DEA Bedford Over 30

DEA came home with an efficient 1-0 victory against Westford today, finishing up their Massachusetts travel schedule with a 4-0 record. Coupled with Ipswich's 2-1 victory against 2nd place Windham, DEA now leads the Division 2 North table by 4 points with three matches left. The Westford pitch has provided some mixed results for DEA in the past. When they bring a full squad, they usually win. When they play short numbers, it isn't pretty. today, they had 2 1/2 subs and it was just enough for the win. Westford, battling to stay in Division 2, took the first touch of the match and stormed right at DEA. Knowing that is always been DEA's toughest part of the match (the first 2 minutes), Westford came out aggressively. They stormed the DEA net and had a couple of good looks at goal. It took DEA almost 20 minutes to sort out their end, but not before Westford's Joe Almasian just missed from 12 yards. At the other end of the pitch, Willie Mungere and Chris Laberge were on the receiving end of Jerold White's creativity. However, any good chances were shot wide. Elvis Zukovic broke clear, but his low scorcher just missed the right-side post. Peter Cline was sprung clear on a tough angle, and his attempted pass to Mike Friedin was blocked around the crease. As halftime came, Jerold had to leave, which left DEA with two subs. Plus, the strong wind that was at DEA's back was now right in their face. Ultimately, this proved a benefit as DEA had to play short and on the floor. Their play immediately picked up. The first 30 minutes of the second half saw almost all of the action in Westford's zone. Willie broke through on the left, but his shot bounced around the area before being cleared. Kurt Englehart had a clear chance from 12 yards out, but a sniper in the trees took him out. The prettiest chance saw a tic-tac-toe that started in DEA's end. First, Chris Florek fed Peter Cline. Cliney sent a little chip to Laberge. Laberge headed down to Elvis, and sped down the middle. Elvis one-timed his return to Laberge, who was in clean. His drive was sent high, but the buildup was impressive. Jon Cloutier got a fortunate bounced and got by the keeper. His drive was headed toward the vacated goal before Graham arrived to clear it off the line. Some still insist it was cleared from beyond the line, but the ref was adamant with his "NO-GOAL" decision. He had the best angle, afterall, standing at the center circle wearing sunglasses..... Not five minutes later, Jon took a left-footed restart and sent it to the far-side upper 90. Westford keeper Paul Peterson punched it aside, allowing for a corner. Mike Friedin took the restart, and put it perfectly in the box. Eight yards from goal, just over the outstretched arms of Peterson. Laberge and Graham went up, and Laberge nodded home the eventual winner. Controversy erupted when Laberge (who was in the middle of a few tussles today) went for Elvis' cross and collided with the keeper. No malice here, but the both ended up on the floor. Westford left back Joe Royal flew into Laberge and started swinging. Seconds later, there were 20 players scrambling about. It took a few minutes to clear it up, and Laberge and Royal both picked up yellows. Fair enough...but it was DEA's first card of the year. That in-of-itself is impressive enough. With 15 minutes left, Westford got back into the flow and began to put some pressure on. The DEA backfield of Chris Jones, John Demerrit, Dale Dubois, Chris Florek and Chris Cloutier held firm, but not before being bailed out by Lucas Hill on a couple of occasions. First, a cross was sent in just as the backline stepped up for an offsides. However, it wasn't a clean step and Westford was kept onsides. Tai Ansiri was open, and as he headed Westford errupted into cheers...thinking they had tied the match. What they didn't count on was DEA had Lucas Hill in the cage. Making maybe his best save sequence of the year, Lucas saved Ansiri's header, threw himself at the feet of an open Mike DiLeo for another save, then smothered the loose ball before Eric Kalid could get to it. DEA dodged a bullet. They would need Lucas again to come up big minutes later. After Dale's clearing header was blocked, DEA had to scramble back as Westford again had a clean look. Again, Lucas was huge, making one save before flying out to get the rebound. Sometimes, you need a keeper to come up with a huge save once or twice in a match. Lucas pulled DEA's fannies from the fire here, and DEA held on for the win. The Third Half wasn't much of a match at all. Westford usually can bring it for the Third Half, but they weren't in the mood and left before many DEA players had even finished their first beer. They are having a tough season, currently in last place, but hopefully they can stay ahead of Marblehead as the season winds down. DEA is now in the driver's seat for the Division Championship. With a four-point advantage, they play home games against Ipswich and Barley, sandwiched around a trip to Windham. DEA can still win the title by absorbing a single loss, and could even still win it with a loss and a tie. The best bet would be to keep winning, and keep playing outstanding defense. So far, DEA has allowed a paltry seven goals so far. First choice keeper Lucas has only allowed two goals in five matches, and both were on PKs. He has not allowed a goal in the run of play this year. Quite impressive. Game next week is again at Joppa Field International Airport. Gametime is 8:30 against Ipswich, who DEA dropped 2-1 earlier in the year.