make it three in a row against an arrogant Heights club.
Formation: 3-5-2
Tactics: Attack On Wings
Starters (# appearances, *s last time out)
Keeper: #1 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan (66th career appearance, ****)
Right Wingback: #22 Tyler Willard (46th career appearance, ****)
Central Defender: #2 Cameron “Big Mac” McDonald (26th career appearance, ****~)
Left Wingback: #24 Sven Svensson (110th career appearance, ****)
Right Winger: #16 Reg Nichols (24th career appearance, ***~)
Inner Midfielder: #8 Javier Tejeda (7th career appearance, ***)
Inner Midfielder: #10 Milan Dufek (9th career appearance, ***~)
Inner Midfielder: #19 Gino Behling (9th career appearance, ***)
Left Winger: #23 Ivan Richardy (14th career appearance, ***)
Forward: #12 Guido Metman (119th career appearance, ***~)
Forward: #14 German Galvez (36th career appearance, ***)
Team Captain: #24 Sven Svensson
Set Pieces: #22 Tyler Willard
Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Darryl Read (32 career appearances, **)
-Defender: #17 Mattias Leier (17 career appearances, ****)
-Midfielder: #4 Jaimy van de Kerkhof (14 career appearances, ***)
-Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson (77 career appearances, **)
-Winger: #20 Walter Bosch (8 career appearances, ***)
Our defense will be tested today, as we’ll be without the services of our best wingback and resident stud, Arlen “Headcase” Lucas, who is serving his annual suspension this weekend. Fortunately, veteran defenseman Sven Svensson has been in superb form since joining the club early in the season, and will take Arlen’s position on the left side of the defense. He’s not a natural wingback like Headcase is, but will hopefully be able to fill in and keep the Heights strikers honest.
Chilean midfielder Javier Tejeda has earned himself a spot with the starters, as the young man was critical in our victory in the FOFC Cup this past week, and also managed to find the twine four times during our run in the U.S. Open Cup. Ivan Richardy also represents a break from tradition for us. Ivan is more of a pure offensive winger than Walter Bosch is, and is a little better at lofting balls into the middle.
Up front, we’ll be relying heavily on veteran Dutch striker Guido Metman, as German Galvez’ performance has taken a dip in practice over the past few days. Our reserve strikers are in pretty poor shape as well, so our depth leaves a bit to be desired.
The clouds have rolled in, but the meteorologists say that any bad weather should hold off until after the match. Hopefully they’re right. We need all the fans we can get in the stadium right now, even the fair-weather variety…
Match Report
PRE-GAME
25769 spectators had come to The Docks this cloudy day.
Screamin' tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Jernigan - Willard, Mcdonald, Svensson - Nichols, Dufek, Behling, Tejeda, Richardy - Metman, Galvez.
Heights tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Wilkinson - Domínguez, Pressley, Claesson - Lannes, Jansson, Thomas, Czerwinski, Persson - Andersson, Sunesson.
FIRST HALF
Screamin' saw most attack opportunites on the wings and were directing their passes that way.
Tyler Willard was very close to giving Screamin' the lead with an ingenious free kick routine in the 19:th, the ball just grazing the bar.
Cameron “Big Mac” Mcdonald of Screamin' received a yellow card in the 20:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Screamin' took the lead in the 21st minute of the game by 1 to 0, as Germán Galvez elegantly received a pass going deep, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar.
In the 22nd minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Javier Tejeda dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Screamin'.
The game was close to savage at times, and Screamin'`s Cameron “Big Mac” Mcdonald received a second yellow card in the 24:th, his ticket out of the game.
The player down was Uriel Domínguez. The Heights bench looked worried a while but in the end he managed to get up.
With 32 minutes played Guido Metman could have brought this one home for Screamin', had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high.
The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 0. Heights held the ball, with a clear 59 percent possession rate.
SECOND HALF
After 52 minutes of play, the free-spirited Guido Metman decided to aim straight for the goal as he struck a free kick from the corner of the pitch. The ball deflected off a defender and went out of bounds.
Javier Tejeda received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 58:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score.
The referee showed Screamin's Tyler Willard the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge.
Due to a severely mistimed tackle,Trent Wilkinson spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game.
Screamin's Ivan Richardy got himself booked after a foul.
A penalty in the 71st minute gave the home side a chance at adding to the score, but an overconfident Tyler Willard shot the ball wide, in an effort to put it away in the top corner.
In the 74:th minute Screamin' put themselves up 3 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Germán Galvez coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home.
Heights held the ball, with a clear 59 percent possession rate.
POST-GAME
The most dominating Screamin' player was without a doubt Sven Svensson. Germán Galvez was a disappointment, however.
The most dominating Heights player was without a doubt Mats Claesson. Richard Persson on the other hand, had a terrible day.
Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 3, Sweden Heights 0
Goals
Galvez – 2 (3,4,GWG)
Tejeda – 1 (1)
Cards
McDonald – 2 yellow (ejected, suspended)
Willard – yellow (2)
Richardy – yellow (1)
Player Ratings
Jernigan: ****
Willard: ****~
McDonald: ??? (ejected)
Svensson: ****~ (best performance to date)
Nichols: ***~
Tejeda: ***
Dufek: ***
Behling: ***~
Richardy: ***
Metman: ***~ (best performance to date)
Galvez: **~
Team Match MVP: #24 Sven Svensson
Team Ratings
Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Solid (7)
-Right Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Brilliant (11)
-Right Attack: Formidable (9)
-Central Attack: Excellent (8)
-Left Attack: Formidable (9)
-Experience: Poor (3)
-NSI: 76
Sweden Heights
-Midfield: Formidable (9)
-Right Defense: Brilliant (11)
-Central Defense: Brilliant (11)
-Left Defense: Magnificent (12)
-Right Attack: Formidable (9)
-Central Attack: Solid (7)
-Left Attack: Solid (7)
-Experience: Poor (3)
-NSI: 84
Comments
Despite an early 2-nil lead, we were all quite concerned (and rightfully so, I felt) when Cameron “Big Mac” McDonald let his emotions get the better of him and got himself ejected halfway through the first half. With only Willard, Svensson (not even a regular starter) and Corny all that remained on the back-line, I half-expected Sweden Heights to have the match knotted up before halftime. But the expected attack never materialized. Our three remaining defenders did an absolutely superb job in keeping the Heights’ attackers in check, and no serious attack ever materialized.
Javier Tejeda, our young Chilean, continues to be a handful. In the first half he looked brilliant, and congratulations are in order for the young man’s first ever league-play goal. But a rookie mistake in the second half nearly cost us a goal, and were it not for the excellent play of the defense, the match could have been different altogether.
True to form for a rubber-match, the game was a savage one. Not only did “Big Mac” McDonald get himself ejected, but Tyler Willard and Ivan Richardy received bookings of their own. Obviously Coach Fluieras’ placing the articles in the locker room may have given the lads a little too much fuel for the fire, and he may need to think twice about doing that sort of thing again.
But all things concerned, we’re not the least bit disappointed with today’s result. Yes, missing “Big Mac” next week will be a loss, but Sven showed himself to be an excellent backup, and should step right into the central defender role next week. A solid win at home, and a shutout to boot, should help restore some faith among the supporters as well, which is sorely needed.
Series Scores and Standings
-Neon Genesis Evangelion defeated the Harrisburg Harries, to no one’s surprise, 3-nil.
-Croats in Miami took WoM FC behind the woodshed down in South Florida, 6-nil.
-Big Reds missed a golden opportunity for three points, and apparently took it easy on the Ramblers. This ended up costing them, as the match ended in a scoreless draw.
No. Team Played Goals Pts. NSI
1. Big Reds 8 25-4 19 83
2. Neon Genesis Evangelion 8 18-7 19 78
3. Croats in Miami 8 26-11 16 91
4. Ramblers 8 14-13 13 75
5. Screamin’ Seamen 8 12-11 13 76
6. Sweden Heights 8 16-18 10 84
7. WoM FC 8 7-27 3 64
8. Harrisburg Harries 8 3-30 0 63
The draw between Big Reds and Ramblers tightened things up a bit at the top, and now the Reds only lead Neon Genesis Evangelion by virtue of goal differential, with Croats in Miami a scant three points behind. As far as the Seamen are concerned, we’re effectively tied with the Ramblers for fourth place, even in both points and goal differential. Only the fact that the Ramblers have scored two more goals than we have give them the fourth place standing (for now).
Week 9 Matchups
Big Reds vs. Screamin’ Seamen
Sweden Heights vs. Harrisburg Harries
Neon Genesis Evangelion vs. Croats in Miami
WoM FC vs. Ramblers
We have the unenviable task of traveling to Ithaca, New York next week, to face a disappointed and angry Big Reds team. We appear to be pretty well outmatched, but might have a trick or two left up our sleeve in order to keep things interesting.
The match of the week appears to be Neon Genesis Evangelion hosting Croats in Miami. This is NGE’s opportunity to prove that they are serious contenders for the series title this season.
Up Next: FOFC Cup Group Play continues, as we host Qwikshot’s Ultra Nox club. Stay tuned!