VVV 3 - 2 CSSC
CSSC bench boss John Loxley received news of the best sort on Friday when both Dylan Doerksen and Kamal Chioua managed to juggle their hectic work schedules to bolster a line up already missing long term super stars Eli Robinson and Matt Loxley, this year's break out performer Tyler Johnson, and cagey veteran Bruce Sewart. In an effort to avoid the forecast lightning storm, the game was moved to the UofM indoor facility allowing CSSC's biggest crowd of the season to watch the game without getting a soaking.
If CSSC was looking comfortable with six strong subs, it soon become clear that VVV was going to go one better by bringing more or less the entire population of Winnipeg out for their team. A quick glance at their bench at one point showed a solid 12 or 13 subs, and that's in addition to the 12 players that they put on the field every once in while, just to test the ref's powers of observation. They seemed genuinely upset when the ref tried to keep their numbers down to 11 and even more aggrieved when he made a few of them leave to try and bring the game day squad down to allowable levels. Just to add to VVV's sense of discomfort CSSC took the lead when Matt Trendota made ground on the left and sent in a low near post cross that Walden slid in to prod home from close range. It could have been two when I. Hudson swung in a free kick from the left that Andrew Woolford met in full flight with a bullet header that flew just wide. Then just before the half, the game appeared to turn in CSSC's favour. Jude DB was holding off a defender with his back to goal. Angered by DB's shielding skill the beefy Dman kicked a nice lump out of DB's ankle. DB's response was to turn quickly and take another hack on his way past. It was third time's a charm for the big defender, who finally managed to cut DB down with a massive swing just inside his own box. The ref hauled out a straight red but no penalty. The big D man spat at DB on the way off. Classy.
A goal to the good and a man up should have cleared the path to the finals for CSSC but the second half started off poorly. Ten men VVV were far better than 11 men VVV and the danger signs were there for all to see before one of their tricky wingers sped into the CSSC box and went flying over CK's outstretched right boot. He picked himself up off the turf, dusted the rubber pellets off his legs and slowly rolled his penalty well wide. Tragically, CSSC did not mend their ways. A neat bit of VVV passing about 20 yards out freed up one of the midfielders who unloaded a powerful drive into the CSSC net. Shortly after, the VVV right back strode about 10 paces past center and smacked a swerving daisy cutter that snuck in the CSSC near post. Conceding two goals to a team a man down did wake CSSC up and everyone piled forward. The equalizer duly arrived when Jude DB turned his man in the box and the ref had little choice but to blow for the penalty when DB's shirt was stretched further than Donald Trump's truth by the clutches of a VVV defender. And it was a second yellow for the VVV man. Dylan Doersken calmly blasted the spot kick into the top corner. Equalized and playing two men up, but CSSC couldn't make it pay. The best chance was probably when an I. Hudson cross looked to be on the mellon of a well placed Walden only for the in form striker to be thrashed to the ground by a panicked VVV defender, but the ref probably through that one penalty and two red cards were pretty much the quota for one team and he put the whistle to his lips without blowing. Then, a late game disaster that rock solid defender M. Hudson would surely have prevented, had he not left the game early to catch a flight to Saskatoon in an ironic effort to stop climate change, A turn over deep in the CSSC end and a couple of quick passes presented the ball to the division's leading scorer and he made no mistake, powering in what would have to, objectively, be described as a beautiful shot into the top corner. Dismay and the final whistle followed in short order.
Man of the Match: There was no shortage of effort on CSSC but there was a bit of a lack of quality. The man of the match should probably go to DB. His elusiveness led directly to two red cards. How could he have known that VVV would perform far better down a man than with a full squad.
CSSC bench boss John Loxley received news of the best sort on Friday when both Dylan Doerksen and Kamal Chioua managed to juggle their hectic work schedules to bolster a line up already missing long term super stars Eli Robinson and Matt Loxley, this year's break out performer Tyler Johnson, and cagey veteran Bruce Sewart. In an effort to avoid the forecast lightning storm, the game was moved to the UofM indoor facility allowing CSSC's biggest crowd of the season to watch the game without getting a soaking.
If CSSC was looking comfortable with six strong subs, it soon become clear that VVV was going to go one better by bringing more or less the entire population of Winnipeg out for their team. A quick glance at their bench at one point showed a solid 12 or 13 subs, and that's in addition to the 12 players that they put on the field every once in while, just to test the ref's powers of observation. They seemed genuinely upset when the ref tried to keep their numbers down to 11 and even more aggrieved when he made a few of them leave to try and bring the game day squad down to allowable levels. Just to add to VVV's sense of discomfort CSSC took the lead when Matt Trendota made ground on the left and sent in a low near post cross that Walden slid in to prod home from close range. It could have been two when I. Hudson swung in a free kick from the left that Andrew Woolford met in full flight with a bullet header that flew just wide. Then just before the half, the game appeared to turn in CSSC's favour. Jude DB was holding off a defender with his back to goal. Angered by DB's shielding skill the beefy Dman kicked a nice lump out of DB's ankle. DB's response was to turn quickly and take another hack on his way past. It was third time's a charm for the big defender, who finally managed to cut DB down with a massive swing just inside his own box. The ref hauled out a straight red but no penalty. The big D man spat at DB on the way off. Classy.
A goal to the good and a man up should have cleared the path to the finals for CSSC but the second half started off poorly. Ten men VVV were far better than 11 men VVV and the danger signs were there for all to see before one of their tricky wingers sped into the CSSC box and went flying over CK's outstretched right boot. He picked himself up off the turf, dusted the rubber pellets off his legs and slowly rolled his penalty well wide. Tragically, CSSC did not mend their ways. A neat bit of VVV passing about 20 yards out freed up one of the midfielders who unloaded a powerful drive into the CSSC net. Shortly after, the VVV right back strode about 10 paces past center and smacked a swerving daisy cutter that snuck in the CSSC near post. Conceding two goals to a team a man down did wake CSSC up and everyone piled forward. The equalizer duly arrived when Jude DB turned his man in the box and the ref had little choice but to blow for the penalty when DB's shirt was stretched further than Donald Trump's truth by the clutches of a VVV defender. And it was a second yellow for the VVV man. Dylan Doersken calmly blasted the spot kick into the top corner. Equalized and playing two men up, but CSSC couldn't make it pay. The best chance was probably when an I. Hudson cross looked to be on the mellon of a well placed Walden only for the in form striker to be thrashed to the ground by a panicked VVV defender, but the ref probably through that one penalty and two red cards were pretty much the quota for one team and he put the whistle to his lips without blowing. Then, a late game disaster that rock solid defender M. Hudson would surely have prevented, had he not left the game early to catch a flight to Saskatoon in an ironic effort to stop climate change, A turn over deep in the CSSC end and a couple of quick passes presented the ball to the division's leading scorer and he made no mistake, powering in what would have to, objectively, be described as a beautiful shot into the top corner. Dismay and the final whistle followed in short order.
Man of the Match: There was no shortage of effort on CSSC but there was a bit of a lack of quality. The man of the match should probably go to DB. His elusiveness led directly to two red cards. How could he have known that VVV would perform far better down a man than with a full squad.
CSSC 2 - 0 Southside
CSSC's late season push ensured a 4th place finish, level on points, but with a superior goal difference, to tonight's first round opponent Southside. Typically, the playoffs bring out the numbers. Vacations are over and folk festivals long finished. Even the treatment table in the CSSC physio room was relatively quiet, with only Ian Hudson and Tyler Johnson making a visit for minor lower body niggles. The result was a full seven CSSC substitutes unsuccessfully attempting to keep from sliding off the badly sloped aluminum bench at the side of the Waverly pitch on a sweltering fall night. The only slight concern for CSSC management was the late arrival of CSSC's all action defender Mark Hudson, who was waylaid by a disruly mob of pro-science environmentalists eager to hear how they should figuratively set fire to Canada's commercial banks in retribution for their diabolical role in funding fossil fuel extraction and speeding the impending climate emergency (It's climate strike week people. Stand up and be counted!)
As is so often the case in a game where the season is on the line, the first half was a lot of effort without a great deal of flair. The only action that threatened the CSSC goal was a long range tester that Hounslow had covered all the way. This drastically understates the role played by the shut down CSSC D in this state of affairs. Van Penner was playing such shut down defense on Southend's very dangerous #7 that when team management offered him a well earned breather at the beginning of the 2nd half, veteran sweeper Sean Brown lobbied heavily for never letting Van off the field again. At the other end, CSSC carved out an excellent chance when cagey striker Bob Walden read the run of the ball a little better than his covering defender, slipping him in one on one with the keeper, but he got a bit more turf than ball and the shot spun wide. Commentators were hoping for a second half with a bit more action.
Like so many things, soccer is a numbers game. CSSC and its seven subs were full of 2nd half running while Southside and its much more modest bench were further reduced by what appeared to be (but hopefully were not) nasty injuries to ankles and shoulders. As the half wore on the numbers told. CSSC had the ball in the back of the net when CK slid Kamal in behind the Southside back line with a slide rule pass and Kamal calmly slotted home only to have what would have certainly been a top drawer goal celebration cut short by the assistant's offside flag. CSSC finally tallied a goal that counted when dangerous Jude DB powered a header over the Southside back line where Eli Robinson in turn headed it into the path of Walden who finished clinically from close range. Rather than defending its lead, CSSC pressed to make the game safe, but were thwarted time and again by spectacular saves, the best of which was when the Southside keeper flung himself across the goal to beat away an in close Robinson effort, and last ditch sliding tackles like the one that robbed Walden just as he was shaping to place what would undoubtedly have been an unstoppable shot beyond the keeper. CSSC's 2nd goal owed a little to fortune but also featured some delightful build up play. Matt Loxley surged forward from midfield, slid a pass to Kamal at the top of the box, accepted the striker's clever backheel return and smacked a shot goalward that took a wicked deflection off a defender and past the stranded keeper. After that CSSC absorbed pressure without conceding too many clear cut chances. Just when Southside looked like it was going to threaten, Riley DeBlonde picked up a pass deep in his own end and made a lung busting run down the left side. Just over center he held the ball up and, undismayed at the lack of support provided by the rest of the squad, pulled a full 360 and tore toward the Southside goal, riding a desperate violent foul from a tiring Southside defender in the process. RDB's late game heroics were foiled by a desperation tackle, but the resulting series of corners ran out the clock with the ball a full field away from danger. Queue celebrations among the CSSC faithful crowding the Waverly Street stands featuring loyal attender and CSSC fan of the year candidate Kiara and a reported sighting of CSSC alumni and man about town Ivan Sabeski.
Man of the Match: On a night when CSSC's D held the offensively talented Southside squad to only one real shot on goal, it would be churlish to single out any one performer. The award of two trees to plant to ward off climate change goes to the entire D line: Mark Hudson, Andrew Woolford, RDB, Matt Trendota, Van Penner and Sean Brown.
CSSC's late season push ensured a 4th place finish, level on points, but with a superior goal difference, to tonight's first round opponent Southside. Typically, the playoffs bring out the numbers. Vacations are over and folk festivals long finished. Even the treatment table in the CSSC physio room was relatively quiet, with only Ian Hudson and Tyler Johnson making a visit for minor lower body niggles. The result was a full seven CSSC substitutes unsuccessfully attempting to keep from sliding off the badly sloped aluminum bench at the side of the Waverly pitch on a sweltering fall night. The only slight concern for CSSC management was the late arrival of CSSC's all action defender Mark Hudson, who was waylaid by a disruly mob of pro-science environmentalists eager to hear how they should figuratively set fire to Canada's commercial banks in retribution for their diabolical role in funding fossil fuel extraction and speeding the impending climate emergency (It's climate strike week people. Stand up and be counted!)
As is so often the case in a game where the season is on the line, the first half was a lot of effort without a great deal of flair. The only action that threatened the CSSC goal was a long range tester that Hounslow had covered all the way. This drastically understates the role played by the shut down CSSC D in this state of affairs. Van Penner was playing such shut down defense on Southend's very dangerous #7 that when team management offered him a well earned breather at the beginning of the 2nd half, veteran sweeper Sean Brown lobbied heavily for never letting Van off the field again. At the other end, CSSC carved out an excellent chance when cagey striker Bob Walden read the run of the ball a little better than his covering defender, slipping him in one on one with the keeper, but he got a bit more turf than ball and the shot spun wide. Commentators were hoping for a second half with a bit more action.
Like so many things, soccer is a numbers game. CSSC and its seven subs were full of 2nd half running while Southside and its much more modest bench were further reduced by what appeared to be (but hopefully were not) nasty injuries to ankles and shoulders. As the half wore on the numbers told. CSSC had the ball in the back of the net when CK slid Kamal in behind the Southside back line with a slide rule pass and Kamal calmly slotted home only to have what would have certainly been a top drawer goal celebration cut short by the assistant's offside flag. CSSC finally tallied a goal that counted when dangerous Jude DB powered a header over the Southside back line where Eli Robinson in turn headed it into the path of Walden who finished clinically from close range. Rather than defending its lead, CSSC pressed to make the game safe, but were thwarted time and again by spectacular saves, the best of which was when the Southside keeper flung himself across the goal to beat away an in close Robinson effort, and last ditch sliding tackles like the one that robbed Walden just as he was shaping to place what would undoubtedly have been an unstoppable shot beyond the keeper. CSSC's 2nd goal owed a little to fortune but also featured some delightful build up play. Matt Loxley surged forward from midfield, slid a pass to Kamal at the top of the box, accepted the striker's clever backheel return and smacked a shot goalward that took a wicked deflection off a defender and past the stranded keeper. After that CSSC absorbed pressure without conceding too many clear cut chances. Just when Southside looked like it was going to threaten, Riley DeBlonde picked up a pass deep in his own end and made a lung busting run down the left side. Just over center he held the ball up and, undismayed at the lack of support provided by the rest of the squad, pulled a full 360 and tore toward the Southside goal, riding a desperate violent foul from a tiring Southside defender in the process. RDB's late game heroics were foiled by a desperation tackle, but the resulting series of corners ran out the clock with the ball a full field away from danger. Queue celebrations among the CSSC faithful crowding the Waverly Street stands featuring loyal attender and CSSC fan of the year candidate Kiara and a reported sighting of CSSC alumni and man about town Ivan Sabeski.
Man of the Match: On a night when CSSC's D held the offensively talented Southside squad to only one real shot on goal, it would be churlish to single out any one performer. The award of two trees to plant to ward off climate change goes to the entire D line: Mark Hudson, Andrew Woolford, RDB, Matt Trendota, Van Penner and Sean Brown.
CSSC 5 - 2 Landmark
A six o'clock kick off ruined what four hours prior to the match looked like a strong line up. However, the early start forced four of CSSC's five strikers to abandon their efforts to make the game. To make matters worse, the rest of the squad was having a great deal of trouble negotiating Winnipeg's construction slowed rush hour, meaning that as the game started, a bare 11 wandered on to the field without benefit of any warm up. If only they had paid more attention to the old Winnipeg Fury fan chant aimed at early exiters - "beat the traffic!" Second place high fliers, Landmark, on the other hand, didn't have to deal with the city gridlock and arrived in plenty of time to run through their pre game cone drills.
It showed. Landmark's speedy forwards were getting in behind the CSSC defense out wide, and they made it count when one of their wide men made ground up CSSC's right flank, hit a low drive from a tight angle that bounced off the near post and along the goal line where a striker was there to slam home from close range. Maybe the goal woke CSSC up, or perhaps they just needed the first 15 minutes of the game to replace their non existant warm up, but CSSC started to come good. Mark Hudson cut in from the right wing and curled a peach of a shot off the far post. In the ensuing pandemonium, the ball bobbled up to Jude DB who powered home a header into the bottom corner. A couple of minutes later DB, who was a terror up front all game, took a pass wide on the left, held it up and laid it off to Greg Boese steaming up in support. Boese took a touch, rode a slide tackle, and smacked a dipping rocket from 25 yards in the sweet spot over the keeper and under the bar. A massive recovery from a disastrous start.
As CSSC players wandered in throughout the first half, the bench started to look much more respectable and it showed in the second. Dylan Doerksen, who arrived straight from a late shift at the local green grocer, decided he would take the game into his own hands with two very well taken goals. The first arrived when he chased down an awkward, bouncing through ball deep to the right of the Landmark goal. He beat the overly optimistic Landmark keeper to the ball and sidefooted a one time volley from what appeared to be an impossible angle into the far corner of the goal. Pure quality. The second goal showed off his dribbling skills when he collected the ball just outside the 18, but was fronted up by a Landmark defender. Dylan dropped his shoulder and ghosted by the poor fellow before sliding the ball past the charging keeper. No one ever says that 4 - 1 is the most dangerous lead, but nerves on the CSSC bench started to jangle when Landmark was awarded a slightly dodgy penalty after Boese was judged to have tripped up a Landmark forward who was shaping to shoot. Players closer to the incident than the match correspondent, who weren't name Boese, claimed that the call was soft like the morning dew, but that didn't stop the Landmark penalty taker from driving a low rocket off Hounslow's legs and into the roof of the net. There would be no comeback for the out of town visitors on this day. The game was made safe when Matt Loxley controlled the ball on the left of the Landmark area, shifted it on to his favoured right boot and curled one that smacked off the far post and back along the goal line. In the crazy scramble that followed the ball somehow bounced in off Charaf's knee. CSSC has strung together some impressive games to end the season. As they say in the real leagues, "no one's going to want to take on this lot in a big game."
Man of the Match: The entire squad had a top drawer outing. Dylan put the game away with his brace early in the second half and Kinsella had a masterful game in deep midfield spraying the ball around like a late career Peter Reid (he does the simple things well). But the MotM goes to goal getting and big man up front Charaf Charaoui. In addition to his goal, he proved a physical presence all night, putting himself about, holding up the ball and playing quick, intelligent passes to his team mates. Perhaps he's added this new Ronaldo endorsed "facial exerciser" to his training regime. Whatever he's doing. It's working.
A six o'clock kick off ruined what four hours prior to the match looked like a strong line up. However, the early start forced four of CSSC's five strikers to abandon their efforts to make the game. To make matters worse, the rest of the squad was having a great deal of trouble negotiating Winnipeg's construction slowed rush hour, meaning that as the game started, a bare 11 wandered on to the field without benefit of any warm up. If only they had paid more attention to the old Winnipeg Fury fan chant aimed at early exiters - "beat the traffic!" Second place high fliers, Landmark, on the other hand, didn't have to deal with the city gridlock and arrived in plenty of time to run through their pre game cone drills.
It showed. Landmark's speedy forwards were getting in behind the CSSC defense out wide, and they made it count when one of their wide men made ground up CSSC's right flank, hit a low drive from a tight angle that bounced off the near post and along the goal line where a striker was there to slam home from close range. Maybe the goal woke CSSC up, or perhaps they just needed the first 15 minutes of the game to replace their non existant warm up, but CSSC started to come good. Mark Hudson cut in from the right wing and curled a peach of a shot off the far post. In the ensuing pandemonium, the ball bobbled up to Jude DB who powered home a header into the bottom corner. A couple of minutes later DB, who was a terror up front all game, took a pass wide on the left, held it up and laid it off to Greg Boese steaming up in support. Boese took a touch, rode a slide tackle, and smacked a dipping rocket from 25 yards in the sweet spot over the keeper and under the bar. A massive recovery from a disastrous start.
As CSSC players wandered in throughout the first half, the bench started to look much more respectable and it showed in the second. Dylan Doerksen, who arrived straight from a late shift at the local green grocer, decided he would take the game into his own hands with two very well taken goals. The first arrived when he chased down an awkward, bouncing through ball deep to the right of the Landmark goal. He beat the overly optimistic Landmark keeper to the ball and sidefooted a one time volley from what appeared to be an impossible angle into the far corner of the goal. Pure quality. The second goal showed off his dribbling skills when he collected the ball just outside the 18, but was fronted up by a Landmark defender. Dylan dropped his shoulder and ghosted by the poor fellow before sliding the ball past the charging keeper. No one ever says that 4 - 1 is the most dangerous lead, but nerves on the CSSC bench started to jangle when Landmark was awarded a slightly dodgy penalty after Boese was judged to have tripped up a Landmark forward who was shaping to shoot. Players closer to the incident than the match correspondent, who weren't name Boese, claimed that the call was soft like the morning dew, but that didn't stop the Landmark penalty taker from driving a low rocket off Hounslow's legs and into the roof of the net. There would be no comeback for the out of town visitors on this day. The game was made safe when Matt Loxley controlled the ball on the left of the Landmark area, shifted it on to his favoured right boot and curled one that smacked off the far post and back along the goal line. In the crazy scramble that followed the ball somehow bounced in off Charaf's knee. CSSC has strung together some impressive games to end the season. As they say in the real leagues, "no one's going to want to take on this lot in a big game."
Man of the Match: The entire squad had a top drawer outing. Dylan put the game away with his brace early in the second half and Kinsella had a masterful game in deep midfield spraying the ball around like a late career Peter Reid (he does the simple things well). But the MotM goes to goal getting and big man up front Charaf Charaoui. In addition to his goal, he proved a physical presence all night, putting himself about, holding up the ball and playing quick, intelligent passes to his team mates. Perhaps he's added this new Ronaldo endorsed "facial exerciser" to his training regime. Whatever he's doing. It's working.
CSSC 2 - 3 Veni Vidi Vici
CSSC team management earned every penny of its non existent salary cobbling together a full line up to face run away, and undefeated, league leaders VVV. In the end the crack physio department managed to return Sewart's tight hips to the line up just in time for kick off, Greg Boese's plane landed right on time, and Devin Doerksen managed to get Bryce and Jay from the Wolverines to dress in CSSC green for the evening.
VVV is top of the league for a reason and they were quickly causing trouble in the CSSC box. The CSSC D line was keeping the obvious chances to a minimum until a VVV striker, dribbling away from goal was clipped by a CSSC defender's boot and down he went. Never let it be said that the CSSC match reports are not. like Fox News says "fair and balanced." It was a penalty. As Mr. Honest Greg Boese confessed, "we would have wanted it called if it was against us." The peno was slotted home without much fuss. CSSC was creating chances of its own. Dylan Doersken and Eli Robinson both pinged the bar with looping headers, and Dylan had a goal bound rocket from in close strike an unfortunately placed defender on the goal line. CSSC equalized when Walden was sent sprinting behind VVV's very high back line, bounced the ball off the keepers face, collected the rebound and slotted home. VVV went back in front on another penalty - this one a bit more dubious. Matt Trendota and VVV's 18 were doing a lot of hand josteling when big 18 hit the deck, convincing the ref to award another spot kick. Jim Hounslow in the CSSC net managed to stop the initial penalty but no CSSC player thought to follow in for the rebound, allowing it to slowly bounce around until the penalty taker tapped it in.
Walden continued his fine work up front to get the second half started, finishing an end to end counter of the highest quality. Matt Loxley made a crucial sliding tackle in the CSSC box, the ball broke to Tyler Johnson, who galloped out of the CSSC end, played a smart pass to Bryce, who slid Walden in behind the VVV line and Walden placed a delicate chip over the advancing keeper and in the net. 4 players, three passes, the length of the field and in the net. But VVV wasn't going away easily. Only five minutes later, skillful #18 was given too much time about 30 yards out and he hammered a rocket into the CSSC net. CSSC responded with a flurry of chances. Robinson was sent completely clear twice. Once he was shut down by the charging keeper and the second he slid agonizingly wide of the far post. Walden and Bryce had two identical changes, racing clear down the left wing and just placing the ball the wrong side of the far post. Charaf, on his return from Morocco, also rang the post with a long range curler. And that was that. A 3-2 loss that was bitterly disappointing but the moral victory enthusiasts will point to the fact that CSSC caused the best team in the division a genuine fright.
Man of the Match: There wasn't a bad game from any of the CSSC players. The defense was rock solid. The mid stuck in like a bunch of 6th division Roy Keane's and the forwards created chance after chance. Anyone could have walked away with the award. But someone has to win, so we'll give it to Devin Doerksen who not only had a great game, getting up and down the wing, but brought out the excellent Wolverine duo. You might say he was worth three players on the night.
CSSC team management earned every penny of its non existent salary cobbling together a full line up to face run away, and undefeated, league leaders VVV. In the end the crack physio department managed to return Sewart's tight hips to the line up just in time for kick off, Greg Boese's plane landed right on time, and Devin Doerksen managed to get Bryce and Jay from the Wolverines to dress in CSSC green for the evening.
VVV is top of the league for a reason and they were quickly causing trouble in the CSSC box. The CSSC D line was keeping the obvious chances to a minimum until a VVV striker, dribbling away from goal was clipped by a CSSC defender's boot and down he went. Never let it be said that the CSSC match reports are not. like Fox News says "fair and balanced." It was a penalty. As Mr. Honest Greg Boese confessed, "we would have wanted it called if it was against us." The peno was slotted home without much fuss. CSSC was creating chances of its own. Dylan Doersken and Eli Robinson both pinged the bar with looping headers, and Dylan had a goal bound rocket from in close strike an unfortunately placed defender on the goal line. CSSC equalized when Walden was sent sprinting behind VVV's very high back line, bounced the ball off the keepers face, collected the rebound and slotted home. VVV went back in front on another penalty - this one a bit more dubious. Matt Trendota and VVV's 18 were doing a lot of hand josteling when big 18 hit the deck, convincing the ref to award another spot kick. Jim Hounslow in the CSSC net managed to stop the initial penalty but no CSSC player thought to follow in for the rebound, allowing it to slowly bounce around until the penalty taker tapped it in.
Walden continued his fine work up front to get the second half started, finishing an end to end counter of the highest quality. Matt Loxley made a crucial sliding tackle in the CSSC box, the ball broke to Tyler Johnson, who galloped out of the CSSC end, played a smart pass to Bryce, who slid Walden in behind the VVV line and Walden placed a delicate chip over the advancing keeper and in the net. 4 players, three passes, the length of the field and in the net. But VVV wasn't going away easily. Only five minutes later, skillful #18 was given too much time about 30 yards out and he hammered a rocket into the CSSC net. CSSC responded with a flurry of chances. Robinson was sent completely clear twice. Once he was shut down by the charging keeper and the second he slid agonizingly wide of the far post. Walden and Bryce had two identical changes, racing clear down the left wing and just placing the ball the wrong side of the far post. Charaf, on his return from Morocco, also rang the post with a long range curler. And that was that. A 3-2 loss that was bitterly disappointing but the moral victory enthusiasts will point to the fact that CSSC caused the best team in the division a genuine fright.
Man of the Match: There wasn't a bad game from any of the CSSC players. The defense was rock solid. The mid stuck in like a bunch of 6th division Roy Keane's and the forwards created chance after chance. Anyone could have walked away with the award. But someone has to win, so we'll give it to Devin Doerksen who not only had a great game, getting up and down the wing, but brought out the excellent Wolverine duo. You might say he was worth three players on the night.
CSSC 4 - 3 Grunthal
The team sheet featured more deletions than the Mueller Report. What looked like 19 players turned into 15 very quickly with last minute withdrawls from Robinson (family), Brown (mystery), Sewart (still with the hips) and Penner (ankle). Could CSSC brain trust John Loxley juggle the last minute changes?
Early signs didn't look good. The CSSC starting line up was shambling around like old fashioned horror movie zombies (not the new fangled athletic Zombieland zombies). Grunthal was up two before the half was 15 minutes old. The first came when very speedy #12 rampaged up the Grunthal left and drove in a low cross. The waiting forward did a nice job of controlling the ball with his back to goal, spinning and firing a shot into the bottom corner from close range. The second followed in short order. A slightly wayward pass was gobbled up by clever little #2 who took a touch inside and hammered a long range drive off the post, which bounced off the back of a sprawling Hounslow and tragically into the CSSC net. A third might have broke CSSC's back but Houslow managed to turn a point blank blast over the bar. Sensing CSSC's quick exit from this contest John Loxley rang in the changes and it paid off. Only seconds after Loxley was muttering "five minutes in the half, we need a goal" his son Matt delivered a delightful through ball over the top to Jude DB, sprinting behind the Grunthal back line. DB took a touch to settle and rolled the ball into the path of M. Hudson who was steaming up in support. Hudson acknowledged the quality of the pass by smashing a low, one timer into the bottom corner. Just what Loxley ordered. Game On!!
The Lazarus like resurrection continued in the second half. Matt Loxley's penchant for ball winning resulted in a deep turnover with the ball at his feet. He fed a pass to Walden, who had his back to goal and surrounded by defenders. With one touch he flipped the ball into the air and with his second smashed a swiveling, right foot volley into the far corner. The see-saw contest continued when that dangerous #2 hit a bending one timer from 25 yards out into the far corner. On other teams heads might drop at being behind again but CSSC's recent fighty resilience was shown when Trendota forced a turnover at midfield and fed DB about 30 yards out. DB noticed the keeper was a little off his line and produced a magical chip over a very tall keeper and into the back of the net. Three goals for CSSC and all right out of the top drawer. The winning goal arrived with 10 minutes left when a through ball found Walden in behind the Grunthal defense and he finished from a tight angle across the keeper and into the far corner. By the standards of the other goals it was a bit "meh" but a brace for Walden and a comeback that thrilled the fans who are starting to follow CSSC's goal getting exploits. This was the third game in a row CSSC was involved in a seven goal festival of scoring.
Man of the Match: On any other day, Devin Doerksen would have walked the award thanks to his combative tackling and calm dribbling on the right wing. However a Walden brace, including the winning goal, and Tyler Johnson's fleet footed, ball winning defense means that the prize goes to the RCMP duo who are doing more to rehabilitate the reputation of the constabulary among CSSC than the hit TV series Due South (featuring a suitably attired, youthful Paul Gross and his adorable husky).
The team sheet featured more deletions than the Mueller Report. What looked like 19 players turned into 15 very quickly with last minute withdrawls from Robinson (family), Brown (mystery), Sewart (still with the hips) and Penner (ankle). Could CSSC brain trust John Loxley juggle the last minute changes?
Early signs didn't look good. The CSSC starting line up was shambling around like old fashioned horror movie zombies (not the new fangled athletic Zombieland zombies). Grunthal was up two before the half was 15 minutes old. The first came when very speedy #12 rampaged up the Grunthal left and drove in a low cross. The waiting forward did a nice job of controlling the ball with his back to goal, spinning and firing a shot into the bottom corner from close range. The second followed in short order. A slightly wayward pass was gobbled up by clever little #2 who took a touch inside and hammered a long range drive off the post, which bounced off the back of a sprawling Hounslow and tragically into the CSSC net. A third might have broke CSSC's back but Houslow managed to turn a point blank blast over the bar. Sensing CSSC's quick exit from this contest John Loxley rang in the changes and it paid off. Only seconds after Loxley was muttering "five minutes in the half, we need a goal" his son Matt delivered a delightful through ball over the top to Jude DB, sprinting behind the Grunthal back line. DB took a touch to settle and rolled the ball into the path of M. Hudson who was steaming up in support. Hudson acknowledged the quality of the pass by smashing a low, one timer into the bottom corner. Just what Loxley ordered. Game On!!
The Lazarus like resurrection continued in the second half. Matt Loxley's penchant for ball winning resulted in a deep turnover with the ball at his feet. He fed a pass to Walden, who had his back to goal and surrounded by defenders. With one touch he flipped the ball into the air and with his second smashed a swiveling, right foot volley into the far corner. The see-saw contest continued when that dangerous #2 hit a bending one timer from 25 yards out into the far corner. On other teams heads might drop at being behind again but CSSC's recent fighty resilience was shown when Trendota forced a turnover at midfield and fed DB about 30 yards out. DB noticed the keeper was a little off his line and produced a magical chip over a very tall keeper and into the back of the net. Three goals for CSSC and all right out of the top drawer. The winning goal arrived with 10 minutes left when a through ball found Walden in behind the Grunthal defense and he finished from a tight angle across the keeper and into the far corner. By the standards of the other goals it was a bit "meh" but a brace for Walden and a comeback that thrilled the fans who are starting to follow CSSC's goal getting exploits. This was the third game in a row CSSC was involved in a seven goal festival of scoring.
Man of the Match: On any other day, Devin Doerksen would have walked the award thanks to his combative tackling and calm dribbling on the right wing. However a Walden brace, including the winning goal, and Tyler Johnson's fleet footed, ball winning defense means that the prize goes to the RCMP duo who are doing more to rehabilitate the reputation of the constabulary among CSSC than the hit TV series Due South (featuring a suitably attired, youthful Paul Gross and his adorable husky).
CSSC 7 – 0 Tri S
In the first leg of this fixture, CSSC peppered the Tri S goal but came away on the wrong end of a 2-1 score line. After last match’s much trumpeted healthy squad numbers, it was a sad return to August normal as CSSC management had to take emergency action to come up with a couple of subs. Fortunately emergency action consisted of drafting in top drawer players Bobbie McDonald and Mark Meuwese, returned from vacations at the lake and across Europe respectively.
Fans of high scoring football are loving CSSC these days, although there would be no repeat of the edge of the seat tension from the last game. CSSC jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Within the first five minutes they were one up when I. Hudson, enjoying acres of space out on the left, swung in a deep cross that an unmarked Eli Robinson thumped into the top of the net with a powerful header. Ten minutes later, it was two, when Van Penner repeated Hudson’s trick from the right. This time the keeper got himself all in a muddle, standing too close to the near post and misjudging the cross, leaving Robinson with a simple goal line tap in for his second. It could have been considerably more but in close efforts by Dylan Doerksen and Kamal Chioua were cracked just over the bar. At the other end, CSSC’s defense was standing very strong despite Tri-S’s unorthodox all attacking formation.
The second half could not have started out more perfectly. Greg Boese’s back is loosening up every week, allowing him to return to his usual dominating midfield form. His delightful ball over the top sent Robinson racing through yet again. He successfully beat the keeper to the ball and lifted it into the unguarded net. For those of you keeping track at home, that’s a natural hat trick in the first 50 minutes for the big target man in his return from an ankle injury. After that, things got a little out of control. Mark Hudson made ground up the right, played an intelligent ball back to midfield creator Boese, who swung in a cross of such pinpoint accuracy that I. Hudson had no choice but to power it down into the left corner beyond the keeper’s dive.
Then Kamal decided he wanted on the score sheet too and banged in a natural hat trick of his own. The first came when I. Hudson slid a ball inside the box to Kamal, who delightfully turned his marker and poked the ball into the far corner. His second arrived when Eli Robinson, who provided some top drawer hold up play in addition to his goal getting exploits, sent I. Hudson off down the right wing. Kamal wanted Hudson’s inswinging cross a little more than the defense and his leaping header into the bottom corner was an unstoppable poacher’s goal. Where men of less self confidence would have wilted after missing a penalty, Kamal showed his goal getting determination by beating the off side trap to latch on to yet another Boese through ball to score from close range. Seven goals makes for a long match report and I didn’t even mention the potentially rib breaking challenge of violent number 13, who ran straight into a defenseless Bobbie McDonald when he was stretching for a header. “It was a definite card,” said the ref, without showing a card.
Man of the Match: Two hat tricks make for a difficult choice. At first glance they appear equal. Yet the law of diminishing marginal utility states that goals 1-3 should be more valued than goals 5-7 so Robinson gets the nod there (Economics lessons in a match report!! Worlds are colliding.). Perplexingly the attendees at the post match drink at the Yellow Dog insisted that Ian Hudson and his meagre one goal and three assists get the award, meaning that 1G+3A>3G, which is some fuzzy math. The same crowd also felt that Sheffield Wednesday’s owl would easily beat ADO Den Haag’s stork in a fight and were fascinated with a deep fake video of full house, so their judgement may not be the greatest. Nonetheless Ian’s absolute cracker of a prize for his dubious selection was a pair of Portsmouth FC keeper gloves, generously donated by Kamal and his impulsive online shopping. Thanks Kamal!!!
In the first leg of this fixture, CSSC peppered the Tri S goal but came away on the wrong end of a 2-1 score line. After last match’s much trumpeted healthy squad numbers, it was a sad return to August normal as CSSC management had to take emergency action to come up with a couple of subs. Fortunately emergency action consisted of drafting in top drawer players Bobbie McDonald and Mark Meuwese, returned from vacations at the lake and across Europe respectively.
Fans of high scoring football are loving CSSC these days, although there would be no repeat of the edge of the seat tension from the last game. CSSC jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Within the first five minutes they were one up when I. Hudson, enjoying acres of space out on the left, swung in a deep cross that an unmarked Eli Robinson thumped into the top of the net with a powerful header. Ten minutes later, it was two, when Van Penner repeated Hudson’s trick from the right. This time the keeper got himself all in a muddle, standing too close to the near post and misjudging the cross, leaving Robinson with a simple goal line tap in for his second. It could have been considerably more but in close efforts by Dylan Doerksen and Kamal Chioua were cracked just over the bar. At the other end, CSSC’s defense was standing very strong despite Tri-S’s unorthodox all attacking formation.
The second half could not have started out more perfectly. Greg Boese’s back is loosening up every week, allowing him to return to his usual dominating midfield form. His delightful ball over the top sent Robinson racing through yet again. He successfully beat the keeper to the ball and lifted it into the unguarded net. For those of you keeping track at home, that’s a natural hat trick in the first 50 minutes for the big target man in his return from an ankle injury. After that, things got a little out of control. Mark Hudson made ground up the right, played an intelligent ball back to midfield creator Boese, who swung in a cross of such pinpoint accuracy that I. Hudson had no choice but to power it down into the left corner beyond the keeper’s dive.
Then Kamal decided he wanted on the score sheet too and banged in a natural hat trick of his own. The first came when I. Hudson slid a ball inside the box to Kamal, who delightfully turned his marker and poked the ball into the far corner. His second arrived when Eli Robinson, who provided some top drawer hold up play in addition to his goal getting exploits, sent I. Hudson off down the right wing. Kamal wanted Hudson’s inswinging cross a little more than the defense and his leaping header into the bottom corner was an unstoppable poacher’s goal. Where men of less self confidence would have wilted after missing a penalty, Kamal showed his goal getting determination by beating the off side trap to latch on to yet another Boese through ball to score from close range. Seven goals makes for a long match report and I didn’t even mention the potentially rib breaking challenge of violent number 13, who ran straight into a defenseless Bobbie McDonald when he was stretching for a header. “It was a definite card,” said the ref, without showing a card.
Man of the Match: Two hat tricks make for a difficult choice. At first glance they appear equal. Yet the law of diminishing marginal utility states that goals 1-3 should be more valued than goals 5-7 so Robinson gets the nod there (Economics lessons in a match report!! Worlds are colliding.). Perplexingly the attendees at the post match drink at the Yellow Dog insisted that Ian Hudson and his meagre one goal and three assists get the award, meaning that 1G+3A>3G, which is some fuzzy math. The same crowd also felt that Sheffield Wednesday’s owl would easily beat ADO Den Haag’s stork in a fight and were fascinated with a deep fake video of full house, so their judgement may not be the greatest. Nonetheless Ian’s absolute cracker of a prize for his dubious selection was a pair of Portsmouth FC keeper gloves, generously donated by Kamal and his impulsive online shopping. Thanks Kamal!!!
St. James 3 - 4 CSSC
Early August usually features management panic as holidays and inevitable injuries create gaps in the lineup that are impossible to fill. Yet a very late 10 pm Friday night kickoff featured a squad so deep in both quantity and quality that management could let veteran defensive linchpin Bruce Sewart rest what he self diagnosed as "tightened hip joints." A top drawer side would be needed facing a very strong St. James team that is fighting for a place at the top of the table and has only lost one game so far this year.
In their previous encounter, CSSC scored in the first 30 seconds or so, but couldn't push on. Again, CSSC raced out of the blocks. First, Greg Boese, giving his back a run out after it was horribly abused against Southside, bent a delightful through ball to wide open, emerging marksman Jude DB, who had time to collect himself, wave to Kiara in the stands, and slot home. St. James was enjoying most of the possession but were again caught on the break when Dylan Doesksen slid Walden in on a one-on-one footrace against the last defender. Walden managed to find an extra gear after the first 10 meters to run clear and place the ball in the bottom right, giving the keeper no chance. 2-0 up in the first 15 minutes. A dream start. But then St. James started to fight their way back. They're a hard running, high pressing team with a couple players who have real quality on the ball. Their pressure told when they forced the CSSC defense into a deep hurried pass, which was seized on by dangerous number 30. He took a step and drove a swerving, low 25 yarder into the far corner. Then Matt Trendota decided that the big spaces of Waverly 2 were made for him to run in. First he forced a turnover deep in the St. James end, strode forward a couple of paces, and drilled a rocket into the top corner to restore the two goal lead. A few minutes later, he won a tackle deep in his left back position and started off on a mazy dribble that would find him wandering down the right wing, cutting inside and driving a low shot back across the keeper, who did very well to drop down and smother the effort. Could there be more goals?
There could. St. James reduced the deficit when a corner was allowed to drop in the CSSC box and a scuffed one time slicer slowly bounced into the CSSC net. Soon after, it looked like more hardship for CSSC when keeper Jim Hounslow went down with a hammie and ace striker Walden was forced to stretch the green keeper's jersey over his sizeable biceps. But then just before half time Dylan set off on what is becoming a trademark gallop through the middle of the field, riding challenges that would have left lesser men rolling on the floor. He raced into the box and squared it for DB, whose blocked shot stranded the keeper and there was Dylan to bang it home from close range. 4-2 at the half? What game was being played here?
The second half looked more defensively sound. CSSC could have put the game beyond reach when Boese again played midfield provider, picking out Van Penner's lung busting sprint from right back with a lovely through ball over the top. Penner showed wonderful control while holding off the center back, but couldn't slide the ball past the outstretched left leg of the keeper. St James again made it close when no one on CSSC thought to cover for sweeper Sean Brown's upfield surge, letting that number 30 run completely free up the middle for 50 yards before rounding an abandoned Walden and slotting home. Nerves were fraying and CSSC had very little of the ball, but a wall-like defense held St James to long range speculative efforts to see out the game. The fans at Waverly 2 got every penny of their $3 entry fee worth. Look at how long this match report is.
Man of the Match: Dylan, CK, and Matt Loxley have formed quite the central midfield one-two-three for CSSC and all had massive games in the middle of the park. But the man of the match goes to the player who stopped attack after attack by St. James and managed to not only start many of CSSC's best forward moves, but finished one as well. Step forward, jackhammerer, cement pourer, plumber and all around home handyman Matt Trendota. Given your many talents off the field, CSSC would like you to report to the marketing department. We've got a big budget sponsor lined up that wants to use you in its latest campaign, modeled on this gem from Peter Schmeichel.
Early August usually features management panic as holidays and inevitable injuries create gaps in the lineup that are impossible to fill. Yet a very late 10 pm Friday night kickoff featured a squad so deep in both quantity and quality that management could let veteran defensive linchpin Bruce Sewart rest what he self diagnosed as "tightened hip joints." A top drawer side would be needed facing a very strong St. James team that is fighting for a place at the top of the table and has only lost one game so far this year.
In their previous encounter, CSSC scored in the first 30 seconds or so, but couldn't push on. Again, CSSC raced out of the blocks. First, Greg Boese, giving his back a run out after it was horribly abused against Southside, bent a delightful through ball to wide open, emerging marksman Jude DB, who had time to collect himself, wave to Kiara in the stands, and slot home. St. James was enjoying most of the possession but were again caught on the break when Dylan Doesksen slid Walden in on a one-on-one footrace against the last defender. Walden managed to find an extra gear after the first 10 meters to run clear and place the ball in the bottom right, giving the keeper no chance. 2-0 up in the first 15 minutes. A dream start. But then St. James started to fight their way back. They're a hard running, high pressing team with a couple players who have real quality on the ball. Their pressure told when they forced the CSSC defense into a deep hurried pass, which was seized on by dangerous number 30. He took a step and drove a swerving, low 25 yarder into the far corner. Then Matt Trendota decided that the big spaces of Waverly 2 were made for him to run in. First he forced a turnover deep in the St. James end, strode forward a couple of paces, and drilled a rocket into the top corner to restore the two goal lead. A few minutes later, he won a tackle deep in his left back position and started off on a mazy dribble that would find him wandering down the right wing, cutting inside and driving a low shot back across the keeper, who did very well to drop down and smother the effort. Could there be more goals?
There could. St. James reduced the deficit when a corner was allowed to drop in the CSSC box and a scuffed one time slicer slowly bounced into the CSSC net. Soon after, it looked like more hardship for CSSC when keeper Jim Hounslow went down with a hammie and ace striker Walden was forced to stretch the green keeper's jersey over his sizeable biceps. But then just before half time Dylan set off on what is becoming a trademark gallop through the middle of the field, riding challenges that would have left lesser men rolling on the floor. He raced into the box and squared it for DB, whose blocked shot stranded the keeper and there was Dylan to bang it home from close range. 4-2 at the half? What game was being played here?
The second half looked more defensively sound. CSSC could have put the game beyond reach when Boese again played midfield provider, picking out Van Penner's lung busting sprint from right back with a lovely through ball over the top. Penner showed wonderful control while holding off the center back, but couldn't slide the ball past the outstretched left leg of the keeper. St James again made it close when no one on CSSC thought to cover for sweeper Sean Brown's upfield surge, letting that number 30 run completely free up the middle for 50 yards before rounding an abandoned Walden and slotting home. Nerves were fraying and CSSC had very little of the ball, but a wall-like defense held St James to long range speculative efforts to see out the game. The fans at Waverly 2 got every penny of their $3 entry fee worth. Look at how long this match report is.
Man of the Match: Dylan, CK, and Matt Loxley have formed quite the central midfield one-two-three for CSSC and all had massive games in the middle of the park. But the man of the match goes to the player who stopped attack after attack by St. James and managed to not only start many of CSSC's best forward moves, but finished one as well. Step forward, jackhammerer, cement pourer, plumber and all around home handyman Matt Trendota. Given your many talents off the field, CSSC would like you to report to the marketing department. We've got a big budget sponsor lined up that wants to use you in its latest campaign, modeled on this gem from Peter Schmeichel.
Red Devils 2 - 2 CSSC
Due to the incursion of work and life into the normally first-up process of match report writing, this report comes to you not just through the normal filters of subjectivity, but also through the fog of passing time. Details, as a result, may be sketchy or fabricated entirely.
The surprises started early at CSSC’s match against fellow mid-tablers Red Devils. The managerial staff, showing up their usual 30 minutes prior to kickoff, were stunned and delighted to see both Doerksen brothers already lacing up their boots on the Buhler sidelines—where normally they have been prone to wandering onto the grounds just seconds before—or after--kickoff. Given Dylan’s two-goal performance and Devon’s marauding wing-play on the day, the team management hopes this trend continues.
Red Devils have a few skilled players, and they tend to be quick to close down in the middle of the park. The wings, on the other hand, seem to offer opponents considerable acreage. Unfortunately, CSSC took some time to learn this lesson, and spent most of the first half trying to force balls through the crowded middle. Dylan Doerksen, Kinsella, and I. Hudson, playing at centre-mid, had a frustrating time of it, while dangers opened up at the back. The absence of Riley Deblonde, exhausted from his one-day run of the 63 km Mantario Trail the previous day, as well as that of lake-bound Bobbie Macdonald, proved troublesome for CSSC. While the stalwart Woolford, Brown, M. Hudson, and Trendotta back four closed things down for the most part, two corner-bound low fizzers from outside of the 18 yard box saw the Devils go into half-time 2-0 up. It could have been one more for the Devils but their ace penalty taker slammed a spot kick just wide of the post. On the the other hand, CSSC could have had a hat full itself, managing to squander three breakaways – although one did go very close, rolling agonizingly slowly against the far post. “The most dangerous lead,” they say. (This is clearly false. 1-0 is patently more dangerous. It’s just math).
The second half saw CSSC turn things around decisively. A brace of goals from Dylan D., the first produced by Jude DB’s mesmerizing dribble along the Red Devils’ end line and pinpoint ball across the goalmouth, and the second an opportunistic finish that caught the opposing keeper in no-man’s land, brought things to a draw. From then on, it was largely one-way traffic, with CSSC pushing hard for a late winner. It did arrive, as Bob Walden strolled through the defense to the right wing, and cut the ball back for a dramatic top corner finish by Jude DB. Sadly, for the second game in a row, the referee very mistakenly whistled it off-side, taking the wind out of what should have been a great come-from behind victory celebration.
Man of the Match: As usual, plenty of good candidates for the honours, but two goals, a dominant midfield performance, plus showing up on time, earn Dylan Doerksen the prize.
Due to the incursion of work and life into the normally first-up process of match report writing, this report comes to you not just through the normal filters of subjectivity, but also through the fog of passing time. Details, as a result, may be sketchy or fabricated entirely.
The surprises started early at CSSC’s match against fellow mid-tablers Red Devils. The managerial staff, showing up their usual 30 minutes prior to kickoff, were stunned and delighted to see both Doerksen brothers already lacing up their boots on the Buhler sidelines—where normally they have been prone to wandering onto the grounds just seconds before—or after--kickoff. Given Dylan’s two-goal performance and Devon’s marauding wing-play on the day, the team management hopes this trend continues.
Red Devils have a few skilled players, and they tend to be quick to close down in the middle of the park. The wings, on the other hand, seem to offer opponents considerable acreage. Unfortunately, CSSC took some time to learn this lesson, and spent most of the first half trying to force balls through the crowded middle. Dylan Doerksen, Kinsella, and I. Hudson, playing at centre-mid, had a frustrating time of it, while dangers opened up at the back. The absence of Riley Deblonde, exhausted from his one-day run of the 63 km Mantario Trail the previous day, as well as that of lake-bound Bobbie Macdonald, proved troublesome for CSSC. While the stalwart Woolford, Brown, M. Hudson, and Trendotta back four closed things down for the most part, two corner-bound low fizzers from outside of the 18 yard box saw the Devils go into half-time 2-0 up. It could have been one more for the Devils but their ace penalty taker slammed a spot kick just wide of the post. On the the other hand, CSSC could have had a hat full itself, managing to squander three breakaways – although one did go very close, rolling agonizingly slowly against the far post. “The most dangerous lead,” they say. (This is clearly false. 1-0 is patently more dangerous. It’s just math).
The second half saw CSSC turn things around decisively. A brace of goals from Dylan D., the first produced by Jude DB’s mesmerizing dribble along the Red Devils’ end line and pinpoint ball across the goalmouth, and the second an opportunistic finish that caught the opposing keeper in no-man’s land, brought things to a draw. From then on, it was largely one-way traffic, with CSSC pushing hard for a late winner. It did arrive, as Bob Walden strolled through the defense to the right wing, and cut the ball back for a dramatic top corner finish by Jude DB. Sadly, for the second game in a row, the referee very mistakenly whistled it off-side, taking the wind out of what should have been a great come-from behind victory celebration.
Man of the Match: As usual, plenty of good candidates for the honours, but two goals, a dominant midfield performance, plus showing up on time, earn Dylan Doerksen the prize.
CSSC 0 – 2 Southside
Without Kamal (lighting up the Fringe), Woolford, Jude DB, Van, Trendota, Robinson, Loxley and Wazoo – the last three struck down by unfortunate last minute injuries - it was more a case of who could make it than couldn’t. To make matters worse the team bus carrying Sewart, the Doerksen brothers, Walden, and Kinsella got stuck in the wretched Winnipeg Wednesday night traffic. As a result, CSSC started their match against the always dangerous Southside with a grand total of 8 players, including the keeper.
Fortunately, the 8 was pure quality and managed to keep the full Southside squad at bay for the 15 minutes required for the CSSC team bus to deliver its extra players. Once CSSC’s onfield numbers totaled an appropriate 11, the battle became much more even. On the downside, while last game the defense was largely missing, today there were so few strikers that 6th string forward I. Hudson had to fill in. Southside’s rampaging #7 is like the Connor McDavid of 6th division MMSL. Whenever he gets near the ball panic sets in but newly acquired Bobby McDonald, tasked with the difficult task of man marking, was more than up to the challenge. Southside’s only real chance of the half came when big #4 cut across the top of the box and hit a good low shot that was destined for the far corner until Hounslow in the CSSC goal dropped low and smothered it. CSSC had the ball in the back of the Southside net when I. Hudson hoicked an optimistic lobbing cross into the box and Greg Boese rose above the keeper and nodded it home. Tragically, the ref ruled it offside, which, if true, could have only been detected with the kind of precision VAR that was on display at the women’s world cup. Doubly tragically, while going up for the ball, Boese got a nasty knee in the back that caused one of his legs to go numb. Down to zero subs.
Southside put CSSC under increasing pressure as legs began to tire during the second half. On one of CSSC’s increasingly rare forays down the Southside end, M. Hudson swung in a peach of a corner than an unmarked I. Hudson powered just the wrong side of the near post. Up the other end CSSC were being forced to do more and more defending deeper and deeper but were managing to hold on without conceding too many chances until #7 sped into the box, but the combination of MacDonald, Tyler Johnson and a sprawling Hounslow managed to snuff out the danger with only half hearted appeals for a penalty. The calls for a penalty got a little louder when #7 got a slight nudge in the back and went down earning what he would no doubt classify as a well deserved penalty but the masses of injured CSSC players watching the game felt was “soft like All Star game defending.” The penalty was put away without too much fuss. It was two late on when the up-to-now impeccable CSSC defense got themselves in a bit of a muddle with one too many passes and #7 (AGAIN) snapped up a loose ball and lobbed it over Hounslow and into the net. That was it.
Man of the Match: Colin Kinsella left a family dinner early to make it to the match and played a lock down game at defensive midfield. Hounslow stopped everything that he possibly could. But man of the match goes to Bobby MacDonald and his tremendous defensive display.
Without Kamal (lighting up the Fringe), Woolford, Jude DB, Van, Trendota, Robinson, Loxley and Wazoo – the last three struck down by unfortunate last minute injuries - it was more a case of who could make it than couldn’t. To make matters worse the team bus carrying Sewart, the Doerksen brothers, Walden, and Kinsella got stuck in the wretched Winnipeg Wednesday night traffic. As a result, CSSC started their match against the always dangerous Southside with a grand total of 8 players, including the keeper.
Fortunately, the 8 was pure quality and managed to keep the full Southside squad at bay for the 15 minutes required for the CSSC team bus to deliver its extra players. Once CSSC’s onfield numbers totaled an appropriate 11, the battle became much more even. On the downside, while last game the defense was largely missing, today there were so few strikers that 6th string forward I. Hudson had to fill in. Southside’s rampaging #7 is like the Connor McDavid of 6th division MMSL. Whenever he gets near the ball panic sets in but newly acquired Bobby McDonald, tasked with the difficult task of man marking, was more than up to the challenge. Southside’s only real chance of the half came when big #4 cut across the top of the box and hit a good low shot that was destined for the far corner until Hounslow in the CSSC goal dropped low and smothered it. CSSC had the ball in the back of the Southside net when I. Hudson hoicked an optimistic lobbing cross into the box and Greg Boese rose above the keeper and nodded it home. Tragically, the ref ruled it offside, which, if true, could have only been detected with the kind of precision VAR that was on display at the women’s world cup. Doubly tragically, while going up for the ball, Boese got a nasty knee in the back that caused one of his legs to go numb. Down to zero subs.
Southside put CSSC under increasing pressure as legs began to tire during the second half. On one of CSSC’s increasingly rare forays down the Southside end, M. Hudson swung in a peach of a corner than an unmarked I. Hudson powered just the wrong side of the near post. Up the other end CSSC were being forced to do more and more defending deeper and deeper but were managing to hold on without conceding too many chances until #7 sped into the box, but the combination of MacDonald, Tyler Johnson and a sprawling Hounslow managed to snuff out the danger with only half hearted appeals for a penalty. The calls for a penalty got a little louder when #7 got a slight nudge in the back and went down earning what he would no doubt classify as a well deserved penalty but the masses of injured CSSC players watching the game felt was “soft like All Star game defending.” The penalty was put away without too much fuss. It was two late on when the up-to-now impeccable CSSC defense got themselves in a bit of a muddle with one too many passes and #7 (AGAIN) snapped up a loose ball and lobbed it over Hounslow and into the net. That was it.
Man of the Match: Colin Kinsella left a family dinner early to make it to the match and played a lock down game at defensive midfield. Hounslow stopped everything that he possibly could. But man of the match goes to Bobby MacDonald and his tremendous defensive display.
CSSC 2 – 1 Superbia
A lovely Sunday evening at Buhler Park was the scene for the much-anticipated re-play between CSSC and fellow-mid-table-dwellers Superbia. CSSC enjoyed the confidence of having been 1-0 up when lightning cancelled last week’s initial meeting, on a goal from Eli Robinson. However, with the score sheet cleared and 90 minutes to play, it was anybody’s game. As is becoming all-too-common, CSSC started with a fairly thin roster. With regular keeper Jim Hounslow absent for the first half, and Sean Brown arriving just in time for kickoff (“I thought it started at 7:30!”), Bob Walden took a turn in the goals and Mark Hudson started at sweeper. Fortunately for CSSC, Brown was able to get warmed up and was back in control of the back four within 10 minutes.
CSSC started the match with what may have been their best 30-minute spell this season. The midfield and defenders were putting on an absolute clinic in ball movement, spraying it around with precision and slicing through the Superbia ranks. Loxley, the Doerksen duo, Boese, I. Hudson, Deblonde (returned from his high-altitude training adventures in Peru), Trendotta (despite having gorged on chocolate just prior to the match in order to recover from a late afternoon nap), Johnson, and MacDonald were working some real magic. Balls were intelligently played through or over to Wazoo and Robinson at the front for a few chances but despite the stellar possession and passing, no breakthrough goal arrived until a free kick 25 yards, off the right hand corner of the box. Ian Hudson spotted some questionable positioning by the Superbia goalie (who may or may not have been the guy from Baraka Pita Bakery in Winnipeg’s North End. “No” says Wazoo, who claims to have spent “a LOT of time there.”) and arrowed in a low driver past the wall and into the far corner. “I can’t bend them anymore,” Hudson commented after the match, “so I just have to hit them straight and hard.” Good enough. 1-0 at the half, and CSSC came off feeling confident there were more to come. Hounslow arrived at the half, pre-warmed from another game, and Walden was able to move up to striker. Greg Boese had been filling in admirably at the striker position to give Wazoo and Robinson some respite, particularly after Robinson took a nasty turn of the ankle in a collision with a Superbia defender in the midst of chasing down a near-breakaway.
Not too long after the start of the second half, Walden’s move to the front line paid off. He hustled hard after what many would have considered to be a lost cause deep in the Superbia end, on the left wing. He managed, in what we’ll call a marginally legal challenge (you’ve seen some called, some not), to strip the Superbia defender of the ball, and squared perfectly across for a tap-in. Normally we would call it an “easy” tap-in, but with M. Hudson doing the tapping on an ill-favoured left foot, things are never certain. Fate was with CSSC, however, and in it went.
The remainder of the match turned heavily against CSSC as the squad’s defensive instincts took over. The exception to this was Dylan Doerksen, who, looking a bit like this guy, but taller and not so cheaty, took it upon himself to regularly rampage through 4 or 5 defenders to set up a cross or fire in a shot. When Dylan gets into these moods, he seems unstoppable on the ball, ghosting at will through defenses. Despite his incisive forays, however, the closest CSSC came to widening the margin was a Bob Walden power strike from 16 yards out, set up from a Dylan Doerksen cross, which blazed just over the bar. Superbia began to build things well from their excellent sweeper, and pushed much more aggressively forward. A mad goal-mouth scramble arising from a deep cross resulted in a poked near-corner goal for Superbia with about 15 minutes left, setting up an all-hands-to-the-pump finale. CSSC’s somewhat chaotic but determined defending held firm, however, to seal a 2-1 victory.
Man of the Match: Superbia’s real danger always comes from their speedy and skillful #7, but Matt Loxley performed his usual lock-down trick, smothering any danger with hard, quick tackling in the midfield. Greg Boese switched effortlessly to put in amazing service at both midfield and striker. Riley Deblonde not only defended magnificently, but opened things up by pivoting into attack quickly and distributing some very dangerous through-balls (if only Wazoo’s toe was about a half-inch longer, one of these would have produced a goal). Dylan Doerksen’s marauding dribbles forward regularly put the fear into Superbia’s defense. CSSC’s post-match MOTM debate at the Grove was thus no easy pick, as we were spoiled for choice. Honours, however, went to Peruvian explorer Riley DeBlonde. His prize is a Baraka Lamb Kabab, and a trip down North Main to confirm whether that keeper was, in fact, the guy from Baraka.
A lovely Sunday evening at Buhler Park was the scene for the much-anticipated re-play between CSSC and fellow-mid-table-dwellers Superbia. CSSC enjoyed the confidence of having been 1-0 up when lightning cancelled last week’s initial meeting, on a goal from Eli Robinson. However, with the score sheet cleared and 90 minutes to play, it was anybody’s game. As is becoming all-too-common, CSSC started with a fairly thin roster. With regular keeper Jim Hounslow absent for the first half, and Sean Brown arriving just in time for kickoff (“I thought it started at 7:30!”), Bob Walden took a turn in the goals and Mark Hudson started at sweeper. Fortunately for CSSC, Brown was able to get warmed up and was back in control of the back four within 10 minutes.
CSSC started the match with what may have been their best 30-minute spell this season. The midfield and defenders were putting on an absolute clinic in ball movement, spraying it around with precision and slicing through the Superbia ranks. Loxley, the Doerksen duo, Boese, I. Hudson, Deblonde (returned from his high-altitude training adventures in Peru), Trendotta (despite having gorged on chocolate just prior to the match in order to recover from a late afternoon nap), Johnson, and MacDonald were working some real magic. Balls were intelligently played through or over to Wazoo and Robinson at the front for a few chances but despite the stellar possession and passing, no breakthrough goal arrived until a free kick 25 yards, off the right hand corner of the box. Ian Hudson spotted some questionable positioning by the Superbia goalie (who may or may not have been the guy from Baraka Pita Bakery in Winnipeg’s North End. “No” says Wazoo, who claims to have spent “a LOT of time there.”) and arrowed in a low driver past the wall and into the far corner. “I can’t bend them anymore,” Hudson commented after the match, “so I just have to hit them straight and hard.” Good enough. 1-0 at the half, and CSSC came off feeling confident there were more to come. Hounslow arrived at the half, pre-warmed from another game, and Walden was able to move up to striker. Greg Boese had been filling in admirably at the striker position to give Wazoo and Robinson some respite, particularly after Robinson took a nasty turn of the ankle in a collision with a Superbia defender in the midst of chasing down a near-breakaway.
Not too long after the start of the second half, Walden’s move to the front line paid off. He hustled hard after what many would have considered to be a lost cause deep in the Superbia end, on the left wing. He managed, in what we’ll call a marginally legal challenge (you’ve seen some called, some not), to strip the Superbia defender of the ball, and squared perfectly across for a tap-in. Normally we would call it an “easy” tap-in, but with M. Hudson doing the tapping on an ill-favoured left foot, things are never certain. Fate was with CSSC, however, and in it went.
The remainder of the match turned heavily against CSSC as the squad’s defensive instincts took over. The exception to this was Dylan Doerksen, who, looking a bit like this guy, but taller and not so cheaty, took it upon himself to regularly rampage through 4 or 5 defenders to set up a cross or fire in a shot. When Dylan gets into these moods, he seems unstoppable on the ball, ghosting at will through defenses. Despite his incisive forays, however, the closest CSSC came to widening the margin was a Bob Walden power strike from 16 yards out, set up from a Dylan Doerksen cross, which blazed just over the bar. Superbia began to build things well from their excellent sweeper, and pushed much more aggressively forward. A mad goal-mouth scramble arising from a deep cross resulted in a poked near-corner goal for Superbia with about 15 minutes left, setting up an all-hands-to-the-pump finale. CSSC’s somewhat chaotic but determined defending held firm, however, to seal a 2-1 victory.
Man of the Match: Superbia’s real danger always comes from their speedy and skillful #7, but Matt Loxley performed his usual lock-down trick, smothering any danger with hard, quick tackling in the midfield. Greg Boese switched effortlessly to put in amazing service at both midfield and striker. Riley Deblonde not only defended magnificently, but opened things up by pivoting into attack quickly and distributing some very dangerous through-balls (if only Wazoo’s toe was about a half-inch longer, one of these would have produced a goal). Dylan Doerksen’s marauding dribbles forward regularly put the fear into Superbia’s defense. CSSC’s post-match MOTM debate at the Grove was thus no easy pick, as we were spoiled for choice. Honours, however, went to Peruvian explorer Riley DeBlonde. His prize is a Baraka Lamb Kabab, and a trip down North Main to confirm whether that keeper was, in fact, the guy from Baraka.
CSSC 4 - 0 El Condor
This game had banana skin all over it. El Condor was struggling against the drop with a goal difference that suggests the scores haven't been too close. Would El Condor come out all guns blazing like its awesome 1970s name sake (featuring Jim Brown and Lee Van Cleef) or all wimpy and wishy washy like it's musical name sake? It's also full holiday season for CSSC, meaning that pretty much the entire defensive crew was missing, forcing striker Bob Walden into a makeshift sweeper role and the midfield Hudson duo into wing positions that at least one of them was very uncomfortable with. To add to the pre match anticipation, Jude DB informed CSSC management that his partner (and real contender for CSSC fan of the year) Kiara selflessly asked for a Jude DB goal for her birthday. No pressure there.
The game started out as a bit of a midfield slog, with neither team carving out too much in the way of real chances. But then, out of nothing, an Eli Robinson flick sent Jude DB sprinting in behind the El Condor defensive line. But Kiara would not get her birthday present so easily as Jude's delicate lob pinged off the far post and out. CSSC were having trouble breaking down the Condor defense but were given a bit of a gift when a harmless lob over top appeared to be easily covered, but the center back and keeper got in an unfortunate muddle, colliding with each other and letting the ball drop to Eli Robinson, who calmly finished his bowl of lucky charms and rolled the ball into the open net. And that was about it for a pretty subpar first half.
The second looked much better. Matt Loxley and the Doersken brothers had managed to survive a typical Winnipeg train induced traffic nightmare to add some dynamism to the CSSC midfield and it made a difference. Early in the half I. Hudson looked like he was at a loss for passing options in the center of the park, when he spotted Dylan Doerksen loitering around, unmarked, on the left touch line. An easy square pass and Dylan was off down the sidelines, riding the one Condor challenge that came his way and calmly slotting home into the far corner. What followed was an absolute comedy of CSSC misses with Charaf failing to prod home a close range rebound and I. Hudson making a complete hotch of simple tap in created by a delightful cutback from Kinsella. However the most comical sequence featured a series of four CSSC shots in a row, all of which were from inside the box and none of which managed to cross the goal line. It did result in successfully pinning Condor back with a throw deep in their own end. Devin managed to at least provide a glimmer of hope when he rang the cross bar with a sweet right foot shot. Things got much better for CSSC, and DBs birthday promises, when I. Hudson slid a pass between the Condor defenders to pick out DB's clever diagonal run. He cut inside the last defender and ignored marauding sweeper Bob Walden's calls for a square ball to pump a close range shot past the keeper. Most of the rest of the game was spent with CSSC taking increasingly accurate shots and the Condor keeper making increasing impressive saves, the best of which saw him flying across the goal three feet in the air to turn aside Greg Boese's absolute cannon of one timer from the top of the box. The last goal came courtesy of the divot in the Buhler goal, which deflected Boese's second best shot of the night into the net. An undeserved turn of events after a performance in which the Condor keeper really did stand on his head.
Man of the Match: If we were choosing from both teams it would have to be the Condor keeper, but we're not feeling gracious even in victory and the keeper's jersey was too large and disheveled. The award (a collection of Garfunkel's greatest hits) goes to Greg Boese, who scored a goal, forced a remarkable save, and was really pulling the strings from his deep midfield position.
This game had banana skin all over it. El Condor was struggling against the drop with a goal difference that suggests the scores haven't been too close. Would El Condor come out all guns blazing like its awesome 1970s name sake (featuring Jim Brown and Lee Van Cleef) or all wimpy and wishy washy like it's musical name sake? It's also full holiday season for CSSC, meaning that pretty much the entire defensive crew was missing, forcing striker Bob Walden into a makeshift sweeper role and the midfield Hudson duo into wing positions that at least one of them was very uncomfortable with. To add to the pre match anticipation, Jude DB informed CSSC management that his partner (and real contender for CSSC fan of the year) Kiara selflessly asked for a Jude DB goal for her birthday. No pressure there.
The game started out as a bit of a midfield slog, with neither team carving out too much in the way of real chances. But then, out of nothing, an Eli Robinson flick sent Jude DB sprinting in behind the El Condor defensive line. But Kiara would not get her birthday present so easily as Jude's delicate lob pinged off the far post and out. CSSC were having trouble breaking down the Condor defense but were given a bit of a gift when a harmless lob over top appeared to be easily covered, but the center back and keeper got in an unfortunate muddle, colliding with each other and letting the ball drop to Eli Robinson, who calmly finished his bowl of lucky charms and rolled the ball into the open net. And that was about it for a pretty subpar first half.
The second looked much better. Matt Loxley and the Doersken brothers had managed to survive a typical Winnipeg train induced traffic nightmare to add some dynamism to the CSSC midfield and it made a difference. Early in the half I. Hudson looked like he was at a loss for passing options in the center of the park, when he spotted Dylan Doerksen loitering around, unmarked, on the left touch line. An easy square pass and Dylan was off down the sidelines, riding the one Condor challenge that came his way and calmly slotting home into the far corner. What followed was an absolute comedy of CSSC misses with Charaf failing to prod home a close range rebound and I. Hudson making a complete hotch of simple tap in created by a delightful cutback from Kinsella. However the most comical sequence featured a series of four CSSC shots in a row, all of which were from inside the box and none of which managed to cross the goal line. It did result in successfully pinning Condor back with a throw deep in their own end. Devin managed to at least provide a glimmer of hope when he rang the cross bar with a sweet right foot shot. Things got much better for CSSC, and DBs birthday promises, when I. Hudson slid a pass between the Condor defenders to pick out DB's clever diagonal run. He cut inside the last defender and ignored marauding sweeper Bob Walden's calls for a square ball to pump a close range shot past the keeper. Most of the rest of the game was spent with CSSC taking increasingly accurate shots and the Condor keeper making increasing impressive saves, the best of which saw him flying across the goal three feet in the air to turn aside Greg Boese's absolute cannon of one timer from the top of the box. The last goal came courtesy of the divot in the Buhler goal, which deflected Boese's second best shot of the night into the net. An undeserved turn of events after a performance in which the Condor keeper really did stand on his head.
Man of the Match: If we were choosing from both teams it would have to be the Condor keeper, but we're not feeling gracious even in victory and the keeper's jersey was too large and disheveled. The award (a collection of Garfunkel's greatest hits) goes to Greg Boese, who scored a goal, forced a remarkable save, and was really pulling the strings from his deep midfield position.
Landmark 3 - 3 CSSC
CSSC regulars have been running up the gas miles in their effort to cover every inch of southern Manitoba. The last stop was against league high fliers Landmark. Despite the long miles, CSSC had assembled a strong squad, with the only concern being Kamal's flustered late arrival due to a google maps balls up.
Landmark is a hard running team and their tiny field provided an old school Boston Gardens like atmosphere, with every yard of space a luxury soon to be snatched away. Landmark put their noses in front fairly early when a lob into the box evaded the CSSC defense but fell kindly to a marauding forward, whose shot just clipped the bottom of M. Hudson's cleats as he stretched to make a heroic last ditch emergency tackle and slid inside the far post. As the half wore on, CSSC started to adjust to the speed of the game and open up chances of their own. Kamal raced in behind the Landmark defense and had the calm composure of a veteran striker, getting his head up and picking out Dylan Doerksen, arriving late in the box, with an inch perfect pass that Dylan drove into the near low corner. It was a peach of a goal. At the other end of the "they all count" spectrum, CSSC went a goal to the good when Charaf sent Jude DB sprinting down the wing. DB's dangerous cross was turned in to his own net by a despairing Landmark defender. The dubious goals committee will no doubt be reviewing the ref's award of the goal to DB, but he did put in some good work to get the cross in.
The second half also started off poorly for the traveling team. Landmark's speedy number 9 picked up the ball about center, hit full stride down the wing, cut in from the left and toe poked a lovey ball in behind the CSSC back line for an onrushing winger to chip a one time close range shot over the advancing Hounslow. Just like the first half, CSSC got better as the time went on and they went back in front when Dylan Doerksen either wellied the ball blindly upfield or delivered an inch perfect ball over the top. Either way Eli Robinson made it look great when he outpaced the Landmark defenders in a straight sprint from center and prodded it past the Landmark keeper. It looked like CSSC would extend their lead when Walden hit a clever ball across the Landmark box to an unmarked Robinson, but the ball bounced awkwardly on the firm turf, forcing Robinson to control rather than hit the one time, which gave the keeper a chance to close down his shot. Against the run of play, an equalizer. A Landmark throw deep in CSSC territory didn't appear to be causing any major problems as it was flung in to a forward who looked to be well marshaled by the always reliable Woolford but his unfortunate choice of footwear resulted in a slip at the worst moment, allowing the Landmark forward to turn and hit a dipping volley into the bottom corner. CSSC almost rescued the points in the final minutes when DB floated a free kick behind a high Landmark line and Robinson flung himself into a diving header that skidded just wide of the post. Honours even, but CSSC will view this as two points dropped despite the teams' position in the league table.
Man of the Match: Considering CSSC shipped three goals, individual defenders had strong games. Penner and Trendota were excellent at the wide back position, but the real hero at the back was Tyler Johnson's hard running, tough tackling, goal chance denying performance. Johnson has been earning rave reviews in the CSSC farm system for a couple of years and it looks like he's ready to make the jump up to the big club. If only we could have celebrated Johnson's big game with a better beer selection than was on tap at Sage Creek's local drinking hole, The Rockwood Grill, where the choice of "rotating craft beers" seemed to consist of Bud and Goose Island. Worse case of false advertising since the Never Ending Story. Not that we're beer snobs or anything.
CSSC regulars have been running up the gas miles in their effort to cover every inch of southern Manitoba. The last stop was against league high fliers Landmark. Despite the long miles, CSSC had assembled a strong squad, with the only concern being Kamal's flustered late arrival due to a google maps balls up.
Landmark is a hard running team and their tiny field provided an old school Boston Gardens like atmosphere, with every yard of space a luxury soon to be snatched away. Landmark put their noses in front fairly early when a lob into the box evaded the CSSC defense but fell kindly to a marauding forward, whose shot just clipped the bottom of M. Hudson's cleats as he stretched to make a heroic last ditch emergency tackle and slid inside the far post. As the half wore on, CSSC started to adjust to the speed of the game and open up chances of their own. Kamal raced in behind the Landmark defense and had the calm composure of a veteran striker, getting his head up and picking out Dylan Doerksen, arriving late in the box, with an inch perfect pass that Dylan drove into the near low corner. It was a peach of a goal. At the other end of the "they all count" spectrum, CSSC went a goal to the good when Charaf sent Jude DB sprinting down the wing. DB's dangerous cross was turned in to his own net by a despairing Landmark defender. The dubious goals committee will no doubt be reviewing the ref's award of the goal to DB, but he did put in some good work to get the cross in.
The second half also started off poorly for the traveling team. Landmark's speedy number 9 picked up the ball about center, hit full stride down the wing, cut in from the left and toe poked a lovey ball in behind the CSSC back line for an onrushing winger to chip a one time close range shot over the advancing Hounslow. Just like the first half, CSSC got better as the time went on and they went back in front when Dylan Doerksen either wellied the ball blindly upfield or delivered an inch perfect ball over the top. Either way Eli Robinson made it look great when he outpaced the Landmark defenders in a straight sprint from center and prodded it past the Landmark keeper. It looked like CSSC would extend their lead when Walden hit a clever ball across the Landmark box to an unmarked Robinson, but the ball bounced awkwardly on the firm turf, forcing Robinson to control rather than hit the one time, which gave the keeper a chance to close down his shot. Against the run of play, an equalizer. A Landmark throw deep in CSSC territory didn't appear to be causing any major problems as it was flung in to a forward who looked to be well marshaled by the always reliable Woolford but his unfortunate choice of footwear resulted in a slip at the worst moment, allowing the Landmark forward to turn and hit a dipping volley into the bottom corner. CSSC almost rescued the points in the final minutes when DB floated a free kick behind a high Landmark line and Robinson flung himself into a diving header that skidded just wide of the post. Honours even, but CSSC will view this as two points dropped despite the teams' position in the league table.
Man of the Match: Considering CSSC shipped three goals, individual defenders had strong games. Penner and Trendota were excellent at the wide back position, but the real hero at the back was Tyler Johnson's hard running, tough tackling, goal chance denying performance. Johnson has been earning rave reviews in the CSSC farm system for a couple of years and it looks like he's ready to make the jump up to the big club. If only we could have celebrated Johnson's big game with a better beer selection than was on tap at Sage Creek's local drinking hole, The Rockwood Grill, where the choice of "rotating craft beers" seemed to consist of Bud and Goose Island. Worse case of false advertising since the Never Ending Story. Not that we're beer snobs or anything.
CSSC 0 – 5 Double Decker FC
During a belated (June 20) Father’s Day lunch in honour of CSSC founding member Pete Hudson at local celebrity hot-spot The Falafel House, team management received notification that they were due to play their next round of the Bison Cup the following evening, in Portage La Prairie. After a brief session of outrage and panic, Ian Hudson entered into a savvy and hardnosed negotiation with the league, managing to get the match put off until the Sunday. Even with those heroics, it was a hastily cobbled emergency squad that arrived at the Republic of Manitobah Park on Sunday evening for a knock-out round encounter with Brandon-based 4th division-toppers Double Decker.
It is always a delight to play in Portage, both because of the team camaraderie built in Bruce Sewart’s packed minivan on the way out, and because the pitch is utterly fantastic. It is a work of art. Those groundskeepers (apparently Dave Oshust and his crew at Go Green Lawns) are gods. Unfortunately, the state of the pitch was one of only very few bright notes on an otherwise tough night.
Things actually began promisingly for CSSC, who came out looking sharp on passing, and within the first 10 or 15 minutes, a couple of half-chances were created, and the midfield was looking to be in solid control. Then Double Decker subbed on what was apparently their upper deck, and the game took a sudden turn. CSSC found themselves all a-scramble, chasing a new, diminutive, but speedy and skillful midfielder line, who soon managed to create a couple of goals. The 2XDecker slogan, written at the shoulderline of their jerseys (“We Do What We Want”) started to make some sense (though, only some -FIFA rules and whatnot…) as they bossed CSSC around the pitch. In the absence of regular starter Houndslow in the pipes, Bob Walden turned a couple of other chances away, but it wasn’t long before the skillful midfield and speedy strikers notched two more by the time 25 minutes had rolled by. CSSC had left a couple of chances on the table, but neutrals would probably agree that DD was dominating.
Not long after that, another long ball went cutting through the CSSC midfield to a DD striker alone with Van Penner at the back. Some very incidental contact just outside the peno box drew a foul, and, controversially, a red card for young Penner. After the longest walk-off in history, with the ref insisting that Penner leave the vicinity of the field, but failing to define “vicinity” with any clarity, resulting in some frustrated back-and-forth, the game resumed, CSSC adopting a defensively-minded 4-4-1 lineup, while Penner eventually found a shady tree to hide beneath.
The second half actually went better, though possibly because DD stepped off the pedal. Some stunning goalkeeping from 2nd half stand-in Ian Hudson kept the scoreline down to 1-0 over the half, and CSSC on the whole showed good composure, character, and restraint, as even with a commanding lead on their end, DD’s numbers 11 and 24 proved to be a chippy, snippy, ankle-kicking duo. A few more chances were created by some entrepreneurial fast-breaks worked by Walden and Robinson, even a man down, and the Doerksen brothers looked very comfortable in midfield. Deblonde, Sewart, Johnson, and Woolford proved a formidable and determined back four, so apart from one strange penalty chance (in which the ref deemed the shooter to have halted on his approach, resulting in no-goal despite the miss by third-string substitute goalie M. Hudson), DD did not threaten much in the second. However, with no goals produced, and 5 plucked out of their own net, the arithmetic was straightforward, and CSSC is out of the Bison Cup. “All the better,” say the fans. “Now we can concentrate on the league.”
Man of the Match: After some considerable debate at One Great City brewpub back in Winnipeg, MoM honours were awarded to…Andrew Woolford. He is really getting into that sweeper role and has played two barn-burners since being shifted off the wing into the centre. His winnings consist of a land-mine defusing kit and a free night’s stay at Bokor Hill Station for his upcoming trip to Cambodia. Congratulations, Andrew!
During a belated (June 20) Father’s Day lunch in honour of CSSC founding member Pete Hudson at local celebrity hot-spot The Falafel House, team management received notification that they were due to play their next round of the Bison Cup the following evening, in Portage La Prairie. After a brief session of outrage and panic, Ian Hudson entered into a savvy and hardnosed negotiation with the league, managing to get the match put off until the Sunday. Even with those heroics, it was a hastily cobbled emergency squad that arrived at the Republic of Manitobah Park on Sunday evening for a knock-out round encounter with Brandon-based 4th division-toppers Double Decker.
It is always a delight to play in Portage, both because of the team camaraderie built in Bruce Sewart’s packed minivan on the way out, and because the pitch is utterly fantastic. It is a work of art. Those groundskeepers (apparently Dave Oshust and his crew at Go Green Lawns) are gods. Unfortunately, the state of the pitch was one of only very few bright notes on an otherwise tough night.
Things actually began promisingly for CSSC, who came out looking sharp on passing, and within the first 10 or 15 minutes, a couple of half-chances were created, and the midfield was looking to be in solid control. Then Double Decker subbed on what was apparently their upper deck, and the game took a sudden turn. CSSC found themselves all a-scramble, chasing a new, diminutive, but speedy and skillful midfielder line, who soon managed to create a couple of goals. The 2XDecker slogan, written at the shoulderline of their jerseys (“We Do What We Want”) started to make some sense (though, only some -FIFA rules and whatnot…) as they bossed CSSC around the pitch. In the absence of regular starter Houndslow in the pipes, Bob Walden turned a couple of other chances away, but it wasn’t long before the skillful midfield and speedy strikers notched two more by the time 25 minutes had rolled by. CSSC had left a couple of chances on the table, but neutrals would probably agree that DD was dominating.
Not long after that, another long ball went cutting through the CSSC midfield to a DD striker alone with Van Penner at the back. Some very incidental contact just outside the peno box drew a foul, and, controversially, a red card for young Penner. After the longest walk-off in history, with the ref insisting that Penner leave the vicinity of the field, but failing to define “vicinity” with any clarity, resulting in some frustrated back-and-forth, the game resumed, CSSC adopting a defensively-minded 4-4-1 lineup, while Penner eventually found a shady tree to hide beneath.
The second half actually went better, though possibly because DD stepped off the pedal. Some stunning goalkeeping from 2nd half stand-in Ian Hudson kept the scoreline down to 1-0 over the half, and CSSC on the whole showed good composure, character, and restraint, as even with a commanding lead on their end, DD’s numbers 11 and 24 proved to be a chippy, snippy, ankle-kicking duo. A few more chances were created by some entrepreneurial fast-breaks worked by Walden and Robinson, even a man down, and the Doerksen brothers looked very comfortable in midfield. Deblonde, Sewart, Johnson, and Woolford proved a formidable and determined back four, so apart from one strange penalty chance (in which the ref deemed the shooter to have halted on his approach, resulting in no-goal despite the miss by third-string substitute goalie M. Hudson), DD did not threaten much in the second. However, with no goals produced, and 5 plucked out of their own net, the arithmetic was straightforward, and CSSC is out of the Bison Cup. “All the better,” say the fans. “Now we can concentrate on the league.”
Man of the Match: After some considerable debate at One Great City brewpub back in Winnipeg, MoM honours were awarded to…Andrew Woolford. He is really getting into that sweeper role and has played two barn-burners since being shifted off the wing into the centre. His winnings consist of a land-mine defusing kit and a free night’s stay at Bokor Hill Station for his upcoming trip to Cambodia. Congratulations, Andrew!
Veni Vedi Vici 4 - 3 CSSC
VVV has lived up to their name after getting promoted this year, going straight to the top of the table in an undefeated run that has crushed every team that was looking one division down at them this time last year. To add to CSSC's pregame worry, they were a bit short of defensive steel with Van Penner suspended, Riley DeBlonde taking care of the sick in Nelson House and Matt Loxley attending his brother (and CSSC alumni page super star) Salim Loxley's lavish wedding in some fancy castle in France. No half measures for that fellow.
VVV has some quick, skilled players who can keep the ball, but it was CSSC that jumped out to an early lead when Eli Robinson's long throw caught the VVV defense napping (it was a 10pm game). Hudson got to the byline and cut the ball back, causing an almighty scramble in front of the net, which eventually broke to Matt Trendotta, marauding up field from his right back spot in what safety-first defensive general Sean Brown would describe as "out of position," and Trendotta calmly slotted home. Stung into action, VVV took control of the game and evened the score when their number 13, who is an unfortunate combination of strong, fast and tricky, shouldered I. Hudson off the ball as easily as the Fabulous Freebirds (from Bad Street USA) tossed around Chris Pepper (really? sequined Confederate flags?), ran about 20 unmolested yards and hit a low 25 yard screamer into the bottom corner. Only a few minutes later a VVV free kick in a dangerous area took a deflection off a player in front, which deceived Hounslow in the CSSC goal. It was three in 20 quick minutes when VVV played an inswinging cross into that dangerous area between the keeper and onrushing forwards. The cross evaded everyone and nestled into the back of the net after kissing off the far post. The goals happened so quickly that CSSC had time to peg one back. Charaf headed a dangerous cross back across the box and, like Spider Man, goal poacher Walden arrived just in time to slot home from close range. 3-2 at the half and it should have been more. A VVV attacker weaved his way through the entire CSSC back line only to be thwarted at the last hurdle by a sprawling Hounslow. Then Walden was gifted the ball eight yards out from the VVV net but his attempt to nutmeg the keeper didn't quite come off. It's like we're playing some other sport that has more scoring. Not quite basketball, but nothing for the defensive purists to get excited about.
The second half featured a more modest amount of scoring but far more unfinished chances. CSSC was being pulled this way and that by rapid VVV passing and movement, but when they did get on the ball, the fast break was causing trouble. Eli Robinson and Jude DB were both put through, but Eli's ambitious attempt to chip the keeper fell about four feet short and DB's low, hard drive went just wide of the post. The comeback mountain looked a little harder to climb when VVV's speedy number 11 cut through the middle of the CSSC defense and slotted home. CSSC continued to chase the ball, but create chances the odd moment they actually managed to get it. Greg Boese nodded just wide of the VVV net from in very, very close, from a well delivered corner. With five minutes left, hope was again on the cards when Dylan Doerksen sliced his way through the middle of the park, and slotted the ball to DB who drove the ball in off the base of the near post from just outside the box. But that was as close as CSSC got. It was a weird game. CSSC probably deserved to lose. VVV had all the possession and often it seemed like CSSC were resorting to desperate defense, yet CSSC probably created more good chances.
Man of the Match: Tough to say given the massive amount of hands to the pump defending going on. However, Matt Trendotta covered an outrageous amount of ground and got CSSC off to a dream start with a well taken goal. If his claim at half time that "I'm not playing well" is true, CSSC can hardly wait until he starts performing to his own clearly very high expectations.
VVV has lived up to their name after getting promoted this year, going straight to the top of the table in an undefeated run that has crushed every team that was looking one division down at them this time last year. To add to CSSC's pregame worry, they were a bit short of defensive steel with Van Penner suspended, Riley DeBlonde taking care of the sick in Nelson House and Matt Loxley attending his brother (and CSSC alumni page super star) Salim Loxley's lavish wedding in some fancy castle in France. No half measures for that fellow.
VVV has some quick, skilled players who can keep the ball, but it was CSSC that jumped out to an early lead when Eli Robinson's long throw caught the VVV defense napping (it was a 10pm game). Hudson got to the byline and cut the ball back, causing an almighty scramble in front of the net, which eventually broke to Matt Trendotta, marauding up field from his right back spot in what safety-first defensive general Sean Brown would describe as "out of position," and Trendotta calmly slotted home. Stung into action, VVV took control of the game and evened the score when their number 13, who is an unfortunate combination of strong, fast and tricky, shouldered I. Hudson off the ball as easily as the Fabulous Freebirds (from Bad Street USA) tossed around Chris Pepper (really? sequined Confederate flags?), ran about 20 unmolested yards and hit a low 25 yard screamer into the bottom corner. Only a few minutes later a VVV free kick in a dangerous area took a deflection off a player in front, which deceived Hounslow in the CSSC goal. It was three in 20 quick minutes when VVV played an inswinging cross into that dangerous area between the keeper and onrushing forwards. The cross evaded everyone and nestled into the back of the net after kissing off the far post. The goals happened so quickly that CSSC had time to peg one back. Charaf headed a dangerous cross back across the box and, like Spider Man, goal poacher Walden arrived just in time to slot home from close range. 3-2 at the half and it should have been more. A VVV attacker weaved his way through the entire CSSC back line only to be thwarted at the last hurdle by a sprawling Hounslow. Then Walden was gifted the ball eight yards out from the VVV net but his attempt to nutmeg the keeper didn't quite come off. It's like we're playing some other sport that has more scoring. Not quite basketball, but nothing for the defensive purists to get excited about.
The second half featured a more modest amount of scoring but far more unfinished chances. CSSC was being pulled this way and that by rapid VVV passing and movement, but when they did get on the ball, the fast break was causing trouble. Eli Robinson and Jude DB were both put through, but Eli's ambitious attempt to chip the keeper fell about four feet short and DB's low, hard drive went just wide of the post. The comeback mountain looked a little harder to climb when VVV's speedy number 11 cut through the middle of the CSSC defense and slotted home. CSSC continued to chase the ball, but create chances the odd moment they actually managed to get it. Greg Boese nodded just wide of the VVV net from in very, very close, from a well delivered corner. With five minutes left, hope was again on the cards when Dylan Doerksen sliced his way through the middle of the park, and slotted the ball to DB who drove the ball in off the base of the near post from just outside the box. But that was as close as CSSC got. It was a weird game. CSSC probably deserved to lose. VVV had all the possession and often it seemed like CSSC were resorting to desperate defense, yet CSSC probably created more good chances.
Man of the Match: Tough to say given the massive amount of hands to the pump defending going on. However, Matt Trendotta covered an outrageous amount of ground and got CSSC off to a dream start with a well taken goal. If his claim at half time that "I'm not playing well" is true, CSSC can hardly wait until he starts performing to his own clearly very high expectations.
Grunthal 1 - 3 CSSC
Last year's trip out to Gruthal was a mixed experience. On one hand, the game was on the day of the town fair. The helicopter rides and horse shows added a real festive atmosphere to the big road trip. On the other hand, the soccer field was overtaken with horrible rooty weeds, making anything resembling footy on the deck completely impossible. This year, on a warm June evening, it was the reverse, the weeds have been removed, but so too was the helicopter. CSSC would have to make its own excitement.
Not that there was much of that in the first half. The fans who turned out in force to watch Grunthal battle out of their current position near the bottom of the table were wondering if they could get their money back after a first half that featured misplayed passes and optimistic through balls more than dribbling wizardry and goal mouth action. Both teams had in close attempts on goal but Gruthal pumped theirs over the bar after the most route one keeper's punt you'll ever care to see and Walden couldn't quite find the handle on an erratically bouncing ball when in clear on the Grunthal keeper. The closest the first half came to a goal was when I. Hudson took a pass out wide, cut inside his defender and hammered a shot off the outside of the post. The way it ruffled the back of the net confused the ref into immediately signalling for a goal, much to the understandable upset of the Grunthal team. When they insisted that the ref ask Hudson if it went it, he could not lie, although it did take him an outrageously long moment to spit out the goal denying truth.
The Grunthal fans were out of their seats early in the second half when a low cross found a tightly marked forward who took a very deft touch to clear the CSSC back line and rifle over Hounslow in goal. For much of the half it looked like CSSC wasn't going to get back in it. Jude DB had the best chance when he took a touch to settle a clearing header about 30 yards out and then hammered a dipping volley that rang the top of the bar. Things looked like they were winding down to a CSSC loss when tactical genius (and ace photographer of the slideshow below) Pete Hudson slotted Eli Robinson in at center mid. On his first touch, he received a square ball 25 yards out and smacked a right foot drive into the bottom corner. All fired up, Eli rampaged through the midfield, winning tackles and dominating in the air. He was so on fire that he didn't even wince after a bit of a skull cracking that required the expert medical skills of I. Hudson after the game (he's one of many useless kinds of doctors on the CSSC roster). Spurred by Eli's up and at 'em attitude, all of CSSC came to life. First Walden was sent through all alone on the Grunthal goal by a precise through ball from Kamal and he made no mistake, placing a low drive to the left of the keeper. Then Grunthal number 4 made the mistake of attempting to out argy bargy CSSC's champion of tugging and pulling. Kamal made him pay by shoving him aside, rounding the keeper, and slotting the ball in the empty net. Whoever said that two goals was the most dangerous lead doesn't know what they are talking about. It's so much more relaxing than one goal. CSSC may not have looked like much of a winner for 65 minutes, but they escaped Grunthal with all three points thanks to a bit of late game heroics.
Man of the Match: Andrew Woolford dropped into the sweeper role in the absence of Sean Brown and put in a wonderful shift. He not only covered up for many a missed assignment with well timed and crunching tackles, but he also showed well for team mates in trouble and played some intelligent balls out of the back. If it wasn't for the Eli's late game inspiration, Woolford would have walked away with the prize, but in a losing cause. There's no "I" in Woolford. He was more happy with the W for the team than sad at having Eli snatch the MotM from his deserving hands.
Last year's trip out to Gruthal was a mixed experience. On one hand, the game was on the day of the town fair. The helicopter rides and horse shows added a real festive atmosphere to the big road trip. On the other hand, the soccer field was overtaken with horrible rooty weeds, making anything resembling footy on the deck completely impossible. This year, on a warm June evening, it was the reverse, the weeds have been removed, but so too was the helicopter. CSSC would have to make its own excitement.
Not that there was much of that in the first half. The fans who turned out in force to watch Grunthal battle out of their current position near the bottom of the table were wondering if they could get their money back after a first half that featured misplayed passes and optimistic through balls more than dribbling wizardry and goal mouth action. Both teams had in close attempts on goal but Gruthal pumped theirs over the bar after the most route one keeper's punt you'll ever care to see and Walden couldn't quite find the handle on an erratically bouncing ball when in clear on the Grunthal keeper. The closest the first half came to a goal was when I. Hudson took a pass out wide, cut inside his defender and hammered a shot off the outside of the post. The way it ruffled the back of the net confused the ref into immediately signalling for a goal, much to the understandable upset of the Grunthal team. When they insisted that the ref ask Hudson if it went it, he could not lie, although it did take him an outrageously long moment to spit out the goal denying truth.
The Grunthal fans were out of their seats early in the second half when a low cross found a tightly marked forward who took a very deft touch to clear the CSSC back line and rifle over Hounslow in goal. For much of the half it looked like CSSC wasn't going to get back in it. Jude DB had the best chance when he took a touch to settle a clearing header about 30 yards out and then hammered a dipping volley that rang the top of the bar. Things looked like they were winding down to a CSSC loss when tactical genius (and ace photographer of the slideshow below) Pete Hudson slotted Eli Robinson in at center mid. On his first touch, he received a square ball 25 yards out and smacked a right foot drive into the bottom corner. All fired up, Eli rampaged through the midfield, winning tackles and dominating in the air. He was so on fire that he didn't even wince after a bit of a skull cracking that required the expert medical skills of I. Hudson after the game (he's one of many useless kinds of doctors on the CSSC roster). Spurred by Eli's up and at 'em attitude, all of CSSC came to life. First Walden was sent through all alone on the Grunthal goal by a precise through ball from Kamal and he made no mistake, placing a low drive to the left of the keeper. Then Grunthal number 4 made the mistake of attempting to out argy bargy CSSC's champion of tugging and pulling. Kamal made him pay by shoving him aside, rounding the keeper, and slotting the ball in the empty net. Whoever said that two goals was the most dangerous lead doesn't know what they are talking about. It's so much more relaxing than one goal. CSSC may not have looked like much of a winner for 65 minutes, but they escaped Grunthal with all three points thanks to a bit of late game heroics.
Man of the Match: Andrew Woolford dropped into the sweeper role in the absence of Sean Brown and put in a wonderful shift. He not only covered up for many a missed assignment with well timed and crunching tackles, but he also showed well for team mates in trouble and played some intelligent balls out of the back. If it wasn't for the Eli's late game inspiration, Woolford would have walked away with the prize, but in a losing cause. There's no "I" in Woolford. He was more happy with the W for the team than sad at having Eli snatch the MotM from his deserving hands.
Tri S 2 - 1 CSSC
There's a lot of talk about the effectiveness of walls these days. Donald Trump is hoping that a couple of metres of concrete will keep the foreign hordes, unable to either dig or climb, out of the promised land that is the USA! USA!. A gigantic ice wall was supposed to protect Westeros from the Wildlings and worse on Game of Thrones. It was, sort of, half a success. In soccer, walls are supposed to do the much more modest job of protecting one half of the net during direct free kicks. Yet, CSSC's porous wall could not even manage this. Imagine if the Night King was attacking.
The first half almost got off to a rousing CSSC start when Jude DB played I. Hudson through in the first couple of minutes but Hudson, steaming in off the left, ignored the orthodox play of shooting across the keeper and his near post drive was turned out for a corner. A couple of minutes later Charaf flicked on a long goal kick to send Eli sprinting so clear he had time to collect his thoughts, make his to do list for tomorrow, and then pump the ball wide of the post. The last big chance of the half fell to Tri S, but Hounslow made a highlight reel save, flinging himself low to the right to turn aside a well hit drive destined for the bottom corner.
The second half could not have started out better. I. Hudson managed to beat his defender out wide and cut the ball back to Eli, who intelligently laid it across the box to Walden whose low drive off the gigantic divot just in front of the Tri S keeper ended up in the best place for the ball, the back of the opposition net. Tri S equalized straight after. Wazoo was fouled trying to clear the ball just outside the CSSC box but it wasn't called and, predictably his niggly little return nudge to get the ball back was caught by the ref. The Tri S free kick man put his shot right in between the heads of the Hudson brothers in the CSSC wall and into the open side of the net. CSSC had many chances to take the lead back. I. Hudson and Jude DB pinged the bar. Dylan was put through but the keeper saved not only the first shot, but also the second and third with his apparently hard-to-beat legs. Charaf delightfully cushioned a Walden cross into the path of Jude DB, but his one time, left foot volley just cleared the bar. CSSC also had some scares. Hounslow had to go post to post to stop what looked like a sure tap in goal and M. Hudson volleyed an inswinging corner off his goal line. The killer blow came in the 90th minute when another free kick went over CSSC's either holey or short wall and into the net. Walls. It's hard to tell if this is a lesson on the uselessness of walls or the importance of effective walls. Maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happened.
Man of the Match: Another game in which CSSC didn't necessarily cover itself in glory, although some slightly better finishing would have made the drive home from Selkirk a bit more palatable. The best player in a red jersey was Van Penner, whose ability to both cover ground very quickly and win the ball when he gets where he's going was easily CSSC's most impenetrable line of defense. Far more impenetrable than the CSSC wall. His MotM prize was a free glass of water at the Merchant Kitchen while CSSC pondered the extent of the Raptors bandwagon. Conclusion: it's substantial.
There's a lot of talk about the effectiveness of walls these days. Donald Trump is hoping that a couple of metres of concrete will keep the foreign hordes, unable to either dig or climb, out of the promised land that is the USA! USA!. A gigantic ice wall was supposed to protect Westeros from the Wildlings and worse on Game of Thrones. It was, sort of, half a success. In soccer, walls are supposed to do the much more modest job of protecting one half of the net during direct free kicks. Yet, CSSC's porous wall could not even manage this. Imagine if the Night King was attacking.
The first half almost got off to a rousing CSSC start when Jude DB played I. Hudson through in the first couple of minutes but Hudson, steaming in off the left, ignored the orthodox play of shooting across the keeper and his near post drive was turned out for a corner. A couple of minutes later Charaf flicked on a long goal kick to send Eli sprinting so clear he had time to collect his thoughts, make his to do list for tomorrow, and then pump the ball wide of the post. The last big chance of the half fell to Tri S, but Hounslow made a highlight reel save, flinging himself low to the right to turn aside a well hit drive destined for the bottom corner.
The second half could not have started out better. I. Hudson managed to beat his defender out wide and cut the ball back to Eli, who intelligently laid it across the box to Walden whose low drive off the gigantic divot just in front of the Tri S keeper ended up in the best place for the ball, the back of the opposition net. Tri S equalized straight after. Wazoo was fouled trying to clear the ball just outside the CSSC box but it wasn't called and, predictably his niggly little return nudge to get the ball back was caught by the ref. The Tri S free kick man put his shot right in between the heads of the Hudson brothers in the CSSC wall and into the open side of the net. CSSC had many chances to take the lead back. I. Hudson and Jude DB pinged the bar. Dylan was put through but the keeper saved not only the first shot, but also the second and third with his apparently hard-to-beat legs. Charaf delightfully cushioned a Walden cross into the path of Jude DB, but his one time, left foot volley just cleared the bar. CSSC also had some scares. Hounslow had to go post to post to stop what looked like a sure tap in goal and M. Hudson volleyed an inswinging corner off his goal line. The killer blow came in the 90th minute when another free kick went over CSSC's either holey or short wall and into the net. Walls. It's hard to tell if this is a lesson on the uselessness of walls or the importance of effective walls. Maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happened.
Man of the Match: Another game in which CSSC didn't necessarily cover itself in glory, although some slightly better finishing would have made the drive home from Selkirk a bit more palatable. The best player in a red jersey was Van Penner, whose ability to both cover ground very quickly and win the ball when he gets where he's going was easily CSSC's most impenetrable line of defense. Far more impenetrable than the CSSC wall. His MotM prize was a free glass of water at the Merchant Kitchen while CSSC pondered the extent of the Raptors bandwagon. Conclusion: it's substantial.
CSSC 1 - 3 St James
Last game CSSC's crack management team was spoiled for choice with a substitute list as long as an uncomfortable stand up comedy act. Against league leaders St. James, an unexpected injury bug swept through the CSSC training facility like norwalk on a luxury cruise, laying low virtually the entire starting line up. As a result, CSSC was forced into fielding I. Hudson and his wire tight hamstring in a starting eleven that featured a four person midfield with a combined age of 200. St. James, on the other hand looked like it had put the entire population of west Portage in a blue uniform.
It couldn't have possibly started off any better or any easier for CSSC. Right from the kick off, CSSC pressure forced St James to play a ball back to its keeper who, in classic youtube style (minute 1:13), was unaware of Bob Walden sneaking up on his blindside. Walden stole the ball off the keeper's unsuspecting toe and rolled it into the empty net. 1 - 0 after about 30 seconds. A lead to defend. Unfortunately, CSSC's first half featured little more than defending even though they had a Buhler force wind at their backs. Despite some less than dynamic CSSC play, they only really conceded one good chance for the rest of the half and Hounslow in goal was equal to it when he plunged low to his right to turn a snap one time shot from in close around the post. On the downside, cucumber cool CSSC midfielder Kinsella went down with what the medical team has diagnosed as an injury to the groinal region.
Could the outnumbered CSSC hold on? The shut out was broken early in the half when a dangerous cross to the CSSC far post bounced awkwardly, forcing an under pressure defender to slice his clearance tragically to a St James forward, who could not miss the yawning net from a couple yards out. CSSC spirits were considerably lifted when Dylan Doerksen showed up on the sidelines straight from a shift at work to add a little speed and ball wizardry to the CSSC midfield. However, it was St. James that was putting on the pressure, pinning CSSC back and restricting them to attacking on the counter. St. James forced two clearances in quick succession when first Sean Brown and then Dylan cleared goal bound efforts out from under the shadow of their own cross bar. The lead was finally surrendered when a St. James cross would surely have been dealt with if Bruce Sewart had a single hair on his head. However, his preference for the smooth pate meant that rather than skimming off a luxurious fro and out for a corner, the ball just missed the top of his head and fell right at the feet of an all alone St James striker who also would have had trouble missing from a yard or two out. Stung into life by going behind, CSSC responded by creating three excellent chances, all of which fell to Walden. Tragically, he had one breakaway saved by the keeper, blasted another high after being nudged from behind, and the third cleared off the line after rounding the keeper. The nail in the coffin came when Hounslow slid out bravely to claim a through ball that took a nasty unpredictable hop over him and a the pressuring St James striker was left with an empty net tap in. Despite the fact that CSSC was on the back foot all game, they created as many good chances as their rivals and all three goals conceded were more self inflicted wounds than damaging opposition attacks.
Man of the Match: Last game the choice was difficult because of all round CSSC excellence. In this encounter, the judging committee had to choose the best of a bad bunch. Walden found the score sheet again and was dangerous on the break in the second half. Van Penner was his usual hard tackling self. However, the MotM goes to Dylan Doerksen and his commitment to hustle all the way out to Transcona after a long day at work to provide some spark to the CSSC midfield. It was his passing that sprung Walden to create pretty much all of CSSC's second half chances. Today's MotM prize is a lovely fruit basket from Freshco's quality produce department. Also a big congratulations to one of Kinsella's co workers who was out at the Yellow Dog celebrating her graduation from the BSW program at the U of M.
Last game CSSC's crack management team was spoiled for choice with a substitute list as long as an uncomfortable stand up comedy act. Against league leaders St. James, an unexpected injury bug swept through the CSSC training facility like norwalk on a luxury cruise, laying low virtually the entire starting line up. As a result, CSSC was forced into fielding I. Hudson and his wire tight hamstring in a starting eleven that featured a four person midfield with a combined age of 200. St. James, on the other hand looked like it had put the entire population of west Portage in a blue uniform.
It couldn't have possibly started off any better or any easier for CSSC. Right from the kick off, CSSC pressure forced St James to play a ball back to its keeper who, in classic youtube style (minute 1:13), was unaware of Bob Walden sneaking up on his blindside. Walden stole the ball off the keeper's unsuspecting toe and rolled it into the empty net. 1 - 0 after about 30 seconds. A lead to defend. Unfortunately, CSSC's first half featured little more than defending even though they had a Buhler force wind at their backs. Despite some less than dynamic CSSC play, they only really conceded one good chance for the rest of the half and Hounslow in goal was equal to it when he plunged low to his right to turn a snap one time shot from in close around the post. On the downside, cucumber cool CSSC midfielder Kinsella went down with what the medical team has diagnosed as an injury to the groinal region.
Could the outnumbered CSSC hold on? The shut out was broken early in the half when a dangerous cross to the CSSC far post bounced awkwardly, forcing an under pressure defender to slice his clearance tragically to a St James forward, who could not miss the yawning net from a couple yards out. CSSC spirits were considerably lifted when Dylan Doerksen showed up on the sidelines straight from a shift at work to add a little speed and ball wizardry to the CSSC midfield. However, it was St. James that was putting on the pressure, pinning CSSC back and restricting them to attacking on the counter. St. James forced two clearances in quick succession when first Sean Brown and then Dylan cleared goal bound efforts out from under the shadow of their own cross bar. The lead was finally surrendered when a St. James cross would surely have been dealt with if Bruce Sewart had a single hair on his head. However, his preference for the smooth pate meant that rather than skimming off a luxurious fro and out for a corner, the ball just missed the top of his head and fell right at the feet of an all alone St James striker who also would have had trouble missing from a yard or two out. Stung into life by going behind, CSSC responded by creating three excellent chances, all of which fell to Walden. Tragically, he had one breakaway saved by the keeper, blasted another high after being nudged from behind, and the third cleared off the line after rounding the keeper. The nail in the coffin came when Hounslow slid out bravely to claim a through ball that took a nasty unpredictable hop over him and a the pressuring St James striker was left with an empty net tap in. Despite the fact that CSSC was on the back foot all game, they created as many good chances as their rivals and all three goals conceded were more self inflicted wounds than damaging opposition attacks.
Man of the Match: Last game the choice was difficult because of all round CSSC excellence. In this encounter, the judging committee had to choose the best of a bad bunch. Walden found the score sheet again and was dangerous on the break in the second half. Van Penner was his usual hard tackling self. However, the MotM goes to Dylan Doerksen and his commitment to hustle all the way out to Transcona after a long day at work to provide some spark to the CSSC midfield. It was his passing that sprung Walden to create pretty much all of CSSC's second half chances. Today's MotM prize is a lovely fruit basket from Freshco's quality produce department. Also a big congratulations to one of Kinsella's co workers who was out at the Yellow Dog celebrating her graduation from the BSW program at the U of M.
Red Devils 0 – 3 CSSC
CSSC attendance shock! Such is the enthusiasm at the start of the new season that CSSC had no problem filling out its 18 player team sheet at the beginning of the game. CSSC’s crack scouting team returned from the Red Devils vs Veni Vidi Vici game with one take home message: “They’re a little bit dirty.”
CSSC’s scout didn’t lie. The early exchanges were characterized by a combination of CSSC misses and Devil fouls. CSSC chances were numerous but not put away. Bob Walden cut across the top of the box, creating space for what the bench anticipated would be a trademark rocket, but the ball disappointingly bobbled at the last minute, resulting in a bit of a slow roller easily snapped up by the keeper. Then Greg Boese, who was an absolute terrier all game, dug out a beautiful cross from the right that picked out Eli Robinson, whose header was saved by the well positioned tender. Adding insult to injury, Jude DB burst into the box and rounded his defender, who promptly clipped down the ready-to-shoot DB with a desperate sliding tackle. Despite the outrageously obvious nature of the foul, the ref was unmoved, a laissez faire indication that both teams (and especially the forceful CSSC defender Woolford) took advantage of the rest of the game. The Devil’s niggly fouls were so frequent that, after one particularly flagrant example, an enraged M. Hudson leapt off the bench in his flip flops and Hawaii T to remonstrate with the downed Devils player, “You’re a very dirty player,” he angrily and understated. His menacing tone is lost a little in print but the ref thought it was worth an off field yellow. Batman style, the best revenge is retribution, and before half Jude DB would get his by shouldering a Devil defender off the ball, sprinting clear on goal and slotting home to send the CSSC crowd into a delirium.
The second half CSSC got a real grip on the game. Matt Loxley, Dylan Doerksen and the rest of the CSSC midfield took the game by the scruff of the neck and started to push the Devils back. The fact that this dominance was not yielding scoreboard results was the cause of some nervousness on the CSSC bench until Loxley threaded a through ball to Walden who sprinted clear on goal and bent an unstoppable shot into the corner. Cue premature relaxation and joking on the CSSC bench, which got a nasty wakeup call when a Devil striker got in behind the CSSC defense and let fly an in close rocket that seemed destined for the CSSC goal until Jim Hounslow in the CSSC goal snaked out a strong arm and diverted the shot over the bar with a fantastic save. Jude sealed the points with his second of the night by latching on to Dylan’s delightful ball through the middle, holding off his defender and lifting the ball over the advancing keeper and into the net. Now that’s a relaxing scoreline to finish off the game.
Man of the Match: The entire CSSC squad, front to back put in a great performance. Hounslow made a show stopper save, the back line thwarted dangerous attacks time and again, the midfield was at its passing best and the forwards created some very dangerous chances. Matt Loxley has settled into his role as one person CSSC destroyer. There is not a single blade of grass on the field that has not been trampled by Loxley’s cleats in his game long pursuit of opposition attacks. On any other day, he would be an easy MotM, but DB’s two lovely goals and general excellence win him the award for today.
CSSC attendance shock! Such is the enthusiasm at the start of the new season that CSSC had no problem filling out its 18 player team sheet at the beginning of the game. CSSC’s crack scouting team returned from the Red Devils vs Veni Vidi Vici game with one take home message: “They’re a little bit dirty.”
CSSC’s scout didn’t lie. The early exchanges were characterized by a combination of CSSC misses and Devil fouls. CSSC chances were numerous but not put away. Bob Walden cut across the top of the box, creating space for what the bench anticipated would be a trademark rocket, but the ball disappointingly bobbled at the last minute, resulting in a bit of a slow roller easily snapped up by the keeper. Then Greg Boese, who was an absolute terrier all game, dug out a beautiful cross from the right that picked out Eli Robinson, whose header was saved by the well positioned tender. Adding insult to injury, Jude DB burst into the box and rounded his defender, who promptly clipped down the ready-to-shoot DB with a desperate sliding tackle. Despite the outrageously obvious nature of the foul, the ref was unmoved, a laissez faire indication that both teams (and especially the forceful CSSC defender Woolford) took advantage of the rest of the game. The Devil’s niggly fouls were so frequent that, after one particularly flagrant example, an enraged M. Hudson leapt off the bench in his flip flops and Hawaii T to remonstrate with the downed Devils player, “You’re a very dirty player,” he angrily and understated. His menacing tone is lost a little in print but the ref thought it was worth an off field yellow. Batman style, the best revenge is retribution, and before half Jude DB would get his by shouldering a Devil defender off the ball, sprinting clear on goal and slotting home to send the CSSC crowd into a delirium.
The second half CSSC got a real grip on the game. Matt Loxley, Dylan Doerksen and the rest of the CSSC midfield took the game by the scruff of the neck and started to push the Devils back. The fact that this dominance was not yielding scoreboard results was the cause of some nervousness on the CSSC bench until Loxley threaded a through ball to Walden who sprinted clear on goal and bent an unstoppable shot into the corner. Cue premature relaxation and joking on the CSSC bench, which got a nasty wakeup call when a Devil striker got in behind the CSSC defense and let fly an in close rocket that seemed destined for the CSSC goal until Jim Hounslow in the CSSC goal snaked out a strong arm and diverted the shot over the bar with a fantastic save. Jude sealed the points with his second of the night by latching on to Dylan’s delightful ball through the middle, holding off his defender and lifting the ball over the advancing keeper and into the net. Now that’s a relaxing scoreline to finish off the game.
Man of the Match: The entire CSSC squad, front to back put in a great performance. Hounslow made a show stopper save, the back line thwarted dangerous attacks time and again, the midfield was at its passing best and the forwards created some very dangerous chances. Matt Loxley has settled into his role as one person CSSC destroyer. There is not a single blade of grass on the field that has not been trampled by Loxley’s cleats in his game long pursuit of opposition attacks. On any other day, he would be an easy MotM, but DB’s two lovely goals and general excellence win him the award for today.
Southside 1 - 0 CSSC
CSSC was strong in terms of numbers, but without the creativity of Jude DB and Dylan Doerksen in mid and hard nosed Van Penner at the back, CSSC was not quite at full strength. The absence of Penner was especially important given that Southside's number 7 is likely the most feared striker in the division (who doesn't play for us. All our strikers are the most feared strikers in the division).
Perhaps it was the early 6:00 start time but CSSC started out with the lethargy of an office drone returning from a heavy lunch. Crossing center with something resembling possession of the ball looked an impossible task for CSSC's struggling starting 11. In contrast rascally number 7 was all action. After a few warning chances, he picked up the ball wide on left and set off in a sprint for goal, the collective efforts of Trendota and DeBlonde at the back managed to force him wide, but all this meant was that once he ran out of space at the end line, he reversed direction, dribbled back out to the top of the eighteen, took a couple of touches across the top of the box and blasted it into the net. Now that's a one person effort. Shortly after, he took a more directly rampaging route right through the middle, forcing sweeper Sean Brown to bring him crashing to the ground. Unfortunately, it was inside the penalty box. Strangely, Southside opted for a different shooter and he blasted wide. This was just the sort of inspiring let off that CSSC needed and the game started to swing, at least so says the Optistats touch map. However, there were only a couple of half chances to show for it. Time for the half time commercial break, featuring the greatest ever table top game: Subbuteo.
The second half was like the second half of the first half. Thanks to the graft of a hard working midfield, CSSC managed to dominate the ball but chances were few and far between. The all Moroccan strike partnership of K. Chioua and Charaoui managed to combine for some long range shots but they flew fairly harmlessly over the bar. After a bit of ball winning tenaciousness in the corner, Matt Loxley managed to dig out an excellent cross for returning winger M. Hudson but his lengthy rehab stint in Hawaii somehow tampered with his sense of direction (although it has done wonders for his tan), and his header screamed the wrong side of the post. The best chance was a bit of a fluke when a hopeful lob into a crowded box went between Charaoui's legs and skipped off the slick turf only to be desperately claimed by the finger tips of the keeper as it flew over his shoulder. In a game that CSSC probably shaded, one moment of magic made the result.
Man of the Match: Despite the disappointing result, the early kickoff time allowed a bumper crop to head back to the Grove to discuss where we would go for the much anticipated pub crawl (photos below) in honour of CSSC dancing and scoring legend Dan Davies (showing his best moves on the home page). Man of the match was clearly number 7 from Southside, but if we were only selecting from a CSSC list we would have to go with Riley DeBlonde, who turned many a dangerous Southside attack into CSSC possession with Beckenbauer like calm and crafty passing at the back.
CSSC was strong in terms of numbers, but without the creativity of Jude DB and Dylan Doerksen in mid and hard nosed Van Penner at the back, CSSC was not quite at full strength. The absence of Penner was especially important given that Southside's number 7 is likely the most feared striker in the division (who doesn't play for us. All our strikers are the most feared strikers in the division).
Perhaps it was the early 6:00 start time but CSSC started out with the lethargy of an office drone returning from a heavy lunch. Crossing center with something resembling possession of the ball looked an impossible task for CSSC's struggling starting 11. In contrast rascally number 7 was all action. After a few warning chances, he picked up the ball wide on left and set off in a sprint for goal, the collective efforts of Trendota and DeBlonde at the back managed to force him wide, but all this meant was that once he ran out of space at the end line, he reversed direction, dribbled back out to the top of the eighteen, took a couple of touches across the top of the box and blasted it into the net. Now that's a one person effort. Shortly after, he took a more directly rampaging route right through the middle, forcing sweeper Sean Brown to bring him crashing to the ground. Unfortunately, it was inside the penalty box. Strangely, Southside opted for a different shooter and he blasted wide. This was just the sort of inspiring let off that CSSC needed and the game started to swing, at least so says the Optistats touch map. However, there were only a couple of half chances to show for it. Time for the half time commercial break, featuring the greatest ever table top game: Subbuteo.
The second half was like the second half of the first half. Thanks to the graft of a hard working midfield, CSSC managed to dominate the ball but chances were few and far between. The all Moroccan strike partnership of K. Chioua and Charaoui managed to combine for some long range shots but they flew fairly harmlessly over the bar. After a bit of ball winning tenaciousness in the corner, Matt Loxley managed to dig out an excellent cross for returning winger M. Hudson but his lengthy rehab stint in Hawaii somehow tampered with his sense of direction (although it has done wonders for his tan), and his header screamed the wrong side of the post. The best chance was a bit of a fluke when a hopeful lob into a crowded box went between Charaoui's legs and skipped off the slick turf only to be desperately claimed by the finger tips of the keeper as it flew over his shoulder. In a game that CSSC probably shaded, one moment of magic made the result.
Man of the Match: Despite the disappointing result, the early kickoff time allowed a bumper crop to head back to the Grove to discuss where we would go for the much anticipated pub crawl (photos below) in honour of CSSC dancing and scoring legend Dan Davies (showing his best moves on the home page). Man of the match was clearly number 7 from Southside, but if we were only selecting from a CSSC list we would have to go with Riley DeBlonde, who turned many a dangerous Southside attack into CSSC possession with Beckenbauer like calm and crafty passing at the back.
CSSC 5 - 1 El Condor
All the talk pre match was about whether CSSC could cope with the large hole that had suddenly appeared in its defense with the absences of Matt Loxley, Riley DeBlonde and Sean Brown. In an effort to bolster the back line numbers Bob Walden generously agreed to drop back to sweeper from his more preferred striker position. Although the scoreline suggests a bit of an easy stroll, the game looked a lot more like an episode of the animated classic Hercules than an easy walk in the park.
In the inevitable first act of Hercules, some evil doer (Deadalus or the Mask of Vulcan) would release a beast (like the three headed hydra or Belayest Beast) to terrorize a town. Hercules would jump down from Olympus and, despite putting up a game effort, get a bit of a beating. CSSC looked good in the first 60 minutes of the game. Chances were being created, passes strung together and Walden was marshaling a defense that didn't allow a single shot on net. On the downside, a penalty was missed, breakaways put wide and tap in's squandered. The only mark on the scoreboard was a very scruffy one goal after Ian Hudson headed an attempted Condor clearance back into the mixer, which was scuffed goalward by Van Penner and slowly rolled over the line with the help of Charaf's wily diversionary tactics on the goal line. Then the beating. A rare moment of defensive confusion allowed Condor's super speedy number 8 to intercept a pass at center and race through on goal unhindered and he made no mistake. If ever 1 - 1 felt like a beating this was it.
But then, Eli Robinson quietly reached into his belt and put on his Hercules power ring. Fans of the campy 1960s animated classic will know what happens next. Eli went on an absolute rampage, scoring 4 (that's right 4) goals in 20 minutes. The first was a deft outside of the boot tap in from an accurate Devin Doerksen cross. The second came after he rumbled through the middle of the Condor defense, latched on to a delightful Greg Boese through ball and slotted home, the third a towering header from a Matt Trendota foray up the right wing. The goals were coming so fast, the fourth could not even be remembered, but it was probably pretty good.
Man of the Match: Have you been reading?
All the talk pre match was about whether CSSC could cope with the large hole that had suddenly appeared in its defense with the absences of Matt Loxley, Riley DeBlonde and Sean Brown. In an effort to bolster the back line numbers Bob Walden generously agreed to drop back to sweeper from his more preferred striker position. Although the scoreline suggests a bit of an easy stroll, the game looked a lot more like an episode of the animated classic Hercules than an easy walk in the park.
In the inevitable first act of Hercules, some evil doer (Deadalus or the Mask of Vulcan) would release a beast (like the three headed hydra or Belayest Beast) to terrorize a town. Hercules would jump down from Olympus and, despite putting up a game effort, get a bit of a beating. CSSC looked good in the first 60 minutes of the game. Chances were being created, passes strung together and Walden was marshaling a defense that didn't allow a single shot on net. On the downside, a penalty was missed, breakaways put wide and tap in's squandered. The only mark on the scoreboard was a very scruffy one goal after Ian Hudson headed an attempted Condor clearance back into the mixer, which was scuffed goalward by Van Penner and slowly rolled over the line with the help of Charaf's wily diversionary tactics on the goal line. Then the beating. A rare moment of defensive confusion allowed Condor's super speedy number 8 to intercept a pass at center and race through on goal unhindered and he made no mistake. If ever 1 - 1 felt like a beating this was it.
But then, Eli Robinson quietly reached into his belt and put on his Hercules power ring. Fans of the campy 1960s animated classic will know what happens next. Eli went on an absolute rampage, scoring 4 (that's right 4) goals in 20 minutes. The first was a deft outside of the boot tap in from an accurate Devin Doerksen cross. The second came after he rumbled through the middle of the Condor defense, latched on to a delightful Greg Boese through ball and slotted home, the third a towering header from a Matt Trendota foray up the right wing. The goals were coming so fast, the fourth could not even be remembered, but it was probably pretty good.
Man of the Match: Have you been reading?
CSSC 1 - 1 Superbia
As the two teams went through their warm up the snow was just beginning to drift down on the frozen rubber pellets that covered the turf of Shaunessy Park. In an effort to keep warm CSSC players were wearing a range of toasty clothing, from toques to full long johns that one fashionable commentator described as "lacking a consistent theme." The appropriately dressed CSSC fans, including long time defensive super star Stef Fischer, were all wondering where they might get a cup of delicious Bovril to ward off the unseasonable chill. To make matters worse, star striker Eli Robinson came down with a nasty case of the spring flu.
Despite the freezing temperatures, CSSC started out like a house on fire. After only 10 minutes a Van Penner corner picked out Ian Hudson, whose one time shot from about 15 yards hit the defender on the post smack on the head. More close calls were to follow in quick succession as Bob Walden was put through an impressive four times in which he shot: wide, cross bar down, inside post across the goal line, and straight down the keeper's throat. Pretty much every possible combination except in the back of the net. Then, disaster at the other end as a rare foray by Superbia resulted in the ref pointing to the penalty spot for an unknown, apparently off the ball foul. Keeper Jim Hounslow dove the right way, but couldn't keep out the well placed shot. Playing well but losing. Yet another case of injustice for Woolford and Meweuse to add to their genocide studies classes.
The second half featured a some very nice CSSC passing in midfield and an absolute lockdown by the CSSC back line of Trendota, Sewart, Penner and Woolford. Superbia were limited to one long range effort the entire half. However, at the other end chances were few and far between until Ian Hudson managed to create some space out on the wing to serve up an inviting cross that Kamal Chioua met with a text book downward header. The keeper managed to beat away the initial effort but, like all good strikers, Chioua was following up and tapped home. CSSC put on some solid pressure in an effort to get the season opening W, and created one more excellent chance when Charaf was sent through clean on goal but he screwed his shot over the bar. A draw wasn't really a fair representation of the play but it wasn't quite an injustice on a genocidal scale either.
Man of the Match: In the cozy warmth of Barn Hammer after the game, and in between serious consideration of Greg Boese's claim that Paul Rudd has "never made a bad movie" it was decided that, although Ian Hudson had a passable game for someone who had been eating nothing but croissants for five weeks and the entire back line was solid as a rock, the MotM would go to Impact Fitness and social media star Sean Brown, who was unbeatable at center back.
As the two teams went through their warm up the snow was just beginning to drift down on the frozen rubber pellets that covered the turf of Shaunessy Park. In an effort to keep warm CSSC players were wearing a range of toasty clothing, from toques to full long johns that one fashionable commentator described as "lacking a consistent theme." The appropriately dressed CSSC fans, including long time defensive super star Stef Fischer, were all wondering where they might get a cup of delicious Bovril to ward off the unseasonable chill. To make matters worse, star striker Eli Robinson came down with a nasty case of the spring flu.
Despite the freezing temperatures, CSSC started out like a house on fire. After only 10 minutes a Van Penner corner picked out Ian Hudson, whose one time shot from about 15 yards hit the defender on the post smack on the head. More close calls were to follow in quick succession as Bob Walden was put through an impressive four times in which he shot: wide, cross bar down, inside post across the goal line, and straight down the keeper's throat. Pretty much every possible combination except in the back of the net. Then, disaster at the other end as a rare foray by Superbia resulted in the ref pointing to the penalty spot for an unknown, apparently off the ball foul. Keeper Jim Hounslow dove the right way, but couldn't keep out the well placed shot. Playing well but losing. Yet another case of injustice for Woolford and Meweuse to add to their genocide studies classes.
The second half featured a some very nice CSSC passing in midfield and an absolute lockdown by the CSSC back line of Trendota, Sewart, Penner and Woolford. Superbia were limited to one long range effort the entire half. However, at the other end chances were few and far between until Ian Hudson managed to create some space out on the wing to serve up an inviting cross that Kamal Chioua met with a text book downward header. The keeper managed to beat away the initial effort but, like all good strikers, Chioua was following up and tapped home. CSSC put on some solid pressure in an effort to get the season opening W, and created one more excellent chance when Charaf was sent through clean on goal but he screwed his shot over the bar. A draw wasn't really a fair representation of the play but it wasn't quite an injustice on a genocidal scale either.
Man of the Match: In the cozy warmth of Barn Hammer after the game, and in between serious consideration of Greg Boese's claim that Paul Rudd has "never made a bad movie" it was decided that, although Ian Hudson had a passable game for someone who had been eating nothing but croissants for five weeks and the entire back line was solid as a rock, the MotM would go to Impact Fitness and social media star Sean Brown, who was unbeatable at center back.
AC Riot 2 - 2 CSSC (CSSC win on penalties)
A big thank you to long time reader, occasional contributor, Andrew Woolford for the comparison laden match report.
{Spoiler alert. Don’t read if you have not seen Season 8 episode 3 of GoT - that's Game of Thrones to the non nerds}
{Also, warning, this may be the nerdiest, and most overdone, write up of all time}
On the first evening of the Bison Cup, winter refused to leave. Like an army of the dead, the Winkler-based AC Riot squad, recently raised from division 7 to 5 by a simple lift of the league president’s hands [image of night king raising dead], were out early for a team warm up. In sharp contrast, a ragged CSSC squad, brought together by team mystic Colin “three-eyed raven” Kinsella, followed their more haphazard routine, which involved a lot of character and plot development, but not much in the way of practical preparation.
At game time, the speed of the Riot team was evident. But the CSSC defensive squad held their line. As night gathered, their watch began. Like the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, these brave men turned back attack after attack from the tumultuous mob of AC Rioters. Jim “John Snow” Hounslow, who made the required saves when called upon, led their watch. All the while, Sean “Jeor” Brown, Matt “Edd” Trendotta, Van “Grenn” Penner, Riley “Pyp” De Blond, Tyler “Benjen” Johnson, and Maester Bruce faced the darkness with courage.
The CSSC passing game, however, was slow to emerge and early advances were squandered. Nonetheless, leading the troops, Matt “Arya” Loxley, Dylan “Theon” Doerksen, Devon “Gendry” Doerksen, protected the midfield from counter attack, while Andrew “Samwell” Woolford ran around in a panic. Eventually, forays were made by the impressive midfield. Jude “Podrick” Dimand Bauer made excellent runs and won the ball against bigger foes, despite playing on one leg. Greg “Grey Worm” Boese was unsullied in his work, feeding a nice ball to Eli “Jorah” Robinson, who fired the opening goal, all in praise of the Mother of Dragons.
The defensive wall was breached at the beginning of the second half. Wave after wave of AC Rioters proved that the heretofore insurmountable fortification was indeed surmountable. A mad scramble, after a few attempted clearings, led to a goal that some on the sideline felt to be offside (though, the honorable voice of John “Ned” Loxley suggested otherwise). Soon thereafter, what may have been an attempted Riot cross found just the right weight to sail above the keeper’s head like a zombie dragon on the hunt.
The doorway seemed open for an AC Riot rampage. But for the heroics of one man, all may have been lost. Yelling “Hold the door!” “Hold the door!” Kamal (k AH – m ehl) took a lovely through ball from Matt Loxley and slotted one past the Riot keeper.
This “winning” goal brought the teams to a final stand-off – penalty kicks. The leaders stepped up for the kicks. Bob “the king slayer” Waldon, Eli “Jorah” Robinson, and Charaf “of Tarth” Charaoui provided unflinching finishes. Then came the moment for Jim “John Snow” Hounslow to face the Night King. With a clever read on the Night King’s lead-up, he dove to his left and swatted the attempt away. This created room for Matt “Arya” Loxley to swoop in as the unexpected hero, who stabbed the final kick in for a CSSC victory.
The small council met post game to praise the seven and drink ale. Amidst our discussions, many names were put forward for Man of the Match (aka, Azor Ahai). Matt Loxley was named a candidate, and others such as Charaf, Kamal, Eli, Matt Trendota, and Van were noted for their contributions. But this is the story of the future king, and Jim “Aegon/John Snow” Hounslow was the council’s choice.
A big thank you to long time reader, occasional contributor, Andrew Woolford for the comparison laden match report.
{Spoiler alert. Don’t read if you have not seen Season 8 episode 3 of GoT - that's Game of Thrones to the non nerds}
{Also, warning, this may be the nerdiest, and most overdone, write up of all time}
On the first evening of the Bison Cup, winter refused to leave. Like an army of the dead, the Winkler-based AC Riot squad, recently raised from division 7 to 5 by a simple lift of the league president’s hands [image of night king raising dead], were out early for a team warm up. In sharp contrast, a ragged CSSC squad, brought together by team mystic Colin “three-eyed raven” Kinsella, followed their more haphazard routine, which involved a lot of character and plot development, but not much in the way of practical preparation.
At game time, the speed of the Riot team was evident. But the CSSC defensive squad held their line. As night gathered, their watch began. Like the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, these brave men turned back attack after attack from the tumultuous mob of AC Rioters. Jim “John Snow” Hounslow, who made the required saves when called upon, led their watch. All the while, Sean “Jeor” Brown, Matt “Edd” Trendotta, Van “Grenn” Penner, Riley “Pyp” De Blond, Tyler “Benjen” Johnson, and Maester Bruce faced the darkness with courage.
The CSSC passing game, however, was slow to emerge and early advances were squandered. Nonetheless, leading the troops, Matt “Arya” Loxley, Dylan “Theon” Doerksen, Devon “Gendry” Doerksen, protected the midfield from counter attack, while Andrew “Samwell” Woolford ran around in a panic. Eventually, forays were made by the impressive midfield. Jude “Podrick” Dimand Bauer made excellent runs and won the ball against bigger foes, despite playing on one leg. Greg “Grey Worm” Boese was unsullied in his work, feeding a nice ball to Eli “Jorah” Robinson, who fired the opening goal, all in praise of the Mother of Dragons.
The defensive wall was breached at the beginning of the second half. Wave after wave of AC Rioters proved that the heretofore insurmountable fortification was indeed surmountable. A mad scramble, after a few attempted clearings, led to a goal that some on the sideline felt to be offside (though, the honorable voice of John “Ned” Loxley suggested otherwise). Soon thereafter, what may have been an attempted Riot cross found just the right weight to sail above the keeper’s head like a zombie dragon on the hunt.
The doorway seemed open for an AC Riot rampage. But for the heroics of one man, all may have been lost. Yelling “Hold the door!” “Hold the door!” Kamal (k AH – m ehl) took a lovely through ball from Matt Loxley and slotted one past the Riot keeper.
This “winning” goal brought the teams to a final stand-off – penalty kicks. The leaders stepped up for the kicks. Bob “the king slayer” Waldon, Eli “Jorah” Robinson, and Charaf “of Tarth” Charaoui provided unflinching finishes. Then came the moment for Jim “John Snow” Hounslow to face the Night King. With a clever read on the Night King’s lead-up, he dove to his left and swatted the attempt away. This created room for Matt “Arya” Loxley to swoop in as the unexpected hero, who stabbed the final kick in for a CSSC victory.
The small council met post game to praise the seven and drink ale. Amidst our discussions, many names were put forward for Man of the Match (aka, Azor Ahai). Matt Loxley was named a candidate, and others such as Charaf, Kamal, Eli, Matt Trendota, and Van were noted for their contributions. But this is the story of the future king, and Jim “Aegon/John Snow” Hounslow was the council’s choice.