CPR Reserves 2, NY Pancyprians 3

On a cold, blustery Sunday at the Met Oval Central Park Rangers hosted the NY Pancyprian Freedoms in a league match.

Despite missing the likes of Muzza and other influential players, the Reserves fielded a really strong side that looked keen to get all 3 points. Play for the Whites began brightly enough, with precise passes adding up like a cash register and it wasn't long before the attack paid dividends. Javier received the ball just at the edge of our attacking third and drove toward the box. Tony and Amos pulled the Pancyprian defense apart with their off-the-ball runs and the Colorado native unleashed a "lefty," low and inside the near post. 1-0 CPR. Strangely, after this polished bit of play the Rangers focus seemed to just fall off and towards the end of the half a CPR loss of possession resulted in an unexpected, advanced counter attack by the Cyprians. There was not much more keeper Jon could have done. The Freedoms equalized from just inside the box and the first half finished 1-1.

At half time manager Yuval again spoke to the lack of concentration for a second week in a row. Los Blancos needed to pick it up, and not long into the second half the Rangers side found itself back on top again. This time the goal resulted from Alex's deftly-flighted cross, which struck the crossbar and fell kindly for the on-rushing Rob O. The tall centre half made no mistake and headed in from close range, putting the Rangers back on top 2-1. The momentum wouldn't last though. On what was one of a number of Cyprian corner kicks, CPR failed to clear their lines. The ball bounced around the six yard box and eventually landed on a Freedom foot and rocketed into the back of our net. Indeed, the Rangers had looked shaky defending set pieces throughout the game. From this equalizer the belief of the Cyprian side grew. A gap formed between the CPR defense and attack and the Pancyprian Freedoms exploited it perfectly, knocking in their 3rd goal with about 15 minutes to go. Despite throwing numbers forward and registering a few chances on goal, CPR Reserves could not find an equalizer and the game ended Pancyprians 3, Rangers Reserves 2.

It's worth calling attention to the psychological end of the game. One could see how when CPR let the Pancyprians back into the game, the challengers belief rose in hand. Simply put, we need to remain conscious of how keeping possession and running off the ball in attack helps us keep the vital edge in belief over our opponents, especially when we lead the game.

As well, it's worth mentioning our lack of finishing. Even though we didn't maintain our top level performance the entire 90 minutes, the quality of our side couldn't help but create a number of chances. Had we taken any one of these we surely would have kicked on to perform a proper rout over our Mediterranean counterparts.

Starting Line Up: Jon L(GK), Joakim(RB) Jason(CB), Mark(CB), Dan C(LB), Alex(LW), Toph(CDM), Javier(AM), Rob(RW), Amos(S), Tony(S)

Subs all used: Andres, Jacopo, Dan Riso

Goals: Javier (1), Rob O (1)