DEA Bedford Over 30

DEA recorded the first Division 1 victory in their franchise history, bettering Pepperell 3-1. DEA leapfrogged Pepperell, climbing out of last place and leaving Pepperell in the bottom slot. The match was also DEA's first home game of the year, and kept their unbeaten home string alive at six games. Also making their season debuts were goalkeeper Lucas Hill and all time O-30 franchise leading scorer Jeff Bailey. Both made huge impacts in the game. Pepperell held most of the first half action, playing with the strong wind, they created a majority of the scoring chances. DEA got a break on a couple very close offsides calls, and Lucas gobbled up anything else inside the area. DEA had one great chance, when Elvis Zukovic tore into a drive that Pepperell keeper John Zuzenak leaped to punch. He didn't get much of it, but just enough as it slammed off the crossbar and out of harms way. DEA began to play better later in the half, but had to be content with a 0-0 result heading into the lockeroom. Second half saw play continue to even out. DEA were again led by the combination of Chris Florek and Dale Dubois in the back. Elvis played a stong match in the midfield, having the unnerving task of tracking Pepperell leader Reyad Mahmoud while also leading the charges into the offensive third. Willie Davis juggled between midfield and on the front lines, and he played with passion. Pepperell finally broke the deadlock in the 55th minute. Big forward Kevin Chevalier, a pain to handle all game, scored on a nifty drive of 12 yards that had Lucas only resonding with an "Oh, sh**" as the Dale's new $100 2006 FIFA Official World Cup Ball settled softly into the far webbing. This was a big goal, as the loser of this match must know it will be a tough go to stay in the upper echelon. DEA responded amazingly. Bailey stood at attention on the restart at the midfield stripe. Just before the whistle, Bailey cooly noted Zuzenak off his line 12 yards from goal. Discreetly, he whipped out the protractor, a ran some quick formulas through the abicus, and furiously jotted a few notes. The whistle blew, and Bailey uncorked a beauty. Knuckling, it caught the airstream and launched toward goal. Zuzenak scrambled to get back, tried to parry the drive over the bar, but it instead tucked in under and DEA had levelled. Yes, after almost an hour of deadlocked soccer, Pepperell had held the lead for FOUR SECONDS. DEA now had momentum. The sugar high Pepperell had, and ensuing crash, had to be heartbreaking. They did muster one more opportunity, with John Leblanc's hard shot from the right side punched aside by Lucas. This was a game saver, as it looked destined for the corner. DEA then put the game away. Gary DuPlessis set up the next two goal within five minutes to seal the match. On the eventual winner, DuPlessis sprung Bailey steaming down the right side. His perfectly slotted pass allowed Bailey in clean. He doesn't miss these, and within being on the pitch for 25 minutes he had already personally equalled the goal output this season for the entire team. After settling Lucas' long punt, DuPlessis saw Mark Walinsky in similar space as Bailey just was. Walinsky was in clean, and after rattling around the keeper he potted his first DEA goal and a nail in Pepperell's coffin. Lots of time remained, but this was essentially "G.O., Baby." With the win, DEA climbs to 1-3. Each match has seen them drop their goals against from four, to three, to two, and finally to just the one today. The help that Peter Cline, John Demeritt, Jon Cloutier, and Chris Laberge provide on the flanks was immeasurable. DEA has been playing much tighter in the back, and today it showed. Look for DEA to try to make it two in a row next week in a rematch with Seacost. Currently middle-of-the-road at 2-2-0 on the year, Seacoast rudely welcomed DEA to Division 1 in week one. DEA is playing like a different team, and with a win next week will bring themself level with Seacoast in the standings. GREAT WIN DEA!!