Matchday 7 - OGFC Green v. Rogues

DATE OF MATCH: October 24, 2015

OPPONENT: Rogues

LOCATION: Delta Park Field #5

FINAL SCORE: Rogues 4, OGFC Green 0

SCORING SUMMARY - Goal scorer (assisted by), time: None

MISCONDUCT - Player name (type of card), time: Rich Ybarra – caution – 80th minute

Green Players: Paul Atkinson, Eric Berg, Stephen Chen, Tim Dibble, Tom Dixon, Jeff Ekdahl, Ryan Harris, Sean Hutchinson, Kip Kesgard, Rustam Kocher, Steve Kuenzi, Chris Owcarz, Rich Sheals, Rich Ybarra

OGFC Reserves: Rodrigo Munoz, Mo Phillips

OGFC 50: Charlie Clough

Green Managers: Jamey Billig, Eric Berg

Injured Green players unable to play but present: Jamey Billig

In match number 7 of the Fall campaign, the Green team was again in scramble mode initially with their 10 AM match at Delta Park versus Rogues. With Gold and the O50’s playing later, the normal reinforcements from other side weren’t available, but there were a few old names that finally made their return from injury – coach Rustam Kocher had healed up enough to join the fray. With several Reserve players joining the usual crew, Coach Jamey Billig was able to field together a potentially strong lineup versus Rogues. The two clubs have battled on several occasions throughout the years in GPSD with Rogues coming out of top each time, but there have been some rather close battles along the way, and several familiar faces amongst the opponents. With the temperature warming up a bit and the wind dying down, OGFC was hoping to put up a great effort with fill-in keeper Charlie Clough again manning goal for the injured trio of regular OGFC Green keepers.

The match started off reasonably well with both side punching the ball back and forth and Clough making a couple of early saves until one of the Rogues players executed a slide tackle into Clough that earned him a lecture and caution. While the situation appeared to be accidental at first, the player in question would figure into several other scenarios as the match went on. For their trouble, Rogues was able sneak in a goal around the 20th minute off an overload to the left and 10 minutes later with a shot from distance, but otherwise, the OGFC defense was really working hard to keep them off the counter. Especially watching Ryan Harris, Sean Hutchinson and Kip Kesgard in full sprints taking shots off their legs and stomachs was encouraging, as Rogues simply could not get fully open. On the offensive side, Mo Phillips was the main gate keeper in the central attack, but with Kocher back, the formation allowed Phillips to move forward with more regularity as OGFC had a few shots push just wide or high in traffic. The deficit stayed at 2 to 0, but there were plenty of smiles at the break at a well-played half with a full 45 left to go.

The second half started with a very odd play when a long ball played off Hutchinson’s arm near the box and dropped to a Rogues player for a punched in shot, as everyone was slightly surprised the official didn’t call the handball considering the jumping action. However, his attention was turned to our aforementioned friend, who had received two warnings after hard tackles about his conduct but no additional cards were issues. As Rogues added a fourth, the match tempo changed dramatically as OGFC Green held the ball in their end for nearly 10 minutes of passing and movement with a cascade of passes and shots to the point where the Rogues defense was completely on their heels in panic at trying to defend. The pressure and movement was really working on all aspects, but the OGFC offense just couldn’t find the final pass to get a goal in this sequence.

The match took a rather ugly turn when Clough was taken out again by the same Rogues player inside the box to no call, and after a small protest and a Rogues player being cautioned for leaving the field without notifying the official for a sub, OGFC center back Rich Ybarra took the matter into his hands after the restart by absolutely destroying the player with a hard, but ultimately legal challenge that dropped him to the turf hard. Ybarra was cautioned on the play, but considering the situation, it was important to stand up for your goalkeeper in those situations where he can’t protect himself. The match extended into extra time, but the score ended with the 4 to 0 scoreline. The post-match handshakes were in good spirits, but there was certainly some tension afterwards after some of the overt physicality. OGFC Green will now head to Vancouver for match #8 versus Blue Birds on October 31 at 5 pm at Kings’ Way Christian School before finishing up the Fall campaign with two matches out at Jefferson High School.

Submitted by Kip Kesgard, OGFC Green/OGFC Media Team