October 9, 2011 Game

Mamma Zu vs Glanville TIE

TIE

We know it all too well. It is a point. A positive point.

We passed the ball well, controlled it the majority of the time. One goofy goal on a set play. Bad luck. We had awesome production from the old guard. James with some awesome footwork to get free and see a streaming Cosmin for the tie goal.

Their goalie was fantastic. We shot right at him a lot, but there were some saves he made that were unreal. He kept them in it till the end and we were peppering them with shots and pressuring them till the whistle.

I dont even want to have a vote on refs this week. Although they did make some good offside calls for us. I wish his vision was better for the deliberate hand ball and the cleat first slide tackle on me, or the multiple other non-calls that were boggling. But we need to make it happen on the pitch. We must know we cant wait for them.

We will meet next week for a scrim with our team for a practice.

Next opponent Lions United. Another chance to overcome previous tie games. After last season we almost tied every game. So we need to break the tradition with them.

September 18, 2011 Game

September 11, 2011 Game

mamma Zu vs reQuire group

Tie 2-2

oh how lonely that first word is. It can be joyous when a team is behind and saves a loss. The other team was able to feel that. While we feel the burn of the tie. We have been there before. Loosing a win in the last seconds. We need to work on that. It was both an unlucky goal and preventable. They hustled it. And they gained themselves a point and took two away from us. So ties are positive. We did not loose. We played well against them and they struggled. They were a man down. Our passing was able to keep us in the game, but it was close the whole match.We would have needed a two goal buffer to feel confident for the win. We will have to learn to keep the ball away from them with a lead late in the game. Think about how we can do it differently for the future. It will likely rear it's ugly head again this season. We need to over come that. But it was a team loss guys. And blame lies squarely here. Let's keep the finger pointing at me. It is more constructive.

Some good things to see were our tenacity of not giving up. We had some strings of good plays through out the match. Both goals coming from PKs attributed to Eric are what we needed at the right moments. I gave Alex the assist because he unselfishly gave Eric the PK's and he caused the penalties.

One of the shining moments of the game were when a player came late and there were Jersey's short for the amount of players. Brendan volunteered his jersey so that player could play. He sacrificed for the team yet again. I am sure the reason was the same as last time, when Brendan came off the field after 7 minutes and I said you just got out there, and he said "I want to win". I started tearing up. Well, not in front of you guys, but we need to thank Brendan for the sportsmanship award. I also felt bad about the limited playing time some of us had, including me. Dermot was injured, not serious but I was remiss about not getting him time. Some of this will shake out when we have less players for certain games as I know this is going to happen in this schedule we have. Hang in there.

I have an order for a few extra jerseys in at Strictly Soccer. Also, I want to get new socks. I will get a price but Mamma Zu will probably not pay for them, so if you want a set of socks, we will have to buy them on our own.

OK, some negatives. The refs were pretty good but they did miss some fouls that I thought were very dangerous. Alex got seriously bruised with an egg on the shin. Josh was clobbered and was down for a few counts with bloody lip. I just scrubbed out the blood from his jersey. Andy got clobbered as well and hurt his ribs but was able to come back. I am sure it will hurt tomorrow. Jay got nailed on that last goal. These guys played rough. The only one I felt was bad was Josh but I don't think it was malicious. The one guy playing defense started telling the line judge after they gave a red card for the hand ball, that he should put a white jersey on. He kept it up and he got a yellow. Then they scored, so it made that last goal taste all the more bitter. I think we deserved to win, but earned a tie. I have a feeling the other team felt robbed with the PKs but both would have been goals.

So I will leave you with this.

It is good to have Bill back from his injury.

It is good to have Celbin for Jay's replacement.

It is good we have a point instead of none.

It is a good bunch of guys we play with, so lets keep it even keeled.

Looking forward:

Date Time Field Team

10/9/2011 3:00 PM Bryan Park "C" Glanville FC

10/16/2011 BYE Most likely a scrim

10/23/2011 9:00 AM Bryan Park "A" Lions United

10/30/2011 1:00 PM Dorey Park #3 Sticky Rice

11/6/2011 3:00 PM Dorey Park #6 Capital Ale FC I

11/13/2011 1:00 PM Bryan Park "C" Morelos

More schedule to come *cup games?

Pete's Mom vs Mamma Zu 4-1 win

Well, it looks like Pete's Mom forgot to pack the orange slices this week. I was a little worried about this team. They spanked Lion's 8-2 last week, who have been a good competitor over the years. I think we Tie them every time except for once when we beat them 4-1. Pete's was at a full 11 at the whistle and soon went to 10 when a player went down with injury. We had a full squad of hungry hippos for goals. We passed well and we seemed to gel once we settled in. We wore out the other team by the end of the first half. It was 1-1 tie though and we had to climb back. We had the olde "talk" at half time and made adjustments and ran them even more. We started to finish. Eric had 2 goals and an assist. Production. We had Kevin Carter back on the squad and he added some spark. His altercation with one of their players should have resulted in a yellow for the other guy after Kevin was shoved right in front of the ref. Jay in goal did not get much workout, and after securing a win for our Mamma Zu Tu brethren the game before, he was happy to have a walk in the park. The slant on the field Dorey Park #6 seemed more extreem (7 degree grade?) and the sidelines were very narrow, but did not make a difference to us. We passed well and finished well and had an enjoyable romp on the pitch.
I got a chance to possibly socre and the whole team was looking for some forward to pass me the ball in front of the net, as I streamed down the field in gazelle fashion. I also just wanted to prove i could still run.
Good job defense, we shut down some talented but one demensional players. I also want to give props to the mids for support of the D and moving the ball and getting fine assists to the forwards. Guys at the top, you did what you do best, put it in the back of the net.
I will attribute the final goal to the deserving player if someone can update the old man to the rightful owner.

Next up, our nemisis Glanville in 9 days on an 8:30 tuesday night. Strange things happen at night. Let's let it be strange for the opposition this time

Mamma Zu vs La Flamma Blanca

WIN 5-3

First game of the season posts a win for the Zuers. Sweet showing for our first game. New players Bill, Eric and Joshua made contributions to the win as well as everyone on the team playing their roll.
After a moment of silence for 9/11 we went on to a roller coaster ride. Trading scores with an iron man team of 11 for Blanca, we wore the team down with subs and ball possession and strong finishing. Bill scored in his first game with us and Eric scored 2 and Les with his uncanny ability to find the back of the net in clutch moments put us ahead. Joshua scored as well. 2 assists go to Paul M and Alex posted one as well.

Up next, Pete's mom, a talented team from the 5th division making their way to 3rd. They have to come through us. Let's make it a game.

MJD