Northview Titans Varsity Boys Game Summaries
Northview v. E Coweta Indians 3-1
February 16, 2007
The Varsity Boys began their season with a non-region game at home to the East Coweta Indians. It was a bitterly cold night with the temperature in the mid thirties but with a wind chill factor making it feel considerably colder. A good night to be in the announcer’s box!
The team, which was captained by Stephen Glover and Sam Bevan, kicked-off in a 4-4-2 formation with the starting line-up being:-
Will Whorton
Tanner Chamblin Caulin Collier Jarrod Nesser Sam Bevan
Jimmy Mitchell Jacob Lee Stephen Glover Pall Kornmayer
Josh Taylor Eric Carrion
Huddled together and trying to keep warm on the bench was the rest of the Titans squad: Ramu Annamalai; Russell Bradford; Steve Kim; Cameron Pratt; Carter Rhoad; Dan Schwartz; and Nathan Thompson.
The Titans, which appeared to be a physically much bigger team, began the game by defending the goal near to the TitanTron scoreboard. Making their presence felt, the Titans conceded the first two fouls of the game but the Indians could make nothing of their opportunities with the first free kick being headed clear by the Titan defense and the second being caught easily by Will Whorton.
In the 5th minute, Pall Kornmayer sent Josh Taylor clear down the left wing and his center was met by Eric Carrion whose header went just wide. The Titans kept up the pressure on the right side of the Indians defense and in the 6th minute Josh Taylor and Eric Carrion again combined well to win a throw-in near the corner flag. The Indians had no idea that Jarrod “Long Ball” Neser could reach the penalty spot with his throw but that is exactly what he did and Sam Bevan was waiting there to send his header into the goal off the left hand post. Titans 1 – 0 Indians.
It was the turn of the Titan defense to respond in the 10th minute when the Indians managed to get the ball behind Will Whorton but Tanner Chamblin made a good defensive play to calmly clear the ball away. The Titans were stroking the ball around nicely, keeping possession and were obviously comfortable changing the side of play to open up the field. Jacob Lee, Josh Taylor, Sam Bevan and Stephen Glover combined well to win a foul just outside of the Indians penalty area but the free kick went wide. Jacob Lee dribbled his way into the right side of the Indians penalty area in the 15th minute and was brought down to give the Titans a penalty. Stephen Glover took the penalty and by diving to his right the goalkeeper saved it and pushed the shot onto the crossbar.
Midway through the half Coach C made his first substitutions and brought on Ramu Annamalai and Steve Kim. Shortly thereafter the Indians had one of their rare opportunities but they shot wide. Jimmy Mitchell controlled the ball well in the 24th minute and forced a good save from the Indians goalkeeper. Coach C made another substitution in the 24th minute by bringing on Russell Bradford and Dan Schwartz. The Titans looked in full control and whenever the Indians tried to push forward Caulin Collier and Tanner Chamblin responded very well in defense. Up front Russell Bradford and Stephen Glover both had shots at goal which went just wide. With two minutes left in the half, Jarrod Nesser replaced an injured Jimmy Mitchell. The second of Jarrod’s long throw-ins caused problems for the Coweta defense as a defender headed the ball towards his own goal forcing the goalkeeper into a full length save.
Northview kicked off the second half by reverting to their starting line up. Jimmy Mitchell was causing problems for the Indians on the right wing and he crossed the ball to Josh Taylor who then fed Eric Carrion and as Eric moved in on goal the goalkeeper made a brave save at Eric’s feet. Northview kept up the pressure and from a Stephen Glover free kick, Sam Bevan headed just wide. Jacob Lee then took an in-swinging corner from the left wing which was caught on the goal line by the Indian goalkeeper. As is often the case the Titans had to be aware of the quick counter attack from East Coweta and in one of those attacks some great defense by Tanner Chamblin stopped the problem. The Titans were controlling the game and in the 52nd minute an exciting play involving Josh Taylor, Jacob Lee and Stephen Glover ended with the ball being pulled back for Sam Bevan whose shot was well saved by the goalkeeper. One minute later the Titans won a free kick outside of the penalty box and Sam Bevan’s shot was dropped by the goalkeeper right at the feet of Stephen Glover who hammered in the loose ball to make it a well deserved 2-0 to the Titans.
As he did in the first half, Coach C made several substitutions midway through this half and he brought Ramu Annamalai, Russell Bradford, Steve Kim and Dan Schwartz back into the game along with Nathan Thompson. The subs had an immediate impact as Ramu Annamalai and Dan Schwartz combined well to feed the ball in for Russell Bradford. As Russell chased the ball into the box the goalkeeper rushed out to dive at his feet and Russell put the ball into the goal only to have it called back by the assistant referee for a foul on the goalkeeper. The Titans were controlling the game and in the 66th minute Jacob Lee’s shot was just wide.
In the 73rd minute, Caulin Collier made a nice defensive play and as the Titans worked the ball forward a cross for Dan Schwartz, who had closed in on the goal, was just too long. As the game wound down, concentration began to slip and in the 77th minute, following a bad back pass to Will Whorton, an East Coweta forward was first to the ball, took it around the goalkeeper and scored for Coweta. Just as the Indians thought they were back in the game they too made defensive mistakes and another bad back pass was picked up by Russell Bradford who slotted it past the goal keeper to restore the Titans two goal margin.
Final score 3– 1 to the Titans.
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