A Tumultuous Tie

The Plough played Benicia in the first game this season and had a great win against them, but the second time playing them was not so fortunate. The Plough happily pulled out a 0-0 tie (I say happily because it allowed the Plough to get a point for the game and keep their good standing in the league). Many players from the offense were missing this week including Zaher, Mo, Armando, Willy, and Tunde, as well as some defenders including Stephan and Ben, which made it very difficult to score. In the first half the team was structured with four defenders, five midfielders and one forward (Julio) which left Julio against three of Benicia's defenders almost every time he got the ball. Benicia's forwards broke through a couple times and Ricky had some amazing saves (pictures included!) but for the most part, their midfield would kick the ball too hard, which resulted in a lot of frustration from their forwards. Many players on the Plough were getting frustrated as well with some of the calls, with each other, with Ali yelling on the sideline, and Mark got his first yellow card!

The second half showed a huge improvement for the Plough. Whereas Benicia had the ball maybe 70% of the first half, the Plough had the ball 75% of the second half. Many great shots were taken - a nice header by Ngong, a narrowly missed bicycle kick by Julio - but the wind was fierce and could not be compensated for by the shooters. Benicia had a scary chance when their forward got a nice pass and outran the defense, but luckily he slipped and landed on his ass and Ricky was able to scoop up the ball, everyone, including the fallen forward, was giggling. Though they didn't pull through with the win, the second half was inspirational evidence that the Plough has the ability to adjust their strategy, regroup, and increase their intensity.