Hard Earned Point Away To Medford

Medford Soccer 2:2 Green Briar FC

Green Briar FC looked to bounce back from last week's poor result with an improved performance away to Medford Soccer on the bumpy surface of Playstead Park.

The wind was a factor yet again as was the temperature for the 5:30pm kick off. The players' hunger to improve was evident from the first kick as some early link up play down the left proved we could play some nice football despite the poor surface. It was good work down the left from Clarke and Cassidy after 5 minutes which led to a low cross beating the Medford defense and finding Samati who shot from point blank range. Somehow the Medford keeper made an instinctual reaction save and turned the ball over.

Two minutes after that chance the Greens conceded a controversial goal. A high free kick was delivered into the box from distance and the ball eluded the grasp of DelPieri in goal under a heavy challenge from two Medford attackers. When everyone at Playstead was expecting a free out, the referee inexplicably awarded the goal after a quick consultation with the lines man.

The players would not let this setback affect their play and they created a deserved equalizer on the 15 minute mark. Tom Caldwell earned a freekick on the edge of the area as he made it difficult for Medford to clear. From just greater than 20 yards out, Gary Cassidy placed a powerful curling shot through a gap in the wall created by Robert Coyne. The ball found the right hand corner and left the keeper rooted to the spot.

As the half progressed two additional good chances followed. Davey Coen headed over from a good quality Clarke corner and Samati created his own space in the box with a cheeky nutmeg of a defender only to sidefoot wide at the near post. The first half had too many careless offsides and silly fouls by the Greens however as Medford tried to slow the high tempo that had been established by Coen and Caldwell in the middle.

Entering the break at 1-1 the Greens felt like they deserved more from their 1st half exploits. Green Briar started the second half unchanged but hoping to tidy up the sloppy fouls and needless offsides. Yet it took only 5 minutes of the second half to fall behind again.

A Medford attacker sprung an untidy attempt of the offside trap and raced away unchallenged from 35 yards out. Coyne was slow in chasing back having suffered a bout of cramp just before the move. DelPieri did all he could to close down the angle but the ball was slotted cooly to the left hand corner of the net.

The first change was made on 55 minutes with Kharakozov coming into left midfield, pushing Cassidy up front and O'Conner to the bench after a good shift. On 60 minutes Tom Caldwell got behind the Medford defense and suffered a nasty collision with the onrushing keeper as he tried a lob from the corner of the box. Such a challenge could have ended up much worse but Tom dusted himself off and got back into the action.

On 65 minutes three new players were introduced in order to freshen up the ideas up front and add more energy in the middle. These changes initially disrupted the rhythm of the Greens as Doonan and Clarke were playing Route 1 football a little too much.

With still plenty of time left in the contest Davey Coen and the newly introduced Brian McGuinness began finding their range of passing. Some composed fullback play from Gary Hennessy allowed for some creativity to develop down the right as he sought to bring Peter Miller and Gary Cassidy into the play a bit more.

Eamonn McCarney added great energy up front aswell, his first contribution being a 25 yard shot that needed to be dealt with by the Medford keeper. These improvements to our play led to a string of corners from the right.

Gary Cassidy's deliveries from these corners were of the highest quality and with Robert Coyne pushed up from the back for the final 10 minutes, something good was bound to happen. A point blank header was stopped on the line and scrambled away from one corner before finally the equalizer was driven home from another corner. And what a strike it was.

A deep corner from Cassidy was only half cleared to the far side of the box. Eamonn McCarney had pulled off the back post and collected the ball. Taking two touches to settle he exploited the space he was given to rifle a shot across the keeper which sent the net bulging as it went in at the far post. At 2-2 and just about 5 minutes remaining the Briar had time for more.

McCarney was unlucky not to earn a freekick on the edge of the box as one of his barrelling runs was halted. Cassidy picked up a cheap yellow card as he pressured a Medford defender who had mis-controlled but was adjudged to have fouled. The final chance fell to Brian McGuinness as he helped a ball goalwards but the shot lacked the venom to cause any problems.

The Green Briar headed home with a well earned come back and a valuable away point. With other results on the day falling the right way, Suchi FC could not build on their win from last week and Lusitanos were not in action, it is still all to play for in the MSSL.

Line Up: DelPieri, Hennessy, Doonan, Coyne, Clarke, Claus(65'), Caldwell(65'), Coen(c), Cassidy(YC), Samati(65'), O'Connor(55')
Subs: Kharakozov(35'), McGuinness(25'), McCarney(25'), P Miller(25')
Unused: Rossetti, Hannick, Goin, T Miller