Season 2 – League Match #12
Gazzaly FC vs. Screamin’ Seamen
Date: March 2nd, 2003
Venue: Valentula (New York, NY)
Attendance: 5,358 (7,000)
Weather: Overcast
We’re on the road for the second week in a row, in The Big Apple to take on sixth-place Gazzaly FC. We expect this to be a pretty easy three points for us, as well as an opportunity to repair the damage we did to our team spirit last week against Ramblers.
It will be Standard Operating Procedure today against Gazzaly FC. They’ve made some improvements since we crushed them 6-nil back in week three, but they just don’t have the horses to run with us, even if they are at home.
Formation: 3-5-2
Starters
Keeper: #13 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan
Right Wingback: #22 Tyler Willard
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas
Right Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Left Winger: #3 Ben McMahon
Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Darryl Read
-Defender: #24 Christian Kvam
-Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
-Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart
-Winger: #25 Paul Peralta
We have no changes to the starting line-up this week.
Match Report
Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 5358 at Valentula today. Gazzaly started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Huber - Griggs, Rouse, Andrade - Marcus, Song, Dumas, Vargas, Queen - Marrero, Mcintyre.
Screamin' tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Jernigan - Willard, Scales, Lucas - Mauffret , Tere, Bautista, Tomlin, Mcmahon - Henriksson, Tobias.
The referee showed Screamin's Charlie Bautista the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Gazzaly were forced to a substitution as Zeb Queen couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 20:th minute goal by Bryan Vargas for Gazzaly, putting them ahead 1 - 0. In the 26:th minute Gazzaly put themselves up 2 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Roland Mcintyre 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 Gazzaly decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Gazzaly, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball.
Screamin' showed some good morale and were, in the 79:th minute, able to reduce the score to 2 - 1 as Johannes Henriksson got past the home sides full backs straight in front of the goal. Richard Song was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was saved by the keeper. However, Gazzaly´s Kirby Marcus managed to get hold of the rebound and scored the 3-1 goal. In the games 83rd minute Screamin' replied, reducing the lead to 3 - 2. Charlie Bautista scored on a marvellous cross pass coming in from the left. The visitors didn´t give in and after 85 minutes Forrest Tobias got through the home sides central line of defense, rolling in the levelling goal to make it 3 - 3 After 89 minutes Screamin's Forrest Tobias made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 3 - 4. In the 89:th minute Screamin's Lucian Tere received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Gazzaly were forced to a substitution as Bryan Vargas couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. The home crowd were tearing their hair as Roland Mcintyre missed a penalty shot by miles in the 90:th minute. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 51 percent, dominated the battle.
Gazzaly´s best player was Richard Song. However, Merrill Griggs made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Screamin' player was without a doubt Cornelius Jernigan. Lucian Tere was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 4.
Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 4, Gazzaly FC 3
Goals
Henriksson – 1 (13)
Bautista – 1 (4)
Tobias – 2 (11,12)
Cards
Bautista (yellow)
Tere (yellow)
Player Ratings
Jernigan: ***~
Willard: ***
Scales: **~
Lucas: ***
Mauffret: **~
Tomlin: **~
Tere: **
Bautista: **~
McMahon: **~
Tobias: **~
Henriksson: **
Man of the Match: #13 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan
Team Ratings
Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Inadequate (5)
Gazzaly FC
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Central Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Left Defense: Weak (4)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Solid (7)
-Left Attack: Passable (6)
Comments
Holy crap! I don’t even know where to begin!
I guess I should start by saying that this was big “trap game” for us, and I didn’t recognize it as such. I told my guys to take it easy, figuring that we would have an easy time with Gazzaly FC, and looking to repair some of the damage we did last week. I was not expecting this kind of match at all.
Down 3-1 with less than ten minutes to go, I thought we were sunk. But Charlie Bautista had other ideas, knocking home the goal that brought us within one. That really seemed to get the rest of the team going, especially Forrest Tobias. “Gump” went absolutely berserk on the pitch, scoring two incredible goals in only four minutes, and we had the lead!
I damn near charged onto the field and throttled the referee when he gave Gazzaly FC a penalty kick with only seconds remaining in the game. But fortune smiled upon us once again, and Gazzaly striker Roland McIntyre missed the net completely. When I saw that kick go wide, I cheered, then started to feel light headed. The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed…but I guess there’s been plenty of about that in the papers.
Author’s Note: No, I didn’t actually pass out or anything at the end of the match. But it sure was exciting!
Series Scores and Standings
Farmer of Fire has folded, and a new charter has been granted to a team from New Jersey named Inquisition.
I’m not sure what the deal is with The Cheats, but it appears as though they have fired
all of their players. All they have on their roster is a coach.
-Inquisition lost their inaugural match to Cariocas, 3-2.
-Ramblers remained hot on our heels, defeating Neon Genesis Evangelion, 3-1.
- Croats in Miami were awarded a 5-nil walkover win against The Cheats.
No. Team Played Goals Pts.
1. Screamin’ Seamen 12 49-14 32
2. Ramblers 12 60-8 31
3. Croats in Miami 12 41-15 30
4. Neon Genesis Evangelion 12 32-15 18
5. Inquisition 12 17-23 14
6. Cariocas 12 15-45 8
7. Gazzaly FC 12 15-49 7
8. The Cheats 12 4-64 0
If the season ended today, we would be the very last of the 32 teams awarded auto-promotion. Our goal differential is six below the next team with 32 points. Talk about cutting things close!
Our remaining schedule:
3/9 – vs. Neon Genesis Evangelion
3/16 - @ Croats in Miami
We were definitely looking past this week’s match, but we will not make the same mistake next week. Neon Genesis Evangelion is a quality club, but this time we will have the advantage of playing at home.
Also of interest, Ramblers play host to Croats in Miami next week. The best possible outcome for us is a draw between those two. Assuming that occurred, and we defeated Neon Genesis Evangelion, a draw is all we would need against Croats in Miami on the 16th to secure the series title.
Other News
Please help we welcome the newest part of the Screamin’ Seamen Football Club, Danish striker Jesper Gravesen.
Jesper Gravesen
27 years old, solid form, healthy.
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and upright.
Has poor (3) experience and inadequate (5) leadership abilities.
Specialty: Technical
Nationality: Denmark
Assessed Value: $36,000
Wage: $816/week
Stamina: Solid (7)
Playmaking: Poor (3)
Winger: Weak (4)
Scoring: Passable (6)
Goaltending: Wretched (2)
Passing: Weak (4)
Defending: Poor (3)
Set Pieces: Solid (7)
We purchased Jesper for $19,000 earlier today, from Aalbork BK, a club from Denmark’s 4th Division. Jesper has been used primarily as a backup during his career, but has made the most of his opportunities, scoring twelve goals in only seven competitive matches, including two hattricks.
Jesper is exactly what we were looking for as a replacement for Ruben Stewart. He has some experience, and can function as team captain when needed. He is also good on set pieces, which is a weakness of ours. Until now, Johannes Henriksson has been the only player on the team rated at solid (7) in set pieces.
Up Next: The club is flying straight from New York to London, for our international friendly against Crazy Docs FC on Wednesday. I’ll be catching up with them as soon as I can. Stay tuned!