DEA Bedford Over 30

DEA came out flying in Marblehead today, showing with two subs for a road game. Almost unheard of most years. After building a 3-0 halftime lead, DEA did lose interest late before hanging on for a 5-3 win. The field conditions were a bit tough. It was being mowed as warmups began, and was a bit squishy. Also, some rocket scientist lined the field a few days earlier in red. You could barely see the lines. It was the type of pitch that Stoneham would have refused to play on. After taking ten or so minutes to get their touch down, DEA poured in three goals in the next twenty minutes. Barry Fitzgerald and DEA rookie Willie Mungere's names were scattered all over the scoresheet. Fitzgerald got DEA's first goal of the season when his cross was pawed into the net by Marlbehead's keeper. Willie then finished off a similar play a few minutes later, this time Fitzgerald's cross slipped by the keeper and needed Willie to nuzzle it home. With DEA controlling play with a two-goal cushion, Willie found Elvis Zukovic on the left side. Elvis danced through traffic, slid to his right, and finally found the opening he was looking for. Elvis laced a low skimmer just inside the post, putting DEA up by three. (ed. note: This is correct, DEA had two subs and a three-goal lead on the road. They were definantly in uncharted territory now.) Not content to run out the clock just yet, Jerold White (making his O-30 debut, but a member of the indoor DEA team) launched a long pass to Kurt Englehart (another newbie, but a longtime member of the world-renowed DEA summer squad). Kurt turned, brushed aside his defender, and stormed down the middle. His defender managed to get Kurt entangled in his fishing net, and hauled him down. The ref could have gone with a red card, but took the easy way out and showed only a yellow. DEA looked to be in control when the halftime whistle blew, taking a drink with a three-goal lead. In typical DEA fashion, however, they didn't keep the hammer down and instead allowed Marblehead to make a game of it. First, a creative call against Chris Florek gave them a restart down low. The ensuing drive rattled around, before being pushed home to make it 3-1. DEA came right back down, and restored the margin with their most creative goal of the game. First, Dale Dubois sent Chris Laberge in on the right side with a great through ball. Laberge took a touch, and dished it across to Willie. Willie got into a hornet's nest, and had to work himself free. He found Peter Cline storming down through the box, where Cliney slammed home a short drive. Not to be outdone, Adil Nmili of Marblehead, vocal in at least two different languages, shoved Flo to the ground, and snuck in a short side shot to make it 4-2. After Kurt won a header, a Marblehead defender went down holding both his eye and his knee. DEA, already on a chance and with the prone defender out of the play anyway, continued to attack. Marblehead complained about the perceived unsporting nature of hte act. The ref made up an offsides call, blowing the play dead. After a fifteeen minute break to cart the injured player off, where he was eventually given a ride in an ambulance, Marblehead went back to work. Not five minutes later, another Marblehead player went down. As he writhed in mythical pain, DEA stopped...assuming the ball would be played out to address this clearly critically injured player. Marblehead took advantage, waltzed through a half-hearted defence, and finished off to make it 4-3. Ay-yi-yi...it was down to a one-goal game. When questioned why they didn't stop when their own player was down, they replied "That a**hole? We'd never stop for him". Actually, it was pretty funny. Not too worry, a DEA fast break found Willie again...and again he finished off his second goal of the game to put the icing on the cake. 5-3 was your final. Dubois, wearing his Chief Recruitment Officer hat over the summer, looks to have secured a solid team this year. Along with the same talented cast of characters that can always be counted on (Dale, Laberge, Florek, Cliney, Elvis, Barry, and Chris & Jon Cloutier), there are some solid rookies. In addition to the newbies already mentioned (Jerold, Willie, and Kurt), DEA also saw Chris Jones and Mike Friedin make strong debuts. DEA is back in two weeks, with the break for Labor Day on the menu next week. They will take on Westford, who will be ARRIVING for an 8:30 game at Sportsman's.