It was a well-fought, fun game last night.  Backesto Park was nice and cool, there were plenty of fans all bundled up, and the Firecrackers played a great game!

Although the Firecrackers were down a little in numbers at the game, Brian Montejano added a new Firecracker to the family.  Brian had a son born this week--congratulations!!

The Firecrackers started out with their normal, stand-in-a-circle-and-pass-the-ball warm up.  The Mundialitos stood outside their box and practiced their shooting.  The static was in the air.

The whistle started the game off, and both sides came out playing hard.  Mundialito had obviously worked on their passing, and came out with great control.  The Firecrackers countered with passing of their own, and high pressure.

The game went back and forth, with both teams having few real oppertunities.  Both goalkeepers were fearless, squelching any attack possibilities before they could happen.

Both teams kept pressing.  All that was needed to ignite the powder keg was a spark.  That spark happened only minutes before halftime.  Firecrackers midfielder Donny Dequine fouled a Mundialito player near midfield.  The referee decided that foul warranted a yellow card.  As he was issuing it, the Mundialitos took advantage of the situation and played a quick ball down the field.  Thinking the play was whistled dead, the Firecrackers only half-heartedly defended, as the Mundialitos themselves didn't really try to score.  In spite of all of this, they took a shot from an angle, and the ball grazed off of a Firecracker defender into the net.

Art knew something was wrong, so he went to speak to Tom, the sideline ref.  Could play continue without a whistle after a yellow card?  According to the ever-wise Tom, yes it can.  According to FIFA, no it can not: (excerpt from page 79 of "Rules of the Game" link)

Use of whistle

The whistle is needed to:

• start play (1st, 2nd half), after a goal

• stop play

– for a free kick or penalty kick

– if match is suspended or terminated

– when a period of play has ended due to the expiration of time

• restart play at

– free kicks when the wall is ordered back the appropriate distance

– penalty kicks

• restart play after it has been stopped due to

– the issue of a yellow or red card for misconduct

– injury

– substitution

 

[bold added for emphasis]

No offense, Tom, but you're wrong again.  The league rules also require a substitution for a yellow.  Both require a whistle to restart. Firecrackers 2, Tom 0, and the list could go on, but really, who's counting?

In any case, the Firecrackers learned a valuable lesson--never stop play if there is no whistle, or something like that...

The half ended, with the Firecrackers taking several shots, many throw-ins to the goal, but all either being saved or shot just wide.

In the second half, the Firecrackers raised the level of play.  The lack of substitutes did not seem to phase them as they rotate in and out.

The defense held strong, not allowing any real shots.  Travis and Ronnie both had some fire in their kicks, putting all punts and most goal kicks well past midfield.  Although the Mundialitos were quick, Will and Tone and Garret shut them down.  It's a lot easier to win if you don't have to worry about being scored on.

With about 20 minutes left in the game, the Firecrackers changed tactics, moving from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 to put more pressure on the Mudialito defense.  Having kept 4 defenders minimum back for the entire game, they began to break under this new pressure.  All three forwards put the full press on them and eventually won a throw-in deep in the Mundialito side.  John Basanese threw one of his trademark throws, and the ball eventually found its way to Donny Dequine's head, and then the net.  The keeper had saved several throw-ins that night, but not this one.

With the new found life, the Firecrackers kept pressing.  They were not to be denied a win.  The continued pressure eventually caused a turnover, and Sean Stonehouse found himself dribbling with several defenders kicking at him.  Instead of shooting, he played a brilliant ball to the opposite side of the goal to a fairly open Donny Dequine.  Donny took one touch to set the ball up and then passed the ball right past an oncoming keeper.  "I just put it to the opposite side," said Donny about his game-winning goal.

The game ended only seconds after the ensuing kickoff.

Thanks to the Firecrackers for playing with a lot of heart, and to the Mundialitos for giving us a good clean game.

We have next Monday off for Labor Day, so enjoy the break.  Then we're back at Backesto for another tough game against the SJ Latinos.