Over 30 News

First in name calling but second in goals, a disappointing end to the Old Boyz campaign

Manohar Venkataraman — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:00:00 GMT

The last game of the season and nothing to play for, and the prospective attendance showed it. It was hard to blame the numerous dubious injuries or players not around, especially since the pitch was deep in Brooklyn and was the notorious Dyker Beach Park, possibly one of the worst fields in the league. Some last minute recruiting brought the Old Boyz to a barely minimum 12, and that included Becker who based on an abundance of voicemail and text evidence had had a memorable night previously.

With everyone dressed and ready to go at game time, the home team SC Gjoa showed minimal urgency in getting the show on the road. The only thing more amusing than their lackadaisical attitude was the fact they wanted to compound the lateness with only playing 30 minute halves due to a ‘parade’. Nothing doing. If the Old Boyz were going to trek deep into the suburbs, by jove they would play a 90 minute game if it killed them (not completely out of the realms of possibility, and certainly guaranteeing a Mr. Glass award for death).

Eventually at almost 30 minutes into game time Gjoa had 10 players ready to play and the whistle blew. CPR immediately started dominating with Stower rampaging down the sidelines with minimal resistance. Indeed, the attacks were almost too easy and a header was quickly flashed over the bar by Lim. Within 2 minutes a carbon copy cross from Hollins found Lim in an abundance of space and this time Lim buried it for CPR to take the lead. Or not. Although it is tempting to quote the usual disclaimer about offsides being hard to judge for a referee with no linesman, this call was inexplicable. With the ball floating over the heads of 4 defenders playing Lim onsides and running from outside the box, the call was a complete embarrassment.

Although the attacks didn’t stop, the cutting edge was just not there. On the times that CPR did muster a shot on target the splendid Gjoa keeper proved equal to the task, notably on two saves against Resnik & Hollins. Although usually stout at the back, the unfamiliarity of positions was causing mental anguish for CPR with handbags being flung and confusion reigning supreme. On one of their rare forays up the field, a nicely lofted ball gave the Gjoa striker a one on one which he finished well to give them a lead completely against the run of play.

Going into half time, the single goal lead appeared far from insurmountable. Although the lack of clinical strikers able to take on the defence was a disadvantage, the fact that in Hollins and D’andrea CPR had two midfielders perfectly capable of slicing through the middle balanced out the equation. The name of the game would be stamina, and also making the opportunities count against the formidable goalie.

Second verse, same as the first. Chance after chance came the Old Boyz way, and each time the ball either flew narrowly wide, the keeper stopped the ball or Cossette was inevitably offsides. Meanwhile the Gjoan midfielders disdain for defense was giving them an advantage during counterattacks as CPR’s increasingly fatigued midfielders were having a hard time tracking back. The backbreaker turned out not to be a defensive blunder but an accident of the dreadful pitch. With Shafranek in perfect position to intercept a through ball the ball hit one of the 50+ pieces of turf that comprised the “pitch”, allowing the striker a one on one that he clinically finished.


	A Scotsman or Mr. Glass? I know who I’m taking in that battle.

The Old Boyz now handled the adversity as poorly as they had the first season. Although continuing to gamely attack it seemed clear that the day was not going to be theirs, and the verbal diarrhea flew from all and sundry in every direction, culminating in Old Man of the Match Hollins’s memorable bellow ‘You’re all ***!!’ after yet another predictable short goal kick found its home target in acres of space.

Fortunately two things saved the game from being a completely forgettable experience. Firstly the Old Boyz finally received the benefit of a brutal refereeing decision, the ball being at least two ball lengths out when Hollins continued to drive past several gesticulating Gjoans before rounding the keeper and preventing the shut out. Perhaps the decision was a counterweight to the equally egregious handball the referee had claimed not to have seen (again) which led to the third goal for the opposition. The second and final psychological triumph came for CPR when Stower got up to his old tricks in winding up the opposition’s winger. After Cossette had clattered into an opponent with all the grace of a CPR team at an open bar, play stopped to have Stower and his counterpart yelling at each other. After the referee awarded the freekick to CPR, Angelo’s pitiful bleat could be heard all around the pitch, ‘ HE CALLED ME NAMES!’. Yes my son, he called you names. Here’s a tissue. You may have won the game, but the psychological war would be CPR’s to own.

As bad a tactical and intelligent game as the Old Boyz have played in years. The inability to make smart decisions on the fly and work with long time teammates is hard to explain, and hopefully an aberration. A disappointing season with 4 points fewer than the last two, with probably the biggest culprit being the loss of 23 goals from Gallagher & Fink. Bustamante and D’andrea have show ample promise, but some relatively younger attacking blood is sorely needed, as is some more consistence appearances by the squad as a whole.


	SC Gjoa’s Angelo, you are now an (infamous) CPL Over 30’s Legend. “HE CALLED ME NAMES!” Yes he did. There there. Maybe we could get you your favourite blanky?

Competition: SC Gjoa

Location: Dyker Beach Park, Brooklyn

Conditions: Drizzly but not cold, perfect footballing weather

Fans: 0

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

Goals: 3:1: Hollins

Yellow Cards: Shockingly none

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: None, although based on Becker’s 3am phones and texts, this was very unexpected.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Continued campaigning by Shafranek but no actual injuries suffered, also surprising given one of the worst fields in the league.

Old Man of the Match: Not really a close vote as Hollins play on both sides of the ball put him head and shoulders over most, a sentiment he seemed to share with the ‘You’re all ***!!!’ shriek.

Old Man of the Bar: None.

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None

Team Bar Showing: 9 out of 12 (75%)

Team Bar Night: 4 out of 5. The team has been around long enough that the vituperative verbal disintegration on the pitch had no impact on the pub attendance and was easily laughed off at the bar. Disappointing as the result was, the day at the pub was excellent.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Scott Shafranek (DF), Lars Murray (DF), Dan Hollins, Steve Teesdale, Manohar Venkataraman, Willian D’andrea, Neil Stower, Trygve Cossette, Hyon Lim

Profligate CPR Old Boyz make things harder than they need to in win over RTG

Manohar Venkataraman — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:10:00 GMT

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A 2pm start is a mixed blessing. It’s nice to be able to get up in a relaxed fashion and leisurely head to the field, but the pub time afterwards does not stretch languidly into the rest of the day. On this particular occasion the afternoon start was well needed given the combination of Kentucky Derby and Mark Dean’s wedding reception the night before. The abomination of the Chelsea capitulation against Manchester was not a great way to prepare for the game, but the weather was nice and the opposition mediocre to put it politely.


	Even by Old Boyz standards it was quite a Saturday Night. It was nice of Lars to volunteer to carry Jonny Lincoln all night.

Of course, the Old Boyz are notorious for playing up or down to their opposition. Although having put up a comfortable 3-0 victory against RTG earlier in the season there was no guarantee that CPR would dominate in the same way, and sure enough within the first 5 minutes they were down to a simple through ball right through the heart of the defence. Not long after that another incisive attack resulted in a second goal and a quick 2-0 deficit. The rumblings of discontent were not as loud as they could be as CPR had already shown the ability to attack themselves, with Venkataraman’s shot from 30 yards out producing the rare double cross bar bounce. Andy Jones was causing the defenders concern and Dan Hollins was marauding from his central midfield position, so much so that he started the onslaught for CPR by weaving past several defenders before scoring.

CPR were now on the upswing, and after pressuring the defenders to win a corner Nizam hit one deep that Hollins tracked all the way, a gorgeous left footed volley making it right into the corner to tie the game. The Old Boyz are well used to coughing up two goal leads so it was pleasing to be on the other side of the coin for a change. Constant pressure started to be exerted and with Hollins’s confidence overflowing he juggled the ball nonchalantly on the left side of the penalty area before lobbing it for Nizam to score.

Nothing is every easy for CPR, and they conspired to give back the equalizer to RTG. A lovely chip from the left made it over the despairing Becker and defender for both teams to go in at half time tied 3-3, in a wonderful game for the neutral spectator (of which there were probably none).

With RTG already dragging and having no substitutes and CPR having 4 it should have been time to just keep putting the pressure on and allow them to wilt in the warm sunshine. Indeed it looked like that would be the case when the Old Boyz came out gangbusters and rapidly put 2 goals in, the first almost directly from the kickoff and the next not long after. Inexplicably despite the fact they should be exhausted RTG continued to work hard, and were able to score another tactically simple but well executed goal, taking advantage of CPR sloth. Perhaps part of the adrenaline rush was the increasing physicality of the occasion as the referee’s pathetic inability to control the game drove players on each side to harder and harder fouls. Although there is no need to brandish red cards indiscriminately at this level, a few yellows and a stern talking to would have been enough to nip some of the handbags in the bud. It was a shame that an exciting game was marred by some foolishness at the end, but a 5-4 game is always fun to be a part of, and RTG certainly contributed to the spectacle.


	An enthralling game ended up in handbags thanks to the referee’s inability to control the game.

Competition: RTG

Location: Randalls Island #75

Conditions: Warm weather accentuated by 2pm start time

Fans: 4

Result: 5-4 (3-3 at H/T)

Goals: 2-1: Hollins

2-2: Hollins assist Nizam

3-2: Nizam assist Hollins

4-3: Jones assist Stower

5-3: Dean assist D’andrea

Yellow Cards: Stower (Shocking)

Red Card: N/A

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Paulo’s late failure of his personal fitness test ended up hurting nobody else but himself, as this was a game tailor made for him to pile on the statistics. T was also mysteriously absent.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Mark Dean’s remarkable appearance after his previous night’s Wedding Reception exertions was topped by a combination of scoring a goal and not throwing up at any point.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Shafranek’s continuing to campaign for the award was probably a factor in his early limping off the field. He did eventually come back, but any time there was a gust of wind the team had to look around to ensure he was still standing.

Old Man of the Match: Hollins ensured there was no controversy over whether to award the OMoM to somebody present by showing up to the pub himself. He could arguably have been awarded the Man of the Match solely based on his sublime goal, but given the driving contribution from midfield to get the sluggish Old Boyz back in the game it was as clear cut an award as has happened in a while.

Old Man of the Bar: Nobody stood out, but a general good performance.

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Team Bar Showing: out of 15 (%)

Team Bar Night: 3.5 out of 5. Although not wide, the performance was deep as all who showed up stayed for quite a while. Plenty of good banter was had.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Scott Shafranek (DF), Mark Edmunds (DF), Steve Teesdale, Lars Murray (DF), Steve Morse, Neil Stower, John Hodges, Manohar Venkataraman, Willian D’andrea, Mark Dean, Dan Hollins, Hakan Nizam, Andy Jones

CPR Old Boyz cup run cruelly cut short at the death

Manohar Venkataraman — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:15:00 GMT

John Hodges (eventually) guest reporting

The CPR Old Boyz's League Cup match against BWG Cosmos had all the makings of a Hollywood ending, but in the end it turned out to be a heart-wrenching Shakespearean tragedy with the Old Boyz falling 2-3 in the very final minutes.

A Sunday 8:00 AM start time once again provided the initial challenge to the Old Boyz, which Brindley’s Wagon Queen Family Truckster filled with half the team arriving with only 3 minutes to spare. But the Old Boyz were quick and ready a kick-off time, and had an advantage with sprightly Boyle, Engler, and Hartman in support for the League Cup.

The first half began with both teams playing into the wind with little success.

"It is a nipping and an eager air."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.4

The first 40 minutes proved to be a mostly even match with both teams having some early opportunities. However, a Cosmos goal coming off of a corner kick put-back gave them the early lead just before halftime.

"All is not well;
I doubt some foul play."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.2

Regardless, the Old Boyz’s spirits were high at halftime having played well as a team in the first 45. With a few tactical adjustments, the Old Boyz felt that goals could be had in the second half.

"The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!"
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.5

At the 70 minute mark, the Old Boyz felt it was time to go with 3 defenders in the back and push forward for the equalizer.

"More matter, with less art."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 2.2

The more aggressive strategy proved to be a good one with Brindley scoring off a long Angry Birds-esque header.

"A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.3

After the Old Boyz decided to revert back to their more defensive formation, BWG Cosmos were quick to reply with a second goal coming from an endline free kick which more resembled a curveball corner kick than a shot on target. Wind and diversions allowed the ball to travel straight into the corner of the net past Becker, however.

"One woe doth tread upon another's heel,
So fast they follow."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 4.7

Not to be outdone, the Old Boyz pushed forward once again and were rewarded when Paulo’s shot was deflected in by a Cosmos defender, so technically an own goal.

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 2.2

With little time left, and penalty kicks soon approaching to decide a place in the semifinals of the League Cup, the Old Boyz were confident that momentum was on their side. However, a deep cross that was unable to be cleared and subsequently put past a diving Becker turned out to be the game winner for the Cosmos.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.4

The final whistle blew, and the Old Boyz had lost the match but could not be disappointed in the manner in which we had constantly fought back and played well as a team.

Competition: Cup game vs. BWG Cosmos O30

Location: Randall's Island #73

Conditions: 50's with heavy cross winds

Fans: 1 (Jack's girlfriend)

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

Goals: 1-1: Brindley

2-2 BWG own goal

Yellow Cards: None

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: None

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: none

Old Man of the Match: Brindley

Old Man of the Bar: None

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None

Team Bar Showing: 8 out of 15 (53%)

Becker, Resnik, Hodges, Hollins, Stower, Engler, Hakan, Andy

Team Bar Night: 2.5 out of 5

Team (No new profiles this week): Becker (GK), Resnik (DF), Teesdale (DF), Brindley (DF), Hodges (DF), Willie Boyle (DF), Hollins (MF), Paulo (MF), Stower (MF), Engler (MF), D'Andrea (MF), Trygve (F), Hakan (F), Jack Hartman (MF), Andy Jones (F)

Strength in numbers help Old Boyz overcome Hoboken

Manohar Venkataraman — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:46:00 GMT

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Another strong turnout ensured that the Old Boyz would be able to handle the vagaries of the unknown pitch, which turned out not to be as large as feared. Another 2pm kickoff eliminated the chance of Mike D’s and also helped the players be in optimum shape. Unfortunately the opposition wasn’t quite as organized, with only 11 players at the start and two more sauntering over late in the first half. By that time CPR had already established a two goal lead.

They first signaled intent with an attack on goal that left Nizam a beckoning goal from 8 yards that he spurned, a jaw dropping miss that he will surely be seeing in his sleep. Soon after his blushes were covered up by one of the goals of the season. In space on the right, Hamilton espied Hollins long run and found him with an inch perfect deep right to left cross that Hollins rewarded with the finish it deserved. The Old Boyz forwards tried to put pressure on the Hoboken defenders but they were able to spread the ball around at the back reasonably well. However elsewhere CPR had more luck and were able to put some more pressure on the ball. During an attack developed from such pressure a freekick just outside the box was awarded, and was finished fiercely by Bustamante.

Hoboken’s reinforcements gave some of their players some much needed rest. With a little more running they were able to put some pressure of their own, winning a corner. This resulted in a superb header to bring them right back in the game. No surprise really, no two goal lead is safe as the Old Boyz have shown over the years. Half time arrived just in time to stymie Hoboken’s newfound momentum.

With healthier numbers and a solid squad it was upto the Old Boyz to turn their possession advantage into goals. Chances were being created but spurned. Meanwhile Hoboken’s only refuge was booting the ball upto their hulking center forward, who continually took advantage of the referee’s myopia by fouling the centerbacks who kept winning headers against him. None of this was much of a surprise, as the referee’s attitude before the game has provided an accurate indicator of his performance during the game. In this particular case, the referee already made expectations plain when he told every player near him that Trygve Cossette would not be allowed to play goal while wearing his glasses. Nothing would sway the tinpot dictator’s mind, not a call to the League President, not the opposition manager Lucien graciously indicating that he was okay with it. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, on comes another CSL referee with a vastly inflated sense of his power inversely proportional to common sense. He officiated the game with the usual vague knowledge of the offsides rule to accompany lazy positioning as well as inconsistent application of physical play.


	In predictable fashion the referee’s asinine behavior before the game is an accurate predictor of their incompetence during the game.

CPR were more than happy that unlike last week they were able to remove any significant influence of the referee out of the final result by scoring the third goal, a well worked play to Conboy whose nod onto Dandrea was the Coup de grace. There was still time for Becker to make a cameo at forward and bookend Nizam’s horrid miss with one of his own. A superb touch pass sent him one on one with the keeper, and taking the ball past him he realized that that was only half the battle. At least the ball was kept in instead of tamely trickling out, but nothing good was to result.

A solid result and a good platform to continue to build on their successful cup campaign.

Competition: Hoboken 1912 FC

Location: Brooklyn Inlet field, Brooklyn

Conditions: Nice spring weather

Fans: Another solid day for fans, approximately 7.5.

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

Goals: 1:0: Hollins, Assist Hamilton

2:0: Bustamante

3:1: Dandrea, Assist Conboy

Yellow Cards: Hamilton, Hollins, Bustamante

Red Card: None, although at times it looked like they’d be a couple of double yellows.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: None

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Once again, the substitutes helped enough for the most part have anyone avoid any injury.

Old Man of the Match: A close vote but Shafranek narrowly edged out Brindley by virtue of making it to not one but two pubs, which in a vote this close was enough. Both of them played the full 90 and Brindley had some offensive chances as well.

Old Man of the Bar: None.

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None

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

Team Bar Night: 3 out of 5. Several members stopped at the Brooklyn Brewery close by to enable a quick drink with the Brooklynites, then it was off to Central Bar to watch the end of the Masters.

Team (No new profiles this week): Trygve Cossette (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Scott Shafranek (DF), Scott Brindley (DF), Lars Murray (DF), Steve Morse, Dan Hollins, John Hodges, Paulo Bustamante, Manohar Venkataraman, Willian D’andrea, Mike Conboy, Mark Becker, Andy Jones, Hakan Nizam

CPR Old Boyz show the best and worst of themselves on WAGS day

Manohar Venkataraman — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:15:00 GMT

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Although it had been discussed for many years, family “ WAGS “ day was scheduled rather abruptly for the April 3^rd game against the second place NYPD FC. In future years more notice and a weaker opponent would probably be a better idea similar to a college football’s homecoming, but in this instance the sheer volume of spectators coming out was gratifying. The 2pm start time certainly helped, as did a large number of squad members who were able to make the game.

It soon became clear that this would be one of those occasions when the sheer volume of people available would result in management sideline juggling and impatience by those whose vision of their playing time versus team needs and fair playing time distribution didn’t necessarily coincide. The Old Boyz were certainly ready and raring to go, with the referee unable to put an early damper on things with his insistence in doing things his unreasonable way for something as simple as matching ID’s to individuals. CPR stood around waiting for NYPD FC to finally get ready to go and for the referee to realize that he didn’t have to wait for their 11^th man to leisurely get ready and stroll on.

Rather quickly it was clear that NYPD were second in the table on merit. Their defence was well organized and played a high offsides line which was easy to do against the slowfooted CPR strikers. The pitch was deceptively large for a Randalls Island field which helped the opposition. CPR had difficulty stringing any moves together while NYPD were able to pass the ball along with urgency and make some probing attacks. The first clearcut chance was a penalty for NYPD FC. Under no danger and with a teammate right by, the ball rolled up Edmund’s leg to strike his hand. The referee immediately called for a penalty (he didn’t actually point to the sport, more like gesticulated vaguely to increase everyone’s confusion). Apparently the concept of using discretion as to whether the player was using his hand for an advantage was alien to the referee since on being questioned regarding the penalty all the could keep repeating was that the ball hit the defender’s hand.

Justice for once was served when the NYPD FC player took one of the worst penalties seen this side of Casanova to hit it far wide and left. Feeling rightly aggrieved and with their tails up CPR started putting some more pressure on. The referee continued with his vague knowledge of the rules by blowing offsides for every CPR player who was in space behind the well drilled NYPD defence, regardless of when the ball was actually played. Admittedly calling offsides for a referee without a linesman is a thankless task. On one occasion where he didn’t blow his whistle Venkataraman had a golden chance but scuffed his shot too weakly and close to the keeper to trouble him to more than a perfunctory dive.

At half time the discussion revolved around trying to substitute intelligently, playing appropriate positions and more communication. Of course, the Old Boyz went out and promptly ignored all 3 of those tenets. Fortunately they were able to bring some more energy right at the start of the half they were able to catch NYPD on their heels. Bustamante continued to make a nuisance of himself, creating a solid chance for Venkataraman that went agonizingly wide of the far post. Both Casanova & Lion had solid half chances from distance but the NYPD keeper proved more than up to the task. Most of the chances that came the Old Boyz way were from distance, with no goal mouth scrambles to speak of. Meanwhile CPR had to clear a few away including saves from Becker and a clearance from Resnik off the line. Some dawdling by the opposition strikers also helped the Old Boyz, and when NYPD’s defenders were caught napping their last line of defence blew the whistle for offsides time and time again with poor positioning.

In the end a 0-0 draw was probably fair, especially given CPR surviving a penalty and having only two clear chances within the penalty area. No goals and one conceded in the penultimate minute against the top two teams in the league are not the worst possible results, and one hopes the Old Boyz are able to build some offensive momentum against tamer opposition.

Competition: NYPD FC

Location: Randalls Island

Conditions: Brisk spring weather

Fans: By far the fans to see the Old Boyz. The rough count was 21, plus three in vitro & 2 dogs.

Result: 0-0 (0-0 at H/T)

Goals: N/A

Yellow Cards: Lion

Red Card: It took a few minutes before people realized that Becker was not joking about being threatened with a straight red for ‘cursing’ at the referee after the game was over. After a long discussion with both it was apparent that the referee had stretched the definition of cursing beyond all reason, especially given the barrage he had dealt with during the game from both teams that only resulted in one late yellow. Fortunately reason prevailed.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: None, although the legendary Mike D actually did make it to the game as a spectator.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Bustamante took a beating but kept on ticking, however Teesdale was not so fortunate as he was forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury from yet another late tackle.

Old Man of the Match: The Hollins rule of being eligible for OMoM is proving to be quite controversial as a groundswell of resistance is starting to bubble up, led by the belligerent Hodges. In what could be the last case of unsocial dominance, Edmunds was voted OMoM by some margin. As the nearest vote getters, the honors to drink out of the cup were shared by Bustamante & Hamilton (Becker was eliminated due to the fear that coffee would damage the inside of the chalice, and the referee who also gained a vote was not present).

Old Man of the Bar: Last men standing by awhile, Manohar Venkataraman & John Hodges

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar):

Team Bar Showing: 10 out of 16 (63%)

Team Bar Night: 4.5 out of 5. It was great to see everyone including alumni and families out and about and staying for a while at the pub.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Scott Shafranek, Mark Edmunds (DF), Scott Brindley (DF), Steve Teesdale, Lars Murray (DF), Steve Morse, Neil Stower, John Hodges, Paulo Bustamante, Manohar Venkataraman, Trygve Cossette, Willian D’andrea, Yuval Lion, Manuel Casanova

Heartbreaking loss as CPR Old Boyz edged out by league leaders Shamrock at the death

Manohar Venkataraman — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 21:14:00 GMT

Heartbreaking loss today. It was tough walking off that field without any points after we battled so hard.

For those who weren't there, we lost 1-0 to first-place Shamrocks. It was a very even, hard-fought defensive game. In the 88th minute we were under intense pressure throwing tired bodies at a ball that kept bouncing around the box, the OldBoys just couldn't seem to get a solid foot to clear it, finally it came to a striker's foot near the penalty spot and he absolutely buried it. Prior to that, we'd limited the league's top scoring team to only one quality shot requiring me to make a diving save...that was it, one good shot was all they'd managed up to that point. We had a couple of good chances earlier and could've just as easily won 1-0. But that's football...

by Mark Becker

Competition: Shamrock Rovers

Location: Randalls Island

Conditions:

Fans: ??

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

Goals: N/A

Yellow Cards: ??

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Trygve Cossette (24 hour rule).

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: ??

Old Man of the Match: ??

Old Man of the Bar: ??

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): ??

Team Bar Showing: ? out of 14 (??%)

Team Bar Night: ? out of 5

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Scott Shafranek (DF), Mark Edmunds (DF), Scott Brindley (DF), Marc Walby (DF), Steve Teesdale , Neil Stower, John Hodges, Paulo Bustamante, Hakan Nizam, Andrew Jones, Karl Walsh, Dan Hollins

CPR Old Boyz win cup game, claims that this is a sign of the apocalypse grossly unfair

Manohar Venkataraman — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:32:00 GMT

The Old Boyz were looking forward to their first spring cup game since…well since never during their latest incarnation. The last four years have seen a solitary cup win four years ago followed by a familiar pattern of matchups against superior opposition resulting in valiant cup defeats. With the Cosmopolitan league reinstituting Spring cups it was another chance for silverware, but the familiar refrain appeared evident in the draw against a mid table first division Over 30’s side in Barnstonworth. Seeing as their second division team comfortably beat the Old Boyz 3-0 in the Autumn this was not a promising sign.

A legion of texts, emails and negotiating amongst the Red Reserves / CPR Blacks and the Old Boyz resulted in a squad cobbled together for Sunday’s game and for what cup future that may result. Despite a Walsh ‘Mike D’ early Sunday morning the squad were still able to cobble together 15 including some individuals in good enough shape to protect the rest for whom the winter hibernation had not been kind. The patron scent of the Old Boyz was soon wafting around the bleachers as the Ben Gay was streamed on to all appendages, and the creaking and slow movements signaled the start of the spring season.

For a cup game the strategy revolved around one objective, which was to define the best way to maximize the chance of going through to the next round. Although the Barnstonworth team was strong on paper, a couple of glances in their direction revealed a welcoming similarity in body type to CPR. The initial cautiously planned 4-4-2 soon went out the window as the Old Boyz quickly stamped their authority on the game. The youngest whippersnapper on the squad Engler rampaged down the right hand side and put some dangerous crosses in to no avail. The intent had been signaled though, and soon enough it was rewarded by the ball bouncing around in the area being punished by Andy Jones. Not long after Bustamante aimed a corner for the top of the 6 yard box only for the wind to carry it past the despairing goalie for a two goal lead.

The wind was proving to be a significant asset for CPR in the first half, although not nearly enough shots from distance were unleashed to test the Barnstonworth keeper. The Rovers midfielders showed some good skill with the ball but were spending too much time going East to West instead of North to South, allowing the CPR midfielders time to retreat back and close down the danger. The referee showed a disinclination to blow his whistle, allowing increasingly physical play to continue without punishment. As the Rovers started to probe more and more the CPR defence stood firm, anchored by Shafranek & Boyle. One such attack was snuffed out by Boyle, who carried the ball out and unleashed a laser accurate through ball to Adeeko who proceeded to finish with aplomb for a 3-0 lead.

Sad brutal experience for the Old Boyz had taught them not to celebrate before the chickens were hatched, especially midway in the first half. Sure enough after a few substitutions were made some fluency was lost and a goal conceded. Rovers countered down the right and some confusion resulted in a single Rovers player wide open by 15 feet in the area, and a smartly played ball gave him a chance that he gleefully executed. Confidence started flowing into the Rovers and dissipating from the Rangers and the halftime whistle couldn’t come soon enough.

As much as it was possible to drill in to the players, the management tried to explain the concept of playing intelligently with a 2 goal lead in order to go through to the next round. Having midfielders and defenders continue to charge into the oppositions penalty box was fine and good in a league game where a bad draw could be recovered from, but it would be devastating in a cup game which would result in the lottery that was a penalty shoot out.

Within a few minutes it seemed like the entreaties had fallen on deaf ears as CPR continued to charge down the pitch as if they were the ones chasing the game. Fortunately Jones was able to swiftly provide some more breathing room, taking a pass from Engler and clinically putting it away for the 4-1 lead. Fortunately for CPR the wind was not the factor it was in the first half, and CPR slightly adjusted their tactics to allow Engler & Stower time to keep running on the sidelines while swiftly rotating Adeeko, Jones, Cossette, Nizam & Venkataraman up top to start pressuring from the front and not allow any build up play.

The Rovers were able to get a few corners and some free kicks, but never truly threatened. The one goal they did achieve in the second half involved a nice run past a couple of people in the penalty box before a soft shot somehow trickled through. Still it was CPR that appeared more likely to score next, with some good shotstopping by the keeper and a blatant penalty turned down saving the Rovers from more humiliation.

A 4-2 victory was eminently satisfying against the long time rivals, more so for the older generation (somewhere in Hong Kong, Paul Clayton was tilting his beer mug with a smile). For the Old Boyz, it was a good start to the spring season and a welcome opportunity to play another game in the spring.

Competition: Barnstonworth Over 30s First Division

Location: Red Hook, Brooklyn

Conditions: Decent spring weather, with a brisk breeze in the first half

Fans: 1.5 (The Cossettes)

Result: 4-2 (3-1 at H/T)

Goals: 1-0: Jones Assist Engler

2-0: Bustamante

3-0: Adeeko Assist Boyle

4-1: Jones Assist Engler

Yellow Cards: Hartman, Stower, Resnik

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Karl Walsh with his now almost inevitable Mike D. Apparently there’s only one flight available from Boston to NYC starting at 8:30am.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: No injuries requiring players to take time off, although Adeeko did go down a couple of times.

Old Man of the Match: With the newly instituted “Hollins Rule” that players don’t have to be present at the pub in order to win Old Man of the Match, co-winners were announce for their offensive and defensive contributions, Andy Jones & Willie Boyle. 2 goals and good hold up play by Jones, immense tightening of the defense and a fabulous through ball to Adeeko reminiscent of Kaka to Crespo Champions League final 2005 garnered a share of the honours for Willie Boyle.


	Willie Boyle’s new look is distinctly less threatening than his old bald pate. Thankfully the quality of his play had not decreased.

Old Man of the Bar: A quiet day which was a little disappointing considering the scope of the win. The relatively late starting time probably had something to do with it.

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Team Bar Showing: 6 out of 15 (40%)

Team Bar Night: 2 out of 5

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Manohar Venkataraman , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Scott Shafranek (DF), Steve Teesdale (DF), Willie Boyle (DF), Eric Engler, Neil Stower, John “Jack” Hartman, Andrew Jones, Trygve Cossette, Hakan Nizam, Paulo Bustamante, Bola Adeeko

Incompetent Westchester forfeits game, confused as to why they should show up on time with enough players

Manohar Venkataraman — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:25:00 GMT

With it being the last game of the Fall section of the season it was going to be a large turnout for the game, and sure enough the evite showed a solid 16 plus Becker. It was pouring with rain in the morning, but not nearly as cold as it had been the previous week and in fact the temperature was in the 50’s. By the time the first squad members started arriving as per usual 30 minutes before game time the rain had actually stopped. Playing at field #85 the field was more sheltered than those in the 70’s under the bridge, but the wind was still going to be a factor.

With the full squad ready and assembled with 10 minutes to go before the game there were only 4 members of the opposition who barely looked ready for much of anything. The referee had already done his preparation, received all the paperwork from CPR and was ready to go at 10am, but once again Westchester as per their reputation and most previous games did not seem to grasp the concept of being ready to play at kickoff. As the minutes ticked by not only did they not appear to have anyone else close to showing up, their management had the audacity to start arguing about the possibility of a forfeit and even throwing out the absurd notion of playing 30 minute halves to compensate for their tardiness for when their players actually showed up.

At 10:25am the referee had clearly had enough and officially signaled the forfeit as per his discretion, considering there was still no sign of any more than the 4 Westchester players on the pitch as this video attests. Continuing with their sense of entitlement the Westchester manager had the nerve to blame CPR for not accommodating the Westchester players and also blaming the rain and everything else other than the sheer incompetence of their team unable to get a bare minimum of 7 players to show up on time for a 10am game. The concept of respecting the referee’s time, the opponent’s time and understanding that field permit times were not unlimited seemed utterly alien to them. One almost hopes that they attempt to appeal the forfeit so the league can question their contention that they are allowed 30 minutes grace period by politely asking why every team wouldn’t just show up at 8:30am for 8:00am games if such a mythical grace period existed.

Although having made it out in the rain early on a Sunday morning CPR would have much rather played, at least they were able to get a well needed 3 points and further set a foundation for the spring. As for Westchester FC, one hopes that Rule J of the League By-Laws requiring them to pay a $200 fine in addition to CPR’s $75 referee fees makes them less disrespectful of the league’s time in the future.

Competition: Westchester FC

Location: Randalls Island #85, Randalls Island

Conditions: The temperature wasn’t bad, but the rain took turns in either disappearing or sheeting in sideways.

Fans: 0

Result: 2-0 Forfeit

Goals: N/A

Yellow Cards: N/A

Red Card: N/A

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Neil Stower & Trygve Cossette, although fortunately neither was needed.


	Wait, you’re going to forfeit the game because we only have 4 players on the pitch 30 minutes into the scheduled game time? Waaaaah!

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: None, although Walby may win the Glass Slipper award as his new shoes are already falling apart after barely a year’s ‘use’.

Old Man of the Match: N/A

Old Man of the Bar: N/A

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Team Bar Showing: 12 out of 15 (80%)

Team Bar Night: 2 ½ out of 5 – A good group showing and decent longevity, with an entertaining Chelsea Spurs game as a backdrop.

Team (No new profiles this week): Ethan Keswin (GK), Mark Becker, Mark Resnik (DF) , Manohar Venkataraman , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Lars Murray (DF), Mark Dean, Andrew Jones, Willian Dandrea, Paulo Bustamante, Dan Hollins, Scott Shafranek (DF), Marc Walby (DF), Scott Brindley (DF), Manuel Casanova

CPR outlast Guyana Veterans for critical win

Manohar Venkataraman — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:06:00 GMT

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Games like this make veteran Old Boyz lament as to what might be. Critical lapses against teams they dominated have resulted in at least 7 dropped points which would have left them equal with the league leaders. Then again, as the infamous dictator Parcells said about a team’s record, ‘You are what your record says you are’. Woulda coulda shoulda.

On the first freezing cold day of the season it looked like the Old Boyz would once again be at their bare minimum of 14, fortunately due to Ilija showing up to make up for Big T’s late absence due to food poisoning. With Keswin on a tight schedule it looked like the teams were going to have to sort out their own referee when finally the league referee sauntered over. One look confirmed why, as he was the infamous referee who had already “officiated” two of CPR’s game in his own quixotic fashion. With barely a glance at the ID’s he waved everyone ready to start. Within a couple of minutes CPR dominated possession in the final third and were able set up a nice opening goal. With the ball sent down the flank the cross on the ground was met by Bustamante, and with a nice flick found the wide open Dandrea for a debut goal.

Unfortunately defensive confusion allowed the swift counterattack from Guyana to bear fruit, with the tying goal happening almost immediately. CPR kept up the momentum though and quickly hit the woodwork. They were shredding Guyana at will with new boy Dandrea slicing open the defence with pinpoint passes to Walsh & Stower. A nice ball from Walsh led to Bustamante all alone to finish competently and put CPR ahead.

With the referee making up for his lateness by calling a 40 minute half CPR huddled and discussed what they needed to do to maintain the lead. The fear of Guyana’s counterattack was due to their above average speed up top which had the potential to cause problems. The Old Boyz were causing enough problems of their own, but desperate rearguard action from Guyana was preventing the last killer touch. It was Dandrea who provided CPR with some breathing room, scoring his second from another assist from Walsh. In addition to not being able to get their feet on any of the bouncing balls in the area CPR also suffered from poor fortune, with Resnik hitting the crossbar from distance and Dandrea missing a hattrick on his debut by hitting the outside of the post.

Guyana had the wind in their favour in the second half but apart from a lot of possession in the final third they were unable to pull the trigger on any accurate shots. A late one on one was wastefully blasted over the top before the referee once again called the game after 40 minutes to accommodate his tardy schedule.

The win was well needed and the Old Boyz played well, ably supplemented with CPR Reds Ilija & UK Matt Shapiro. Now if they can only continue their momentum against second in the table Westchester in the last game of the Fall season it will put them in position to at least make the spring season somewhat interesting.

Competition: Guyana Veterans

Location: Randalls Island #72, Randalls Island

Conditions: The first genuinely freezing day on the island, whipped into a frenzy by the wind.

Fans: 0

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

Goals: 1-0: Dandrea Assist Bustamante

2-1: Bustamante Assist Walsh

3-1: Dandrea Assist Walsh

Yellow Cards: None

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Big T Cossette was a borderline Mike D. Controversy regarding whether he was or not, given that he had food poisoning. Seems a bit harsh.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Ilija Zlatar managed to make his hungover way over to the field, and the extra legs were beneficial in helping wear down the opposition.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Phantom injuries are starting to be added, but nothing legitimately significant.

Old Man of the Match: After understandable campaigning by Dan Hollins a vote was put to the floor as to whether the OMoM should be restricted to pub attendees or best player in general, and the vote passed to now let the player with the best game be voted in. As such, Willem Dandrea with only the post preventing a first ever debut hattrick won in a landslide. For attendees, Walby won with a full 90 minutes at center back helping restrict Guyana to just a single strike.

Old Man of the Bar: A quiet day.

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Team Bar Showing: 8 out of 14 (57%)

Team Bar Night: 1 out of 5 – Nobody even made it to the end of the first game.

Team (No new profiles this week): Ethan Keswin (GK), Mark Becker, Mark Resnik (DF) , Manohar Venkataraman , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Neil Stower, Lars Murray (DF), Andrew Jones (DF), Marc Walby (DF), Willem Dandrea, Matt ‘UK Matt’ Shapiro, Ilija Zlatar, Karl Walsh, Paulo Bustamante


	Notice 4 Westchester players on the field at 10:25am while there’s a full contingent of CPR players ready

Bedraggled CPR peter out against organized Barnstonworth

Manohar Venkataraman — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 01:30:00 GMT

The fall season has been a struggle for the Old Boyz. Losing both prolific starting strikers and their central midfield was always going to be an issue, but another year older didn’t help the existing roster as Father Time continued to exert his influence. While in previous seasons CPR could count on sheer numbers to stay competitive this year they have brought out significantly fewer players to each game with the average of 13.8 a full half player below the previous record low. In addition to losing reliable stalwarts the current injury/Mr. Glass list is long, and the epidemic of Mike D’s (unexcused absences) this season has been extremely unhelpful.

The game against club rivals Barnstonworth looked to carry on in the same vein. Initial signs were not good as the Parks department had somehow screwed up the permit situation with a full Rugby game ready to get going on the permitted field. Although the adjacent field under the bridge was available there was always the chance that the permit holders for that could show up at any time, although fortunately that never occurred (thank heaven for small mercies). One look at the referee assigned to the game continued the air of impending doom as it was the same tinpot tyrant who had given Hamilton a yellow before a game had even started for defending Jonny Lincoln’s right to smoke as an adult in his 40’s before a game off the pitch.

With a mere 13 available including several who were not exactly 90 minute players and Becker who was originally not planning to play at all it was going to be a war of attrition. The hopes that Barnstonworth would be equally mediocre were soon dispelled. Although by no means overpowering they had a couple of talented players in #8 & #9, and more importantly most of their players were composed enough to make simple passes which at this level is more than half the battle. Still, CPR started somewhat competently and were able to stall the opposition without giving them too many open looks. The strategy of clogging up the middle helped defensively but there was no real threat occurring up top and Barnstonworth continued to dictate the tempo and keep possession.

The Old Boyz have had to play the spoiler role a few times this season, notably in the cup match, and so were somewhat familiar with the role if not exactly enjoying being the hunted instead of the hunter. The occasional free kick and corner proved their only chance to score, but even those didn’t amount to much, and in the case of one unforgivable short corner almost let Barnstonworth take the league. Keswin in goal was proving capable of controlling his area, and just when it looked like CPR could go into the break deadlocked they gave up a last minute goal. The active #9 skipped down the right with minimal resistance, looked up and picked out #8 who calmly one touched the ball into the goal for a smooth finish.

With minimal firepower available and one goal down there was some discussion regarding keeping things even before starting to chase the game. In the end the decision was made all too easily as a break by Barnstonworth fairly early in the second half resulted in #8 scoring again and effectively ending the match as a competition. CPR had only scored 2 or more goals in 4 of their 10 games, and without either Hollins or Bustamante their chances of doing that in this game were slim and none, and Slim had just left town.

Yawning canyons of space started to open up all over the field as Barnstonworth themselves started to succumb to general sloppyness. CPR started to gain some possession in the final third but outside of one Stower speculative shot could never really muster anything to trouble the goalie. Meanwhile sporadic Rovers attacks always gave them the possibility of scoring again which they indeed did, their striker pouncing on a blocked ball inside the 6 yard box to tap in for the final goal in a 3-0 finish.

Another disappointing game in what looks like a lost season. Although the effort of the team on the field was strong, the general commitment of the squad has been somewhat lacking this year. Everyone understands that this isn’t the Champions League, but a minimal basic understanding of what is required (which isn’t much more than showing up when you say you will and washing the kits once every few months) shouldn’t be too much to ask, especially given the work Management puts in week in and week out to try to make sure everyone has a fun time kicking the ball around.

Competition: Barnstonworth Old Boyz

Location: Randalls Island #75, Randalls Island

Conditions: A little on the chilly side for the first time this Fall

Fans: 1 (New Guy William saying a brief hello. Hope he didn’t watch too much of the match else he may be a new guy no more).

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

Goals: N/A

Yellow Cards: None, although Resnik got a stern talking to from the Tinpot Dictator regarding having the audacity of raising his hand up and shouting ‘Offsides!’

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Two very disappointing Mike D’s in Karl Walsh & Paulo Bustamante for sleeping and being hungover respectively. Although there is no guarantee that CPR would have drawn or won the game with them, missing two 30 year old attacking midfielders with plenty of stamina certainly did not help the cause.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None, although thanks again go to Edmunds for stepping in for Walby despite training for THE Phoenix marathon.


	Stopping a game for a couple of minutes to lecture a defender regarding raising his hand and calling offsides is one way to show you’re the boss. It also makes you a bossing jackass with delusions of grandeur. Its an Over 30’s league game!

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: No significant injuries, although Teesdale took a hard boot to the ankle which will probably leave a mark. The collective soreness on Monday will probably be immense given the fact a lot of players weren’t expecting to play close to the 90 minutes they had to.

Old Man of the Match: A brave performance by most but the mood was not conducive to awarding an OMoM.

Old Man of the Bar: Nobody exceptional

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): Shafranek came over to watch the Cowgirls but had to make do with the sensational Jets ending instead.

Team Bar Showing: 6 out of 13 (46%)

Team Bar Night: 1 ½ out of 5 – Almost a ½ point but a low key rally helped the day go a little better, but still tiredness and despondency took its toll.

Team (No new profiles this week): Ethan Keswin (GK), Mark Becker, Mark Resnik (DF) , Manohar Venkataraman , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Neil Stower, Lars Murray (DF), Trygve Cossette, Mark Dean, Drew Faherty, Mark Edmunds (DF), Andrew Jones, Steve Teesdale


	Paulo’s tolerance hasn’t come up to match that of his compatriots Edmunds & Venkataraman, who were both able to show up the next morning and play 90.

Frustratingly dominance does not result in a win as CPR "lose" 2-2

Manohar Venkataraman — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:58:00 GMT

The Old Boyz have had a mixed history against Banatul. Last year saw a dominant thrashing over two games with results of 6-3 and 4-1 that weren’t as close as the scores indicated. However in 2007 CPR lost 0-0 on penalties in the cup in which the opposition goalie had a career day facing one way traffic which culminated in 2 penalty saves, one of the most frustrating games in the history of the Old Boyz and one of the only games where one player has truly been the difference between winning and losing. Following in that vein, Banatul last year started appallingly and went on to win the league, whereas this year they propped up the table at at 1 draw and 6 losses. Given CPR’s spotty history with cellar dwellers (Westchester last year) it was clear that no game could be considered won before it was played.

With Karl Walsh the only missing squad member (honestly, what self respecting Irishman bails out of a morning game due to puking up from over indulgence? Isn’t an Irishman overindulging an Oxymoron? Like an angry Scotsman or a cowardly frenchman?) it looked like there was a large squad turnout for the first game in awhile. With beautiful weather and a familiar pitch the boyz were ready to go, and right from the start they were in control of the game. With Banatul looking shaky at the back and CPR exerting tremendous defensive pressure the chances were coming, with the first goal directly resulting from a defensive player being stripped of the ball on a double team in the final third. The ball was quickly passed forward and Bustamante found an open Cossette who was somewhat fortunate his mishit shot wrongfooted the goalie. Soon after another giveaway by the goalie gifted the ball to Hollins who calmly passed it to a wide open Bustamante who equally calmly slid the ball into the net.

Although 20 minutes in and 2 goals to the good looked promising previous history showed that a 2 goal lead would not necessarily end the game. Although ponderous in general and suspect at the back, most of the Banatul players showed excellent touch and dribbling skills on the ball which helped them with possession in the midfield. CPR concentrated on cutting off the supply to the midfield and should have had at least a couple more goals, Cossette missing a glorious open chance from near the penalty spot and Hollins was inches away from touching the ball into an open goal after a mixup between the goalie and the defender left the ball tantalizingly alone from inside the 6 yard box. Despite all this domination the third goal would not present himself, and Banatul showed a brief flash after a defensive CPR stumble allowed their striker through to crash the ball against the outside of the post. With a little more composure Banatul started to gain more possession, but clawed their way back into the game in fortunate circumstances. A harmless looking corner was dropped by Becker directly into the past of the opposition striker who took the goal very well by avoiding the 3 defenders and goalie in his path.


	Teesdale may want to take it easy on the wings the night before the game. A non football injury Mr. Glass nomination is forthcoming.

A half-time score of 2-1 did not feel appropriate to the ratio of chances, but CPR had done well against RTG after drawing at half time and were hoping to do the same against Banatul despite losing Nizam for the game due to an ankle injury. This Banatul team however looked far more mentally robust than previous editions, with the expected in-fighting not developing despite going down 2-0. With CPR maintaining 3 subs the one thought was to make sure to be more communicative and remove some of the positional confusion that allowed Banatul back in the game.

The second half started off with CPR continuing to go on the attack but as time went by they started to noticeably tire. Players started substituting themselves with increased frequency and those on the field had difficulty maintaining the intensity of the first half. Despite this CPR were still unfortunate not to increase the lead with a thunderous shot from Phillips crashing against the post along with a header from Cossette. Desperate rearguard action from the Banatul defence cleared several balls in the penalty area. Banatul were able to create a few chances most notably with one shot narrowly over the bar.

With 10 minutes to go and the midfield still attacking but somewhat reluctant (or unable) to make it back a group management decision was made (later to be blamed solely on Edmunds for convenience & comedic purposes) to move Bustamante back into a 4-5-1 formation and clog the ease of which the Banatul central midfield were strolling down the middle. Although CPR had plenty of players back to defend the organization was lacking and a sweeping move from left to right found the Banatul outside right completely open to toe-poke a shot in off the post with scant minutes remaining. CPR was still able to muster a final attack but after winning the corner the open Phillips header blasted over the bar.

A mentally devastating draw as CPR felt they should have strolled through this game. Combined with the first game loss against FC Partizani those were 5 points that will probably prove critical at the end of the season. Injuries couldn’t be blamed as a scapegoat for this draw.

Competition: Banatul

Location: Randalls Island #74, Randalls Island

Conditions: A lovely Autumn morning for the middle of November

Fans: 1 (Edmunds, although more of a fan/coach/dogsbody/scapegoat)

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

Goals: 1-0: Cossette Assist Bustamante

2-0: Bustamante Assist Hollins

Yellow Cards: Surprisingly none this week aided by the referee’s increased antipathy for the opposition

Red Card: Also surprisingly none considering Hamilton & Stower were in the side

Mike D’s aka No Shows: The Mike D rules may need to be reviewed as a morning text still leaves little to no chance of recruiting a replacement, which would give Karl Walsh a Mike D.


	Shafranek was not shy about giving his tactical opinion. His credibility disappeared the moment it was discovered he did not actually know CPR was leading and thought the score was tied. Donkey.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Shafranek may just have the award named after him to save time as he managed a paltry 10 minutes before limping off with acute vaginitis. Nizam rocked his ankle in a normal looking challenge in the first half and was out of the game. Teesdale rockets in with a bullet having to come off in both halves to avoid soiling himself after consuming hot wings the night before. A strong non-playing contender for Mr. Glass along with Walby’s fooseball and waterslide injuries.

Old Man of the Match: The mood after the game was dark and the team was in no mood to anoint an OMoM, so Hollins carried out the tankard drinking duties.

Old Man of the Bar: Hollins doesn’t get out much, when he does he makes an impression as a 7 hour stay at the bar will attest.

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None, since Edmunds made it to the game.

Team Bar Showing: 12 out of 15 (80%)

Team Bar Night: 3 ½ out of 5 – A significant turnout with decent staying power

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Manohar Venkataraman , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Dan Hollins, Marc Walby (DF), Neil Stower, Jessie Phillips (DF), Scott Shafranek (DF), Lars Murray (DF), Paulo Bustamante, Jessie Phillips, Trygve Cossette, Mark Dean, Hakan Nizam


	Edmunds caught a forlorn Maclaren type figure on the sideline as he was scapegoated for all decisions made

For Fawkes Sake O-30s fall to BW Gottschee in Theatrical Loss

Manohar Venkataraman — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 18:36:00 GMT

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A perfect day for a match and a very reasonable starting time of 2PM looked to offset a small and…unique 0-30 side on the "real grass" of Randall's #72 Sunday. Troubles in both boxes beset CPR and the result was a frustrating 3-1 loss punctuated by theater of the absurd.


	Brindley, if you’re living in Brooklyn there is no need to build a Guy Fawkes bonfire, let alone hurt yourself doing it.

A bare bones side of 13 heavily weighted toward, well…weight (and age), made it clear from the start that the speed and stamina might be an issue. With Brindley injured in preparation for the ancient, exotic, proto-Tea Party, Guy Fawkes day effigy-burning ritual (only the English!), his less pyromanic countryman Steve Roberts provided reinforcement at the back. The back four looked a bit fragile going in, given its accumulation of years and Mr. Glass points, while the absence of pocket dynamo Bustamante and reliable possession keepers like Conboy and the IR’d Teran portended a busy day at the back.

Nonetheless, CPR got off to an excellent start, knocking the ball about on the ground and keeping Gottschee leaning back through the first 15 minutes. Looking to exploit the size and strength of Jones and Cossette up top, CPR knocked on the door a few times, with penetrating runs from Jones and Stower testing the Gottschee midfield, but resulting chiefly in a near miss for Cossette.

At around 30 minutes the tables turned and Gottschee started to find their legs and run at CPR. The back four held up thanks in no small part to a smallish pitch, but the increasing pressure caused Rangers to cede the initiative. The departure of hamstrung Hamlet Edmunds was the first cut, and Becker was forced to save more than once. Soon Gottschee was able to exploit confusion in the middle, sending through their portly but quick striker, who finished cleanly. A couple more CPR lapses (including a humiliating pocket-picking of this reporter) went unpunishe


	In light of his marathon training, “Hamlet” Edmunds weighs the eternal question: “To play or not to play?”

Down one going into the half, CPR was disappointed but still confident of taking control again.

The second half witnessed one of the more bizarre exchanges of the season. A drop ball at midfield was sportingly given back to Gottschee’s keeper, who fluffed it completely and watched it bounce over his head into the net. Confusion, suspicion, fear and loathing reigned for roughly three precious minutes, at which point the ref decreed that CPR must ALSO concede an uncontested goal in the spirit of sportsmanship. Sportingly, CPR assented.


	It’s always tough going when the Old Boyz resort to three at the back.

Soon after, the back four suffered its second blow, with Shafranek notching a few more Mr. Glass points and departing for the remainder. A few readjustments left a somewhat wobbly defense. Refreshingly, the CPR attack decided at this point to step up the pressure, with Hollins, Stower, and Nizam pushing the ball forward repeatedly. Teesdale contributed countless Rory Delap specials from the sideline, corners were won, and yet nothing found the back of the net.

Gottschee eventually weathered the assault and started to mount attacks down the flanks, exploiting their superior speed (and did I mention youth?). Two howling misses, later, Becker was forced to take out a breakaway striker, and the penalty was converted.

CPR did not lose its fight, with El Presidente channeling Nigel DeJong for a yellow, and Stower exercising his free speech rights more than a bit too freely for the referee to threaten a straight red at the death.

Not the Old Boyz’ finest hour. A sloppy, ugly match on a sloppy, ugly pitch -- best forgotten


	Google “temperamental Englishman” and Stower shows up right after this guy.

Competition: BW Gottschee 3-1 CPR

Location: Randalls Island #72, Randalls Island

Fans: 0

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

Goals: 1 (OG)

Yellow Cards: Faherty

Red Cards: Stower was extremely lucky to escape censure, as usual.

Mike D’s aka No Shows: None

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Nizam

“Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Shafranek kept his perfect record of getting injured in every game this season. Well done.

Old Man of the Match: No bar vote, no goals scored. So a poll of the press box selected Dan Hollins for, as usual, being everywhere. Honorable mention to Teesdale for playing out of position and throwing in the 5 or so most effective “crosses” of the match, and Becker, who with positioning and a couple of key saves kept it close.

Old Man of the Bar: None

El Presidente (Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None

Team Bar Showing: 7 out of 13 (54%)

Team Bar Night: 2 out of 5 – brief stint at the pub

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Steve Roberts (DF), Trygve Cossette, Hyon Lim, Scott Shafranek(DF), Mark Edmunds (DF), Lars Murray (DF), Drew Faherty (DF), Andy Jones, Hakan Nizam, Neil Stower, Dan Hollins, Steve Teesdale

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	Mr. Glass Qualifiers:	Diagnosis:
1	Ernesto Teran	Torn ACL/cartilage, out for season
2	Scott Shafranek	Has been injured and subbed-off in every game he's played. Shafranek continues to reign as the Mr. Glass gold standard, a 1:1 games played to injury ratio shows his dedicatation to the glass. Missed State Cup game and 1 league game due to unjury. Doubtful for Game 8.
3	Scott Brindley	We knew it was only a matter of time until Brindley made a run at the glass trophy. Missing games 7 and 8 because he threw out his back carry wood to build a bonfire commemorating Guy Fawkes Day. Get in there Brindley!!! Well done my son. In game 5 suffered a direct shot to the shaft, equally painful for onlookers.
4	Bill Marsillo	Torn groin injury in pre-season. Inured reserve. 0 games played.
5	Yuval Lion	Partially torn achilles in training. Injured reserve. 0 games played.
6	Steve Morse	Back injuries in Game 1 & 2. Injured reserve.
7	Manuel Casanova	Pulled hammy in Games 1 & 2 despite wearing tights. Injured reserve.
8	Jake Beeman	Pulled hammy in pre-season. Injured reserve. 0 games played.
9	Ollie Morgan	Pulled hammy in Game 3. Injured reserve. Possible retirement.
10	Mark Edmunds	Pulled hammy in Game 3, left game. Missed State Cup and 1 league game with pulled calf. Left game 7 with pulled hammy. Injured reserve.
11	Steve Teesdale	Knee injury in Game 2, playing through pain lowers Mr Glass rankings. Dominating the MikeD standings all alone at #1.
12	Andy Jones	Back injury in Game 1, playing through pain lowers Mr Glass ranking. Re-injured back moving to the suburbs, rumors it happened at Bed, Bath & Beyond, marriage taking a heavy toll on the barrister. Skips pre-game warmups because it's too damn painful.
13	Hakan Nizam	Ankle injury in summer training, missed game 6 due to sickness.
14	Jon Leiter	New guy, 10 minutes in the field before puking up his liver & spleen
15	Big T	Suffered 3 foot stompings from Glen Lake in State Cup game, playing through pain lowers Mr Glass ranking

`	Non-Football Injury List
1	Mark Walby	Sprained thumb in Game 1, injured hand playing foosball at his bachelor party, fiance has banned him from football prior to wedding. During honeymoon injured his foot on a waterslide.
2	Dan Hollins	Picked fight with a wake board, lost, ER visit and 7 stitches. Not missing a game lowers Mr. Glass ranking
3	Mark Becker	Threw out back again playing golf. Injured neck in car crash w/ a deer. MRI showed 2 herniated/torn discs in neck, 1 herniated/arthritic disc in lower back, nerve damage in right shoulder/arm. Handed in retirement effective end of fall season. Will stay on as reserve keeper and part-time coach

CPR batters the door and finally breaks through against RTG

Manohar Venkataraman — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:28:00 GMT

11:30am is the perfect game time, early enough for quality time at the pub and couch but late enough to get some semblance of sleep after a typical Saturday night. The Old Boyz were going to need every ounce of energy since the evite indicated only 11 players, with Phillips promising to make it over after the CPR Black game at 10am on the next field. Arriving at their half time Max was also recruited, so CPR knew that by half time they should have at least 2 reinforcements if needed.

Although the standings & history showed RTG to be a weak team, in the Over 30’s league nothing can be taken for granted given the difference substitutes and one or two quality players can make. Although hurting on the first front the Old Boyz definitely had one of their stronger lineups available which provided cause for optimism. From kick-off the optimism appeared to be well placed, with CPR immediately dominating possession and harassing RTG into a continuous stream of mistakes. Unfortunately the recurring theme of the season also continued with the Old Boyz either unable to create any clear cut chances or fluffing their lines when opportunities presented themselves.

The RTG keeper was recognized from the Brooklyn Gunners 7-1 destruction of a year ago, but unlike then seemed to have vastly improved. The shots that were directed at target were saved with no rebounds, and one splendid save from Jones just did enough to keep the score level. Although Jones was particularly profligate in front of goal there was always a sense of menace, both in creating personal chances and those for others in front of goal, much like an elderly Teddy Sheringham. The first half ended on a chance missed so blatantly by Stower that the players could do nothing but ruefully chortle, however the half time talk centered less around ‘its not our day’ and more ‘this is what we need to do to break the deadlock’. It was clear that RTG knew that they were being battered and were holding on for dear life while CPR were resolute in that if they continued to hammer the opposition on both sides of the ball good things would come.

Good things did come, and rather quickly in the second half. A long kick from Becker reached Bustamante who slid the ball to Jones. This time Jones did not miss, making a mockery of previous chances by clinically one touching the ball past the despairing keeper, resulting in a rare double assist including the goalie after much campaigning and some assist rule consultation. CPR were clearly not satisfied with a single goal, especially since it still left too much to chance. With Max providing a welcome defensive shell for the back four the team was in attack mode and were able to quickly add to their tally when a handball resulted in a CPR penalty. Hollins displayed his version of clinical finishing by giving the keeper no chance, and it was at this point that RTG heads drooped and CPR knew the battle was won. The team sensed blood in the water but was trying to balance all out attack with not conceding a foolish goal on the break. RTG were still huffing and puffing and trying to get a foot in the game but the closest they came was an errant back pass that Becker did well to distract the RTG striker for a corner. Typical of the offensive ineptitude was a free kick at the top of the box in prime dangerous territory that RTG could not even muster a direct shot with, with confusion and errant passes reining supreme.


	A violent Scotsman? Who knew there was such a thing?

The referee certainly made his mark on the game by allowing more physical play than was necessary from both sides, and as RTG grew understandably deflated by CPR’s dominance their strikers started to lash out. The CPR defenders were no shrinking violets and with the referee content to watch blatant fouls go by it did not take Nostradamus to see where this was going. Sure enough some foolish handbags by Hamilton with the opposition striker resulted in punches and a brief melee that was well handled by both teams after the initial skirmish, with no side skirmishes erupting. The referee’s award of a Red & Yellow was fair, and he immediately called an end to the game since based on his pre game chat he appeared to have big Halloween plans and was in no mood to delay them.

Although an untidy performance the job was done, and comfortably so. Two solid performances in a row puts CPR back into upper mediocrity, and if they can keep the momentum going next week it will set the stage for them to be extremely competitive when all their injured players make it back.

Competition: RTG

Location: Randalls Island #74, Randalls Island

Conditions: A brisk Autumn morning

Fans: 0

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

Goals: 1-0: Jones Assist Bustamante

2-0: Hollins (Pen)

3-0: Stower Assist Walsh

Yellow Cards: A fortunate Yellow for Hamilton aided by the Referee’s common sense, not helped by his own.

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: The players are starting to exhibit some cunning in putting themselves in as a ‘No’ instead of a ‘Maybe’ as to avoid the dreaded Mike D. Certainly doesn’t help for team planning, maybe a % Maybe should be applied.


	Let me see, physical play unpunished by the referee, one team down a lot and frustrated. Nostradamus predicts…punches being thrown!

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None, since Edmunds changed his response the day before feeling pressure from Management.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Shockingly none, especially given that 8 players played the full 90 with the other 3 playing a considerable part. The table as per before yesterday is included below.

Old Man of the Match: A strong game against weak opposition to be sure, but goals still need to be scored and prevented. A solid team effort, with 4 players getting votes, but new boy Karl Walsh showed grit and creativity on both sides of the ball, hence edges out Bustamante’s typical high workrate.

Old Man of the Bar: No specific individuals, but another solid showing by the group.

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): El Presidente Faherty.

Team Bar Showing: 10 out of 13 (77%)

Team Bar Night: 2 ½ out of 5 – A significant turnout with decent staying power, but nothing exceptional.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Manohar Venkataraman , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Dan Hollins, Neil Stower, Scott Shafranek (DF), Paulo Bustamante, Max, Jessie Phillips, Andrew Jones, Mark Edmunds (DF), Karl Walsh

Mr. Glass Qualifiers: Diagnosis:
1 Ernesto Teran Torn ACL/cartilage, out for season
2 Scott Shafranek Back injury in Game 1, left game, pulled hammy and bruised elbow in Game 4, left game. Missed State Cup game
3 Scott Brindley Direct shot to the shaft, equally painful for onlookers, playing through pain lowers Mr Glass ranking
4 Bill Marsillo Pulled/torn groin injury in pre-season, return unknown
5 Yuval Lion Partially torn achilles in training, out 6 weeks
6 Steve Morse Back injuries in Game 1 & 2, out of action, return unkown
7 Manuel Casanova Pulled hammy in Game 1 despite wearing tights, hasn't played since, return unknown
8 Jake Beeman Hamstring, out for fall session
9 Ollie Morgan Pulled hammy in Game 3, missed Game 4 & 5
10 Mark Edmunds Pulled hammy in Game 3, left game. Missed State Cup with pulled calf.
11 Steve Teesdale Knee injury in Game 2, playing through pain lowers Mr Glass rankings. Still dominating the MikeD standings all alone at #1.
12 Andy Jones Back injury in Game 1, playing through pain lowers Mr Glass ranking. Re-injured back moving to the suburbs, rumors it happened at Bed, Bath & Beyond, marriage taking a heavy toll on the barrister
13 Hakan Nizam Ankle injury in summer training, playing through pain lowers Mr. Glass ranking
14 Jon Leiter New guy, 10 minutes in the field before puking up his liver & spleen
15 Big T Suffered 3 foot stompings from Glen Lake in State Cup game, playing through pain lowers Mr Glass ranking

Non-Football Injury List
1 Mark Walby Sprained thumb in Game 1, injured hand playing foosball at his bachelor party, fiance has banned him from football prior to wedding
2 Dan Hollins Picked fight with a wake board, lost, ER visit and 7 stitches. Not missing a game lowers Mr. Glass ranking
3 Mark Becker Threw out back playing golf. Injured neck in car crash w/ a deer. Not missing a game lowers Mr. Glass ranking

Dogged determination outlasts superior opposition for compelling CPR win

Manohar Venkataraman — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:13:00 GMT

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9pm games carry their own set of issues. Although it added extra spice to Edmund’s birthday pub crawl the night before, it meant crawling off the couch at around 8pm was extra painful. At least the trip to Pier 40 would be easy, although the size of the field once again might prove challenging. Argo Silver’s record was equally mediocre, so the hope was that they would be easier to deal with than last week’s opponents. Disturbingly they appeared to be younger, larger and fitter at first glance while warming up than the fairly old team CPR had cobbled together. Fortunately experience proved its own worth as the Old Boyz soaked up some initial pressure before utilizing the wings with some nice one touch passing.

The teams started to go back and forth, with Argo also managing to put some nice moves together. Once such move gave them a striker all alone inside the penalty area who panicked and blasted a shot wide when it was far easier to score. The blatant miss gave CPR life, and they started putting Argo under severe pressure. With the ball ping-ponging around the area a blatant handball was inexplicably ignored by the referee, but rather than lose their composure berating the incompetent referee they were able to keep the attack going. A headed challenge won by Faherty found Bustamante at the top of the box who made no mistake, burying the ball.

Within a few minutes the Old Boyz were up 2-0, receiving the penalty they had deserved minutes earlier. A ball floated up in the area found Faherty who made a meal out of the soft push. After blowing his whistle the referee finally ambled out of his 10 feet radius in the center of the field to check out the spot of the foul, and to Argo Silver’s chagrin pointed to the spot. Hollins made no mistake to put CPR into the lead. The opponents came back strong, but the Old Boyz were able to see the remarkably long first half out without conceding any more clearcut opportunities.

At the half it was emphasized that CPR needed to play intelligently as befits a team leading 2-0, not sending waves of attackers forward to expose the defence. Argo Silver came out expectedly strong and were able to gain a lot of possession without creating more than half chances. Brindley’s vocal command at the back helped keep the midfield disciplined while Shafranek took more of a playmaking role in looking to distribute the ball wide to the midfielders. As time wore on CPR smartly withdrew one of their strikers back into the midfield and allowed the opponents to have possession in their half while clogging the field. At the same time they were still able to keep Argo honest with counterattacks, with Stower having a glorious opportunity to put the game away but for a heavy touch into the keepers arms. Bustamante was running and harassing all over the field along with Conboy & Hollins, and although the referee’s lazy ineptness mostly went against CPR there were few decisions that were outright dangerous to the defence.

As expected, the longer the game went on the more frustrated the opposition grew, at themselves, the referee, CPR, the ball. The few shots that made it to Becker were hit straight at him, and most of the time when Argo made it into the box a leg was stuck out to clear the ball, or in some cases as per Brindley some more valuable body parts were used. Continued smart usage of substitutes ensured the team felt in condition enough to continue, but the game never felt truly safe. With the referee once again adding another 5 minutes to the half the rearguard action was forced to fight overtime, but finally the whistle went.

Argo’s play belied their lowly position in the table, and overall they played a very good game without quite putting themselves in a position to capitalize, except for the first half sitter. CPR’s determination & discipline combined with veteran cunning helped guide them through a challenging game and into the upper half of the table.

Competition: Argo Silver

Location: Pier 40, Manhattan

Conditions: A rather humid and relatively warm night for late October

Fans: 0

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

Goals: 1-0: Bustamante Assist Faherty

2-0: Hollins (Pen) Assist Faherty

Yellow Cards: Nizam, no shock there with the constant chirping at the referee. Fortunate that the yellow didn’t ruin the 2 on 1 break that CPR had.

Red Card: None

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Teesdale. It was all the car’s fault. Sure it was.


	Teesdale’s excuse for his Mike D was that his car wouldn’t start. Uh huh.

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: None

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Long term there was nothing serious, just a few minor aches and pains. Tight calves for Resnik and Nizam but small in the big scheme of things. Short term, a ball crushed by Shafranek against Brindley’s Meat & 2 veggies caused everyone to look away and cringe. Fortunately married life has caused enough shrinkage that he was able to shake off the injuries and continue his commanding performance at the back.

Old Man of the Match: As Bustamante put it, everyone played very well and there was excellent communication for the most part in the back. Having two commandingly tall center backs of slightly different skill sets was certainly helpful, and it was nice for a change to have some competition for Man of the Match. In the end, Brindley’s vociferous and physical presence at the back was rewarded along with Faherty’s own physical presence up front. Honorary mentions go to Shafranek for an excellent partnership with Brindley as well as Hollins & Conboy for running all over the pitch.


	Brindley threw his whole body into defending the 2-0 CPR lead.

Old Man of the Bar: No specific individuals, but a very solid group effort that was unexpected given the late starting hour.

El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Team Bar Showing: 10 out of 14 (71%)

Team Bar Night: 3 out of 5 – As mentioned, it was an unexpected night out as the two instigators were individuals who don’t get out much, Conboy & Brindley. With this group it doesn’t take much to set the fire burning so pretty soon a solid group had formed to watch the end of Monday Night football and reminisce about old times.

Team (No new profiles this week): Mark Becker (GK), Mark Resnik (DF) , Manohar Venkataraman , Gavin Hamilton (DF), Scott Brindley(DF), Lars Murray(DF), Dan Hollins, Drew Faherty, Hakan Nizam, Hyon Lim, Neil Stower, Scott Shafranek (DF), Mike Conboy, Paulo Bustamante

Heroic Old Boyz don’t quite have enough to pull off Cup Shocker

Manohar Venkataraman — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:42:00 GMT

One of the main problems with not having a field to call your own is to suffer the consequences when Cup ties are announced. And so for the third time in 4 years CPR was drawn away on Long Island, this time out to the far reaches of Medford. An 8am kickoff would have brought serious thoughts on getting hotel rooms for the night, but 10am was just about doable. A combination of injuries and old married people doing old married things resulted in an unprecedented 16 No’s on the evite. On Wednesday the game was as good as forfeited, but after some strenuous recruiting by Resnik the team was able to beg borrow and register the extra players required to field a skeleton side and avoid the indignity/fine that would have resulted.


	You know the best thing about playing teams from Long Island? I keep getting older, but they stay the same….

As such, it was a team of old familiar faces (Keswin, Alhajeri), new faces (Leiter, Ferrari) and intraclub transfers (Cossette, Roberts) that gathered before the game at the lush Medford complex. The full Gridiron field that was to be used may have been the biggest field ever seen by the crestfallen Old Boyz, even dwarfing Pier 40. Given the team’s limitations and the field size the prudent thing to do was to play a compact 4-5-1 and look to make the occasional counter-attack. The rope-a-dope style worked well, along with some physical but fair play from CPR which started to irk the opposition. The referee was significantly more competent than usual, and not only was confident in his decisions but justifiably so, and explained each and every decision when asked. Either the Long Island league is daintier than the CSL or Lake Grove is not accustomed to physical challenges because as every minute passed by without a goal the complaining on contact grew louder and more sustained. With a full squad it would have been a tough game, but facing a scratch squad Lake Grove were certainly the better team, it was just a question of whether CPR could hold on long enough to take it to penalties. There was some CPR possession in the enemy third but realistically apart from one optimistic shot from Becker there was barely anything that could charitably be construed as a chance. At half time CPR felt deservedly pleased with the performance they had put in, but had to make sure to reiterate to everyone what the goal was, which was to play intelligently and within the strictures of their situation, i.e. not run around chasing lost causes or spreading themselves thin. Apparently Lake Grove had received a talking to of their own, because within a couple of minutes of kick-off they had already launched several assaults on goal, albeit unsuccessful. Corner after corner was raining down on the CPR area, but desperate scramble after scramble managed to clear the ball away. Interestingly, as the Grove poured on and on they started leaving some gaps open and surprisingly CPR showed an ability and willingness to counterattack with more malice than the first half, despite Teran having hobbled off injured. The later the game went the more annoyed the opposition became, with the wily Steve Roberts taking advantage of the situation to tweak a few Lake Grove players into being more concerned with him than the job at hand. ‘Karma is a ***’, as the saying goes. Merely 10 minutes away from the Penalty lottery a flick from the opponent’s striker came off of Robert’s upper body/arm and after momentary hesitation the referee blew for a penalty. Taking their cue from Robert’s glum expression there was only muted resistance from CPR. A few tried to rally the troops and play mental games with the striker, but an exquisitely struck penalty into the side netting left Keswin no chance. With it being a cup game there was no point in continuing their previous formation so it was all hands on deck attempting to find the equalizer, and with the additional room Lake Grove swiftly doubled their tally with another very well taken goal from a counterattack. CPR had a few more half chances but nothing substantial. They can hold their heads high that despite the obstacles they fought an honorable fight. Competition: Lake Grove Location: Medford sports complex, Medford Long Island Conditions: Another gorgeous Autumn day Fans: 0 Result: 0-2 (0-0 at H/T) Goals: N/A Yellow Cards: None Red Card: None Mike D’s aka No Shows: None Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Steve Roberts ”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: New boy Jonathon Leiter caused considerable mirth by subbing on and then off within 10 minutes, vomiting copiously and then rolling around on the ground in pain. It is still to be determined whether this was due to being in poor shape or the previous night’s festivities, but if he intends to be an Old Boy long term he needs to be able to handle himself better than that after a big night. Teran suffered a legitimate knee injury and may now be out for a few weeks. Add him to the injury list which is getting close to double figures.


	To paraphrase the Sports Guy, when members of the team saw Jon Leiter on the teamsheet they reacted like a Green Bay Packer fan on somebody buying them a treadmill: abject fear, horror & confusion. The relief was palpable when it was explained that it was Jon Leiter & not WorkJon Leichter.

Old Man of the Match: Despite his unfortunate Everton affiliation and penalty giveaway Steve Roberts performed a central defensive master class at the back, marshalling his troops loudly while vociferously urging the team onwards. However the third nail in his candidacy coffin was his absence from the pub, which resulted in Dan Hollins being awarded the coveted chalice. Hollins narrowly edged Resnik, both of whom put out 90 minutes of effort with Hollins playing an exhausting central midfield. . Old Man of the Bar: Hodges campaigning for the award should have disqualified him, but given that everyone else left the pub and he stayed to “accompany” the Women’s Whites for another two hours he will gain this award more for a body of work than anything else. El Presidente (new award for Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): Edmunds & Shafranek. Team Bar Showing: 8 out of 13 (62%) Team Bar Night: 1 ½ out of 5 – A fairly subdued group, most of whom were exhausted from playing as many minutes as they did. Team (No new profiles this week): Ethan Keswin (GK), Mark Becker, Mark Resnik (DF) , John Hodges, Manohar Venkataraman , Ernesto Teran, Trygve Cossette (DF), Jon Leiter (DF), Bredan Ferrari (DF), Steve Roberts (DF), Dan Hollins, Ghazi Alhajeri, Drew Faherty


	If somebody can see the other goal at the end of the field, let us know.