Starting its second game of the season with only 10 men, El Toro got off to its second consecutive sluggish start against ICBIROT (whatever that stands for). However, after adding an eleventh man, El Toro settled in and began to dominate possession and pressure the ICBIROT defense.
El Toro got on the board 17 minutes into the game with some good combination play that resulted in a through ball to Paul Vance who slotted the ball past the ICBIROT keeper for his first goal of the season. Minutes later Vance scored again, this time off a beautiful pass from Fab "CoCo Sauce" Villarreal who played the ball forward for a gimpy Ronnie Thomas, who then dummied the ball as Vance ran onto it.
El Toro continued to generate numerous chances throughout the half and were again rewarded when Mike "I didn't hear you call for the ball" Vance hit a shot from 20 yards out. The ball bounced in front of the ICBIROT goalie and squirted into the net to make the score 3-0. Mike Vance scored again off another long range shot just minutes later as El Toro's offensive dominance continued.
With 10 minutes left in the first half and ahead by four goals, El Toro got a little sloppy. The defense was caught off guard by numerous ICBIROT counter attacks. In the 35 minute, ICBIROT's big burly forward showcased some nice moves to get around Crybaby Beaubien and fired a shot in the upper 90 to catch the El Toro keeper off guard and make the score 4-1. After the ICBIROT goal El Toro coach Rick Bridgett made a brilliant coaching decision by replacing Beaubien with Paul Vance before play resumed. Thirty seconds after the ICBIROT goal, Vance hit a 45 yard shot off the kick-off that sailed over the keepers head and put El Toro back up by 4 goals - effectively knocking the wind out of ICBIROT and any momentum they had gained. Halftime - El Toro 5, ICBIROT 1.
In the second half, El Toro seemed content to knock the ball around and keep possession. The defense was well organized by Andy Zinn and the Farrar brothers, who often got into the attack and served some nice crosses. EL Toro had numerous chances off corner kicks but designated head-baller Chirs "I used to be skinny" Hallstrand could not connect. Finally, in the the 67th minute, Coco Sauce Villarreal sailed a nice cross that deflected off an ICBIROT defender and into the net. Coco claimed credit for the goal but it was officially scored as an own goal. Coach Bridgett then made some bold changes to the line-up, inserting Andy Toth and Brad Farrar into the midfield and moving forward Ricky "Toe Ball" McQueary and midfielder Mike Vance back to defense. Still, El Toro continued to dominate and ended the game with a corner kick goal from Crybaby Beaubien to Coco-Sauce Villarreal. Final Score - El Toro 7, ICBIROT 1.
Box Score:
Scoring:
ET - P. Vance (unassisted)
ET - P. Vance (Villarreal)
ET - M. Vance (Hallstrand)
ET - M. Vance (Hallstrand)
ET - P. Vance (Hallstrand)
IC - Unknown
IC - own goal
ET - Villarreal (Beaubien)
Discipline:
IC - yellow card
Man of the Match:
Andy Toth/Jeff Gayle
Line-up:
Starters: Toth, B. Farrar, Zinn, M. Farrar, Hallstrand, M. Vance, Killian, Beaubien, Villarreal, McQueary.
Bench: P. Vance, Thomas, Gayle.
1 comment:
Ur right Vancero, we started w/ 10, I understand it was an early game on a Wed., but that is unacceptable w/ 20 on the roster!
So sluggish we did start, w/ the fat man out of position up top & AZ back to his old stompin' ground @sweep. The defense played well the entire game except for 1 mistake(Mr. My Cup Overfloweth) & a lucky shot by their "Mr. Upper 90"! Gayle was a little slow considering he showed up 20 minutes late & just went in for Toth (he didn't dive though).
Throughout the entire game we dominated possession, but again failed to put 1/4 of our shots on gaol. We settle too much for 25-30 yrd. shots. W/ quicker combination play through the middle (1-2's) & less touches we could unlock the ever so present "pack it in" defense that ultimately presents itself. The MUSCLEBOUND guy that works sooo hard in the middle to get the ball needs to work as hard involve his teammates w/ a more fluid game. I overheard Coach Bridgett whispering about implimenting a 2 or 3-touch rule for Mr. Musclebound Head Down or ELSE!!!!
Positively, The Vance Bros, (need I say more) Scored 5 of the 7 El Toro goals! Pessimistic Paul, spearheaded the attack w/ a hattrick! Coming from his stopper position he made educated & timely runs while linking up w/ he midfield nicely to create many chances. Michael got of the scoring schnide by bagging a couple himself. W/ the 2 goals, Vance stopped a 5-game goaless drought & skyrocketed his shooting percentage to 7.5% on the short season. El Toro can only hope he gets back to his scoring ways w/ tougher games remaining in the summer season.
Fabian has scored a goal in each of the 1st two games, trying to re-anty the bet w/ El Toro friend Nick Thomas from a yr. ago w/ a 10-goal season (last yr. 7 short). Lets not get too excited though, both of CoCo's goals have been the last & come in extra time!
Arch-nemesis Cash Now lost on Wed. night to Bud 4-2 & Bud have already tied Dark Fogs 4-4, who we play 2mor! Lets beat them by 10!
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