Sunday, May 31, 2009

Astoria Gaels vs. Gotham Argo

Astoria Gaels 2 - 2 Gotham Argo
Randall's Island field #74
Time: 10am (game didn't kickoff until 10:37am)

----- match report by Troy Strike

The game kicked off even before the whistle blew, the referee showed a red card for one of the Astoria Gaels for allegedly pulling his pants down and ‘mooning’ the ref. "Believe it or not" was the theme of the game as throughout the match there were very strange & bizarre decisions which left both teams completely baffled? Unfortunately, the pre-game ‘clap up’ as they do in Gridiron (American Football) didn’t help as it wasn’t one of Argo’s best games. However, to everyone’s credit we all battled hard to earn a 2-2 draw coming back from 2-0 down in the first half.

Kevin Gordon scored first to start the mighty comeback in the 2nd half! About 15 mins later, the referee pointed for a free-kick in favor of Astoria Gaels but then he pointed the other way in our favor leaving the opposition flat footed and off guard. Jeremy Newton got the ball and was like a thief in the night, pinching the 2nd goal. 2-2 is where it ended unfortunately as we had shots after shots but the ball just wouldn’t go in (I don’t think we could of even scored in a brothel – so to speak) Their goalkeeper was an outfield player who got injured and was limping around the goal like and they had a man down towards the end so frustrating we didn’t win but we showed alot of ticker to come back and draw.

The End.

Ps – We had Jim Beck play for us from Gotham Silver, he had a great game and was putting in some big tackles until he got ‘kicked in the nut’ (his words, not mine) and proceeded to become the Incredible Hulk! He was the typical Bruce Banner type, mild mannered and polite but once agitated he turned green and became super human so beware those who come across his rage! Long live the raaaaaaaaaagggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

NYC Sirens vs. Rovers II

NYC Sirens 0 - 3 Barnstonworth Rovers II
Pier 40 Courtyard East
Time: 9pm

----- match report by Amelia Manderscheid

The Sirens matched up against the Barnstorm Rovers in team described "perfect soccer weather" on Sunday May 17th at 9:00 p.m. The Sirens unfortunately were down one player for the duration of the game, but evenly matched the Rovers even so. The Rovers got their first shot of the game in early, and the match play was competitive for the duration of the half as the Sirens worked to get one back. Unfortunately, the Rovers found the back of the net in the second half and were able to score 2 more goals. Although the Rovers won 3-0, the Sirens wondered what the result could have been if they had had a full squad for the game.

Barnstonworth Rovers vs. Gotham Argo

s u n d a y * m a y . 1 7 * 2 0 0 9
Barnstonworth Rovers 2 - 1 Gotham Argo
Randall's Island field #75
time: 3:45pm

----- match report by Gaspar Epstein

On a chilly Sunday afternoon, a mixed squad comprised of both Gotham Argo players and their Argo Silver kin came out to Ward’s Island to take on a tough Barnstonworth Rovers team. The Argonauts had their work cut out for them from the get-go due to a lack of subs.

The Rovers took charge of the game early by surprising the Argonauts with a fairly well-organized attack. This being said, Argo’s backline of Pete Hahn (left back), James Whiteley (sweeper), Luciano Belizan (stopper), and Jon Furie (right back) stood their ground and turned away each Rover attack.

Argo’s midfielders (Tim Olson, Momo Diop, Jim Beck, and Kevin Gordon) took a few minutes to get their rhythm going as they had to focus primarily on their defensive duties throughout the first 10 minutes of the game. Nevertheless, they soon got some nice passes off to one another and managed to feed strikers Jeremy “Schroeder” Newton and Gaspar Epstein on several occasions. Despite the fact that the Rovers controlled the ball throughout the majority of the first half, none of their shots were able to get past Argo’s monster keeper, Elliot Gilmore.

First blood would be drawn by the Argonauts when Kevin carried the ball down the right flank and threaded a beautiful cross right inside the 18 to Jim, who slotted the ball into the lower left corner of the net. Times were good as the Argonauts closed out the half with a surprising 1-0 lead.

That lead, however, was to evaporate within the first 10 minutes of the second half when the Rovers scored on what was a chaotic scene in the box, which was created shortly after a free kick outside of the box.

Later in the half, Elliot made an absolutely breath-taking, diving save up into the upper right corner of the net to keep the score even. Unfortunately, the Rovers were able to take advantage of a tiring Argo squad and continued to their attack. Their persistence was rewarded when they netted a second goal roughly half way through the second half.

The Argonauts, however, were not to be denied so easily. In the remaining minutes of the game, James was sent up to strike alongside Jeremy. This dangerous tandem created several scoring chances and induced many corner kicks that helped give the Argonauts a fighting chance. Right towards the end of the game, James let off a blistering shot, which the Rover’s goalie somehow managed to block. Alas, the game ended in a 2-1 defeat, but the Argonauts came off the field with their head’s held high!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Gotham Argo vs. SC Eintracht

Gotham Argo 4 - 2 SC Eintracht
Location: Pier 40
Time: 9pm

----- match report by Uri Itkin

THE SWEET SONG OF VICTORY

A day after the sixty-fourth anniversary of the end of the second World War, the Gotham fans gathered together on a beautiful New York evening to watch their beloved Argonauts take on the feared and uber German SC Eintracht. Drawing its origins from the Bundesrepublic, the Queens-based Eintracht brings machine-like precision and horde-like aggression. It was going to be a vicious match-up, and the Argonauts knew they would have their hands full, trying to reign in the aptly nicknamed Mercedes-Benz of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. As the night unfolded, the Gotham fans got exactly what they desired - a battle of grit and gristle, an instant classic.

The Argonauts arrived early, and their focus immediately permeated the locker room like the heavy smell of Bengay. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the players got down to business. They warmed up and went over the last minute strategery briefings from their esteemed manager, Dana P. Dimon. Soon after the formalities were over, the starting line-up was given and the teams took the field. The Argonauts fielded an experienced squad with Schroeder in goal, Troy Strike and Jon Furie on the outside, Wonder Will Henderson as stopper and James the Samurai anchoring the defense, Uri the Dart and Ryan the Riot on the midfield flanks, Momo and Gaspar strafing the middle, and Rocket Sam and Bruno the Beast gunning for goal.

The opening minutes saw the teams test each other out, like a pair of experienced boxers in the first round of a prize bout. The Argonauts looked sharp and their confidence grew with every minute. The team's hard work paid off as Troy found the back of the net when he collected a loose ball at the top of the box and one timed a well-directed volley into the upper right corner. The Argonauts were up a goal and did not look back for the rest of the half - the team continued its onslaught of the struggling Queens side and the game looked to be all but over.

The second half saw a revitalized Eintracht squad, however. The Trachteans, having learned from their mistakes of the first half, were determined to give the Argonauts a good fight. Their aggressiveness, though, almost cost them a goal as an over-zealous defender forgot he was playing soccer and not his native game of handball, and handled the ball inside the box. The ref whistled for a penalty, and Rocket Sam arrived at the penalty spot accompanied by a panoply of vile curses emanating from the Eintracht goal line, like the fountains of the Bellagio. But the celebration was not to be, as Sam's shot bounced off the right post and was cleared away by the dutiful Trachtean defense. The game took a turn for the worse, as the typically tepid-tempered Troy, flashed back to his beloved judo days, and performed a textbook takedown of a Trachtean forward inside the box. The penalty shot went left, Schroeder dove right, and the game was tied.

Yet the fun was just beginning. The Argonauts caught on to the vaunted German long ball kickaroo, and were quickly back in control of the action. Having worked the ball down the sideline, Troy was once again involved in the play, this time as a victim of a nasty Trachtean ankle hack. After Uri curled a wicked free kick across the face of the goal, Kevin missed a flying bicycle volley sending the ball across the box and ensuing confusion inside the 18 yard line. In for the injured French Beast, Risque Ricardo showed off his nose for the goal by splitting the Queens D, like a knife through a warm butter, and nailing the ball into the lower right corner of the goal. The Eintracht goalie went on yet another expletive-filled tirade and the Argonauts were up again. The advantage did not last long as the Queens side soon managed to break away from the speedy Gotham defenders and put another ball past the diving Schroeder.

A serene calm took over the Gotham side. The Argonauts were at a crossroads: they could either fold and take the tie, and quite possibly a loss seeing that Eintracht had found its second wind, or they could gather what energy they had left and rip the victory out of fate's white-knuckle-tight grip. To the fans' sonorous elation, the team chose the second, more honorable path. The Samurai, having just returned from training his young apprentice, Christiano Ronaldo, sparked the victory run with a gravity defying superblast from inside his own half, sending the ball at incredible pace, through the diving Queens goalkeeper's hands and just under the crossbar, into the back of the unguarded net. The proverbial gauntlet had been flung across Eintracht's battered face, but the Queens side failed to answer the challenge.

As the game wound down, Eintracht continued its futile attempts at the Gotham goal, as Schroeder buoyed the defense and together they formed an impermeable wall around the Argo net. The Argonauts sealed their fate as the Dart intercepted an errand pass and delivered the ball to Rocket Sam, who blew past a defender and buried a shot, past the diving pottymouth Eintracht goalkeeper, into the lower right corner of the goal. The game was over and the Argonauts celebrated their third consecutive win of the season. The tired warriors victoriously returned to their side amid the thunderous applause of the stadium. How sweet it is, oh victory song.

game roster for gotham argo 5.10.2009:
GOAL * Jeremy "Schroeder" Newton
DEFENSE * Troy Strike, Jon "the fury" Furie, "Wonder" Will Henderson,
.............James "the samurai" Whiteley, James Coppack
MIDFIELD * Uri "the dart" Itkin, Ryan "the riot" Gemmell, Mouhamadou "Momo" Diop,
.............Gaspar Epstein, Kevin Gordon
STRIKERS * Sammy "Rocket Sam" Sneed, Bruno "the beast" Dupont,
............."Risque" Ricardo Cuesta

GOALS: Troy Strike (15th minute), Ricardo Cuesta (68th minute), James Whiteley (76th minute), Sammy Sneed (88th minute)

Tesoro FC vs. Argo Silver

S U N D A Y * M A Y 1 0 * 2 0 0 9
Tesoro 2 - 0 Argo Silver
Randall's Island field #74
Time: 10am

----- match report by Daniel Clemente

It was a sunny, very windy morning at Randall's Island field number 74.

Argo Silver was playing as the away team against the Tesoro FC.

The starting team was,
***********************************[Elliot Gilmore]***********************************
****************Peter Hahn * Rob Tsai * Jim Beck * Tim Olson****************
**Victor Alamo-Bethencourt * Ian Palmer * Daniel Clemente * Carlos Wesley**
******************Simon Wheeldon * "Brooklyn" Rob McCarthy******************
Bench : Ryan Kampe and Luciano Belizan

The game started with no clear dominant team we both were not playing in the middle to much, it was more of a defense to forward football, Simon was managing to bring down most of the balls cleared by Elliot but our second pass was not the best. Then Argo had a very clear chance that Rob could not materialize on a break away, Simon made him a pass to the open field and Rob could not curve the ball enough to the goal when the goalie was all ready beaten, bad luck.Tesoro did manage to take a little more control of the ball toward the end of the first half, but they did not have any clear chances, there forwards could not manage to pass the Argo's very fast defense and the fast Elliot that came out of the penalty area twice to end there threats. That's how the First half ended.The second half started with Tesoro controlling more of the ball with 2 counter attacks that were saved one by Jim and the second one by Elliot on a cross from the right side that there forward could not finish.On the 10th minute Argo had the chance to go ahead on the score on a ball headed down by Simon inside the area and Ryan could not manage to put it in ( I do think it was offside).

Then on the 15th minute Tesoro managed to beat Elliot on a corner kick well place in the middle of the penalty area in which one of there tall players got a very good header that went in between Elliot and Peter that was marking the post, bad luck. After that goal Argo tried to make a few counter attacks on there goal and we did manage to put a scare on Tesoro specially on a run made by Victor that crossed the small goal area and neither Ryan or Carlos could reach it to push it in.

On the 41 minute Tesoro had a hand throw in next to the goal post that one of their players manage to put it on the small area and again helped by their height one of Tesoro's players managed to put it in with another header. And then the referee on the 44th minute of the game called it finish, and did not let Argo score the 2 goals that we needed to tie.

Players of the game.
Very good: Jim
Good: Luciano on defense.
the rest, we tried

By the way I think we should win by forfeit because every time I came next to where their bench players were I could smell Lot's of doping substances that are still not legal in the USA.