Another stalemate for the O30's

Green Briar O30 0:0 United International

The Briar rounded off the 1st half of the fall season with a second draw on the trot when they renewed acquaintances with old D5 foe United International.

Victory Field was yet again the venue for the Greens, a lovely venue that boasts fresh turf and full sized field dimensions. The weather was something of a travesty however with a consistent heavy rain teaming down throughout the match.

The opening half was a tight affair. The Briar went close on a couple of occasions. Firstly Joe Nolan sent a great strike whistling wide of the post from 25 yards after he latched onto a clearance from a corner. Later on, Java was unable to get on the end of a dangerous delivery into the box as the centre half flicked a header away to safety.

United International were also creating dangerous openings, the closest they got was a strike that deflected onto the right hand post and was eventually cleared to safety.

The second half saw the Briar grow into the game and earn more of the play and possession in the midfield area. United were always dangerous on the break and from set pieces (Jason Sullo making a couple outstanding saves), but the Briar were also applying pressure and creating chances.

Terrence O'Leahy was unlucky when he sent a flush strike on the half volley wide of the mark, and later in the half DKS sent in a nice cross, only for Balekian to miss the header at the back post.

As time expired the pace of play became frantic. Carlos Neto looked dangerous in possession at the edge of the box, but there was still time for United to mount a counter attack. A cross to the back post looked like it was about to fall onto the head of an attacker but a tremendous last ditch flicked header from Tom McElwain averted the danger when it looked like a sure goal.

Half way home and the Briar are still within striking distance of the top of the table. Five games left to make a run at the title and the card points still in reasonable check should be pleasing for the Greens.

Line Up: Sullo, Nolan, Hannick, Goin, Higgins, McElwain, Hall, O'Connor, McGuinness, Java, O'Brien, Balekian, Concagh, Graham, O'Leahy, DKS, Hickey, Neto

Tough defeat to Lowell United

Lowell United 4:2 Green Briar FC

The Briar's title challenge had stuttered in recent weeks and suffered another blow at Cawley Stadium after a tough defeat to Lowell United. The run of four games undefeated was lost in a poor opening 15 minutes.

Lowell raced into a comfortable 3-0 lead following a nice direct free kick from the edge of the box, a break down the left that sprung the offside trap and finally from a sloppy back pass that was gleefully collected and converted.

Following that woeful start the players did very well in steadying the ship and playing the football they know they are capable of. Reaching half time at the same score was enough to spark somewhat of a comeback in the second half.

The Briar had much more endeavour and serious attacking threats early in the second half. The reward came in the form of a penalty kick. Brian McGuinness got the Briar on the board at the second attempt following an initial save.

The Briar pressure was beginning to tell as the Lowell players were picking up some silly bookings for dissent and delays of game. The cards eventually mounted and resulted in Lowell being reduced to 9 men.

At that stage, with a two man advantage on the field and a two goal deficit on the score board the Briar felt if was only right to push men forward to make a decent attempt at a comeback. Moving to a 3-5-2 the Briar pushed on.

Chance after chance was created, but ultimately wasted as a number of players were off the mark with their shots, or at the more basic level, their first touch under pressure. A little improvement in the clinical nature of our play in the final third and we'll add to the excellent build up and midfield play the club already has in abundance.

Lowell scored a break away goal which is always a bitter disappointment while holding the numerical advantage, but they are a very good side and punish mistakes with goals, not near misses.

Two weeks left in the season and an improvement on the 5th place finish from the 2011 campaign should be the goal, as the Briar look to build the strength and depth of the club after its second season in existance.

Line Up: Mullane, Roux, Hennessy, Altidore, Clarke, Samati, Caldwell, Treacy, McGuinness, Coen, Sexton, McLoughlin, Claus

Flat performance returns solitary point

Delta Services FC 1:1 Green Briar O30

An extra early start and one hour journey obviously didn't suit the Green Briar this week. The Greens performance was a little lack lustre and they deserved no more than a point on the day.

An early strike from Brian McGuinness who buried a rebound after good build up play by Carlos Neto on the right byline seemed to settle the Green Briar side. The Greens were good value for the lead at that stage of the match.

The remainder of the half was somewhat disjointed from a Briar point of view. Delta Services were making a lot more clear cut chances and were unlucky not to equalize and take the lead but for some solid goalkeeping.

Joe Nolan and Conor Hannick's partnership in recent weeks has been solid, but they got away with a few lax moments in the first half. But for some great saves behind them the game could have slipped away from the Green Briar. Capping a poor 15 to 20 minute spell for the team, Joe Nolan was late on a challenge in the box and the spot kick was awarded. Delta spurned the chance to equalize going into half time following a great save from the PK. The Briar, although playing poorly maintained the lead.

The Briar were genuinely unlucky not to double the lead early in the second half when Brian McGuinness and Carlos Neto hit the woodwork. It was not to be, Delta equalized soon after. Delta had been trying a long throw-in towards the danger area for most of the game. Finally one paid off for them. The dropping ball at the edge of the 6 yard box wasn't dealt with, with a few players having a chance to clear before a Delta forward poked home from close range. The teams were all square.

With serious questions being asked of the Briar they stepped up the intensity again for the final minutes. They put Delta under serious pressure but were not as sharp as they could have been in the final third. A late penalty shout following a hand ball in the box was not given when it looked blatantly obvious to all in a green jersey.

After securing an away point and with other interesting results around the league that means the Briar are still within touching distance of the lead. It is all to play for in the coming weeks.

Line Up: Fallon, McElwain, Hannick, Nolan, Glynn, O'Leahy, Hall, O'Connor, McGuinness, Neto, Graham, Balekian, Concagh, O'Brien, Goin, Higgins

Great win against challenger for D3 title

Green Briar O30 3:1 Southborough

In this day and age, with Reality TV ruling the airwaves, Twitter and Facebook blowing up our phones and news outlets and the wider blogesphere providing instant access to information, it has become necessary to coin a new phrase or two, even if it only makes it to the Urban Dictionary. I present to you one such phrase....

	Media Whore
	1. A person who has a psychological need to get into TV, Film, Radio or the Green Briar Blog 2. A person who becomes aroused almost sexually by seeing or hearing themselves or about themselves on the Green Briar Blog.

Gavin Hall, John Hickey and Leo O'Connor for some reason always come to mind when I sit down to write a match report. Not so much their performances, but how to feed the beast that is the Ego of a Media Whore. Some weeks it's easy for me, but other weeks when none of them have covered themselves in glory, I really need to dig deep into the repertoire of superlatives to keep them off my back.

A picture of Hickey's thumb while reading this blog 

(yes, you can count this as one more mention of your name)

So now that I've at least given them a mention, I can get on with the match report. After all you know what they say, there's no such thing as bad publicity, or as the famous Irish playwright Oscar Wilde so eloquently put it, "The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about".

Filippello Park was the venue for the visiting Southborough team, a team who was all too familiar to Carlos Neto. Carlos' former club visiting Watertown was all the motivation he needed to put in a Man of the Match performance.

Playing like a man possessed, he was involved in most that was good from the Briar. The scoring was opened in the 1st half when Brian McGuinness set Carlos away down the left. He took his man on 1 on 1 in the box and was fouled unceremoniously. The penalty was awarded and McGuinness converted with his usual confidence. Java did well to stay out of the box while he was taking it.

Southborough had also come to play however. Jason Sullo needed to be on his toes to save a dangerous long distance shot later in the first half but the Briar were also posing questions.

Paul Glynn delivered a dangerous free kick into the box which Carlos flicked on for Java, but his shot was high. Good signs for the Greens.

The second half saw the Briar add a pair of unanswered goals. Firstly, John Hickey found the head of Joe Nolan from a corner and his towering header found Java at the back post for the simplest of finishes. Minutes later Carlos was running at his man again. Beating him to the byline he squared a tantalizing ball to Java to bag his brace in similarly comfortable fashion.

Holding a three goal advantage the Briar were always going to invite pressure from the visitors. The clean sheet was lost when a corner was defended well but the second ball into the box was headed home by an unmarked player on the six yard box.

The Briar's rear guard was up to the remaining challenges and comfortably saw out the remainder of the match with two goals to spare. A good result from the Greens who bounce back from last week's defeat and keep up their challenge for the Division 3 title.

Line Up: Sullo, McElwain, Hannick, Nolan, Glynn, Hickey, Hall, O'Connor, McGuinness, Java, Neto, DKS, Graham, Balekian, Concagh, O'Brien, Goin

Latest Results

Green Briar O30 3:1 Southborough
Goal: McGuinness (pen) Assist: Neto
Goal: Java Assist: Nolan
Goal: Java Assist: Neto

Line Up: Sullo, McElwain, Hannick, Nolan, Glynn, Hickey, Hall, O'Connor, McGuinness, Java, Neto, DKS, Graham, Balekian, Concagh, O'Brien, Goin

Green Briar FC 1:1 Suchi FC
Goal: Mickey Sexton Assist: unassisted

Line Up: Mullane, Roux, Altidore, Miller, Clarke, Treacy, T Caldwell, McGuinness, McLoughlin, O'Malley, Sexton, Bourke, Claus, Jones, Hannick

Points dropped by the Briar 1st team

Mass Utd Lynn 1:1 Green Briar FC

The Briar failed to keep their winning run going this week but earned a hard fought draw versus Mass Utd Lynn played under the lights at Manning Field.

After helping the Briar dominate the early stages, Gary Hennessy continued his fine season with a towering header into the net from a Keith McLoughlin corner on 11 minutes.

Mass Utd grew into the game as the half progressed and were the better side for long periods, without actually creating any clear cut chances however.

At half time, upping the individual work rate on and off the ball was identified as something that could be improved upon but it also took a quick equalizer from Mass Utd on 48 minutes to really get a reaction from the Briar players.

The introduction of Dean Bourke definitely brought some energy and pace up front for the Briar but the rub of the green eluded everyone in a Briar shirt. Plenty of half chances and good positions were created with nothing falling right for the players in front of goal.

Mass Utd always posed a threat on the break as the Briar pushed to regain the lead. From the last kick of the game, Ken Mullane pulled off a terrific save that salvaged a point and kept the Briar ticking over at the top end of the table.

Other results were favorable this week, so it is still all to play for in the last month of the season.

Line Up: Mullane, Claus, Hennessy, Roux, Clarke, McLoughlin, Treacy, Caldwell, McGuinness, Coen, Hardy, Bourke, Hannick

Away loss for O30's in New Bedford

Fernandes FC 2:1 Green Briar O30

The Briar's opening game of the 2011 fall season was a match-up against Fernandes FC down in New Bedford. The team was successful in taking the 3 points in a memorable 3-2 victory in the rain. Since that match however, the Briar have failed to record a victory against Fernandes in five additional attempts. A 2-2 draw, 3-3 draw, 1-0 defeat, defeat in the play-off final on PK's and now today, suffering a 2-1 defeat in New Bedford yet again. In recent times, they've proved to have our number.

Today's effort was good from the Briar perspective, and perhaps deserved more. Leo O'Connor put in a stalwart performance, being involved in virtually everything good the Greens did on the day. Gavin Hall was also impressive in the middle of the park.

The Briar thought they had opened the scoring when O'Connor rode a heavy challenge before dispatching a terrific shot to the corner of the net. But for a hasty whistle from the referee to call the foul, the goal would have stood, but had to be ruled out on the technicality.

Kevin Higgins making his clearance while under pressure

Later, Leo also had a long distance shot deflected toward the top corner, but the Fernandes keeper was equal to it, tipping over to avert the danger.

Fernandes responded with a break down the left wing that resulted in a low cross into the mixer. A goal mouth scramble ensued with Kevin Higgins eventually called for a hand ball. The Fernandes keeper came up from the back and crushed the ball into the top corner for the lead.

Video Footage courtesy of Sky

In the second half the Briar equalized after some concerted pressure. A long free kick into the box was broken to the feet of a Fernandes defender. Dwelling too long on the ball, he was dispossessed by Graham. McGuinness picked up the loose ball and played O'Connor down the right hand side. His cross was turned in very well by Java.

Fernandes responded with some pressure of their own. Jason Sullo turned a long distance shot off the bar and away to safety. His replacement, Paul Fallon got into the action straight away with another terrific save.

The Gaffer leaves his technical area to relay some critical information

A sloppy piece of play lead to the winner for Fernandes. Following a clearance from a corner, the ball was inadvertently played backwards through a combination of Java and Graham, both of whom failed to clear their lines. A deflection fell into the path of two Fernandes attackers who were slow to get out of the box. Played on-side by the defensive touch, the ball was squared and sent to the roof of the net with authority.

Leo O'Connor nearly salvaged a point for the Briar when he crashed a free kick off of the bar, but it was not meant to be. Another tough result at the hands of Fernandes, which will make the return fixture that more important.

Line Up: Sullo, McElwain, Nolan, Hannick, Higgins, McGuinness, O'Connor, Hall, Hickey, Neto, Kearney, Balekian, Graham, Fallon