Yet another early morning game, but at least this one was at 9am instead of 8am, so there was one blessed hour extra of relief for the old men of CPR. The squad looked robust & healthy as they prepared to play the cellar dwellers of Westchester FC. CPR’s previous record against Westchester had not been good regardless of league position, so it was with cautious that the Old Boyz prepared themselves against a similarly large squad. The field was as compact as those at Randalls Island, which made the Westchester goalkeeper’s lackadaisical positioning all the more inexplicable. The quality of Over 30’s players varies widely, but it does not mean there aren’t strikers capable of taking advantage, which is how Kevin Fink proceeded to shoot and score off of the kick-off for a 4th second lead.

The CPR players on the sideline greeted the goal with loud mirth, which was not reciprocated by the opponents. Within the next 20 minutes it indeed looked like the game would be a laugher. CPR created a few quick chances which resulted in Gallagher adding to his team high total by powering a header in off of a Teesdale throw-in. The no nonsense English referee was allowing plenty of physical play, the only explanation for not giving a stone cold penalty when Venkataraman was unceremoniously bundled over in the penalty area. Other physical play on the strikers was being ignored, but CPR were managing to create chances regardless. Gallagher preferred the striker’s single mindedness over passing to open teammates in the penalty area, and the goalie proved up to the task. The CPR defence, which was a Lars away from an all Marc/k defence had little to worry about, at least initially.

Westchester slowly started to find their footing, but the goal that gave them life was an unfortunate one. A pass back to Becker resulted in a mis-kick to the opposition’s striker who finished the one on one chance with glee. Back to within a goal and with CPR one again not taking advantage of their chances, Westchester almost visibly grew in stature, and it was CPR that greeted the half time whistle with relief.

	The all Mark defence had its share of trouble in the second half.

The conversation at the break revolved around using the substitutes to full advantage, especially regarding increasing the defensive intensity as fatigue should not be a problem. Instead, it was Westchester FC who burst out of the gate with fury. The #7 proved himself to be unstoppable, combining raw physical strength with his silky skills to set up play for his fellow midfielders. Although with little desire to play defence, the opposition midfielders proved to be more than capable offensively as they started to overrun CPR. A tying goal soon came as did a few other chances that were only saved by desperate defending. A golden chance for the lead was inexplicably spurned when a Westchester player wide open in the box decided to use both hands to direct the ball into the net from inside the 6 yard box when all he had to do was make a simple header. Credit to the referee, although he initially gave the goal the vociferous immediacy of the complaints coupled with the shamefaced grin of the Westchester player caused him to immediately change the call to a free kick as well as award the Henry impersonator a yellow for his troubles.

	The Westchester forward’s handball was a little bit more blatant than this one, and he got a yellow for his troubles.

Although the referee had performed creditably in general, changing the rules of the game halfway through provided the pivotal moment of the contest. While allowing all kinds of physical play in the first half, the referee abruptly decided to call the game tight, which resulted in a penalty call during a corner for the normal physical play that results on every corner in every game, and had been going on all game. In addition the call was indefensible for not calling the blatant penalty in the first half in CPR’s favour if the standards of physical play was supposed to be the same. The insult to injury was that Beeman came off explaining the reason for the push was that the opponent had been reaching back with one hand and ‘getting to know him’ in a fashion familiar at Riker’s island but not appropriate for a Sunday league game (or any game for that matter, clearly not including the CPR Blacks well known proclivities). From leading 2-0 to going down 3-2 was clearly demoralizing, but CPR did their best to try and rally. Unlike the first half though the chances had dried up, with the best of a poor bunch being two shots from outside the penalty area that were well wide. A dispiriting loss for sure, which caused for some serious and loud soul searching. Probably the most important issue has to be the identity of the team, as to whether it is a ‘win at all costs’ mentality to the detriment of players getting up early to remain merely spectators, or if the team’s raison d’etre is to provide an enjoyable forum for Sunday football, which should also result in the appropriate adjustment in expectations and temper.

Competition: Westchester FC

Location: Saxon Field, White Plains

Conditions: Quite chilly but still decent considering it was mid November

Fans: None

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

Goals: 1-0: Fink Assist Gallagher 2-0: Gallager Assist Teesdale

Yellow Cards: Cornejo, Teran

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Gavin Hamilton, a rarity to be sure.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Steve Teesdale

Old Man of the Match: The team performed okay but were simply overrun in the second half

Old Man of the Bar: Decent performances by the usual suspects with Fink & Silent the last two left

Team Bar Showing: 9 out of 16 (56%)

Team Bar Night: 2 ½ out of 5 – Strictly average

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Lars Murray (DF) , Steve Teesdale (DF), Mark Dean (DF), Marc Walby (DF), Mark Edmunds (DF), Jake Beeman, Steve Morse, Manohar Venkataraman , Manuel Casanova , Creighton Mershon, Jose Cornejo, Adi Gallagher, Ernesto Teran, Kevin Fink

Scouting Report: CPR’s bogey team struck again. Despite having a woeful record against the rest of the league they always seem to summon numbers and their strongest team to play against CPR. A sign of respect or just bad luck, regardless they have been a formidable opponent.

Goalie: Although he made some decent saves its hard to get past the unforgivable blunder of allowing an opponent to score from the center circle on the kick-off. Grade: D

Defenders: Decent defenders, they were helped immensely in the first half by the referee’s decision to allow physical play, getting away with a stone cold penalty. In the second half they handled all that CPR threw at them. Grade: B.

Midfielders: Also quite physical, they showed little inclination to play defence as they charged up the field to help the strikers. Unfortunately CPR weren’t able to capitalize on the second half, and the Westchester midfielders proved to dangerous enough coming forward to make up for their defensive deficiencies. Grade: B

Strikers: Assuming #7 was a striker, he was as dangerous a player as CPR has seen this season. They showed some signs in the first half, but in the second they ran rampant with the type of strength and speed rarely encountered by CPR, who struggled to contain them. Grade: A