Central Park Rangers FC

Reds Reserves 3 – 0 Koha Reserves (forfeit)

Reds 3 – 2 Koha

Another solid performance from the reds played on the shitty Verrazano field. While we made hard work of it, we still maintained the pressure throughout the game, scored a few nice goals and defended well.

Goals: Paulie D, Robbie & Ilija
MOTM: Danny
Honorable mentions : Keogh

It was early. It was windy. And it was f*ing cold (at least on the sidelines). But in the end this weekend’s game against Eastern Europe’s finest was never really in doubt, 3 – 0 to the good guys, 3 points and mid-table supremacy in the bag. Lets go to the highlights & awards…. 

Highlights: Just as all the ultra-cool kids were heading to bed in Hipster Town, CPR was kicking off. It took us some time to get settled in, and it was a bit back and forth for the first 15 minutes with no clear possession and no clear chances, but towards the middle of the first half we started playing into feet up front and had a couple of dangerous attacks. Robbie managed to slice a good opportunity from 18 yards out for a throw in, and Ilya nearly snuck a low skidding shot into the far corner, but we could not find a way through. Zack finally found the back of the net, and nearly separated the keeper’s arms from his body, with an absolute cracker that forced its way home towards the end of the second half. As the first half wound down we were clearly already mentally in the locker room, and Ukraine forced a couple of ugly balls into the box, but a handful of nice saves from Eric kept the score at 1-0 until the whistle.

Second half started off well, with the Reds pushing forward with numbers. Ben had clearly decided at half time that he was going to make a lot of end-to-end runs, wide open, down the left sideline whether he was getting the ball or not – so he did [more on that shortly]. Ukraine didn’t appear to have much appetite for the match but a crap-ass penalty early on could have rejuvenated the opposition. Eric made quick work of the pen with a spectacular save to keep the ball out of the lower corner. So spectacular that the entire CPR defense stood in frozen awe. Fortunately the faux-hawked minnie-striker playing for the Ukraine was unaccustomed to an adult size 5 ball and pushed the rebound wide. That was really the only solid chance for the rest of the match. Rob & co. shut things down in the back and kept the ball out of the box for most of the second half. A sharp performance from the entire defense.

The Reds had a couple of decent opportunities following the pen, including a perfect slow roller played across the box by Ben (the only ball Ilya overran all match). A few minutes later though, a brilliant ball from midfield put Ilya in 1v1 to goal. An absolute textbook move took the defender and the goalkeeper out of the play, and an easy ball into the back of the net made it 2-0. Towards the end of the match Ben was finally rewarded for his efforts on the wing with the assist on the third goal as Zack  grabbed his second and put the game beyond all doubt. In an odd scoring error though, the official assist will be credit to Nikle.

Game ends, 3-0 to the good. Now for the Awards.

1970’s-style retro-NASL jersey Award: Winner – NY Ukrainians

May have restricted movement. May have inhibited their play, but you couldn’t represent the former soviet bloc any better.

The Bill O’Reilly Has nothing on me Man of the Match: Eric, I would never have thought that the phrase “NICE AND DEEP, DANNY. I SAID F*ING NICE AND DEEP!!!” could have sounded intimidating, but there you have it.

 GOALS: Ilya, Zack (2)

Well done boys.