Well, It Beats Losing. Cameron Road Draw 1-1 with Valladolid.

Cameron Road drew 1-1 with Valladolid this afternoon to earn their first points of the Spring Season. It wasn’t pretty, and the officiating crew didn’t help matter out, but it was a well-deserved point for CRU, and hopefully will springboard them into a run of good form.

Not to get too politically incorrect, but when you face a mostly all Spanish speaking team and combine that with a mostly all Spanish speaking referee… there are going to be some bumps in the road. To say the officiating was poor would be an understatement. Cameron Road has faced this ref before and had come up against the same blank stares and non-explanations of ANY call. It was a frustrating factor to deal with, so we’ll get that aspect out of the way early and focus on the action on the pitch.

Cameron Road started off brightly, controlling the early play while Valladolid struggled to get their full squad situated. Chappy had a run down the right touchline and a cross that came up just short of Luke’s double-fisted power header, and Cameron Road was also working balls down the left hand side with Ciro on point. Add in a few nice headed attempts off corner kicks, and it was starting to look good for the 18 strong who made it out.

As the game started to settle in, Valladolid took more control of the center of the park and tested Jay on several occasions. The Cameron Road back line stood strong though, with Crosley, Dave, Danimal and a clean-shaven Cuyler moping up threats.

Action on the pitch started heating up, and Billy, BT, Ciro and Leif were all recipients of fouls that fell on def ears as the referee was concerned. Add into that mix a bunch of dives from the Valladolid attackers, and things were starting to unravel. Nevertheless, Cameron Road stood strong and headed into half time even.

With the wind at their backs, Cameron Road tried to press forward and get the opening goal. BT and Chappy tried to work a 1-2, Dave pumped long range passes into the box, McKenna tried to clear things out inside the box and Dan and Cuyler surged forward hoping to create some havoc with their intimidating play.

But it was Valladolid who struck first blood as the worked the counter attack to perfection and caught Cameron Road in no man’s land for the opening goal. But unlike weeks past, Cameron Road was determined to fight back and get back into the game. They shored up their passes and tried to work the ball down the field without rushing things. Winning a corner kick, the ball bounced around inside the box and it was the Bosnian Hitman Zoran who spun and tapped in his first goal outside of a Wednesday night Clark Field session. He promptly proceeded to celebrate by pulling a cigarette out of his sock and took a few drags before heading back to play some defense. Well done Z. Well done.

As the game spun into an almost out of control situation, fouls were flying and the ref was not helping matters with his decisions, or lack thereof. Cameron Road pressed forward, hoping to find the winning goal. Ciro had a shot from distance saved, and Danny surged forward and let loose a booming shot that went sailing over the bar.

Andy was doing his best playing all across the back line on defense, trying to shut down the Valladolid attackers who were still bobbing and weaving inside the box. Unfortunately, Leif took a knock, and was also sent to the infirmary to drink beer with BT on the sidelines as they cheered on Cameron Road as they pressed for the full three points.

With only minutes to go, Billy collided with the keeper on a clear 50-50 ball and knocked him out of the game, but earned Cameron Road a corner. As Cameron Road kept possession, they desperately tried to secure the winner with a Danny header, a Chappy volley off the shin, a Chappy header and a wild Ryan Willis rocket that Peterson managed to pluck out of thin air. With time running down and Valladolid on the run with one last attack, Ryan Willis tracked back the length of the pitch and blocked the final shot of the game.

So it all ended up 1-1, and Cameron Road drank their beer with a few more smiles as they earned a point that will hopefully propel them to some good soccer in the weeks to come.

Man-of-the-Match: It only takes one split second to turn the game around, and this week Z was in the right place at the right time and poked in his first goal for Cameron Road and secured a draw. Nice work Stripy.