DEA Bedford Over 30

The Bedford Pacers finally broke through with their first win of the season, topping a game Danvers squad, 3-1 at Legacy Field in Bedford. Ahmad Boura would make his Pacers debut, and would not dissapoint. His nose for the net was missing in some recent Pacers' contests. The first 20 minutes brought some back and forth play, with neither side holding much possession. Ahmad would get the scoring going on the receiving end of a Marco Koolman feed to give the Pacers a 1-0 advantage. The Pacers would have a few more chances, with Chris Laberge getting through on a couple of good opportunities. Pacers' keeper Chris Cloutier had a busy, but flawless, first half to keep the score at one-nil at the halftime. In the first two minutes of the second half, Laberge would provide the finishing header from Jeff Bailey's and Marco's tireless work, and the Pacers were ahead 2-0. Dale Dubois did a great job of keeping the intial corner kick alive and knocking it back into the mixing bowl to start the play going. The Pacers continued to press to keep the goals flowing, but couldn't find the next tally. Jon Cloutier and Ahmad would again get some great chances, but either they were stymied by some fine goaltending or a furtunate bounce of the post. Peter Cline also had a couple of good opportunities off some scrambles, but his backfield instincts took over and instead of scoring, he did a fine job of clearing the ball off the field (and into the woods......). With under 15 minutes to play, Danvers' maddening Greek striker Peter Iordanou - he of the good skills, maddening temper, and foul mouth - would rip a nicely placed side-webbing drive to get the score back to 2-1. The Pacers inability to get the two-goal advantage was looking like it would come back to haunt them. Danvers kept the pressure on, looking for their big striker in the middle, Leslie Exama, with every chance. Rob Easton would do a great job on silencing him and forcing him to throw himself to the pitch in an effort to draw a PK. The referee wasn't buying it. Chris Cloutier had to make two outstanding saves with under 5 minutes to play. The first was a driven-skidder that was pushed aside. On the ensuing corner kick, Danvers kept it alive with a couple of headers, and finally knocked one to the upper 90. Fortunately for the Pacers, Cloutier read the play and just tipped it past the post as much, but not all, of the ball had crossed the line. With just seconds to play, George Wegricht kept a cross in play, and played a short ball back to Marco. Marco's cross would find Ahmad, who in turn fed Jeff Bailey. It seemed to rattle around the box forever before finally crossing the line. The final whistle would blow seconds later signaling the Pacers victory. Chris Florek was again steady for the Pacers "D". He played with all effort, even tracking a ball all the way from his right back position to the left wing after a turnover. A great win for the Pacers. Look for them next Sunday again at Legacy Field. Stoneham is in town, and hopefully the Pacers can show them a better effort than this season's first match. Game time is 9:00.