DEA Bedford Over 30

In a strange twist of events over the last week, the Bedford Pacers are heading for Stoneham for the finals this Sunday. Last Sunday, the Pacers were supposed to travel to South Boston to take on the Southern champs, South Boston Bohemians. However, late on Saturday, we received news that they would be forfeiting the game. This gave Bedford a free ride to the finals. At the same time, Hollis was slated to play the southern runner-ups, Rockland Rock. In a similar fashion, Rockland phoned in a forfeit to Hollis. So the stage is set. The two top NH teams will go to battle at the Stoneham Recreation Park this Sunday at 10:30 AM. The winner takes home the hardware and bragging rights, while the looser gets a shirt. See "locations" for directions. We are not playing at the High School field as we have always played in the past. Hopefully, the rec field is a little larger. This should be a good match as the two teams played to a draw twice during the regular season. Bedford seemed to have the upper hand in both contests, as Hollis was lucky to come away with a 3-3 tie in the first game. Bedford Pacers v. Hollis United Stoneham Recreation Park Sunday June 29th @ 10:30 AM

Windham's huge striker, Kirk, would own the Pacers, scoring 4 goals and assisting on another, leading Windham to a 5-4 victory over the Bedford Pacers. The Pacers finish in second place with a 6-2-2 record. The results of the protested Lowell game are not necessary, as Hollis' 7-1-2 record, coupled with their superior goal-differential, means Bedford can only finish in second. They start the playoffs next Sunday on the road. Location is still TBD. Kirk would get Windham going at the 15 minute mark. A cross left two players isolated on one defender, and he ripped a 6 yard shot through Chris Cloutier's shaking legs to get them the early lead. Windham would come back 10 minutes later, when Kirk broke free and went around Cloutier. His cross to an open player was put into the open net, and it was 2-0. The Pacers were playing well, but didn't show much urgency to finish out the job. Cloutier did have to make two great saves to keep the score down, but the play of the half was Paul Cote volleying a ball off the line to keep the halftime score close. Kirk would benefit from a furtuitous bounce early in the second half, and he would drive a low shot to the far side webbing to make it 3-0. The Pacers finally got on the board, when Scott Sharby headed home a Rob Easton cross. Minutes later, Alan Gagnon would hammer a short-side shot home, and they were back to 3-2. The Pacers would tie it up when Paul Cleary took another Easton cross and headed that home. The momentum would swing back, as Kirk, playing in an offsides position, cleanly bit Cloutier again to restore Windham's lead. The momentum pendulum was kept busy, as the Pacers would again tie it when Jeff Bailey finished from a yard out with 10 minutes left. Paul Cleary would get the helper. Unfortunately, Cloutier's nightmare day would come to an end when Kirk lined up a 35 yard blast that completely blew by the Pacers' stunned keeper for the winner with two minutes left. Look for updates regarding the playoff schedule to come out shortly. With a few games to make up in the Division 2's Southern Conference, it looks right now like the Pacers are going to travel to Canton to take on the South Boston Bohemians. That could change over the next few days. Overall, a real solid season by the Pacers. A big turnaround from last year's three-win season in Division 2. However, they must be concerned as they have given up 17 goals in the last 6 games, after allowing only 5 in the first 4. To be successful, they must tighten up the back line and mark their men much closer than they have. Allowing forwards to turn and attack will continue to cost them. Better defensive effort from the midfield will be needed as well. The Pacers will score goals...that much is definate. With 36 goals in 10 games, their high-powered offense proved they can score goals in bunches when they are clicking. Look for more of that in the playoffs.

The Pacers held off Wakefield with a muddy 5-2 victory at Legacy Field. The win keeps the Pacers tied for first going into the last week of the season (depending on the result of the protested Lowell game). John Guild would lead the way with two goals and an assist. Guild would start the scoring at the 30 minute mark, heading home Jon Cloutier's cross to get the Pacers into half-time with a 1-0 lead. The Pacers would up the score to 3-0 with goals from Jeff Guild and Rob Cissel. Cissel's goal coming off a driven corner by his brother John. Paul Cleary kept the ball in play and slotted a short pass to Cissel for the finish. Wakefield would get two back, the first a result of the mud, the second after Chris Cloutier made two saves...but could not come up with another. Things looked tight. However, John Guild's second, and Louie Correia's neat touch off Jon Cloutier's second assist of the game would close out the scoring. The ref was a riot. Giving pointers...telling players what HE would have done with the ball, etc. Just glad to have him there for the game. The Pacers are back in action to close out the season at Windham. Depending on the results of this week's games, along with the protest, could make this game very big. The Pacers have a chance to finish anywhere from first place and move up to Division 1, or third place and out of the playoffs. Big game next week.

The Pacers got back on the winning track in the monsoon on Sunday by downing Westford, 6-3. The wet and windy conditions made for some slick play, but it didn't cause too much havic. The goals came in bunches, with the Pacers giving up a three-goal lead at one point. Paul Cleary's fancy footwork led to the first goal of the game in the first 10 minutes. Cleary took a feed about 25 yeards out, and cleverly dribbled around 4 players inside a tight space. Suddenly, he was in the clear and slipped it through. Five minutes later, Scott Sharby lofted a header to the far side netting for a two goal advantage. Bertie O'Gorman and Joey Correira teamed up with a series of 1-2s, with Joey on the end, and the Pacers had a comfy lead at the 30 minute mark. Westford got back one back later in the half, with Jon Cloutier heading hom a Westford cross for the 3-1 halftime lead. Westford came out strong in the second half, finishing off a corner kick to an unmarked man in the box to close the gap even more. About the 60-minute mark, Westford would take advantage of one poorly placed puddle, and rip home the tying goal. Strangely, the Pacers didn't really say much or react to negatively. Instead, they went back to work. Johnnie Guild would punch home the go-ahead goal during a goal mouth scramble, then dive down low to flick on his brother Jeff's corner kick to lead to the insurance tally. Chris Laberge was on the receiving end of Guild's mudbath. Cleary would pick up his second after a fast break created an odd-man rush. Hs shot was calmly placed, with such subtleness, some questioned if it went in or not. Tip your glass to Jeff Bailey, on the IR (ribs) and showing up for support! At presstime, it was learned that Hollis lost to Windham, 2-1. That means Windham, the Pacers, and Hollis are all within 4 points of each other with two games to play. The Pacers are in action next Sunday against Wakefield. Game time is 9:00. Three points are a must!

The Bedford Pacers lost first place seeding on Sunday at the hands of PAC Lowell and a referee. The game was snakebitten from the start as Bedford showed up with only 11 players. John Guild and Chris LaBerge would show up fashionably late to make it 13. Being late wasnt an issue in this game, as kickoff would not be for an hour later, due to no referee. For the second game in a row, the referee refused to show for a game. No excuse was given by the Lowell team, only that they had called another referee to do the game. In the mean time, one of their players would ref the game. He was a patched ref with a uniform and all. The game would start and in the first five minutes, Scott Sharby was taken down in the box. The referee spotted the ball outside the box not to ruin the game early. Marco would take the free kick and blast it through the wall and off the keeper. Scott Sharby would pick up the rebound and put the Pacers on the board early. Lowell would come back however, and keep things interesting as an outside shot would elude fill in keeper, Joe Correia. The Pacers would answer right back with a Goal, as Scott Sharby would net his second on the day. A perfect cross from Rob Easton would find Sharby's head and the back of the net. About midway through the first half, another referee would arive and take the place of the first referee. This would make the begining of the End for Bedford and all hopes of an enjoyable game. The "new" referee would immediately issue a yellow card to Paul Cleary as he retreated as the Lowell keeper made a save. The referee claimed that Cleary was attempting to interfere with the keeper and issued a card. The ref would laugh along with the Lowell players, knowing that it was the Pacers 10th card of the season, which would result in loosing 2 points in the standings. The first half would end at 2-1 for Bedford. The second half would continue as the first ended. The U-8 referee sited Bedford for two illegal throw-ins, claiming they were "spikes". Bedford would cushion their lead despite the poor refereeing job. John Guilds would nail a left footed rope into side netting off of a well placed Rob Easton feed. Lowell would come back with a goal, as the Pacers failed to mark up in the backfield. This would bring the score to 3-2. Bedford was content to sit on the one goal lead. With five minutes to play, the referee would take things into his own hands. First he would award Lowell a penalty kick for a tackle that was clearly outside of the area and legal. Lowell would score to tie. One minute later, the referee would award yet another penalty kick as Dale would jump to block a cross and the ball would deflect off his arm at his side...$%#$%$&%$. Everyone watched in disbelief as Lowell would be handed another goal. With three minutes left in the game the ref refused to restart the game and blew the wistle ending the match. It was such a poor refereeing job that even a number of the Lowell players appologized to us following the match. A protest will be forwarded to the league. Bedford looks to have a referee show up at their next game at home this Sunday at 9 AM against Westford. Westford is coming off a win against Windham so it could prove to be an interesting match.