Maricopa Cup 2008 R1

Date

January 13, 2008

Participants

Adam Carlson, Andrea Guarducci, Dominic Hutchinson, Simon Hutchinson, Kevin Nieman, Wayne Smith

Report

Kevin Nieman opened the round with a 3-1 victory over Dominic Hutchinson, who has graduated from being a “newcomer” to become an “experienced” player. Nieman opened the scoring only to have Dominic equalize a short while after. “My first goal was swift,” Nieman observed. “Dominic scored on me one and half minutes after my goal. It was so fast I did not realize that the ball went in the net.”

“That was the second fastest goal I have scored,” noted Dominic.

“The second goal was very luck,” Nieman continued, “because I split two of his defenders to score. Dominic has great defensive flicking.”

“His third goal took me by surprise,” lamented Dominic.

“Now I know how medieval citizens felt during a siege,” was how Andrea Guarducci characterized his goalless draw with Simon Hutchinson. “I had only one shot on goal with a solitary attacker. The rest of the time I had twelve or thirteen [ ? ] players back in defense.”

“Every time I got the ball into space on his shooting line he would flick a defender right in my way,” were Simon’s frustrated comments. “With his very accurate flicking Andrea is going to be hard to beat using Maricopa Vase rules.”

“Despite the ‘mercy’ rule win Adam’s [ Carlson ] defensive flicks were phenomenal,” was how Nieman described his opponent’s play during their game. “I scored the last goal with a shot with just five seconds left.”

“Kevin’s defense was too tight,” Carlson noted. “I did not have any shots on goal.”

Dominic beat Guarducci by a single goal, with both players using regular rules. “He had a solid defense,” was Dominic’s description of his opponent play. “He was flicking really well. When he got possession he was driving up the field. He was unstoppable, but he kept missing at the crucial moment.

“I was trying to touch up on the ball but I hit it too hard and it flew into the goal,” was Dominic’s description of his goal.

“The game was too fast pace, I could not keep up,” were Andrea’s only comments about the game.

The late arrival Wayne Smith won his first game beating Simon by 2-0. “My first goal came off an incredibly lucky bounce. I was trying to force the ball [ for a throw in ] and the ball stopped right at the feet of one of my figures on the shooting line.”

After the goal the game became dominated by the defensive flicks as both players rushed their attacks, causing poor flicking, until close to the end of the second half.

“I crossed the ball from the left, which side stepped a defender, and chipped the ball into the left side of the goal,” was how Smith described his second goal.

Dominic and Carlson fought out a goalless draw where the defenses were dominant and possession changed what seemed to be every other flick. “His few shots were all close but missed the goal,” was Adam’s observation of the game. “I had only one shot, but it was about an inch above the goal.”

Nieman’s game against Smith started badly. “When I went 0-2 down early it felt that it was going to be one of those typical Wayne matches where I would be overwhelmed.” Kevin explained. “My goal came in the second half. I took a long flick to get the ball into a shootable position, touched up with the same figure, and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper.”

“I noticed that every time I took a hard shot Kevin saved with his keeper high off the ground. So I countered this by shooting the ball slowly on the ground,” was Smith’s description of the tactics he used. “I scored two goals in the first half that way. And I thought the game was going to be easy until Kevin’s brilliant goal.

“Then with two minutes left Kevin forced a corner, he missed his shot, and possession changed. On the ensuing two flicks he flicked his figures out of the way trying to steal the ball, and I pushed up to the shooting line. With my third flick I shot the ball hard and low into the net with seconds left.”

“The story of the match was how Simon capitalized on my blatant lapses in concentration,” was Nieman's observation after losing 0-1 to the elder Hutchinson.

In the third minute Nieman had the ball in the back of the goal, and then disallowed it due to a foul that his opponent did not see. “If I were less honest I would not have called the foul on myself,” was his explanation. “I would rather be honest and lose or draw than win by cheating.”

Simon scored the goal from a tight angle with the ball on the right touch line. Nieman pulled his goalkeeper back and the ball struck the back post and bounced into the goal.

“Simon frustrated me and prevented me from any quality scoring chances,” was how Kevin described the rest of the game.

Smith ‘mercy’ ruled Dominic. “Dominic’s kept his defensive line intact,” was how Wayne described his opponent’s tactics. “The ball was in his shooting zone most of the time. His goalkeeper made six or seven saves, and I would end up with another corner kick leading to another shot. After two dozen attempts on goal I finally got the fourth [ goal ].”

Guarducci won his only game of the day defeating Carlson 3-1. Adam echoed what everyone else said about Andrea’s flicking. “His flicks are just so accurate they just infuriated me. I just could not get around his defense.

“My one goal was the most amazing goal I have ever scored,” Carlson continued. “Both of our players were touching the ball, and the ball was just inside the shooting zone against the left side line. The angle did not look like I could make it, and I just slammed the ball home.”

“By the eighth minute I had not had a shot on goal. And I had just one shot on target in the first half to score,” was Smith’s description of the first half of his ‘mercy’ rule win over Carlson.

“He tore through my defense in the second half,” Carlson explained shaking his head.

The battle of the Hutchinsons was won by Simon scoring a single goal in the first half. “Dominic’s defense was too strong, and he kept getting in the way. When he didn’t I missed the shot,” was the elder Hutchinson’s description of the game.

“Maricopa Vase rules suck,” was Nieman’s comment after his goalless draw with Guarducci. “Andrea’s amazing ability to position his defense flicks. I had very little offense, just a couple of shots. But no real scoring opportunity.”

“When I saw my opponent’s goalkeeper talking to his girlfriend in the stands,” Andrea said with a wry smile, “I knew I loved the Maricopa Vase rules.”

Carlson went down to his third ‘mercy’ rule defeat conceding two goals in each half against Simon. “I was worried for the first quarter of the game,” the elder Hutchinson reported. “My first goal was a penalty after a hand ball. After that I worked out how to split Adam’s defense. I could then drive the ball into the shooting zone, and then he would do a superb flick to block my figure’s shot. He pulled off seven saves during the game. If his goalkeeping was not so good it could have been over a lot quicker.”

Smith was not to win all of his games today. “There was no going through his defense,” was his comments as Guarducci held on for his third goalless game of the day. “I had one semi-clear chance at goal the whole game. He would just put his figure where he wanted to every flick.”

After all was done the consensus of opinion was that while Guarducci still needs to learn the rules and tactics of the game, does his ability to flick mean he has to considered an “experienced” player?

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