Well for the first time in my long career, some might say too long, the Rovers started a match with only 10 players. One of those players was Nigel who could barely move so needless to say it was not exactly ideal match preparation. Matty, who was at work, showed up just moments after kick off which gave the team some added strength down the middle. Nav, per usual was late again, but did show up to give Nigel a break, who was clearly not fit. Big Joe, late as well, also gave the Rovers a chance to give Ben a break when needed. Kieran Donnely also made his return to first team action after a 9 month lay off. This was not exactly the Rovers strongest 11.
Curt Lawton's amazing 4 year game streak came to end. Questions at the MOnday morning press conference are surrounding Curt. Will their be a way back into the lineup for Curt after his loyality as been called into question?
The Rovers were completely at sea in first half, with goals being conceded so easily. DV8 didn't really have to work that hard to get one on one opportunites and the fact that it was 3-0 at half-time was done to poor finishing from DV8 and great keeping by KC. The 2nd goal came from a throw in that would see in an under 6 game. The third goal was offside but make no mistake dv8 had other moments to kill the game off. The Rovers only had a few chances off note, the best falling to big Joe after a neat move by Paulie played in Brodie who's through ball gave him a good opportunity but the shot was well saved. Brodie also tried his luck from distance but his shot was hit directly at the keeper.
The Rovers went into half-time with a big point to prove. They didn't have the excuse of not having a full team and you can see the difference in their play in the 2nd half. While the second half score-line read 0-0, the Rovers were clearly the better team. With big Joe flying around the pitch, and Brodie pulling the strings in the middle, the Rovers out-classed dv8 in the second half. Were it not for some of the worst referring in the history of the PSL the Rovers would have been back in the match, as two stone-wall pk's were turned down. The ref was not just bad he was disgraceful. His attitude of contempt and his complete lack of positioning was frankly unbelievable. In saying that the Rovers kept on going and the work rate by everyone was so much improved.
Jonathan battled on in the 2nd half with a sore ankle, Kieran battled on, who was clearly not fit, but the Rovers playeed with heart and a brain in the 2nd half to create some good chances. In addiiton to the pk's, Byrce hit the bar, Joe had another good chance to score after a long pass by Brodie and Nav was in good position down the right. Of course dv8 did have a few chances by KC was on hand, along with new Jon and Matty to snuff out the danger. The Rovers can build on this 2nd half performance.
MOM: KC for keeping the game close, great point blank save from the header, honarable mention to Big Joe
Pitch: Great field
REF: f'ing disgrace
Quote: "Can someone make me a cup of a tea" you had to be their
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Hoppers 6 Rovers 0
I'm not sure how you write a match report about that game yesterday. In my opinion that was the worst Rovers displayI have ever seen. From back to front, everyone was terrible. Only Paddy can hold his head up high from yesterday cause he didn't get a game. The Rovers lost every single 50/50 challenge, couldn't play a ball 4 yards to a wide open team mate, couldn't beat a man and lay the ball off, nothing. The Rovers could have seen themselves back in the game with a pk miss in the first half at 1-0, but even that didnt' motivate them to get involved. The highlight of the first half was a Eoin's clearance off the line.
More of the same in the 2nd half except for an 8-10 minute spell when the Rovers actually looked like a team. Once Mark's shot hit the post, the only highlight of the second half, the Hoppers went down the field for number 3. The Rovers gave up and 3 more followed. Hoppers won 6-0 and it could have been more.
Possibly the least enjoyable game I have been associated with and that includes the 9-1 thrashing by Harmonie last year.
MOM: Paddy, didn't play
Ref: got the majority of throw in's wrong. Made us move back for throw ins let them take it 10 yards from where it went, on the run. Failure to do simple things like put your hand up in the air for an indirect free kick, missed an obvious control by the goalie. So very poor, but had no effect on the pummeling that the Hoppers through out.
Quote: You need to use hand signals, what happens if a player is deaf...Brodie to the ref
Pitch; Trees on the field, limited grass..nets that dont' cover the goal, homeless people behind the goals drinking beers, no parking, but otherwise good
More of the same in the 2nd half except for an 8-10 minute spell when the Rovers actually looked like a team. Once Mark's shot hit the post, the only highlight of the second half, the Hoppers went down the field for number 3. The Rovers gave up and 3 more followed. Hoppers won 6-0 and it could have been more.
Possibly the least enjoyable game I have been associated with and that includes the 9-1 thrashing by Harmonie last year.
MOM: Paddy, didn't play
Ref: got the majority of throw in's wrong. Made us move back for throw ins let them take it 10 yards from where it went, on the run. Failure to do simple things like put your hand up in the air for an indirect free kick, missed an obvious control by the goalie. So very poor, but had no effect on the pummeling that the Hoppers through out.
Quote: You need to use hand signals, what happens if a player is deaf...Brodie to the ref
Pitch; Trees on the field, limited grass..nets that dont' cover the goal, homeless people behind the goals drinking beers, no parking, but otherwise good
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Sunnyvale 3 Rovers 1
Sunnyvale defeated Rovers in their first competitive league match in an exciting premiere league contest this Sunday's at Palo Alto's El Camino Park. Brodie and Gibbs passed late fitness tests to join the starting 11, while the back 3 consisted of Jonathan, Matty and Eoin, 2 of which were not in these positions last week. It was not to much of a surprise that Sunnyvale started brightly. The Rovers didn't make one pass of note in the first 10 minutes. Constantly giving the ball away and making hopeful passes to that the Rovers front men of Nigel and Bryce could not get on the end of. Sunnyvale were sitting very deep defensively, keeping bryce's pace in front of them. Byrce did have a good shout for obstruction when he was wrestled to the ground but a call was not given. After 20 minutes Jed came to help cement the back 3. Of course Jed made an immediate impact on the game and started throwing in tackles. Matty whipped in a great free kick to Bryce but his knock down header was cleared. Brodie put in a corner that Gibbsy did well to react to but his header hit the side netting. It was really no surprise that the Rovers conceded first as they were 2nd to every lose ball. Sunnyvale broke down the Rovers left side and the player hit the by line he played in a simple cross for his team mate to tap in.Good goal and deserved. Kc and the back 3 kept the Rovers in the game for the rest of the half.
Brodie moved into the center of the park with Curt and Mark with Joe going outside right. eoin was on the left of the midfield. Making his debut on to the field for the first time was club captain Paulie. Paulie immediately made an impact. He was holding the ball up, playing balls square and into smart areas of the pitch. The Rovers were like a different team in the 2nd half. They were playing much higher up the field and Bryce was becoming more difficult for them to mark. Inside of 55 minutes the Rovers were all square with Brodie on the score sheet after his wind aided corner went into the goal. The dubious goal panel was consulted but came back with the correct decision. At this point their only looked to be one winner but the Rovers were finding it hard to test the keeper. Bryce was played in, after a good move by Lawton and Brodie, but his shot was hit tamely at the keeper. Lawton went on a tremendous run, beating about 5 Sunnyvale players, his shot was blocked but it feel nicely to O'Mahony who shot was going for the top corner but their goalie managed to save. The resulting corner was almost glanced in however Eoin failed to make enough of a connection to change the flight of the ball.
It was backs to the wall stuff for Sunnyvale at this point. Ben was introduced to right midfield and Nigel came in up top, only to limp off moments later with a calf injury. Ben was making some crunching tackles, and one of the worst decisions of the day was when Ben received a yellow card for nothing, he clearly won the ball... The Sunnyvale man did beat Ben and Brodie inside the box only to go down like a big girls blouse under the tackle of Jonathan. Should he kept his feet he would have probably scored he decided to put fate in the hands ofthe ref who didn't want any of it. Sunnyvale, then went ahead against the run of play, but the worry was always that they would score as the Rovers couldn't find that killer ball to give them the lead. They broke the deadlock with a neat move that started on the halfway line and ended up in the back of KC's net after 4 passes. Nothing anyone could do. The third goal was offside but at this point it didn't really look like anyway back for the Rovers as the had only 11 "fit" players left. A good start is turning ugly quick.
MOM: Jonathan Tremendous stuff only gave the ball away once but honorable mention to Curt who worked his arse off and contributed to the attack.
Pitch: Terrible
REF. Let a lot go and we had a strong shot for a pk turned down n both halves.
Brodie moved into the center of the park with Curt and Mark with Joe going outside right. eoin was on the left of the midfield. Making his debut on to the field for the first time was club captain Paulie. Paulie immediately made an impact. He was holding the ball up, playing balls square and into smart areas of the pitch. The Rovers were like a different team in the 2nd half. They were playing much higher up the field and Bryce was becoming more difficult for them to mark. Inside of 55 minutes the Rovers were all square with Brodie on the score sheet after his wind aided corner went into the goal. The dubious goal panel was consulted but came back with the correct decision. At this point their only looked to be one winner but the Rovers were finding it hard to test the keeper. Bryce was played in, after a good move by Lawton and Brodie, but his shot was hit tamely at the keeper. Lawton went on a tremendous run, beating about 5 Sunnyvale players, his shot was blocked but it feel nicely to O'Mahony who shot was going for the top corner but their goalie managed to save. The resulting corner was almost glanced in however Eoin failed to make enough of a connection to change the flight of the ball.
It was backs to the wall stuff for Sunnyvale at this point. Ben was introduced to right midfield and Nigel came in up top, only to limp off moments later with a calf injury. Ben was making some crunching tackles, and one of the worst decisions of the day was when Ben received a yellow card for nothing, he clearly won the ball... The Sunnyvale man did beat Ben and Brodie inside the box only to go down like a big girls blouse under the tackle of Jonathan. Should he kept his feet he would have probably scored he decided to put fate in the hands ofthe ref who didn't want any of it. Sunnyvale, then went ahead against the run of play, but the worry was always that they would score as the Rovers couldn't find that killer ball to give them the lead. They broke the deadlock with a neat move that started on the halfway line and ended up in the back of KC's net after 4 passes. Nothing anyone could do. The third goal was offside but at this point it didn't really look like anyway back for the Rovers as the had only 11 "fit" players left. A good start is turning ugly quick.
MOM: Jonathan Tremendous stuff only gave the ball away once but honorable mention to Curt who worked his arse off and contributed to the attack.
Pitch: Terrible
REF. Let a lot go and we had a strong shot for a pk turned down n both halves.
Sunnyvale 3 Rover 1
In Dallas looking to kick Hicrs in the arse. Have not spotted him yet. Match report to follow
kevin
kevin
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sunnyvale v Rovers
This is the first time these two clubs have met in a competitive fixture. For the last two years these teams have played friendlies, with the Rovers winning two years ago and Sunnyvale winning this season. The two teams enjoy a decent relationship, training together for a couple of summers in prepartion for six aside tournmanets.
All friendships will be put aside this Sunday at Palo Alto El Camino Sand Box at 9am. Both teams coming off disapointing results last week. The Rovers look to get back on track with Nigel Thomas returning to the squad after a weekend on the beer. Still missing from the team this week are new boys Big Joe and Nav, who would have to judged as disapointing signings, except for the fact that they have paid their club dues. New Jon also misses out due a scheudled trip. The Rovers are still missing their club captain due an injury.
Sunnyvale will be a tough nut to crack as they have a very solid midfield and some lively players up top. If the Rovers stay compact and do the simple things they have a good chance.
Overall it should be good match.
All friendships will be put aside this Sunday at Palo Alto El Camino Sand Box at 9am. Both teams coming off disapointing results last week. The Rovers look to get back on track with Nigel Thomas returning to the squad after a weekend on the beer. Still missing from the team this week are new boys Big Joe and Nav, who would have to judged as disapointing signings, except for the fact that they have paid their club dues. New Jon also misses out due a scheudled trip. The Rovers are still missing their club captain due an injury.
Sunnyvale will be a tough nut to crack as they have a very solid midfield and some lively players up top. If the Rovers stay compact and do the simple things they have a good chance.
Overall it should be good match.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Rovers 3 Santa Clara 5
The Rovers good start to the 2008-09 came a cropper this Sunday. A superior second half performance by Santa Clara put this once tight contest out of the Rovers reach. The Rovers had only 13 players for this battle, which is a big disappointment considering they would have probably have won this game with a full squad.
The Rovers players battled in the early stages of the match and deservedly took the lead after twenty minutes. Seamus started the move but Bryce still had a great deal of work to do. He took the ball some 35 yards from goal and burst directly past his defender into the box. The angle of run gave the defender no options and Bryce calmly beat the keeper. The Rovers had further excellent chances to increase their lead as Ben was sent away by a pass from Brodie but he failed to get on the end of the chance. Little Joe had another good chance to put the Rovers up as the side-stepped the goalie but his shot was blocked down by the defender. The Rovers 5 across the middle was causing Santa Clara problems as Seamus was picking the ball up in deep spots and going through the banks of 4 that SC had set up. After 30 minutes Seamus picked the ball in his own half. His run saw him get into a one on one with SC's last man. Seamus tried to set up his mate, little Joe for the finish, when being greedy would have been the best option. Moments later the Rovers were caught, out, all be it by a player that was 4 yards offside. The SC player only had KC to beat but he pushed his shot wide.
Jon Regali making his debut at right back was solid during this initial spell playing in some decent balls to middle. One moment of madness between KC and Jon almost caused an own goal but KC was quick to re-act to the danger. With about 37 minutes played the Rovers found themselves in a good position with a dangerous free kick about 25 yards from SC's goal. Brodie's in swinging free kick was very poor and was right at the keeper. His quick punt caused the Rovers problem and they broke down the Rovers left flank. The ball should have been cleared but it was switched the Rovers right. Once the ball was played in a SC player found himself un-marked, 12 yards form goal. His shot found the corner of the goal and the Rovers found themselves going into the break 1-1.
Tired and injured legs started to take their toll as the second half progressed. While it' s easy to point the finger at the Rovers players on the pitch, most tried to do what they could with what they had left. It was hot and a few of the Rovers were suffering an injury. SC were enjoying the space they had in the center of the park and were running at the back 3 with out any help from the Rovers 5 man midfield. Santa Clara scored again from a Rovers corner kick. Brodie whipped in a better corner this time which the goalie punched away. Had a single Rovers player challenged for the ball the outcome might have been different. A jail break was on and the Rovers were to stretched forward to get in time. Another one on one that KC could do anything about. Goal 3 gibbsy was scissored from behind, the ref turned the other way, and a jail break was on again. Goal 4 was a mile offside, the player who scored was clearly in front of the ball when it was played. Goal 5 was a pk, which in fairness was a pk but after all the ref had let go in the middle of the park I was surprised to hear the whistle go. Matty Curt and Jon were doing their best to keep up with the surging runs of the SC midfield and forward line but it was proving to be a tough job.
The Rovers passing was sloppy at times, trying to go for the killer ball rather then keeping possession of it. The ref had a clear make up call by handing the Rovers a consolation pk with about 15 minutes to go. Seamus powered it home. Another one Seamus mazey runs pulled another goal back but it was to little to late as the Rovers were well on their way to their first defeat of the season.
Man of the Match: Bryce. Could have scored again but worked tireless for the team.
Ref: new the rules but didn't really apply them very well. Let certain things go for one time and then blew up another time. Linesman's sucked.
Field. Temp didnt' help and that pitch is so damm big
Quote of the Day: Joe imitating Seamus reading a kids book prior to the match. You had to be there but very funny
The Rovers players battled in the early stages of the match and deservedly took the lead after twenty minutes. Seamus started the move but Bryce still had a great deal of work to do. He took the ball some 35 yards from goal and burst directly past his defender into the box. The angle of run gave the defender no options and Bryce calmly beat the keeper. The Rovers had further excellent chances to increase their lead as Ben was sent away by a pass from Brodie but he failed to get on the end of the chance. Little Joe had another good chance to put the Rovers up as the side-stepped the goalie but his shot was blocked down by the defender. The Rovers 5 across the middle was causing Santa Clara problems as Seamus was picking the ball up in deep spots and going through the banks of 4 that SC had set up. After 30 minutes Seamus picked the ball in his own half. His run saw him get into a one on one with SC's last man. Seamus tried to set up his mate, little Joe for the finish, when being greedy would have been the best option. Moments later the Rovers were caught, out, all be it by a player that was 4 yards offside. The SC player only had KC to beat but he pushed his shot wide.
Jon Regali making his debut at right back was solid during this initial spell playing in some decent balls to middle. One moment of madness between KC and Jon almost caused an own goal but KC was quick to re-act to the danger. With about 37 minutes played the Rovers found themselves in a good position with a dangerous free kick about 25 yards from SC's goal. Brodie's in swinging free kick was very poor and was right at the keeper. His quick punt caused the Rovers problem and they broke down the Rovers left flank. The ball should have been cleared but it was switched the Rovers right. Once the ball was played in a SC player found himself un-marked, 12 yards form goal. His shot found the corner of the goal and the Rovers found themselves going into the break 1-1.
Tired and injured legs started to take their toll as the second half progressed. While it' s easy to point the finger at the Rovers players on the pitch, most tried to do what they could with what they had left. It was hot and a few of the Rovers were suffering an injury. SC were enjoying the space they had in the center of the park and were running at the back 3 with out any help from the Rovers 5 man midfield. Santa Clara scored again from a Rovers corner kick. Brodie whipped in a better corner this time which the goalie punched away. Had a single Rovers player challenged for the ball the outcome might have been different. A jail break was on and the Rovers were to stretched forward to get in time. Another one on one that KC could do anything about. Goal 3 gibbsy was scissored from behind, the ref turned the other way, and a jail break was on again. Goal 4 was a mile offside, the player who scored was clearly in front of the ball when it was played. Goal 5 was a pk, which in fairness was a pk but after all the ref had let go in the middle of the park I was surprised to hear the whistle go. Matty Curt and Jon were doing their best to keep up with the surging runs of the SC midfield and forward line but it was proving to be a tough job.
The Rovers passing was sloppy at times, trying to go for the killer ball rather then keeping possession of it. The ref had a clear make up call by handing the Rovers a consolation pk with about 15 minutes to go. Seamus powered it home. Another one Seamus mazey runs pulled another goal back but it was to little to late as the Rovers were well on their way to their first defeat of the season.
Man of the Match: Bryce. Could have scored again but worked tireless for the team.
Ref: new the rules but didn't really apply them very well. Let certain things go for one time and then blew up another time. Linesman's sucked.
Field. Temp didnt' help and that pitch is so damm big
Quote of the Day: Joe imitating Seamus reading a kids book prior to the match. You had to be there but very funny
Friday, October 3, 2008
Preview: Rovers v Santa Clara
Rovers against Santa Clara is always a good competitve game. This is probably the biggest rival game in the league, but their has never been any bad blood between the two teams. John Houston brings a good bunch of guys who are very competitive on the field. The last major transfer deal between the two clubs was a very years back when Santa Clara signed the elusive Elliot and the physical powerhouse, Karl. Karl went on to be a good player for SC for a few years, while Elliot was found passed out drunk just outside Fanny and Alexendars in Palo Alto at 4am the night before a match.
The Rovers come into this game with a handful of injury worries and a few regular members of the team out of town. It's going to be backs to the wall stuff again this week.
The gaffer himself is in doubt with a heavy cold.
The Rovers come into this game with a handful of injury worries and a few regular members of the team out of town. It's going to be backs to the wall stuff again this week.
The gaffer himself is in doubt with a heavy cold.
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