Friday, August 05, 2005
LISC Earns Slot in Champions Tournament With 60th Minute Goal Against Cramlington United
This LISC U14 team reminds me of the old ABC Sports television opening fanfare that spoke of the “agony and ecstasy of sports” and today’s match held both, but in the proper order, ending with the ecstasy, a last minute goal by AJ Sikorski. Fighting tooth and nail throughout and working through a 15 minute downpour in the 1st half, LISC hung on in a game where Cramlington dominated play for minutes at a time.
Aggressive play by both teams led to a spirited match, with 2 yellow cards for Cramlington players and some hard knocks for both teams. Cramlington, who are the club that were the home of the great Alan Shearer as a young player, were strong on the ball and created a number of chances and dangerous free kicks, and would have been justified in a tie or win, but it was an LISC stubborn hope into the final minute that led to a goal. Goalie Mark Pataky had a number of important saves. Playing a 4-4-2 with a change at the back of Tim Parks as left back and Victor Martinez, Dean Adickes, and Sean Baird filling out the line, LISC were able to hold Cramlington scoreless. Miguel Manero and Scot Chapman were very active in the midfield. Stefan Wingo carried the day at many points during the match, fighting defensively and building up LISC's attack when no one else was at the ready. Martin Musurana and Kadeem Bridgewater were spirited in their pressure on Cramlington’s offensive build up. Coming on in the 2nd half, John Munson, Michael DeLucia, and Nick Congdon kept LISC fresh.
With a victory in their last game, LISC finish 4th in their group, earning a knock-out game at noon on Saturday against Whitley Bay Boys Club A team, 1st place in the top group of the U14 division. 3 wins and LISC would be champions of the tournament. We will see if the boys can dig deep and rise to yet another level of play and confidence.
Robert Baird
Aggressive play by both teams led to a spirited match, with 2 yellow cards for Cramlington players and some hard knocks for both teams. Cramlington, who are the club that were the home of the great Alan Shearer as a young player, were strong on the ball and created a number of chances and dangerous free kicks, and would have been justified in a tie or win, but it was an LISC stubborn hope into the final minute that led to a goal. Goalie Mark Pataky had a number of important saves. Playing a 4-4-2 with a change at the back of Tim Parks as left back and Victor Martinez, Dean Adickes, and Sean Baird filling out the line, LISC were able to hold Cramlington scoreless. Miguel Manero and Scot Chapman were very active in the midfield. Stefan Wingo carried the day at many points during the match, fighting defensively and building up LISC's attack when no one else was at the ready. Martin Musurana and Kadeem Bridgewater were spirited in their pressure on Cramlington’s offensive build up. Coming on in the 2nd half, John Munson, Michael DeLucia, and Nick Congdon kept LISC fresh.
With a victory in their last game, LISC finish 4th in their group, earning a knock-out game at noon on Saturday against Whitley Bay Boys Club A team, 1st place in the top group of the U14 division. 3 wins and LISC would be champions of the tournament. We will see if the boys can dig deep and rise to yet another level of play and confidence.
Robert Baird
