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.

BW Gottschee vs. Argo Silver

---

SUNDAY APRIL 26th, 2009
BW Gottschee 3 - 1 Argo Silver
9am Queens Children's Hospital
weather: hot
field conditions: deplorable

------ match report by Tim Olson

We were outclassed all over the pitch as our opponents pressed hard and won nearly all the 50/50 balls. They showed control and teamwork as they worked the ball through midfield while we were unable to maintain possession. All three of their goals came from central through balls where the defense was overwhelmed by unmarked runs. Keeper, Elliot Gilmore, injured, came out to sweep up at least another two breakaways and the score should have been worse. For our part, Simon Wheeldon had a long range blast careen off the crossbar, but other than that, we had almost no shots on goal. Terry Harcott got his body in front of a straight freekick to direct the ball into the net for a consolation goal.

Argo Silver vs. Westchester FC

---

SUNDAY APRIL 5th, 2009
Argo Silver 3 – Westchester FC 2
7am * Randall's Island #72

----------- match report by Terry Harcott

The biggest shock of the day has to be that for a 7am yes 7am! All of Argo Silvers players were on time and ready to play at this unnatural hour. Who over thought that Randall Island was even open at that time?

(dana p. dimon adds: all on time? not really. Simon, Michael, Zen Rob and Elliot were 'on time' - the rest arrived in time for 'kickoff')

The first half was pretty uneventful apart from a "missed" handball that led to Westchester leading going in at half time with a one nil lead.

The second half was much better and more eventful probably down to the shock of playing so early disappearing from our players. It wasn't long before Argo equalized with a fantastic long range shot by Simon. There was a number of complaints from Westchester who claimed the ball never crossed the line although it was quite clearly a good foot over the line.

The goal revitalized Argo and after a couple of good changes Michael popped up in the area to put Argo two – one ahead. At this point it looked like Argo would hold out however following a goal mouth scramble from a corner Westchester made equailised.

After that both sides pushed for a winner and late on a through ball led to Michael rounding the goal keeper and scoring the winner.

Argo held on for the last few minutes and although not our best performance of the season gained another three points.

Barnstnwrth Rovers Old Boys vs. Argo Silver

---

Sunday March 29, 2009
Barnstonworth Rovers Old Boys 1 - 1 Argo Silver
2pm Randall's Island #75

--------- report by Rob Tsai

Argo Silver and Barnstonworth Rovers played to a 1-1 draw at Randall's Island #75 on March 29. Rovers struck first, midway through the first half, on a ball served over the top, and a missed clearance by defender Rob Tsai, allowing their striker to slip the ball past our keeper.
Silvers evened the score, as the Silvers' striker Michael won a loose ball in the box and beat the keeper on a stike to the left post.

A few good scoring opportunities were almost converted on both sides. Michael made a good cross to Terry's header in the 2nd half that barely skipped over the goal post.
Rovers had a breakaway with two attackers in a very dangerous position isolated against Silvers' lone sweeper Jim Beck, who made a spectacular tackle to clear the danger.

Caps go to the Silvers squad (13) - Dan C, Brooklyn Rob, Simon, Ian, Marcello, Ryan, Michael, Terry, Elliot, Rob T, Jim, Victor, Carlos.

Well played, except for my mistake. Sorry, mates.

ARGO SILVER vs PELE

ICHAN STADIUM
Argo Silver 3 - 0 Pele
reported by Carlos Wesley

What a victory! What a relief! Ding Dong the wicked ICAHN Stadium curse is dead!

Upon entering the field and seeing the formidable opponent across from us, one of the last things many of us would have imagined was ablow-out victory in our favor. A full squad of Ronaldinos displaying their masterful juggling while decked out in their matching (yes,matching) Brazilian uniforms, the "Pele" team from Astoria also must have felt pretty confident looking over at our short-handed squad as well. Fortunately, our final teammates arrived at the last minute. Then, in the first "turning point" of the game, our team unanimously voted to go with a novel 3-5-1 attack to strengthen our midfield. From then on, there was no turning back.

With Elliot serving as a brick wall in goal and the combination of Rob, Jim, Joe, and Pete stifling every run the Pele's made, our defense proved as solid as ever. Meanwhile, our center mid trio of Yoshi, Drew, and Victor locked down the center of the field as we controlled the ball as well as the entire first half. Although it remained scoreless, we all knew that this game was ours to lose.

The 2nd half proved to be Argo Silver's break-out party. Rob T made the first critical assist to a breaking " Brooklyn " Rob who (despite being shoved from the back) maintained his balance to slice a beauty into the upper right corner of the net. Soon after, Victor's throw was flicked on by Thierry to find Carlos streaking down the leftsideline. His shot caught the fingertips of the leaping goalie before finding the back of the net. The icing on the cake came when Rob T used his ESP to find a wide-open (and not even offside!) Thierry who gathered the ball and (just as the French have done to the Brazilians for the past 2 world cups) out played their keeper by stepping to the left and cracking the final goal.

What a feel-good victory - our first at ICAHN Stadium. Perhaps this one will prove to be the turning point in our season. Perhaps it was all just a dream. If the latter, please don't pinch us quite yet.

Shamrocks FC vs Argo Silver

THIERRY Debaille:
No comments… I am too irritated right now to discuss our loss.

DANIEL Dorenbush:
Our primary objective is to enjoy ourselves. In this regard, I think we were victorious.

As for why we lost (in terms of the score)…..we lost because we have not sacrificed and invested enough of ourselves to make winning a necessity. As much as we give it the “old college try” on the field, winning has been/will be casual and happenstance. We need to recognize this or decide to change our objective. (I am not necessarily advocating that we change anything – just stating my observation)

Sorry to be so blunt.

PETE Hahn:
shamrocks goal 1 - fluke goal, went directly in from a corner
shamrocks goal 2 - defense got beat with long ball (their forwards were pretty fast and strong, and long ball to them was their primary attack)

argosilver goal 1 - breakaway goal by Thierry, excellent finish

shamrocks goal 3 - can't recall, but i think it was of the breakaway nature

shamrocks goal 4 - they had a breakaway right off a kick-off: intercepted pass to cross to volley, nice goal

we dominated opening minutes of the first half with short passing, but fell back after the 2 goals. ended half pretty weakly. argos came out stronger in the second half. scored an excellent goal, and had 2 chances to score on 1 drive. i believe the shot hit the post and we missed the rebound. after that, it went downhill. we were the more skilled team, but they were more aggressive on defense, especially the midfield. Salty played an excellent game in goal, saved at least 2 sure goals. my input:- think we should have played match-ups on defense and defensive mid- field. move some people around to offset the other team's strengths. their center attack beat us multiple times (would have been a lot more if not for the ref's questionable off sides rulings), just because they were faster than us.

HALLOWEEN

Well, I had hoped, and certainly attempted, to get several club members to meet up during their Halloween antics, but had an enjoyable evening with Andi at Gallery Bar discussing our favorite horror movies and the genre in general.

Not a fan of store bought costumes, I broke down this year because William and his girlfriend were dressing as The Scarecrow and Dorothy and needed a Cowardly Lion. Adding my own touches and my natural mane I hopefully steered away from the "store bought" look.

Unfortunately Will's girlfriend wasn't feeling well and we'd have to venture out Dorothy-less.

Will caught up with Andi and I later in the evening wandering the streets somewhere around Lion's Gate soccer field.

Our mission for the evening?
To drink, of course, and to take photos with every Dorothy we encountered as we eased on down the road.

Success = 7 Dorothys. Blonde Dorothy = wasted Dorothy.

--- CLICK PLAY on the IMAGE BELOW FOR SLIDESHOW ---

Argo Silver vs. Banatul FC

Brooklyn Technical High School

Argo Silver 2 - 1 Banatul FC

Banatul scored their goal from an unfortunate penalty kick.

Argo Silver scored a first goal by newest Argo Silver - Fatos Rugova.
Second goal a cross by Fatos that knocked off a Banatul player into goal.

Most of the game was spent in the opponents half of the field (as evidenced below in a photo of Elliot) where Argo Silver took close to 12 shots on goal that hit posts and were near misses.

By all rights this score should have been 6-1 at the least.

Astoria Friends vs. Argo Silver

STATE CUP GAME
CON EDISON FIELD - Astoria, Queens @ 11am

- report by carlos wesley

Perhaps it was the final image of our team on Sunday that best characterized the afternoon: hands reaching gratefully for Joe's can of antiseptic spray to tend to our flesh wounds after a grueling two hours spent on the rock-covered battlefield that is ConEd.

We finished the game with one fewer goal (a 3-2 loss), but fought mightily. Perhaps it was the other team's esoteric language that confused us (from a community that not even a borough as diverse as Astoria can claim as one of its own), or the powerful gusts of sand-filled wind that pummeled Elliot and his defenders throughout the first half. Despite all of these distractions, we held tight at the half, down only 0-1.

The second half started on an unfortunate note. Our opponent's familiarity with ConEd's pitch was apparent as they hardly let the ball touch the ground en route to scoring their second goal within minutes of the half. This was quickly followed by a very questionable call that lead to a penalty kick for them. Despite Elliot's valiant dive to his right (meriting at least 3 more squirts of antiseptic spray), he wasn't quite able to stop the free kick, their 3rd goal of the game.
At 0-3 our intensity finally started to pick up. Terry gathered up a breakaway and snuck the ball around the keeper for our first goal.

Our intensity picked up further as we noticed their fans cheering rather sarcastically in support of the men with a hint of violet in their jerseys (yes, that's us). Pressuring them further, and with only minutes left to play, a scramble in front of their net ended with the ball finding Terry's foot and then the back of the net. 3-2. Our rally was cut short by the whistle. Despite the loss, however, it was nice to feel that we would have kept scoring had we had more time.

Argo Silver vs. Maltese Dolphins

Icahn Stadium

photos by Bruno Dupont

who got up early and travelled to Randall's Island but was not allowed to play.

Argo Silver 2 - 3 Maltese Dolphins
(Argo Silver with 9 men + Dana P. Dimon on the field.)

Argo Silver vs. Barnstonworth Rovers Old Boys

Barnstonworth Rovers Old Boys’ Barry O’Driscoll, whose first half strikes [15th, 30th] sank Argo Silver 2-0 at Ichan Stadium.