BUSS 2 - Celtic United 1

We were originally set to start this game at 4PM but with Prince and Anthony representing the BDSL playing for Clarence in the Open Cup, we asked if we could have our game switched back to 6PM. Personally I'm glad we did, because just as we were starting to show up to the field the rain went away and the sun started shining.

We arrived with 17 wearing our trademark orange jerseys with white shorts while Celtic United had 13 and wore grey uniforms.

The game started off just as we had hoped with our squad having the better of the possession. We were keeping the ball well and Celtic United was having a difficult time gaining any momentum.

About 20 minutes into the first half Hunter Walsh was played into the box and clipped, earning a PK. Hunter put the ball on the spot and took a few stutter steps before missing wide. Missed opportunity #1 for us on the night.

In the 28th minute Polo Suazo won the ball out of the back and moved possession to around midfield. He sent a ball up over the top that George Tor took nicely out of the air onto his chest. George brought the ball down, dribbled two defenders and hit a well placed ball to the keepers right of the net.

1-0 BUSS

In the 37th minute Kyle Clifford used his blazing speed to beat a defender to the end line. Right before he reached the end line he sent a cross with his right foot in front of the keeper to George Tor who was crashing back post. George hit a difficult half volley just outside the six and into the net.

2-0 BUSS

Halftime brought us relative calm. We knew that we had missed a couple decent opportunities but we were also pretty excited that Celtic United wasn't able to do much in our defensive third. Our defense had been playing well so far and we hoped that we could continue that into the second half. Well that really didn't happen for a few different reasons.

Second half was all Celtic United. They seemed to be in our end for the majority of the half except for a few quality chances that we were able to muster up. Sammy Wasson was a BEAST. He controlled the middle like nobody we have played yet this season. Everything out of the back line was to his feet and he was distributing and constantly finding the open man. We had a difficult time staying with him and the United chances that resulted from his play. But none the less we were able to absorb the pressure from United. Drew wasn't really tried that much all game as most of United's chances were put over the crossbar and into the safety netting behind the goal.

15 minutes or so into the second half a Celtic United player took a shot from outside the 18 that went directly into the sun and Drew couldn't see it. The shot landed between he and the post to his left. From my vantage point it looked like it was going wide of the goal. It was a well placed shot but I do believe that Drew would have gotten to it had it not been directly into the sun. Side note...the sun and wind at D'youville's Dobson field can be brutal at times. We will plan accordingly for the rest of the season.

2-1 BUSS

Now lets talk a little bit about the refereeing. I am not one to badmouth an official because I know how difficult a job that it is. But with that being said, I was extremely disappointed with the head officials game yesterday. 3 plays stand out in my mind.
First off, Danny Tarbell beat the outside back on the left flank. The Celtic United player grabbed Danny and pulled him to the ground. Both linesmen's flags went up. Both teams stopped play for a second waiting for the whistle to blow....it didn't happen. There was an eerie, quiet like 3 seconds where nothing really happened. The ball went out of play a few seconds later and the linesman on the right side of the field started to walk over to the head ref and said "that's a foul and a yellow card". The head ref shooed him away. I very politely asked him "that wasn't a foul?" His response was "Your guys don't want me to call small fouls". I said "ok, but that wasn't a small foul, he pulled him down, even your linesmen had their flags up". He said "that guy is a rookie and doesn't know what he is talking about". There was an expletive in there somewhere as well but I can't remember where.
Secondly we broke out of the midfield, were Hunter Walsh took a few dribbles into the middle. I had made a run from the right flank to the center of the field, in between the two defenders. Kyle Clifford continued his run up the right center of the field. I may have been a step offsides but Kyle was a good 3 yards onside behind the defender. The ball went right to Kyle's feet a step inside the 18. Kyle hit the ball and the keeper made a nice save but the rebound went right back to Kyle and he buried it. Then the whistle blew. The linesman said that I was offsides and not the player who got the ball....I was no where near the ball (well probably 10 yards away or so). He told the official that he made a mistake and shouldn't have put up his flag. So it should have been a goal as the whistle blew after the ball went in. But the head ref called it back.
The third issue came after the game but honestly I'm still a bit hot about it so maybe I will update this post later in the week but lets just say that it was completely unnecessary.

We had one more glorious chance in the second half. Kyle Clifford walked in one on one with the United keeper and missed wide. Kyle normally buries those.

We were able to hold United at bay till the final whistle.

Well played to those guys and a hell of a game by Wasson. He was there best player on the day.

Next up for us is Yemen Elite in Lackawanna next week. Elite is coming off a rough game so I expect them to be hungry....as will we. It should be a good one as BUSS/Elite games usually are.

Man of the match goes to George Tor with Parker Shetler a close second. George buried his chances making the difference in the game for us. Parker was his usual silky smooth self in his first game back with us after his freshman year at St. Bonaventure.