The Social is this Friday night

You and your significant other are invited to attend the Green Briar FC Social Night and Awards Ceremony. The night will include a sit down meal with wine, open bar, DJ after the meal and the presentations of the coveted awards.

All proceedings will be held in the Kinvara Room of the Green Briar Pub. The seating will be limited to 50 people, so please contact John Hickey, Paul Glynn or Michael Graham to secure your ticket asap. Further details below.

What: Green Briar FC Social Dinner / Awards Ceremony
Where: Green Briar Pub (Kinvara Room)
When: Friday 18th November
Time: 7:30PM, food served at 8:00PM
Cost: $50 Per Ticket
Includes: Sit Down Meal with Wine, Open Bar, DJ, Awards

O'Donnell sets the tone for a great win

United Int'l 1:5 Green Briar O30's

In a somewhat poetic symmetry, the Green Briar finished their Fall season as it had begun, with an inspired victory in terribly wet conditions. Just as they opened their campaign with a win over Fernandes & Friends, they finished in similarly impressive style with an emphatic win over the Division champions. Those wins serve as impressive book-ends to a season that was over all a disappointing one.

The fact that the Briar needed a result on the last day of the regular season to avoid relegation paints a grim picture of what was a very subpar campaign. The margins between the teams in the division this season were fine. A yellow card here, a missed chance there, these are the things the Greens are left to rue.

The Briar finished on 10 points after losing 2 due to yellow card accumulation. Looking back on the season it is easy to count another 10 points that were squandered from winning positions, sometimes comfortable winning positions.

The statistics of the season also tell a tale of their own. The Green Briar were the top scorers in the division with 22 goals, but they also had the worst defense, conceding 22 goals. That's a goals against average of 2.2 goals per game over the 10 game season. It is hard to win anything when spotting your opponent such an advantage.

That observation is not an indictment of the Briar defense either. There are 11 players on the pitch at any one time (Governor often times being the exception!) who are responsible for maintaining a clean sheet. On 10 occasions Gary Keane sent his men out with that task and on 10 occasions they failed. Not a single clean sheet for the Fall season.

On the up side however, after the terrible run of 4 defeats mid season, the Briar finished the Fall on a run of 5 games unbeaten.

Looking at the 2011 Spring and Fall seasons as a whole there are plenty of positives to draw from. Let's not forget that 2011 was Green Briar's inaugural season. Gary Keane and Paul Glynn along with the GB Committee established a viable and successful Over 30's side that claimed silverware in its first season.

The dedication of Glynn and Keane shouldn't go unnoticed. There is a lot more to a Club than a game of a Sunday. Paul Glynn works tirelessly behind the scenes, securing field permits, rating match officials, dealing with the league commissioner and attending board meetings. On the other hand, Gary Keane is a talented player that has been stricken with injury in recent months. To man the sideline all season and commit so much time to training and game days, knowing he'd rather show us how it should be done, is commendable.

Let's get back to the small matter of the game itself. Needing the victory to distance themselves from the bottom of the table, the players were focused on the task at hand. United Int'l had taken the 3 points in the 1st meeting and nothing less than 3 points would have done for the Briar in the return fixture.

With the first attack of the game Kevin O'Donnell tested the keeper, a test he duly failed. Kevin's powerful shot from 20 yards found its way through the keeper and into the net for the very early lead. The following minutes of the game belonged to the Briar. Good movement and passing opened up the United defense on a few occasions and the lead was almost doubled by Leo O'Connor.

Gavin Hall was in command of the middle as usual and set Michael Graham away down the left. His first time cross was beautifully flighted to the back post to an unmarked Leo O'Connor, whose eyeballs were dilating in anticipation of the blog write up describing what he was to do next. Unfortunately, O'Connor did not finish spectacularly, but instead got his legs in a complete tangle as he attempted the volley with his right foot, when in fact a left footed finish was warranted.

United conjured up a terrific equalizer minutes later. Gaining possession at the edge of the box the United midfield advanced the ball unchallenged and dispatched a wonderful strike to the top left corner of the net. The Briar response was immediate however.

Excellent interplay between John Flannery, Michael Graham and Davey Coen resulted in a free kick on the edge of the area. Kevin O'Donnell was injured on the play, but would be able to return later in the match. Davey Coen took responsibility of the kick and drilled it low past the wall and onto goal. The United keeper spilled the rebound into the path of Conor Hannick. Rejuvenated from his recent adventures in Florida, his tanned dome glistening under the flood lights of Kelly field, Hannick had the simple task of restoring the lead and picking up a goal to go with his 2 assists on the season.

Soon after, Petey McNamee and Gavin Hall combined well down the right to slip John Hickey through on goal. John steadied himself and struck the ball low and hard to the corner of the net. Another classy finish to add to the catalog for the season.

The fourth was not long coming either. This time Hickey turned provider, as again United were exposed down the right. John Hickey's beautifully weighted diagonal ball tempted the keeper off his line as strike partner Leo O'Connor attempted to latch onto the pass. O'Connor won the race to the ball and learning from the mistakes of his previous chance, clipped the ball over the keeper with his left foot and watched it skip home between the puddles.

A terrific half of football from the Greens but the job was only half done. United seemed to up their game in the second half and held the territorial and possession advantage. Clear cut chances were at a premium for United however as long range efforts were the fruits of their labour. One of those efforts hit the left hand post, but was cleared to safety as the Briar defense held firm for the remainder of the match.

The death knell of the tie was provided by John Hickey. What else can be said without digging out every superlative to make the point? The man knows how to finish! Petey McNamee was again instrumental in the move. Petey beat his man and delivered a low cross from the bi-line. Leo O'Connor succeeded in dummying the ball as the cross made its way to the centre of the goal. Hickey gleefully took the chance to slam home his 9th of the campaign from all of 3 yards.

Hickey was in rare form at this stage. Safe in the knowledge that he had secured the O30's silver boot, the tricks came out. In the final moments of the game he played a cheeky back heel to Brendan Joyce to create a decent look at goal for the Galway man. Brenny's shot was high however and the Green Briar's assist king was denied a highlight reel moment.

And so the 2011 campaign comes to a close, next week's Banquet/Social will be a time to reflect and relive all the Club has achieved in its first year. From great goals, to huge gaffs, there will be plenty to talk about and plenty to look forward to for 2012.

Line Up: Fallon, Glynn, Meehan, Hannick, Flannery, O'Donnell, Hall(c), Coen, Graham, O'Connor, Hickey, Joyce, McNamee, Nassar, Kelly

Game for November 10th

Please be at the field at least 30 minutes in advance of Kick Off

United Int'l vs Green Briar O30's ( 7:00PM Kick-Off  )

Kelly Field (Grass)

83 Turtle Pond Parkway
Hyde Park MA 02136 (Map)

One point not enough for Over 30's

Green Briar O30's 1:1 Medfield

A single point from the second to last game of the season was simply not good enough. The Green Briar must sweat it out for a few more days as relegation from Division 4 is still a cold hard reality.

The Briar's last game of the season comes up this week against United International, the Division Champions. A tough test, but they say the Table doesn't lie. If the Briar are worthy of Division 4 status they'll need to pick up the necessary points to survive.

Today's performance saw plenty of goal mouth action from the Briar and a good defensive performance as well, but unfortunately the cutting edge was lacking.

The best of the opening action fell the Briar's way. Michael Graham and John Hickey spurned good opportunities before McElwain broke the deadlock. Good work down the right by John Hickey resulted in a nice cut back to McElwain. Cool control and an even cooler side footed finish broke the deadlock.

Medfield began to grow into the game after that and were close to leveling on a couple of occasions before they finally found the equalizer. Conor Bagnell was dispossessed in the left back position and the shot from the edge of the area found the net over the diving keeper.

In response the Briar created a couple of excellent chances. From a corner, David Coen saw his header beaten away when it looked to be goal ward bound and later Dan Kilber-Stearns dug out a beautiful cross to the back post. Michael Graham was left unmarked, but his header to the far post was wide of the mark.

Other good chances fell to PJ Kelly, who couldn't get a shot away from a scramble in the box and Michael Graham volleyed goal wards only to see the Medfield keeper claw the ball out of the top corner of the net.

The second half was more of the same from the Briar. John Hickey found the net early in the second half as he turned home a cross from the right. The linesman gave offside when it looked like John was behind the ball when it was played into the box.

The chances kept coming for the Briar. Paul Fallon and his defense were solid at the back allowing the Greens to commit players forward. From a low driven corner into the box, David Coen challenged the keeper for the ball but the scramble resulted in a free out rather than the lead.

As the game entered the closing stages the two best chances of the half went begging. John Hickey was only six yards from goal when a driven cross flashed across the box. A simple touch was all that was needed to beat the Medfield keeper, but he was unable to connect and the chance was gone.

The closest the Briar came was in the final minutes. A long ball skipped past the Medfield defense and Michael Graham latched onto it. He rode the defender's attempted challenge and played a right footed shot past the keeper only to see it cannon off the base of the post and back into the keeper's arms. So close, but a microcosm of the Green Briar's Fall Season.

A very good defensive performance by the Briar today. A single point gained, but with Peru Sport holding the tie breaker against the Greens it certainly will be a nervous finish to the season as plenty of permutations and outcomes are still possible.

Line Up: Fallon, Glynn, Meehan, Coen, Flannery, Kilber-Stearns, Hall, McElwain, Joyce, Graham, Hickey, Kelly, Bagnell, Nassar, Shursky

Game for November 6th

Please be at the field at least 30 minutes in advance of Kick Off

Green Briar O30's vs Medfield ( 8:00AM Kick-Off  )

Fillipello Park (Grass)

110 Arlington Street

Watertown MA 02472 (Map)

Green Briar Social Dinner and Awards Ceremony

You and your significant other are invited to attend the Green Briar FC Social Night and Awards Ceremony. The night will include a sit down meal with wine, open bar, DJ after the meal and the presentations of the coveted awards.

All proceedings will be held in the Kinvara Room of the Green Briar Pub. The seating will be limited to 50 people, so please contact your team manager to secure your ticket asap. Further details below.

What: Green Briar FC Social Dinner / Awards Ceremony
Where: Green Briar Pub (Kinvara Room)
When: Friday 18th November
Time: 7:30PM, food served at 8:00PM
Cost: $50 Per Ticket
Includes: Sit Down Meal with Wine, Open Bar, DJ, Awards

Horse's Ass Award Poll