Alameda Azzuri 3:3 Rusty Plough

Sep. 25, 2022

When wearing the black, the Rusty Plough don’t take to the pitch, they simply take the pitch. It was an early morning and there was more than one hangover in evidence (well maybe not, but this correspondent was and he did not want to be alone). But the Plough, under a gray sky, confidently assumed their positions. The yellow Trumer Pils logo was bright across their chests as they lined up. There were eight in the front row and nine in the back as the pre-game photo was snapped. Surely, this was their finest hour. 

Given the average age of the squads, the Rusties kept their expectations in check. Azzuri seemed young and fit. And the Rusties seemed… rusty. 

Azzuri controlled the match from the start. Within five minutes, they drew Hudson into a midfield challenge that he failed to win. This left the defense exposed down the center and, despite feeble claims of offsides, the Azzuri were quickly up 1-0. 

Not too long after, the Rusty defense, in clear contravention of manager Moriconi’s orders, passed the ball sideways across the back. The return pass was less than sharp, and the Azzuri striker jumped on the opportunity to put the blues up 2-0. 

Moriconi shouted words of encouragement such as “what are you doing!?” And “that was terrible” and “@&$!&?&!!!!”.  These kind words motivated the Rusties and soon they had an attack through the opponent’s box. The mercurial referee decided that the Azzuri defender’s arm was in an unnatural position. And the Plough was awarded a PK. 

Gerardo stepped to the spot, vi la araña, and calmly slotted the ball past the diving keeper. It was 2-1 and the Plough was growing into the game. 

Not long after, Hudson stepped and picked off an Azzuri pass. He put the ball out to Kuehnl (pronounced Kuehnl) who quickly fired the ball up the right side to Welch. Welch saw the Azurri keeper off his line and hit a long slow looper. In what took an agonizingly long time, the ball floated over the keeper, bounced once or twice, and then rippled the back of the net.  

2-2 was the halftime score. 

Manager Moriconi took stock of the situation and boldly announced that he would continue the 4-4-2. It was groundbreaking stuff. The Azzurri seemed to take the initiative in the second half and kept the Rusties on their toes. Soon, there was one of those situations where the ball bounces among feet inside the 18-yard box. There was a missed clearance, and Azzuri's # 9 (not a false 9), turned sharply and drove the ball past Forsyth (who played the whole match on a bad wheel).

The goal seemed to motivate the plough, and the game was now being played in the Azzuri half. Welch made tireless runs. When Waranoff wasn't getting hit in the chest, or head or nuts, he was distributing passes and chasing midfielders. Weinstein made a few graceful pirouettes. Dale Webber, making his Rusty debut, chased back and forth down the right side and Josh Reiten did the same on the left.

The pressure on Azzuri resulted in a foul at the 35. Gerardo stepped up to take the free kick and Roberto casually strode towards the far post. Gerardo put in a beautiful ball and Roberto was positively Furlongesque as he laid himself out to drive a solid header past the keeper. 3-3!

One constant throughout the match was that the Ref made a never-ending stream of bad calls. Everyone was offsides, if you touched a player, it was a foul. If you looked at a goalie cross wise, you got a warning. This bizarre reffing paid dividends for the Plough as the Azzuri dropped a long pass to the far post. The initial shot hit the post and bounced out, but the rebound was hammered home. Several seconds later, the ref blew his whistle and raised his hand for offsides, disallowing the goal. Phil, who held down the right back position was sure that they were offsides on the initial pass. Other defenders were not so sure.

The Rusties had some chances after that. Mike Costello, playing up top, put in some great balls that were just beyond the reach of his teammates. When not making solid passes, he was busy hunting down the Azurri and disrupting play. Jose had a few chances, but his biggest contribution was 90 minutes of solid left-back doggedness.

As the game was in its closing stages, the Azurri picked up their efforts and the ball was in the Plough half. Eric screamed himself hoarse imploring any and all to simply clear the ball. He is learning that, on this Plough team, while the spirit may be willing, the body is often weak.

The match ended in a 3-3 draw, that left top of the table Azzuri irritated, and the no-longer bottom dwelling Rusties relatively pleased.

Golden Boot

• Welsh 2

• Hudson 1

• Delgadillo 1

• Viveros 1