Charlotte Men Battle with Vigor
Charlotte men’s entered the season on the backs of a successful 2008. Our A team had won the Junior B North American Championship for the first time and would be moving up to play at junior A level. Our B team had been competitive in the Junior D division, but had been narrowly beaten by St Louis in the semi final. Both teams had lost some key players in the off season, so the recruitments agents were busy scouting local gyms and football fields for suitable talent.
Charlotte again traveled to the North American Finals with 2 men’s teams and just shy of 40 players ready for action. This was the culmination of 7 months of hard training, beginning with a few hardy souls togging out for the “optional” preseason fitness sessions in chilly February, picking up momentum as we moved through the Spring, and swelling in numbers (and temperatures) as we sweated through the Summer. By August, we were up to 3 days a week and an average of 30 players at each practice.
The regular season form had been good. The A team had not gone unbeaten, despite swimming in unchartered waters. We welcomed a youthful St. Barnabas side for the Connolly’s Cup, the first time a New York side had traveled to Charlotte . They were joined by Atlanta and Washington for a most enjoyable weekend of sport and revelry. We traveled to Washington and took on the Philadelphia Young Islanders. We renewed our friendly rivalry with the AFL team in Atlanta in compromise rules, locked horns with a much improved Washington DC team and took on a resurgent Atlanta side. I suppose the highlight would have to be the Young Islanders game. For many of our boys, this was the first time they had played a team of this caliber and despite a slow start, they rose to the challenge to claim a 4 point victory. This gave us the belief that we could be a factor at this level and was the catalyst for some intense training in preparation for the NA finals in Boston .
The draw had not been kind to us. We knew that being the only team outside the “big four”, we would be up against it no matter which team we faced. The Chicago Wolfe tones and the San Fran Celtics would be formidable opponents, but landing the pre tournament favorites, McAnespies, on their own patch would be exceptionally difficult. And this is how it proved when we finally faced up on Saturday morning. Again, we started slowly, giving up a quick 3 points, and squandering some early chances. An Alan Kenny free settled the nerves, and we traded scores for the majority of a very open and entertaining half of football. The turning point came in the dying embers of the first. Charlotte were enjoying a good spell of possession and fashioned a great chance for a goal but the ball cannoned of the crossbar, springing the quick thinking McAnespies backs into action. The ball was moved swiftly up the field, and with Charlotte stretched, the McAnespies forwards used the overlap to full effect and dispatched the ball into the bottom corner of the net. That left us trailing by 1-06 to 0-6 heading into the break. We were encouraged with the performance over the first 30 minutes, and felt unlucky to be in arrears, having had the better of the play. We took to the field for the second half with renewed vigor, but again began poorly. When we settled back down, we had conceded an additional 4 pts, and the deficit proved insurmountable, despite a valiant attempt which saw us hit the woodwork on another 3 occasions. In the end, a superior match sharpness proved to be the difference, and McAnespies ran out to be worthy winners by a score of 2-15 to 0-9. Despite the defeat, we took heart in our performance and were encouraged to see our conquerors romp home in a one sided final.
The B team enjoyed a more successful time of it this year. The Junior D division has always proved to be very competitive, and this year was no different, with 8 teams competing for the title. The first round paired us up against last year’s runners up and 2007 champs, Phoenix . A titanic battle ensued and our boys were bitterly disappointed to lose in extra time. One thing that has characterized this team over the years is it’s spirit and resilience, so it was no surprise to see them dust themselves off for the first round of the Shield against the Twin Cities. This proved to be another close encounter, but our boys had had enough of being on the wrong side of these verdicts and pulled through with great determination. In an ironic twist, we faced Buffalo in the final, who knocked out Phoenix in the previous round. There was no stopping our boys now though, and they produced some of their best football to date to claim their first ever piece of silverware. This was a great achievement for a team consisting of some players that had never seen the sport 12 months previous, and the culmination of years of dedicated effort. There was certainly enough talent on display to suggest that this team can go one better next year with plenty of players capable of pushing on for a spot on the A team.
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment