Everybody was kung-fu fighting....

Sunday October 14, 2012
Braintree, MA - Brookline FC showed up for the 10am start with 9 hearty souls.  From the kick-off I've been told they took the game to Brookline M.T.  Throughout the course of the match the "other" Brookline was not happy with the officiating (and some of the boys in yellow).  After reaching a point of no return on a hard tackle (and getting called for a tackle from behind) on BFC's Matt Cohen, said offender then tried to roundhouse kick the man in black and slap Brookline's very own Matt Cohen.

Brookline M.T. were seeing a lot of red from the ref after this incident which also led him to call the game about 15 minutes short of the full 90.

Goals:  Darragh, Charles
Assists: Charles Andres

Brookline FC travel to NH to take on Old School Soccer Club. BFC is still firmly in control of their postseason, wins in the last two games secure 2nd place and a spot in the semi-finals.

Steve's "To do" list:

Fit for Second

Sunday October 14, 2012
Waltham, MA - It was a cold dreary fall morning at the Gann Academy fields.  As was expected it was a heated and well played match between the top two teams in the conference.  The tensions were high throughout the match, the man in the middle did a good job of keeping everyones' emotions in check and flashed 4 yellow cards in total.  Mid-way through the first frame saw a gruesome play occur at Alliance's 40yd line, BFC's Steve Kaye closed in on ASC's #8 to deny him turning up field for a fast break - unfortunately both players collided heads and immediately went down.  #8 fell to the ground and stayed down for a few minutes while he tried to regain his surroundings.  Meanwhile our very own Steve Kaye had severely split open a 3-4" gash on his right eybrow/forehead, with a fair amount of blood flowing from the region.  Play was suspened approximately 10 minutes as both players were helped from the field, an ambulance was called for Steve and he was taken to the local ER to have a doctor administer 23 stitches (Ed Note: The doctor called it "Epic").  Good news for Steve is that there were no fractures, signs of concussion and most importantly he was out of the hospital and back home in time for his daughter's first birthday party.  All of us at BFC Blogspot wish Steve a speedy recovery and hope that #8 on Alliance is also doing well after that nasty collision.

The game eventually continued, all in all Alliance held a slight advantage with possession.  Brookline's backline did well repel the attacks and start quick counters, but as it has been all season the boys in Yellow were unable to get much going once down in the final 3rd of the pitch.  With less than 10 minutes in the game Alliance had a quick counter of their own - their left defender served a great long ball to their streaking striker who was able to get behind the D and slot the only goal of the game.  A frantic final few minutes saw BFC put additional pressure on the Alliance D but BFC was unable to find the equalizer.  Alliance played a solid game and deserved the 3 points.  The outcome all but clinches the division for Alliance SC, with them sitting atop the standings with least a 7 point lead with 3 games left in the season.  Meanwhile the second loss of the season for BFC leaves them either tied for 2nd place or 3 points behind PAAC depending on the final results from yesterday's PAAC v Norfolk game.  Brookline will need to regroup and take maximum points in the last three games of the season to ensure a 2nd consecutive campaign with a post season appearance.  They no longer control their promotion destiny (too many factors to try to analyze and layout) but BFC can still control their playoff destiny.  The last game of the season has even more implications than just the normal grudge match that is played out between PAAC and Brookline FC - if the season plays out the way it's expected the winner of that match will secure the 2nd and final playoff spot.

Next week is the Brookline Derby to be played in Braintree (don't ask me how/why I don't have an answer).   

Two for the price of one

Sunday September 30, 2012New Bedford, MA - 12 brave souls from Brookline FC traveled to New Bedford to take on PAAC (formerly Dartmouth FC). Unfortunately for the boys in yellow two quick goals in the second half saw PAAC take a 3-1 lead in the match.  BFC applied pressure on their hosts, eventually pulling one goal back but left scratching their head on how they could miss pulling level or ahead on a baker's half dozen of chances in the final 10 minutes.  As per usual this contest turned very scrappy and heated with lots of hard tackles and less than pleasant words being exchanged between the two clubs.  Needless to say the last fixture of the season up in Chestnut Hill is circled on both teams' calendars.

Goals:  Eric, Jon Tobin
Assists: Charles, Andres

Sunday October 30, 2012Norfolk, MA - Brookline FC opened the game with a solid 8 players taking the Dewy cold pitch in Norfolk this past SundAy.  Despite the numeRical disadvantage BFC was able to maintain good ball possession and press forwaRd on the offensive.  About 5-10 minutes into the first stAnza 2.5 more BFC-ers showed up - the .5 beinG a not very sober / very Hungover player whose identity will stay hidden within this text.

BFC only led 1-nil at the half curteousy of an Alan Silver strike.  Second half Brookline broke the back and the spirit of Norfolk, netting 3 second half goals, not to mention a cool dozen clear opportunities that could/should have put this game well out of reach and secured another double digit win vs. Norfolk.  Man of the match was clearly Steve Kaye who was all over the pitch both offensively (3 assists) and defensively.

Next weekend Brookline travels to Alliance in a battle for first place and automatic promotion spot.  Since their last meeting 5 weeks ago BFC has gone a paltry 1-1-2, while Alliance has kept their foot firmly on the gas (and not to mention the neck of BFC and the rest of the conference) and holds a 7 point advantage over Brookline and a +31 goal differential to Brookline's +17.  Can BFC find their rhythm and take all three points on the road and get back into the title hunt?

Goals:  Kent (2), Alan, Tom
Assists: Steve (3), Alan