Match Reports Madison Red Dragons U-14 Boys Travel Rec. Fall 2001

One thing to remember. As a recreational (rec.) team we try to abide by the unwritten rule that if we do not try to win by more than 5 goals. If we start to dominate a team by 4 goals we will take a player off the field to make it 10 versus 11 and continue to take players off with every goal we score. This will be particularly tough to manage substitutions with already upto 7 players waiting their turn before taking any extra players out of the game.

9th September, Friendly Game, Away at Madison Tigers U-13 COMP TEAM, Lost 1-9 It was a mismatch from the moment the ink dried on the schedule. What on earth the Madison Youth Soccer Club Boys Coordinator was thinking of, or smoking, when he dreamt up this one, we don't know. Madison's U-13 Travel Comp team, some of the players who have played together for years, the team had practiced for weeks, versus Madison Red Dragons, a rag-tag Rec team of mostly 11-year olds with a sprinkling of 12-year olds and a couple aged 13 and 14, who had only been assigned to Coach Archer for a total of two weeks. Coach Archer only knew three of four of his roster of 18, but somehow had managed to squeeze in five practices before this game. The 9-1 score was a lot lower than prematch predictions. If not for some truly awful finishing by the Madison Tigers Comp team, the score could easily have been 20-0 or more. Coach Archer had predicted his Red Dragons would be lucky to get a shot on goal. The prediction had merit in the first half because the Tigers did all the attacking and the Red Dragons, while defending valiantly, could not get out of their own half. The Red Dragons had many heroes in defence, including some brave saves from goalkeeper Paddy Stimpson, but realistically, the Tigers also missed a hatful of easy chances. Incredibly, the score was only 2-0 at half-time. The Red Dragons, tired and shell-shocked, walked off the pitch with heads held high. The second half started part with the Tigers ripping the Red Dragons defence to shreds and part the Red Dragons having lost their momentum and were mostly slow out of the gate. The Tigers scored three quick goals in the first five minutes and at 5-0, the contest was effectively over. Surprisingly, the Tigers did not let up. They continued with their full 11 players and toyed with a heavily demoralised Red Dragons. Goals six, seven and eight arrived soon after. The Tigers only then started to pull players off the field and some of the bench warmers got to play a little more. Even so, they still found a way to score a ninth. After that, the Tigers were ordered to play "keep-away" in their own half. At this point it did little to help but more to humiliate the Red Dragons a little more. Not surprisingly, with the Tigers reluctant to venture into the Red Dragons half anymore, the match had turned into a mini practice scrimmage in the Tigers half with the Red Dragons chasing the ball. Occasionally, the Red Dragons would steal the ball and finally were able to attack the Tigers goal. The Red Dragons managed to score late in the game when Andrew Archer took a speculative 25-yard shot that caught the Tigers' third string goalkeeper napping; he was only able to catch it behind his goalline. At first, no-one was sure if it was a goal, but the referee consulted with his linesman and eventually awarded the goal. Coach Archer's Postmatch Thoughts: I did not look forward to this match as soon as I received the schedule. I also questioned the Madison Youth Soccer Club Boys Coordinator why we had been given this game. On the face of it, his response was plausible. We were originally scheduled to play more Haddam-Killingworth rec. teams than we are, but H-K redid their schedule and it meant we had one less H-K team to play. So, the Madison Tigers U-13 Comp Team were given the Red Dragons as cannon fodder. Our team played hard for most of the game and I think us holding them to only 2-0 at half-time may have shocked our illustrious opponents a little bit. Not surprisingly, I suppose, the Tigers started off the second half like a house on fire. Within five minutes they scored three goals and had several other chances. It was suddenly 5-0 and I could see the Red Dragons' heads drop. The game was done and there seemed little point in continuing what was turning into an ugly slaughter. The Red Dragons had heart, but they couldn't match the Tigers in skills, experience or fitness. Games like these should never be arranged, at least not without giving us some time to practice together and get a few games under our belts. This game was never fair even before it started and many questions must be asked of Madison Youth Soccer Club.

15th September, League Game, Home versus Madison "Italy", Won 5-2 The Red Dragons were finally to meet a team of their own calibre. Actually, Madison "Italy" was loaded with great players that Coaches Archer and Stimpson have had before: Christian MacDonald, Drew Matthews, Claudio Zampino, Steven Gagliano, Stephen Ferriera, Sean Stoessel, Stephen Haigh. It is an impressive list and gave Coaches Archer and Stimpson much concern that their own coaching could be turned against them! In fact, the only weakness on the team appeared to be in goalkeeping. Something for the Red Dragons to key in on, perhaps? As things turned out, the Red Dragons got off to their best possible start; Andrew Archer breaking through the defence to score after only two minutes. It settled the nerves and put "Italy" on notice that this could be a tough game for them too. Claudio Zampino equilised for "Italy" 10 minutes later, but Benn Ackley put the Red Dragons back in front almost immediately. As the first half drew to a close, centre defender Alex Morgan made a hash of a clearance and "Italy's" Drew Matthews picked up the loose ball and drilled an unstoppable shot past Paddy Stimpson. As expected, the Red Dragons' coaches ex-players were making life uncomfortable. It was 2-2 at half time after Red Dragons had dominated and had more attacks on goal. Unfortunately, the chances were nulled by players trying to take the ball a step farther. Kicking uphill and into the sun was expected to be a major disadvantage for the Red Dragons in the second half, but, the Red Dragons began to dominate the game in terms of possession and chances even more so than in the first half. Three more goals were scored, with non in replay from "Italy." Several of their better players did not have a good game -- or were not allowed to by a stifling Red Dragons midfield and defence. The goals came from Sean Fontneau, Kester Ibarra and Sean Andrews. At least two of those goals were owing to clumsy mistakes by the "Italy" goalkeeper. The loss was not the goalkeeper's fault, he did play reasonably well for the most part, but Red Dragons deserved the win in terms of their overall play, their possession and their shot-taking. Coach Archer's Postmatch Thoughts: After last week, this win was a major boost -- and over a considerably skilled team too. I was sorry not to be coaching the ones I knew all again. I feared that they would come back to haunt me! They certainly had the potential to beat the Red Dragons. A loss would have really been demoralising at this point. Some of the "Italy" team did not play as well as I knew they could. It is not for me to say why, I was focused on coaching my new group. We seem to have some solidity about us. We look very good in defence where Alex Morgan and Peter Carpenter have been commanding. The outside fullbacks, particularly Ryan Kristoff on the right, are very dependable too. Matt Sasso, the best left fullback we have, was unavailable owing to sickness today. We seem solid in midfield too, despite having to make changes continuously owing to having so many substitutes. We also have good forwards -- they all scored today. Plus, another forward player, Ben Reilly, will soon be back from injury. We had a great game today, even missing two solid players! At the moment, I am very happy about our performances. Long may it continue!

16th September, Friendly Game, Away versus Clinton #2 U-14 COMP TEAM, Cancelled This Madison versus Clinton friendly match originally scheduled for September 16 was cancelled owing to the Clinton Youth Soccer Club consolidating five of their U-14 teams into four.

22nd September, League Game, Home versus Madison "England", Won 2-0 Today the Red Dragons had a major test of character. With several players unable to make it to the game and with some players involved in the Brown Middle School band in the parade for Guilford Fair, only 11 were available for the first half. Eventually, 12 would be available for the second half. Goalkeeper Paddy Stimpson and central defender Peter Carpenter couldn't make the game. Normally, Benn Ackley would have served as reserve goalkeeper, but he was away too! There was only Alex Morgan left to play in goal and he normally plays central defence. Central defence was critically short today. With Alex in goal, Coach Archer opted to place Ryan Kristoff and Kevin Lauder into the central defensive positions. It was designed to be a solid core of defence and today it worked superbly. All three were heroes in their "new" positions. Drawing these players into defence meant that central midfield would also suffer. Sean Andrew, also missing today, Kevin Lauder and Benn Ackley normally play there. So does Sean Fontneau, but who to partner with Sean? The answer was Jonathon Lauder who covered every inch of the pitch today. Substitutes would have been nice -- it was a hot and humid morning. Madison "England" started the game with a bare amount of players too, but at least they had one substitute. In the second half Andrew Archer had made it back from the parade at Guilford Fair to lend a much needed hand in attack. The first half did not see many goalscoring opportunities. Both defences and midfields were cleaning up nicely. Neither team's attack was creative enough to open up their opponents' defence. Red Dragons were particularly solid. After about 20 minutes, Ryan Leblanc, playing forward, latched on to a lose ball behind "England's" defence and slotted the ball home past the advancing goalkeeper. The referee initially gave the goal, but his assistant's flag was up for offside. The goal was taken away, but we certainly disagree with the call. Ryan had started his run from an onside position after the ball was kicked. He received it behind the defence, but this does not make him offside. It was a particularly tough call to take because the game was begging for a goal -- plus, Ryan doesn't score many goals, if any. It would have been nice just for him -- and his parents! Kevin Lauder did score for the Red Dragons not long after, however, following a mazy, dribbling run through the centre of the field and through "England's" defence. It looked like he had taken it too far instead of shooting earlier when "England's" goalkeeper, Gregg Traugh, came out to dive at Kevin's feet. As Kevin fell over Gregg, the ball rolled into the empty goal. Red Dragons had deserved the lead after increasingly dominating possession. With Andrew Archer in attack and a substitute ready to give tired legs a break, Red Dragons appeared much stronger in the second half. Their second goal came after some hot pressure on "England's" defence, forcing a pass back to slip by their own goalkeeper and into an empty net. Several other chances went begging too. Later, Red Dragon's whole team visibly tired, kicking uphill in the heat and humidity too, and "England" sensed they could snatch a goal back near the end. It was desperate defending, but Coach Archer's tactic to keep the strength of his team in the centre of defence paid off. Red Dragons held on for a well-deserved victory. Coach Archer's Postmatch Thoughts: With all the absentees -- and particularly who they were -- gave me great concerns. I knew we would be at bare bones and I knew the other team were not struggling for numbers like we were. Today, it was all a matter of putting the available players in positions I hoped they could manage. Alex Morgan was outstanding in goal. Kevin Lauder, albeit in central defence, not his favourite position, was everywhere -- playing in defence, barking orders at other players, dribbling through midfield and down the wings, and sometimes he was in attack. He scored a goal and proved my point to the whole team that even defenders can score goals. All of the players were heroes today. Some of them usually only get 50% playing time (mostly owing to the fact we usually have so many subs, not because of their abilities, or lack there of). Today, they all showed me they too can play 100% of the game without hurting the team. Making substitutions is my least favourite part about coaching. They all deserve more playing time. I am very proud of the team for winning these last two games. It has made a statement, particularly after our sad loss to the comp. team, that perhaps we are not so bad, relative to the rec. teams, after all. Well done, Lads!

29th September, League Game, Home versus Madison "Italy", Lost 1-2 The Red Dragons were back to near full strength, only Ryan Leblanc and Kester Ibarra were unavailable. We believe Kester has quit the team to concentrate on playing for Brown Middle School. Madison "Italy" started with no substitutes owing to some of the team believing they had a game in Durham. They were missing some of their best players. Ultimately, they began to show up, one by one, in the second half and they did make a difference. The kick-off was delayed almost 15 minutes while waiting for Madison "Italy's" starting 11 to show up. Goalkeeper Paddy Stimpson's arm was hurting him so Alex Morgan went into goal for the second straight week. The Red Dragons dominated the first half, putting a lot of pressure on Madison "Italy's" goal. After 10 minutes the pressure told as Benn Ackley slotted a shot home through a crowded goal area. It should have been 2-0 when Benn scored again 5 minutes later. Madison "Italy's" goalkeeper fumbled the ball and Ben hustled by him to kick the loose ball into the empty net. The referee disallowed the goal claiming Benn had fouled the goalkeeper, which was incorrect. Following this disappointment, more bad luck was soon to hit the Red Dragons. After 20 minutes, in Madison "Italy's" first attack and first shot on goal, they managed to score an equiliser. It was unbelievable after all the pressure the Red Dragons had had at the other end and only one legal goal to show for it. Now it was 1-1. More bad luck occurred. Coach Archer was in the middle of rotating his substitutes -- no mean feat with five subs and trying to give everyone minimally 15 minutes. The Red Dragons were substituting their defence -- which had had nothing to do until the goal -- to give other players fair playing time. With the defence weakened Madison "Italy" took advantage with maximum effect. In only their second attack, the Red Dragons' Philip Prasinos cleared directly to a Madison "Italy" right in front of goal. Alex Morgan had no chance as Madison "Italy's" forward struck the ball hard and low into the goal. The Red Dragons immediately substituted their regular defence back into the game and the whole team went back on the offensive. Despite several chances, the score remained 2-1 to Madison "Italy" at half time. In the second half it was all Red Dragons as they pounded away at Madison "Italy's" defence. By now, Madison "Italy's" extra (and best) players where showing up. They were being utilised immediately. Madison "Italy's" defence just got tighter. The Red Dragons barely registered a shot on goal as all their pressure was being soaked up. The Red Dragons pushed everyone forward at the end of the game. This left themselves open to several counterattacks in the last few minutes, but Madison "Italy" were unable to take advantage. The game ended 2-1 to Madison "Italy" and the Red Dragons were stunned. The Red Dragons had enough chances to score 10 goals and should have won easily. But that is football. Sometimes it can be a cruel game. Coach Archer's Postmatch Thoughts: Unfortunately, today was the last game for Benn Ackley. Benn's mother has been transferred by her company to California and the whole family is moving out there. Coach Stimpson and I have coached Benn for at least three years. Benn is an intelligent and skillful player, but he has been a tremendous team player. Benn has played every position for us and excelled in each one -- yes, even goalkeeper. He was also a good goalscorer and proved it again today. He scored one in his last game and was robbed of one. After the game Coach Stimpson and I awarded Benn a commemorative plaque, thanking him for his wonderful play. We are really going to miss him. Today's game was extremely frustrating. The team played well and completely dominated a very good Madison "Italy" team. Our main fault was although we had most of the possession and did most of the attacking we really did not take too many shots, particularly in the second half. To be fair, Madison "Italy's" defence improved dramatically when their extra players began to show up. As the game wore on it looked less and less likely that the Red Dragons would make the break-through. The referee also made some incredible decisions against us today that just made the game that much tougher. He took a perfectly good goal off of us when it should have been 2-0. We think he was feeling sorry for the goalkeeper. At 2-0, Madison "Italy" would not have been able to have come back into the game the way we were playing. In the second half we were awarded a "direct free kick" in Madison "Italy's" penalty area. Direct free kicks in the penalty area ARE penalty kicks. So he potentially robbed us of another goal. While we were scratching our heads at this decision the referee then proceeded to HELP Madison "Italy" setup their wall. He took his time about it too, making sure it was solid. After 40+ years in the game I was dumbfounded, I have never seen a referee coach a team like that during a game before! It wasn't as if they were being thrashed by several goals and he felt he needed to help them out a bit -- they were, in fact, WINNING 2-1. If anyone needed the help it was us! There were other minor odd decisions too, but another one that stood out for me was when the ball went out for a throw-in he awarded Madison "Italy" a free kick instead! Yes, we could blame the referee for a lot of our bad luck today, but the fact remains, we contributed to our own downfall too. We just didn't take enough shots on goal after all our pressure. Too many players wanted to take an extra step towards goal -- and it was always a step too many and then the attempt was blocked or a defender stole the ball. The Red Dragons will have to learn to shoot more quickly. Also, I take the blame for Madison "Italy's" second, and winning, goal. I had substituted all of my defenders (except the goalkeeper) trying to give more playing time to those that do not usually see more than 50% playing time. Until then, our defence had not been troubled at all and I thought I could get away with it. I was wrong. The ones I had in central defence, particularly, at the time, were not up to the task of playing such a difficult position when they came under pressure. They panicked and ended up giving the ball away directly in front of our goal. Always a fatal mistake and this time was no different. Madison "Italy" went 2-1 up and doggedly defended that lead to the end. I will never make the mistake of weakening central defence like that again. You see, I am still learning too.

6th October, Friendly Game, Home versus Haddam-Killingworth #1 U-12 COMP TEAM, Lost 0-5 Red Dragons entertained another comp team today. In another poorly scheduled game, the Red Dragons didn't know they were playing a comp team until their opponents showed up. Haddam-Killingworth were a U-12 team and therefore younger than a couple of the Red Dragons, they were generally smaller than a couple of the Red Dragons too! HK were definitely more skillful though and having played as a team for several years, knowing each other inside and out, they went on to dominate large parts of this game. The surprising thing about this game was, despite all their dominance, how long it took HK to score their goals. HK scored their first goal very quickly, though, within the first five minutes, but it was another 25 minutes at least until they finally broke through a stubborn Red Dragons defence to get their second. It was only 2-0 at half-time. In the second half, it wasn't long before HK scored their next three goals. At 5-0, the Red Dragons finally broke out of their defensive shell and were able to cross the half-way line a few times. Notably, HK had not reduced their numbers or weakened their team. Any attacking the Red Dragons did was purely on their own merit. The Red Dragons hardly troubled the HK goalkeeper though. So, the final score was 5-0 with the Red Dragons doing very well to keep the score down against a superior team. Coach Archer's Postmatch Thoughts: This business with Madison Youth Soccer Club scheduling the rec teams to play comp teams is bad enough -- but not to forewarn the rec teams that their opponents are comp teams is a diabolical outrage. While the Red Dragons did well to keep the score down they were outplayed and outclassed in every department. They were hardly permitted to get out of defence and cross the half-way line. The score was "only" 5-0, yes, but I always had the feeling Haddam-Killingworth could have stepped it up a couple more gears at any time. The purpose of rec games is to play teams of comparable skills and teamwork and to enjoy playing, not to be pitted against clearly superior teams with no chance to develop. The entire debacle of this season's schedule has been very demoralising. During the game, I decided enough was enough and I was going to cancel any further games with comp teams. We were to play a team from Clinton the next day, and a team from Durham in two weeks. I had discussed this with the coaches from Madison "Italy" and Madison "England" and we all agreed that playing the comp teams was ludicrous. We set about cancelling our comp team games and we were going to rearrange the final weeks of the schedule to just play amongst ourselves.

7th October, Friendly Game, Away versus Clinton #4 U-14 COMP TEAM, Cancelled This Madison versus Clinton friendly match originally scheduled for October 7 was cancelled owing to Coach Archer refusing to play any more "comp" teams where the "rec" teams are obviously outmatched. Madison Youth Soccer Club has done a serious disservice to its own in-town rec program by scheduling these demoralising fixtures. All future friendlies against other comp teams will be cancelled by Coach Archer also.

13th October, League Game, Home versus Madison "Italy", Tied 1-1 In two previous meetings between the Red Dragons and Madison "Italy" the Dragons won the first 5-2 and Madison "Italy" won the second 2-1. In both encounters the Red Dragons dominated most of the game. In the second game Red Dragons would have been 2-0 up, but the referee disallowed a perfectly good goal and the Red Dragons struggled to score after that, and gave up two poor goals to Madison "Italy." This game had much of the elements of the first two games. Red Dragons dominated most of the game again, and again they struggled to score. Much of this was owing to a resilient Madison "Italy" defence and improved goalkeeping on their part. But Red Dragons are also struggling to get their shots in on goal. It has become a major problem. Red Dragons may be struggling to score goals for themselves, but, today, they scored for Madison "Italy." Half-way through the first half in which both teams were very sluggish Alex Morgan turned an innocuous looking cross from Madison "Italy" into his own goal. Paddy Stimpson in the Red Dragons goal was completely stranded and could do nothing to stop it. Madison "Italy" piled on some pressure after this and Paddy did well to make a couple of important saves. The Red Dragons were very poor during this period. Eventually they built up some attacks and had a few shots on goal, some that went only inches wide. Somehow the score was only 1-0 to Madison "Italy" at half-time. Kicking downhill for the second half it was mostly all Red Dragons doing the attacking. The Red Dragons were astoundingly slow to latch on to some simple chances, however, and it looked like they were never going to score. With only 5 minutes left in the game, Jonathon Lauder was able to stab home a close-range shot from just eight yards. The game ended at 1-1. Coach Archer's Postmatch Thoughts: It is clear to me that we are missing Benn Ackley who has left for California. Benn gave us leadership, he helped to create chances and he could score goals. The Red Dragons are able to dominate games against Madison "Italy" -- who I believe, player for player, are superior to us -- but, in front of goal, the Red Dragons are clueless. Time and time again they try to take the ball one more step closer to goal or try to beat one more defender rather than taking a shot. Our one goal today was typical -- scored from eight yards. The players had to get that close to be sure. Except for perhaps Sean Andrew and Andrew Archer they have no confidence to take shots from further out, even though we have practiced this extensively. It means teams will close down our forwards and rob us of the ball. I have tried to coach them better techniques and positioning in front of goal in practice, but they are either unable to or are unwilling to learn tried and true lessons that I have 40 years of experience of. Today's game was extremely frustrating to coach. Players were very sluggish and alarmingly slow to correct any mistakes, if they corrected them at all. I had to constantly demand that they attack the ball when the other team had it, to mark properly, to use the wings to progress down the field more quickly, to pass instead of prolonged dribbling, to shoot when they had the chance instead of trying to set themselves up closer. With so much dominance it was a game we should have won easily. Some players do not apply themselves properly in the games at all and it is harming the team's chances of playing well and solidly. Before the season began, I evaluated that our team were the worse of the three in-town teams. I knew most of the players from all three teams. I believed Madison "Italy" was by far the best. After our great start, beating Madison "Italy" 5-2 and Madison "England" 2-0, I then deluded myself into thinking that maybe we were the best of the three after all. After our last two games with Madison "Italy," however, it looks like the cream is, indeed, beginning to rise to the top and we have sunk back to where I thought we'd be. Perhaps I expected too much of my team and I have been too demanding. It has been a difficult season to coach owing to having to deal with playing superior comp teams too. It has been very difficult to develop the team to play in my style. One week we dominate and the next week we are dominated. The Red Dragons do not have the ability to adjust from one week to the next and this can be seen in their play and their results.

21st October, League Game, Home versus Madison "England", Won 3-2 Madison Red Dragons played a much better game today against Madison "England" than they did against Madison "Italy" a week ago. There was still a lot more possession than their opponents, but this week there was more energy, more team play, more possession, more aggression, more passing and more shooting. The Red Dragons were down to 13 players, with Peter Carpenter, Ritchie Doerer and Ryan Leblanc all missing. Peter's presence in the middle of defence or midfield would be especially felt. It could have been worse. Sean Andrews was feeling ill during the morning, but with extra sleep and the day being gorgeous to be outside in he was up to playing by game time, a 3:00 PM kick off. Potentially this could be a tough game because Madison "England" defeated Madison "Italy" 3-1 the day before. It was Madison "England's" first win in the season and it boosted their confidence tremendously. The Red Dragons started well and were soon into dominating much of the play. Kicking uphill in the first half, preferred by Coach Archer, they were still holding the ball close to Madison "England's" goal. There were several chances, but few real shots on goal. Despite all the possession and doing most of the attacking, there was still that lack of taking shots which has been problematic for the Red Dragons all season long. Madison "England," meanwhile, in one of their rare attacks were finally able to get a shot on goal -- and it went in. Their first shot and it was a goal, after 20 minutes. The Red Dragons fought back. After some beautiful passing and team play, the ball fell to Andrew Archer whose shot into the roof of the net put the Red Dragons back on equal terms, and so it stayed that way until half time. In the second half, there was much more chance-taking. The Red Dragons had started to shoot more, but it was Madison "England" who audaciously took the lead again when a packed Red Dragons defence failed to clear the ball and an easy shot went in. Again the Red Dragons fought back as hard as ever. Madison "England" conceded a foul some 30 yards out. Andrew Archer shot the free kick over the defence. The goalkeeper fumbled his save as the ball came out of the low, setting sun right in his eyes. Sean Andrew had quickly moved in to take advantage and planted the lose ball into the empty net! Red Dragons suffered a major setback when central defender Kevin Lauder twisted his ankle when an opponent stepped on his foot. He could participate in this game no longer. It was all Red Dragons now and it seemed everyone was eager to shoot once they got within 25 yards of goal. This was much better stuff. The Red Dragons finally took the lead from a massed attack and Jonathon Lauder struck from close range. At 3-2 with some 15 minutes or more still to play it was evident both teams were tiring in the warmth of the afternoon. Red Dragons were still looking dangerous on the attack, but Madison "England" had a few late chances too. But 3-2 was the final score after a very exciting game. Coach Archer's Postmatch Thoughts: This was a much, much better effort than last week. I was pleased about the way we played and some players were outstanding today. Some of them playing their best ever games, notably Jonathon Lauder and Sean Fontneau who ran and tackled everywhere. Andrew Archer, not known for his speed was blowing by defenders and markers today! The first half didn't see us take too many decent shots and at one point one player, who shall remain unnamed, had the ball at his feet with the full goal to shoot at. He froze and the ball was taken off him by a defender. It is a fact that some players are literally afraid to shoot and to score. It is a huge responsibility to score goals and often a player fears the worst from his team-mates and his coach if he misses. At half-time I talked about this fear factor and assured everyone that I prefer we take 50 shots and miss them all than not to take a single shot at all. I even went as far as saying I didn't care if we lost 10-0 as long as we'd had 50 shots! I was trying to encourage them that they must shoot, because shooting gives you the highest percentage in chances to score, and if you don't shoot, you won't score. Trying to dribble past packed defences or trying to get closer to goal rarely works. So, in the second half we saw a huge difference in the number of shots we took. The especially nice thing was the quality of the shots also. If it wasn' t for a fine display by Greg Traugh in Madison "England's" goal we could have had 6-7 goals today based mostly on our shot-taking in the second half alone. So, today we managed three goals in one game. Before, we had only scored two goals in our previous three games. A vast improvement mostly because we were taking our chances better. It was nice to win for the first time in four games too, because confidence and morale was slowly slipping on the team.

27th October, League Game, Home versus Madison "Italy", Tied 3-3 The Red Dragons failed to beat Madison "Italy" for the third consecutive game. Amazingly, the Red Dragons have dominated all four games, winning one, drawing two and losing one. Madison "Italy" certainly have a good squad, however, and they are hard to score against. The unfortunate thing about this match is that the officials failed to show up. Coach Archer refereed the match instead. The Red Dragons had five substitutes, which is very difficult to manage, and assistant coach Bob Stimpson had to take over the team. The Red Dragons had the better of the play for most of the game, but they could never quite shake Madison "Italy" after taking the lead three times. In truth, all three goals were truly awful giveaways by the Red Dragons. Every time the Red Dragons took the lead, Madison "Italy" would find a way to equilise. It was 2-2 at half-time. Alex Morgan and Sean Fontneau scored for the Red Dragons. Alex scored again in the second half. The Red Dragons had numerous chances. It really should have been 20-2 as the game reached its climax. With the game winding down and the Red Dragons winning 3-2 Madison "Italy" pushed everybody forward with nothing to lose. In stoppage time, with seconds to go, the ball was all around the Red Dragon's goalmouth. The ball was cleared, but there was a handball against the Red Dragons some 20 yards out from goal. The referee checked his watch. There was nothing left. As soon as the ball went out or was cleared towards the half-way line, the final whistle would go. Christian MacDonald stepped up to take the free kick. The goal was well within his range, but his shot hit the crossbar and the ball bounced back into play. Inexplicably, the Red Dragons failed to kick the ball out of play or clear it. As the ball bobbled about, Madison "Italy's" Claudio Zampino simply flicked the ball over the goalkeeper's shoulder into the net. It was practically the last kick of the game. There was no time on the clock. The last kick was reserved for the centre-kick after a goal. It was agonisingly frustrating. The tie felt more like a loss. Coach Archer's Postmatch Thoughts: I've been saying it all season long. I always thought that Madison "Italy" had the better team of the three in-town teams, player for player. They simply have not played up to their potential. Yet again, the Red Dragons have dominated them, but, after four encounters now, we have only beaten them once. They do have a very good defence. In all of this, I keep forgetting that I have coached many of Madison "Italy's" players, and if there is one thing I coach all of my players, it is never, ever give up. I really did not want to referee this game, I prefer to coach. We had a maximum turnout of players today (of the 16 we still have), which meant five substitutes. Trying to be fair to all players and keeping a good balance of quality on the field is tremendously difficult. My assistant, Bob Stimpson, did a fantastic job. Nevertheless, I did enjoy refereeing the game. The last few seconds, however, were crushing. I was in control of the game and still, while trying to be fair, could do nothing about how the game finished. I hate it when referees play exactly the required time -- or less in many cases. Soccer games invariably have some time wastage and this should be accounted for at the end of each half. I always add an extra minute or two. Another thing is, when to blow the whistle. A referee should never blow the whistle while a team is on the attack with a chance to score. They should wait until the ball is cleared to the midfield or until the ball is put out of play. Many young referees, in particular, whistle the game at exactly the time when the game is to end, even if a player is 10 yards out about to kick the ball into an empty net. Today, my team was winning 3-2 with almost no time left, and yet our opponents were pressing hard for an equiliser at the end. At 40 minutes (per half) I legitimately could have ended the game right there and then. But, I was going to add at least a minute of what is known in soccer as "stoppage time." This makes up for all the times the game had to stop. For example, when Madison "Italy" changed goalkeepers in the second half this took at least two minutes. I was only going to add one minute. During that time, it was all Madison "Italy" in our half. As the minute disappeared, the ball was in and around our goal area. Under my breath I was begging somebody to kick the ball out of play!!! With literally no more time on my watch, one of the Red Dragons (I can't remember who now!) lifted his arm to stop a high pass and the ball hit his arm. He was about 20 yards from goal. I had to give a handball against the player and award a free kick to Madison "Italy." To myself, I was beyond belief. From this distance it was very possible to score. Still, I had to do the right and honest thing and award the free kick. Then I saw Christian step up to take it. I knew he could score. At that moment, I resigned myself to believing he was going to score the equiliser. His shot did beat the goalkeeper, but it hit the bar and bounced back into play. A huge wave of relief surged through me. I check my watch again. I would whistle the end of the game if the ball was cleared or put out of play. Somehow, incredulously, the Red Dragons contrived to do neither. Some stood like statues in the goalmouth and gapped as the ball bounced up to Claudio Zampino some eight yards from goal. He intelligently just lifted his leg and flicked the ball ever so gently with his foot over the goalkeeper's shoulder and the ball dropped gently into the goal. I couldn't believe it. For all intents and purposes, it was the last kick of the game. All that was left was to restart the game with a centre kick and then blow the final whistle. At the centre kick, Sean Andrew received the pass, he tried a shot from the half-way line. I waited to see if it was going in -- it drifted wide and didn't have enough power to beat the goalkeeper anyway -- and then blew the whistle. While it was hugely disappointing from my standpoint for my current team, all credit to Claudio Zampino for being in the right place at the right time. As one of my ex-players (spring 2001), I was very proud of him.

3rd November, League Game, Home versus Madison "England", Won 3-0 Madison Red Dragons had everyone available except Sean Andrew today and produced another largely dominating display. Madison "England" barely mustered a shot on Red Dragons goalkeeper Paddy Stimpson the whole game. The Red Dragons, in contrast enjoyed large amounts of possession and territorial advantage. With Sean Andrew out, Coach Archer decided to keep Alex Morgan in the centre of midfield as reward for his fantastic display last week when he scored two goals and could have had more. Alex did not fare so well this week, being unable to score despite having several chances, but, sometimes the luck goes like that. Alex wasn't the only one unable to score. A host of Red Dragons had chances, in the end, two of the Red Dragons were scored by a defender -- Kevin Lauder! Coach Archer's Postmatch Thoughts: Today's performance was solid all around. It was disappointing not to have Sean Andrew, but today the team proved that it could still play well without him. Whilst always wary of running up the score, it was disappointing that the Red Dragons didn't make more of their scoring opportunities. At least they were in positions to score. Today also vindicated my assertion that anyone can score, even goalkeepers and defenders! We only scored three goals today and two of those came from the central defender! I like my teams to attack and it is nice to see a defender get forward and have a go himself. I was pleased for Kevin, he deserved his goals.

11th November, Friendly Game, Home versus Madison "Italy", Won 1-0 Match report will appear here! Check back in a day or so!