CRU 1 – Elite FC 0
After receiving a red-headed-stepchild-like beating last week at the hands of Div 2 lumberjacks Verity, Cameron Road United bounced back yesterday to defeat Elite FC 1-0.
The victory was in part helped by the bountiful assortment of players available on the sidelines, 6 subs compared to Elite’s none. This was especially valuable when Elite mounted their second half charge and Cameron Road was able to flood the field with fresh legs.
Cameron Road welcomed back Ironman Andy Michaelis and his blunt force trauma approach to playing midfield after an extended leave of absence. It was also a welcome sight to see our defensive cupboard considerably fuller than last when with resident Houstonian Pat racking up some more frequent flyer miles, Bob returning from a Peace Corps mission in Costa Rica, and David back from his weekly consulting gig on the set of Law & Order. (dun dun)
Starting with a man down, Elite FC found themselves under a bit of pressure as Cameron Road tried an annoconda-like suffocating approach to get an early goal. The boys in red were doing a really good job of passing the ball around from the back and created several good opportunities down the flanks with Steve McKenna ‘feeling it’ on the left hand side. Steve’s had a rough first full season with injuries, but he appears to be getting back to full fitness and will surely bag the first of many goals in the coming weeks.
Employing a managerial tactic known in most coaching circles as ‘the old switcharoo,” Bob moved from his customary central defensive position to lead the line up front for a brief spell. His hard work resulted in Cameron Road’s opening goal. Scott played a perfectly weighted ball to Dermot down the right channel, and Dermot’s scuffed cross found Bob near the edge of the box. Scrapping the scorpion-kick in favor of the patented Chapoton sliding shot (which requires you to have 67% of your body touching the ground), Bob beat the defenders to the ball and with an outstretched leg, slid it into the back of the net for an early lead.
The rest of the first half saw Cameron Road create some additional chances, many coming down the right with good passing out of defense and overlapping runs by Billy at right back. Scott had a thunderous shot from outside the box as well. Elite FC did manage to put CRU under some pressure, but more often than not David and Pat were able to thwart their right-handed attacks.
Even though Elite FC was applying the pressure in the second half trying their hardest to tie up the score, it was Cameron Road who seemed to be firing off shots with BT hitting the crossbar with a wicked volley, Chappy missing wide on a few charges towards the keeper, Willis mistiming a close-range shot, and Steve McKenna running defenders ragged. Luke and Peterson were also involved in the middle of the pitch trying to unlock Elite’s defense, but the second goal never came.
Elite FC was boosted in the last ten minutes by the arrival of their star forward and it was obvious that their new tactic was to try and get him the ball in scoring positions, but Cameron Road was able to bottle him up and finish the game strong for a 1-0 victory.
Man-of-the-Match: Billy played a solid game at right back and was calm and cool on the ball, passed his way out of trouble, made several great overlapping attacks like he was Gary Neville circa 1999, and had not a peep to say to the referee. Cheers to our elder Scottsman for a job well done!
