DEA Bedford Over 30

Boston Rovers upset top-seed DEA this afternoon with a 3-2 victory at Joppa Field. DEA were there own worst enemies, giving up an own-goal and two softies in an awful end to a successful season. DEA played a bit tentative to start, lacking ambition and content to just knock the ball around without any forays into the attacking third. As the play ebbed and flowed, Rovers finally broke through 25 minutes on with a bit of that ole' Irish luck. With a cross skipping into the box, it bounced high and handcuffed JD. His attempted clearance was instead dropped into DEA's net. Lucas Hill had no chance on the mis-direction and Rovers took the lead. After the goal, Rovers played a bit better and held possession better than they had in the early going. However, neither side really had any great chances and at halftime the scored stayed at 1-0. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Kurt Englehart lofted a little chip over the defenders and sent in Jerold White. Jerold calmly controlled the pass and beat Rovers' keeper Scott Giarla to level. DEA had spent a long time getting back to level, and with their play showing more pace they felt confident they would score again. Instead, Rovers found their pot 'o' gold at the end of the rainbow. First, a soft shot/pass from the low left side by Larry Gill lofted toward the goal. As it appeared to be intended as a pass, Lucas played where the ball looked to be going. Instead, it carried and settled into the far-side webbing to give Rovers the lead back. Minutes later, a scramble in front found a low shot skimming on the wet grass. Lucas coughed up the slippery shot and Mike Martins, the mouthy lug who was flapping his gums all game pushed home the rebound to make it 3-1. Now, DEA was in a deep hole. They felt to be the better squad, but the score had Rovers up by two and there was no denying that fact. The final 15 minutes was all DEA as they pressed to level. The pulled one back, again with Kurt providing an assist. This time, he sent in leading scorer Willie Mungere. Mungere reached out and chipped the onrushing keeper to make it 3-2. DEA continued to storm the cage. Jerold's shot whistled wide. Peter Cline had a shot blocked. Mike Friedin's dallied across the 18 and scorched one wide. The ball seemingly never left the Rovers' third, and with them screaming for the whistle it finally came, ending DEA's season with a disapointment. A nod on the tremendous effort has to go to Chris Florek and Chris Jones in the back. Flo, playing his first game since injuring an ankle in an indoor match, played solid and Jones didn't lose an one-on-one battle all game. Sometimes, you have games where you look back and say "we should've done this", or "we should've done that", but this was one of those games where DEA played the way they wanted to, got the chances they needed to, but could not come out with a "W". Credit to Rovers...they put three goals in on Lucas...who only allowed two PKs all year. They did what no other team could do, and therefore will be playing for the title next week. Post-season awards are due shortly. However, a great season for DEA and they look to have additional success next season in Division 1.