Cameron Road 4 – Cosmos 1
As Team USA faltered against the Japanese in a World Cup penalty kick shootout, America’s new favorite, the fighting Honey Badgers of Cameron Road United, pushed their summer record to 4-1 with a victory over the Cosmos.
The Cosmos tried to employ an ancient Cameron Road tactic at the start of the game, fielding only 10 players in an attempt to confound them with all the open space. And for a while, their doomed strategy paid off as Cameron Road had the lion’s share of possession, but failed to capitalize with a goal against the shorthanded Cosmos.
Yet again, Cameron Road turned up with a strong 16 player force ready to do battle on in the heat of the Onion Creek pitch. With Ciro and Leif gone, Willis dropped back and took up a spot in central midfield with Scott, allowing Chappy and Luke to push up top for the opening of the game. Right off the bat, Way was up for it on the right hand side, making darting runs and holding onto the ball. The Cosmos were doing a good job of clearing the attacks, with their Big Sweed booming balls into the Cameron Road defense. And they actually had the opening chance on goal with their speedy forward and playmaking midfielders cutting through the middle.
The first chance of the game for Cameron Road came off a nice cross from the young Way Shong. His pinpoint cross from the right found Ryan inside the box, but his header was swallowed up by a black hole of gloves inside the Cosmos.
After the water break, Steve McKenna and Gianluca got in the game up front, and the goal finally came for Cameron Road when The Italian Stalion whipped in a deep, curling corner kick and found Luke poised and waiting for one of his trademark powerful headers into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Cameron Road netted a second as Steve Mckenna juked and jived inside the box only to have his initial shot saved and parried away. But as a tenacious honey badger will often stick his nose right into the hornets nest, Steve stuck around and found his own pot of honey, slamming in his 3rd goal in 2 games from close range.
At the back, Crosley, Dave and Billy patrolled the outside, as Cuyler stood firm in central defense. Andy Michaelis also took up shop in a new position he created for himself called “The guy who tries to touch every blade of grass on the pitch.” He started out in central defense, but could soon be seen surging up the field in attack, running down the flanks, and at one point he ran to the tree line to rescue a kitten stuck in a tree, but only missed 4 seconds of play on the pitch.
After halftime, the Cosmos gained an extra player to field a full squad, and even though Cameron Road was not playing it’s best game, they sensed that the outcome was already written in the stars. Not so fast claimed a whining forward in red, as the Cosmos came close to scoring with a booming 40 yard free kick that smashed off the crossbar. And if that wasn’t warning enough, they finally did score with another long-range effort making a game of it at 2-1.
Even though the Cosmos gained a little momentum, Cameron Road bounced back and took control of the game. Gianluca continued to hustle and create chances on goal, including another bicycle attempt. (this one did come closer than last week’s). He and Steve McKenna were looking dangerous in attack, as Way continued to impress with his silky moves down the right hand side. Several more of his crosses came close to finding their way into the back of the net. Why, if not for his alleged infected large intestine and subsequent medications and inability to keep himself inebriated, Ryan Willis might have had two more goals to add to his tally with a few close range touches that sailed painstakingly over the bar.
But Steve McKenna had no problems finishing yet again, as Luke played him in. Steve continued his red hot streak and buried his 2nd goal of the game to put Cameron Road up 3-1. Steve is looking like an early favorite to win the Summer Golden Boot with 4 goals in the last 2 games, although he’ll miss the next game while on holiday in Mexico. (hopefully he knows that the first tie-braker for the Golden Boot is a photo of yourself in a foreign country wearing the CRU Honey Badger T).
As the game wound down and was out of reach for the Cosmos, Cameron Road continued to push. Daniel and Scott patrolled the center of the park, with Scotty coming close with a nice dribble move that ended with a shot on goal.
Gianluca had a few more cracks at a goal, but his day of hard work ended as he became the provider again. Finding Chappy unmarked at the far post, he sent in a perfect cross for El Capitan to head home to close out a 4-1 victory.
Although the streak of shutouts ended, Cameron Road won their fourth game in a row, and continued their great goal scoring form. Next up is an 8:00 am game against the Champion Toyota Jaguars.
Man-of-the-Match: Close call between Way and Gianluca. Way played one of his best games ever for Cameron Road, but Gianluca was a constant threat on goal, and provided 2 assists on the day.
