Wankas End Season with Win Streak

Yes, 2 games is a streak! Wankas FC ended the Spring '09 season with a victory over old rivals Columbus O-30 on another cornfield of a pitch at Eagles Crest. WFC struggled for numbers but were at full-strength to start the match, and it was Columbus that would fail to begin with 11 after their long drive north. Fittingly, WFC failed to fully take advantage of their numerical superiority (C-bus started with 7, but slowly added players over the opening 20 minutes and ended up with more than WFC). Wankas did manage to keep the ball almost entirely to themselves in early play, but the urgency and intensity to turn their numerical advantage into goals was not present. Some dallying on the ball almost saw the midfield overrun for an embarassing counter-attack goal, but a poke back to Jeff Schroeder (standing in for the 2nd week in a row), snuffed out any early hope for C-bus. WFC eventually took advantage of their numbers with some nice wing play. A bobble on the uneven ground was the only defense to keep out an early Jan-to-Ross opportunity. Ross's scuffed shot was the impetus to turn things up a notch, and minutes later the roles were reversed as Aaron Gordon slotted Ross Kenyon into the right channel for Ross to slide a ball across goal and into the path of Jan the German for a back-post goal. 1-0 to the Wankas, with more to come. WFC sustained the pressure but were beginning to leave gaps around the field as several players went in search of glory. A few shots on goal left no doubt that the Wankas were in for the win, and another through ball for Ross to latch onto led to another slotted ball across the face of goal for Troy Divis to volley into the net. 2-0 to the Wankas, who apparently decided that was job done and allowed C-bus to get back into the game. The old boys pulled one back for 2-1, but this just seemed to rile the Wankas and it was again through Ross Kenyon that another goal was found. This time a well-worked effort up the left wing saw Schuyler Wareham cut back inside to deliver a pinpoint cross to Ross in the box, who had time to bring the ball down a finish coolly into the lower corner. 3-1 Wankas at the break.

C-bus turned up their efforts in the second half, but this also led to acres of space on the wings for WFC to exploit. Wankas managed several more opportunities on goal and probably should have added to their tally, especially after C-bus scrambled another goal to make it 3-2. WFC still seemed the more likely side to score again, and even with a few scary goalmouth events late on were able to hold out for the victory. 3-2 WFC.

Scoring: Jan (Kenyon), Divis (Kenyon), Kenyon (Wareham)

Wankas FC finished the Spring '09 season at 2-2-4, a disappointing line. However, in recent weeks they played some very nice and skillful football. Perhaps the rain-interrupted early season prevented getting into the rhythm that clearly came with more consistent games, and they will hopefully take this into the Fall season. There is no Spring Tournament due to scheduling conflicts, but there may be a pre-Fall tournament. As always, it's been another fun season. Enjoy your summers and I look forward to regaling you with tales of Wankas victories in the Fall!

Season Stats:
2 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses

Player Goals Assists Points
Kenyon 4 2 10
Divis 3 1 7
Bellaver 1 3 5
Klippel 2 0 4
Robertson 1 1 3
Britton C 1 0 2
Gordon 1 0 2
Jan 1 0 2
Kirchhofer 1 0 2
Wareham 0 2 2
Cantrell 0 1 1
Maggard 0 1 1
TOTAL 15 11 41