Northview Titans Varsity Boys Game Summaries

Northview v. Milton 2-0
March 13th, 2007

After having lost our first three region games, albeit two of them in penalty kick shoot-outs, the Titans were looking to turn the tide against the Milton Eagles.  The weather was an extremely warm 79F at kick-off with the following line-up:-

Will Whorton
Tanner Chamblin                     Jarrod Nesser              Caulin Collier              Sam Bevan
Josh Taylor                  Jacob Lee        Stephen Glover           Pall Kornmayer
Dan Schwartz             Eric Carrion                

Northview kicked off defending the TitonTron end and very quickly conceded a free kick mid-way inside their own half.  After the ball was headed around by several players Will Whorton advanced to the penalty spot and caught the ball amidst a swarm of players.  The Titans came very close to grabbing the lead after only two minutes.  Sam Bevan took a throw-in and gave it to Jacob Lee who fed Dan Schwartz deep on the left wing.  His cross was brought down by Josh Taylor close to the goal but he couldn’t quite control the ball and Milton recovered it.  The next minute Jarrod Neser’s throw-in was headed out by Milton but only as far as Jacob Lee and his shot was deflected to win the Titans their first corner of the game.  Nothing came of the corner and although the Titans controlled the early part of the game they looked somewhat lackadaisical. 

With 7 mins. gone Stephen Glover hauled down a Milton forward and earned his fist yellow card of the season.  Russell Bradford replaced him for the time that Stephen had to leave the field.    Milton struggled to get the ball out of their defense but when they did it was often down the left flank and Tanner Chamblin, ably supported by Josh Taylor, kept them at bay. 

In the 13th minute Dan Schwartz met a nice cross from the right wing and headed it into the Milton net but he was well offside and the goal was disallowed.  The Titans were passing the ball around the field trying to draw out the Eagles’ defense which was holding back and causing the game to be uneventful.  Steve Kim replaced Josh Taylor in the 17th minute. 

Pall Kornmayer played the ball well down the left wing in the 23rd minute and passed to Stephen Glover but his shot from 28 yds. was wide of the target.  The following minute the Eagles mustered up an attack which Caulin Collier did well to break up.  Over the next 7 minutes the Titans had several chances but they were unable to convert any of the pressure into goals.  Steve Kim was substituted for Ramu Annamalai with 10 minutes left in the half.  The Titans continued to attack down the left wing but often the final pass was lacking and the Eagles were able to counter-attack.  In the 33rd minute Will Whorton had to run 10 yds outside of his penalty area to clear a Milton through-ball but his clearance was picked up by Milton who eventually won a throw-in near the Titan corner flag.  Another poor defensive lapse allowed Milton to keep up the pressure but when it was the turn of the Titans to counter-attack, Eric Carrion and Stephen Glover combined to find Jacob Lee whose shot won Northview a corner.  Jacob took an in-swinging corner which Sam Bevan got to first but his header was knocked out for another corner.  Sam was injured as he landed but passed on some treatment and stayed on for the next corner.  This time the corner was short to Eric Carrion and he gave it back to Jacob Lee who came in from the right wing and as he moved into the penalty area he drilled a right foot shot passed the Milton keeper to give the Titans a 1 – 0 lead in the 35th minute.

For the start of the second half the starting line-up returned but Stephen Glover and Dan Schwartz changed positions.  Within 30 seconds the Titans had a close call as slack defending allowed Milton a shot towards goal which went wide.  Next, Stephen Glover was fouled 30yds from the Milton goal and from Jacob Lee’s free kick, Sam Bevan headed over the bar.  In the 38th minute Northview survived a poor clearance as the ball fell to a Milton player and with Will Whorton off his line, Milton chipped the ball towards the empty goal but missed and put it wide.  Shortly thereafter the Titans won a corner which Jacob Lee played short to Eric Carrion and as he tripped over the ball in the penalty area there were rather hopeful calls from the crowd for a penalty which, rightfully, the referee ignored.  Milton had their best chance of the game in the 50th minute as a shot from the wing went well wide of the target only to end up as a pass to the outside midfield player who chipped it back to the center of the goal where a forward headed over, even though he was unchallenged.  This seemed to wake up the Titans and for the next five minutes they kept Milton pinned in their own half.  Seeking a second goal, Coach C. tried some reshuffling and he replaced Pall Kornmayer with Nathan Thompson who went in at left back allowing Sam Bevan to move into the left side of midfield.  There were no immediate improvements and Northview had to be careful that one defensive slip could let the Eagles back into the game.  After they needlessly gave away a corner to Milton in the 60th minute, the jitters were still apparent and Pall Kornmayer came on to replace Josh Taylor on the right side of midfield.  The Titans had a good spell for about five minutes but again defensive frailties allowed Milton a free shot on goal which hit the bar.  In the 66th minute Ramu Annamalai replaced Pall Kornmayer as Coach C kept looking to steady the boat.  Two minutes later, Coach C. replaced Eric Carrion with Russell Bradford and this time he was rewarded within the minute.  Will Whorton made a long clearance towards Stephen Glover which the Milton defense knocked out only as far as Ramu and he passed the ball to Stephen on the right wing.  He worked his way into the penalty box, cut towards the goal line then hit a low hard cross which found Russell Bradford inside the six yard box and he hammered it home to give the Titans a 2 – 0 lead in the 69th minute.

Tanner Chamblin missed the Chattahoochee game with an injury but he had returned in style tonight.  As Milton tried to get back into the game Tanner and Caulin Collier blocked them, then with seven minutes left Tanner started a move with a free kick that Stephen Glover played to Jacob Lee.  Milton recovered the ball and made a quick run downfield but Tanner was again involved in stopping them.  In the 76th minute Ramu Annamalai was involved in one of the best moves of the game.  Jacob Lee began the move in defense and passed the ball to Stephen Glover who sent Ramu down the right wing.  As a defender closed him down Ramu pushed the ball past him and took it into the box where two of his crosses were frantically blocked by Milton defenders.  Dan Schwartz picked up the loose ball, again went past a defender and won a throw-in next to the corner flag.  Nothing came of the corner but the Titans didn’t ease up and Dan Schwartz narrowly missed, hitting the football post, as the Titans cruised to their first victory in a region game.

Final score: Northview Titans 2 – 0 Milton Eagles