Another season, another roller-coaster ride...
After last week's one-goal nail-biter against Studz, we had another close-one against BOC this week. There was some crappy team talk about finally finding our mojo, ending the season on a winning note, building momentum for the next season and seeking revenge against a team that shouldn't have beaten us in the first leg.
We started off with a 4-5-1 and pressed them somewhat effectively on the small pitch. With Sandro and D-Cheung patrolling the middle of the park, Garrito, Nate and Ced found themselves with some decent passes to run onto. BOC resorted to long ball after long ball which Bear and Ikes dealt with easily. Shiuy and Kettz closed down the flanks with aplomb and Mullenz commanded his box by cleaning up the long balls that sailed over our back four. BOC decided to put their best player (a 6-foot-2 black dude) in goal and he made a few timely catches and saves from corners and crosses.
When a hail mary from D-Cheung mortared into their box, the BOC keeper went up for it and a few of his teammates ran into him. He dropped it behind him and the Fellas resident ghetto superstar was in the right place at the right time for a tap in. D-Cheung begged for the assist so we gave it to him as he has the dubious honor of most number of games (34) without a goal or assist. For reference sake, the only other player to play 30 or more games without a goal or assist is Mullenz who has not played outfield once this season.
Alessio, making his Legal League debut, came on for Kettz to add some long-legged Italian steel and speed to our defense. The first half petered out and the half-time team talk revolved around finishing the game off in the first 10 to 15 minutes of the second half with some high-octane pressing. We brought on our speed demon duo of Spenny and Leo for Sandro and Nate and continued pressuring the BOC defense. We had a couple more chances to score a second but in typical Fellas fashion, we failed to find the net. That said, BOC was nowhere near threatening us in the second half aside from a few corners that Mullenz cleaned up or the momentary lapse between Bear and Ikes who decided to play monkey in the middle, and lost the ball, in our own box. Mullenz, who shall henceforth be nicknamed the Janitor, once again cleaned up after his center-backs. The game's rhythm remained the same so we brought Mark into the center of the midfield, as Garrito took a
break, to help close out the game.
As the final whistle blew and handshakes were exchanged between both teams, one couldn't help but feel the bittersweetness of a roller-coaster season that saw us atop the league table at one point, lose to a bottom-feeder team, bounce back into contention, go on a four/five game slide after losing our top two scorers, and then come back with a vengeance to end the season with a pair of hard-fought and deserved victories.
Special shout-out to Fellas such as Bulldawg and Raz who have shown up to more games (and even trainings) than some of our non-retired/non-injured players. If that doesn't embody the Fellas spirit, then this humble narrator is not sure what would.
Looking forward to another Space Mountain-like season...
