DEA Bedford Over 30

Windham nudged Bedford, 3-2, this morning. Bedford hasn't won since God knows when... Bedford played well, getting some solid chances early on. George Weigricht's chip bounced just over the bar, and another clear chance was saved. Suprisingly, Bedford looked like they where ready to hang with the division-leading Windham squad. After Pacer keeper Chris Cloutier made one good save off Ivan Crnilcvic's deflected shot, Amhad Boura made his appearance for Bedford and they began to assert themselves. Unfortunately, Windham began a run-against-the-play, with Corlton Simmonds' low on the left flank. His cross found Elie Monteiro open in the slot. Elie went down to get it, and nodded home th first goal of the match 20 minutes in. Boura would send Chris Laberge in clean a few minutes later, and Laberge would rip a low screamer into the far webbing to knot the match at one. With only a few minutes left in the half, Windham's Jamie Williams fed Ivan, who had snuck through unmarked. He slammed his drive from short range, and Windham had the 2-1 halftime lead. Early in the second half, Cloutier was forced into one tough save off Joel Obogunamiri's hard drive, but Bedford generally was getting the better of the chances. Scott Sharby had a shot turned aside, and so did another chance by Boura. Bedford was pushing for the equalizer, but couldn't find the range. Boura finally found some free space, and he slipped another pass to Laberge. Laberge pounded home his second, and they match was back at level. With under ten minutes left, Simmonds slipped another cross through. Cloutier got a hand on it, but it only popped up before Williams finished it off. Windham was back in front. This time, Bedford could not answer. The match would end, 3-2, for Windham. Overall, a solid effort on both sides of the pitch.

The Bedford Pacers continue on their slide, losing 5-0 to the North Andover Hotspurs over the weekend. In what was supposed to be the turn around game for the Pacers, quickly turned to disappointment, as only four players were at Legacy 15 minutes before kickoff. Bedford expected to have nearly a full squad(based on email replies or lack there of)and put an end to their 3 game losing skid. Hopes were high as the Pacers had a decisive victory over North Andover, 4-1, in their first meeting earlier in the season. At kickoff, the Pacers were missing key personnel for this match, including their keeper, Chris Cloutier, who lost a battle with some bad seafood over the weekend. Injured Peter Hall drew the short straw and was awarded the net minding duties. George Wegricht, who had a piece of glass pierce through his hand in a fight with a cat, was asked to take the field also. So after stalling and calling around, 10 players took the field for Bedford. Bedford held its own, controlling the play and got some good chances early on with hard word from Sean Decowski, Paul Cleary and Rob Cissel. Jeff Guild would show up from coaching duties to make it 11. The game remained scoreless and things were looking up for the Pacers as Chris Laberge would arrive. North Andover would send a man down the left side at the 20 minute mark and Dale Dubois would make a stupid defensive decision and get called for an illegal slide tackle that would put North Andover on the penalty stripe. Peter Hall would get his hands on the ball but it would squirt through to put the Hotspurs up 1-0. Unfortunately, this would be all they would need as the big North Andover sweeper would foil all the scoring attempts from the Pacer strikers. The half would end 2-0 and Andover would score 3 unanswered goals in the second half to end the misery at 5-0. Not much more to say about this one. Next week the Pacers are at home again against the top seeded, Windham team.. this is always a battle. The Pacers had better show up with more of a team for this one. Game time is 9:00 AM. It would be nice to see most of our players at 8:30.

If you show up with 9 or 10 guys you can expect to get crushed. The ten players that showed up for Bedford, played there you know whats off. Bedford was actually outplaying Westford and the game remained scoreless for the first 30 minutes. Doug Alderton, with his pulled quad, was elected to net duties and he was awsome. Chris Florek took the sweeper duty and was a force while Dale Dubois took stopper. Rich Powlowski and Paul Cote were on the defensive flanks. Robbie Easton would play alone at center mid with Palmer on his right and Mark W. on his right. Peter Cline would be the next defender to play striker along with Scott Sharby. These two would actually have many chances in the first half and keep the Westford defense on the run. Westford would net one as an overload of players would crash the net on a counter attack. The half would end at 1-0 with Bedford looking good. Unfortunately, Flo would have to leave for a family committment. So the Pacers would be forced to start the second half with 9. Bedford would come on strong at the start of the second half as Westford was still unaware that we were down two players. Rich Powlowski would take a restart outside the area to the right of the Westford net. The neatly placed ball would find the head of the leaping, yes leaping Peter Cline, who would beat the keeper for the equalizer. This caused Westford to start playing cheap with the asshole, Mike Richards, trash talking and trying to draw fouls. Rob Easton had heard enough and dropped him in the box for a PK. Things went down hill from here as Bedford was out of juice. A real unclassy performance by Westford all around also. Bedford is back home this Sunday against Marblehead at 8:30 AM. We need bodies at this game so make more of an effort to show up.

Not enough Bedford Pacers made the drive for the 11:00 game in Westford, and it showed with a disapointing 3-1 defeat. Bedford started the game with only nine players, and by the time the tenth showed up they were down 2-0. After Jon Cloutier hit the pitch 20 minutes into it, Bedford played a strong game. Unfortunately, it was 3-0 at the half and Bedford had a big hill to climb. Second half action saw Deco and Jeff Guild create quite a few good chances. Westford's keeper came up big to keep the sheet clean. George Weigricht, Jon Guild, and Rob Cissell also chipped into the offensive flow. Defensively, Chris Florek and Rob Easton stymied many of Westford's chances. Man of the Match was Pacer sweeper Chris Laberge. He was huge all game, preventing this game from getting out of hand. Deco would slot home with under a minute left to break the shutout. Bedford tries to break the slide next week against North Andover at Legacy Park. Please reply to Dale's e-mail if you are going to make the game or not, so we have some idea of how many players we are going to have.

The Bedford Pacers dropped another tough game to Ipswich in their rematch, 4-3. The game seemed nearly as odd as Friday night's game. The slick conditions after a rather hard rain would prove to have a factor. Bedford took an early lead when Paul Cleary sent Deco in clean. He slipped home from short range. Ipswich came back with a 25-yeard scorcher that left Bedford keeper Chris Cloutier stunned. The game ebbed and flowed, with neither side showing any true dominance. Bedford soon started to impart more pressure, finally breaking through once again when Deco scored his second. After a corner kick was knocked around, George Weigricht sent a cross back across the net. Chris Laberge skyed up and kept the ball alive to Deco. Deco nodded that home and Bedford was back in front. As Bedford kept the pressure on for some insurance, both Paul Cleary and Scott Sharby had good chances that were turned aside. In the final 5 minutes of the half, Ipswich began assert themselves more. First a header would bang off the bar, then moments later another header was smartly saved. As the clock wore down, Cloutier had to make a great save by pushing aside a shot bound for the far upper 90. Bedford hung on for the halftime lead. Just as they did Friday, Bedford allowed Ipswich to get two quick goals to start the second half. The first resulted in a turnover in the backfield, which allowed for an open shot from eight yards. The second was off a nice little through ball that sent a player in clean. Not do be outdone, Bedford kept at it, and finally levelled when Cleary slammed home Chris Laberge's cross from short range. Then the fireworks began. The "referee" (or at least that was what he think he was as he stood there with a whistle and a yellow shirt on), had every player on the edge of their seats with every call. The Pacers finally had enough, and the game got more and more verbal. Mr. "Referee" then proceeded to dish out a good half-dozen yellow cards for dissent and general mayhem. The game was starting to spiral out of control. Dale then pushed his luck, and finally was sent off. Rob Easton was almost right behind him. Bedford was now playing with 10 men for the last 12 minutes. After a missed offsides call, Ipswich found themselves streaking through three-on-one. The play slowed, and a pass was sent to another offisdes player. Again the call was missed. This time, Cloutier came up big again by stopping the shot. Deco cleared the rebound off an Ipswich player, but to finish off the trifecta the ref called a corner. Hoo-boy! With under five minutes left, a long lofting shot was sent to the far bar. Cloutier got up and tried to push it over the bar, but didn't get enough of it and it fell softly into the net. Ipswich had their lead back. Could Bedford mount another comeback? With just over a minute left, Cleary sent a streaking Laberge through. His first touch was true, and with a defender climbing all over his back Laberge got good position and prepared to have a go. He was hauled down inside the box, and for once Mr. "Referee" made the right call by immediately pointing to the spot. This was their chance. Paul Cleary took the shot, but the footing gave way and his drive whistled off the outside of the post. Four-three Ipswich would be the final. It's tough to drop two games when you score seven goals. Ipswich has a good squad, and a classy one as well. After the match, their captain searched us out to advise they felt the refereeing was horibble, and offered to protest the game with us. Hopefully, this "Referee" can go back to his youth games he was apparently trained for. Back at it next Sunday in Westford.