[DataKing]

Season 2 – FOFC Cup – Quarterfinal Match

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Ruskies

Date: March 12th, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 842 (17,350)
Weather: Rain

At long last, the FOFC Cup is back in action this week. We’ve drawn the_herd’s Ruskies team, and it looks to be an interesting match-up. We seem to have a small edge in talent with our second team, but the forecast for today is calling for rain. We aren’t a good wet-weather team, as players like midfielder Brooks Brannon and defender William Brown sometimes have trouble performing on a wet pitch.

Still, the fact that we are playing at home should give our players a boost. Hopefully that will be enough of a boost to move onto the semifinals next week.

Formation: 5-4-1

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #17 Mattias Leier
Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs
Central Defender: #23 William Brown
Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma
Left Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam

Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon
Left Winger: #25 Paul Peralta

Forward: #14 Jesper Gravesen

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

Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan
-Defender: #22 Tyler Willard
-Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
-Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias
-Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Because he started for us in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Neon Genesis Evangelion, Jerry Smith will only be acting as a back-up for us today. Starting in his place will be Romanian midfielder Lucian Tere. Lucian is the one player on the club that seems to thrive in wet-weather situations, so we’re fortunate that we chose not to use him on Sunday.

Match Report

The crowd of 842 turning up at The Docks today were greeted by some nasty showers of rain. Screamin' tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. The following players had been chosen: Read - Leier, Brown, Lerma, Stubbs, Kvam - Johnson, Tere, Brannon, Peralta - Gravesen.

Ruskies had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Sanderson - Swenson, Sharp, Hirsch, Khaira - Kapur, Payne, Holmes, Hinton, Randolph - Daugherty.

FIRST HALF

In the 6:th minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Stacy Hirsch put the ball away for 0 - 1.

The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. Ruskies held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

SECOND HALF

Ruskies, bringing the final ball possession rate to 54 percent, dominated the battle.

POST GAME
The most dominating Screamin' player was without a doubt Darryl Read. Paul Peralta was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Ruskies player was without a doubt Roy Payne. Paul Holmes was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 1.

(Author’s Note: No, I did not delete anything from this match report. It really was that boring!)

Final Score: Ruskies 1, Screamin’ Seamen 0

Goals
None

Cards
None

Signs Of Life From Our B-Team
None

Player Ratings

Read: **~

Leier: **
Stubbs: **~
Brown: **~
Lerma: **
Kvam: **~

Johnson: **
Tere: **
Brannon: **
Peralta: *~

Gravesen: **

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Left Defense: Brilliant (11)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Poor (3)
-Left Attack: Poor (3)

Ruskies
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Solid (7)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Poor (3)
-Left Attack: Poor (3)

Comments

I feel sorry for the 842 poor saps that actually paid to see this match. We lost, a large majority of them got very wet, but the worst thing is that they watched what was perhaps the most uneventful match in the history of Hattrick! If I could give them their money back, I would.

Congratulations to Ruskies, though. They fought hard and earned a win. We wish them the best of luck in the semi-finals.

Other News

Youth pull defender Millard Meadows was sold earlier today for $23,000 to Los Pibes del Pecio, a club from Spain’s 5th Division. $21,160 of that money found its way into the SSFC coffers.

We would also like to welcome a new supporter to the Screamin’ Seamen family. Gasmasters (currently #1 in series V.222) are owned and operated by Flatulon. Welcome Gasmasters!

We are now in lone possession of 5th place in the United States as far as supporting teams, with 17.

Up Next: Weekly training updates tomorrow evening. Stay tuned!