Clayton Wanderers 2 : 0 Rusty Plough

Video courtesy of Jak Media Enterprises.

Things looked bleak for the men of the Rusty Plough as they slowly gathered in West Berkeley. The “pitch” at Gabe’s east resembled an abandoned lot, with grass tufts tumbling about, over the alternating sand and mud that constituted the playing surface. They counted the arriving players as they had heard rumors that their numbers were decimated by absences, injuries and kids soccer games. The only bright spot were their spectacular jerseys, classy in black, with team sponsor Trumer Pils in bright yellow across the chests.

But then things started looking up. Gaston arrived to augment the numbers, Jamie recovered from “going viral,” Adam abandoned his child, and Gerardo overcame his owwiee. The opponent that day was top of the table Wanderers. They wore their ugly purplish colors that looked like a nasty bruise. In hindsight, we should have asked them to switch to white as the colors were a bit too similar in silhouette, but I digress.

Interim manager Welch recalled the success that the Plough enjoyed last year when they set up defensively and frustrated their opponents throughout the game, with Peter himself getting an unexpected winner on a counter attack in the 85th minute. Would he call for the same approach?

Of course not. Having scored between 17 and 18 goals over the prior two matches, Welch decided to stick with his trademark 4-3-3. Despite having limited subs, Welch wanted his charges to bring the game to the opponents. And with that, the game began.

Welch’s decision quickly looked to be genius. The Rusties enjoyed early possession and kept much of the play in the Wanderers half. Giovanetti, sporting the number 10 for the first time this season, played like a man possessed. Always available for passes, controlling the midfield and finding outlet passes. Dale and Peter provided willing targets as they ran the flanks finding cracks in the Wanderer defense. Gerardo and Steve solidified the midfield, supporting Giovanetti, moving the ball out to the wings and covering as needed on defense.

Despite their good play, the Rusties found it hard to generate any real chances. If memory serves, and it may not, the best look during that spell was a header by Wekwerth from a corner. He met the ball solidly, but his header was straight at the keeper and was easily saved.

About midway through the half, the Wanderers got their footing and began to attack. Their game plan mostly consisted of long passes and crossing runs. The Rusty defense was up for the task and generally contained their youthful opposition. Jamie was solid, Jose and Stef held down the left side and Nik was his usual solid self. The Wanderers earned a few corner kicks that presented some challenges, including a goal that was disallowed when the 7’ tall Wanderer was adjudged to have assaulted Hudson while jumping over and through him.

But, as happens, the Wanderers got one through ball when only Hudson was back covering. Despite running step for step, the attacker was able to get a shot off. Gerardo later noted that, as he shot, the attacker’s foot hit the ground before the ball. Everyone thought, as the ball went high over keeper James, that it would travel safely over the crossbar. But, unexpectedly, the ball suddenly dipped down and found itself in the back of the goal. The Plough was down 1-0 when the half came to an end.

During halftime, the Rusties noted that their play was solid and it was decided that they would stick with their plan. The smattering of Starry Plough and Ploughed Under players who were watching the match provided their encouragement. Moriconi suggested a 4-4-2.

However, the Wanderers seemed to have the upper hand at the start of the second half and much of the play was in the Rusties’ end. The Plough were defending the half of the field where the penalty box was mostly sand, causing some interesting situations as Rusties struggled for footing. The Wanderers then launched one of their long-ball attacks. The bouncing ball just evaded Jamie and Hudson was running to clear it. As he got close, he misheard keeper James (who said “man!” while Hudson heard “mine!”). Hudson left the ball for the keeper, who turned out to be nowhere near the ball, and the “man” was quickly onto it. He dribbled to his left, evaded Hudson and PJ, and scored the Wanderers’ second.

The second goal seemed to focus the Plough and, despite tiring, they began to bring the game to the Wanderers. Stef helped calm things down with some quality passing. Adam shored up the center backs and helped keep the Wanderers in check. The Rusties nearly pulled one back when a pass from (someone?) found Tyler, who had been creating chaos in the attacking third the whole game. Tyler found a bit of space and unleashed a shot that flat-footed the keeper. Unfortunately, the shot was just wide and it clipped the outside of the post.

The Rusties continued to attack with Dale, Jose and Gaston all pressing hard and keeping the pressure in the opponent’s end. Sadly, despite their strong play and hard work, the Rusties once again found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreline and the game ended 2-0.

With the loss, the East Bay Senior Soccer League confirmed that the Rusties will be restricted to the lower half of the table, perhaps cementing their reputation as the best worst team in the league.

Golden Boot Standings

Dale – 7

Tyler – 5

Jose - 2

Freddie – 1

Jeremy – 1

Nik – 1

Gerardo – 1

PJ – 1

Steve – 1

Peter – 1

Eric - 1

Own Goal – 1