Matchday 8 Report - 50s vs. FC 77 Newcastle

OGFC O50s vs. FC 77 Newcastle, Sunday, November 9, 2015, 4:00 pm, Jefferson High School.

The Over 50s squad played their 8th match against FC 77 Newcastle at Jefferson High School in NE Portland.

At the pregame strategy briefing, manager Lee Tyler emphasized completed passes, and challenged the players to keep track of their completed passes, promising a prize to the person with the most. It's unclear who actually won that competition, but the guidance did seem to help with overall team coordination and cohesion, as the team played a much more organized defense and had a much better movement of the ball up the pitch than in prior matches.

The score remained level at 0-0 through much of the first half, but a break-away individual effort by a Newcastle player, weaving Nagbe-like through several OGFC players, resulted in the first goal of the game. Shortly thereafter, a second goal was tallied by Newcastle, off a nice redirected header from a corner kick to the upper corner of the net. OGFC went into halftime down 2-0, a score which would have been much higher if not for the heroic and acrobatic goalkeeping efforts of John Clarke in goal.

The second half continued to show OGFC bending but mostly not breaking, with many attacks against their goal being turned away by the defensive line or the goalkeeper. Newcastle did manage to score another goal off a deflection that was serendipitously poked back into the bottom corner, but otherwise the defense held firm. OGFC was finally able to muster a responsive offensive attack towards the end of the match, and a long looping shot by Todd Wilson ricocheted off the goalpost to a waiting Mohammad Bader, who expertly buried it top corner, resulting in the final score of Newcastle 3 - OGFC 50s 1. This is a significant improvement over the 7-0 defeat to Newcastle in the first game of the year.

Overall, the team has improved greatly in execution, tactics and strategy from the start of this inaugural season, and seem poised to pick up a point in the remaining two games of the season.

Next match is Sunday, November 15, 2015, 4:00 pm at Jefferson High School. Opponent is Seven Bridges FC (to whom OGFC lost 6-1 in the second game of the season), currently 2-5-1, 16 GF, 24 GA.

OGFC O50s stand 0-8-0, 5 GF, 43 GA.

Final Score: OGFC O50s: 1 - FC 77 Newcastle: 3.

Goals: Mohammad Bader: 1.

Assists: Todd Wilson: 1.

Yellow Cards: None.

Red Cards: None.

Players (Jersey Number): Forward: Gary Golish (16), Donald Baldwin (57), Dale Montgomery (18)

Midfield: Lee Tyler (10), Ulricke Mengelberg (808), Patrick Marcinko (1), McCoy Smith (25), Klair Creer, Mohammad Bader (64).

Defense: Todd Wilson (51), Charlie Clough (26), Bob Kisch (13), Michael Kilger (12), Rainer Theirauf (70), Dan Brook (8).

Goalkeeper: John Clarke (0)

Did Not Play: Sean Moran (33), Jon Perr (0), Richard Hanje (41), Greg Osnes (50), Bruce Harris (60), Joel Pawloski (80), Mitchell Gray (39), Rob Robinette (11), Ed Flanigan (1), John Shockley (75).