Cataraqui Soccer Club

Cataraqui I 1 vs Fanatics 0

Getting 9 of a possible 9 points is a pretty darn good way to start the season and that’s exactly where Cataraqui I sit after Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over The Fanatics (aka Calabria Italia over the last few years).

The game began rather chaotically for the blue and black as it seemed we couldn’t find any consistent form against the high tailing Fanatics.  The first 30 minutes were filled with our passes that were off by a yard, our control that wasn’t quite controlled and our giveaways that led to Fanatical charges at our goal.  We employed our own brand of fanatical defence and it seemed to be just enough to keep the score sheet clean.

The most worrisome moment came very early in the game when, for the first time this year, Alex Fletcher misjudged a high cross and allowed the ball to bounce in front of him.  A Fanatics forward sent it towards goal and only Andy Nadar’s clearance kept it 0-0.

Stalwart sweeper Steve Vardy managed to keep his fullback mates of Ted Bailey, Matt Herod, Mark Laprise, Paul Blais and Andy working together.

Alex was very sharp the rest of the night – once again with sound control of his 18 and getting smartly off his line in the late going to prevent a Fanatics mini-breakaway from finding the old onion bag.

Somewhere along the way, we started to retain more of the possession and as the night wore on, the good guys controlled more of the game.  In the end, we looked dangerous on most of our forward assaults and I would say eventually outchanced the opposition.

The only goal on the evening came from a set piece in the 60th minute.  Eoin Boyle took a corner and placed it perfectly on MVP Paul’s head which was PK spot deep at the near post.  Paul headed it down towards goal where Dave Ryding (standing only a couple of yards from goal) let the ball run through his legs.  The post-covering defender and goalkeeper seemed surprised to have the ball come through and made a mess out of it.  Dave was there to bash in the rebound.  That makes five different goal scorers this year for our five goals.

Although we had to work very hard to retain position after that, we were getting several fair chances on goal.   Almost everyone from the midfield up had a shot.  Steve “yes it’s a z” Stutzman was in hard on a 30-70 ball that he crushed over the net, Luc Hampel was once set clear but his effort from 30 yards went wide of the onrushing keeper and the net, Mark Schultes sent in his usual compliment of wonderful crosses and Peter Boyle Jr. was his normal dangerous self. John Gallianaro, Jason Akers and Artek Reczek had no fear in getting stuck in and kept feeding their mates with sharp passes.

Zac Lewis should have made it six scorers but must have wondered what the heck was going on in the last minute of the game when he was absolutely all alone in front of the keeper from only a few yards out.  From his line the backstopper managed to get his leg on the ball while his defence stood still with their arms in the air shouting for offsides.

However, the Toucaneers had Coach Boyle on the edge of his seat for the last 10 minutes as the opposition pushed very hard for the tie.  There were many anxious moments including Alex’s off-the line stop but we held on for a well-earned 3 points.

On a disappointing note it looks like Ciaran Boyle is not going to see a lot of the pitch for the next while.  A troublesome groin and wonky knee were given a pregame warm-up test and they didn’t perform as well as hoped.  Thanks for sticking around during the game though Ciaran.  Larry Hart’s night ended early when the recurring effects of last weekend’s CAN-AM tournament caught up to him.  Something about a bump on the calf but I don’t believe him.

No rest for the wicked.  Friday night is a Cup showdown with B Division The Keg – the team that beat us in last year’s playoff final.  We’ll be much shorter on staff so everyone will have to bring their best in order to advance.  Game time is 6:30 at Caton’s 2.

Paul Blais