On a gorgeous November day, CPR had the misfortune to have one of their smaller squads in recent times for one of the longest fields they were going to play on, against a team that had won all of their games. Not an optimal combination. Looking over at the NYPD squad they were more numerous and all larger, but the hope was that size and athleticism didn't necessarily translate into Football skill and acumen. Within the first few minutes this seemed to be accurate, as CPR stroked the ball around nicely and were able to create a few chances, with Gallagher had the chance to grab the lead but squander the one on one, sadly an event that was to be a running theme. However initially all was right with the world as the resulting dangerous corner from Beeman was thundered in by Gallagher.

	Adi Gallagher skying to score off Jake Beeman’s corner

A few half chances brought more corners but no joy. Gallagher was making himself a nuisance by his physical presence, although somewhat surprisingly the equally large defenders he was playing against seemed to be made of tissue paper. With the amount of whining and crying going on, one wondered if the NYPD had warmed up by watching ‘Beaches’ before the game. All in all it was a little embarrassing for a team of that size to be pleading with the referee every time a tackle was put in. Unfortunately all the complaining was starting to get into CPR’s heads as instead of making the veteran move and allowing the NYPD to self destruct, they stupidly started taking the bait. This resulted in a disjointed and clumsy last 20 minutes, with the Old Boyz making foolish moves like taking rapid free kicks and speeding up the tempo resulting in bad passes when they were the team that should have slowed things down.

	It was embarrassing watching the hulking goliaths of the NYPD crying over the slightest physical tackle

At half time the leadership tried to corral the team together and point out that it was composure that was going to win the game. No more vituperation directed at teammates (regardless of whether it was justified or not), no more unproductive banter with the opposition, no more playing as if CPR was the chaser and not the chasee. Sadly but almost predictably given the volatile nature of the team, CPR went out and promptly acted like the half time chat never happened. Balls were needlessly given away, teammates screamed at each other and a ludicrously surreal scene occurred in the home penalty box where the 2 man wall complained when one of the opposition decided to join them, providing more protection not less. Testosterone & not intelligence ruled the day, and it was no surprise when a long free kick that should have been easily disposed of resulted in the NYPD equalizing. To their credit, the opposition came out clearly following whatever dictates their manager had laid out as they started with more purpose. Within a few minutes of equalizing they took advantage of some sizeable gaps for a forward to burst through, this time making a smart and composed finish in contrast to the blunder of his teammate in the first half.

Now down a goal and with not enough depth to make significant changes, CPR still felt confident in their ability to overcome their biggest foe, themselves. Players started pushing up, tackles were made despite the NYPD bleating about physical play. The opposition continued to pout amongst themselves, opening the door for their self destruction. Chances flowed to CPR, but that little bit of luck or clinical play was lacking. On another day, Gallagher could have had 4, but today it was just one with 3 one on ones spurned wide of the same far right post. A thunderous header by Steve Morse went agonizingly wide. While this was happening, more and more gaps appeared from midfield to defence, and NYPD showed the ability to exploit those gaps. Resnik made one excellent save one on one, but could not do enough on a second one, with the striker counting himself fortunate to launch one from distance that made it in off the post. A 3-1 lead still wasn’t safe as the Beeman/Gallagher combination reversed themselves for the second CPR goal. It was not to be CPR’s day though, as a last ditch attempt by Cornejo was turned past the post by the goalie for a game saving save. CPR continued their pattern of consistent inconsistency against decent teams. Regardless of being undermanned, there was no excuse for losing the game. The lack of composure and intelligence for a team whose core has been together for a couple of years was sorely disappointing, and one hopes the team can get itself together without Management having to use the cudgel of the substitutes bench to drill in simple themes. Some players tend to forget that at the crux of it all, that all the fun doesn’t need to be saved for the pub, that you can actually have fun on the field.

	If only the Old Boyz could consistently harness their power instead of playing to the lowest common denominator, they could be a dangerous force.

Competition: NYPD FC

Location: Forest Hills, Queens

Conditions: Very warm day for November (competing side to side billboards alternatively listed the temperature as 64 & 81 on the way back)

Fans: None

Result: 2-3 (1-0 at H/T)

Goals: 1-0: Gallagher Assist Beeman 2-3: Beeman Assist Gallagher

Yellow Cards: Morse

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: None.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

Old Man of the Match: A strong performance from both Mershon & Morse. Probably in future weeks the OMoM should be discussed before the platter arrives.

Old Man of the Bar: Keyzer Soze

Team Bar Showing: 9 out of 14 (64%)

Team Bar Night: 3 out of 5 – Decent showing by the other teams, some good NFL games on.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Resnik (GK) , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Andy Jones (DF) , Lars Murray (DF) , Mark Edmunds (DF), Jake Beeman, Steve Morse, Manohar Venkataraman , Manuel Casanova , Creighton Mershon, Jose Cornejo, Andrew Faherty, Adi Gallagher, Ernesto Teran

Scouting Report: A mediocre team with some ability but who should be handled by CPR on a good day. Very averse to physical contact.

Goalie: Okay, didn’t have much to do but made a good save to prevent a draw. Grade: B.

Defenders: Beaten & Outmuscled by Adi time and time again. Grade: C-.

Midfielders: Spent as much time fighting amongst themselves as they did playing against CPR. Fairly nondescript, bordering on dirty. Grade: C-

Strikers: One striker scored a decent goal, the other missed a one on one and was fortunate to score off the post. Grade: B-.