JDF Masters FC

JDF-48 Grinds Down Cow Classics-48, 5-2
October 28, 2018, 12:00pm, Frances Kelsey Grass

With a mix of sunshine and rain on a nice fall morning at Frances Kelsey, we took to the field against the Cow Classics. We had 15 players and a solid crew. As is becoming our unfortunate habit over the past couple of games, we started strong with a few close opportunities that we didn't convert, and then suddenly found ourselves down 1-0 after they cruised from midfield with two open midfielders that tipped back and forth to each other to score. We didn't wait long to respond this time, though. We tied the game when our offense pressured their defenders, and when one made a weak pass back to their goalie, Paulo jumped on the opportunity to toe poke the loose ball into the net. 1-1. Only minutes later, Rob pushed a nice ball to the corner to Joel who brought it back across and dished it to a wide open Mirek who finished it easily, taking us into the lead 2-1. Again, a few minutes lat…

JDF-40 Dominates Steelheads-40, 4-1
October 28, 2018, 10:00am, Frances Kelsey Grass

JDF began strong again, as Ryan Laughey sent through Adam Laughey at the 10th minute mark, who broke away, and sneaked one through the legs of the goalkeeper into the far side of the net. JDF 1 Cowichan 0 15 minutes later, a beautiful lead pass by Rob Strickland put through Poontra Isarasakdi who faked the defender out completely, and tucked it home. JDF 2 Cowichan 0 10 minutes later Poontra Isarasakdi struck again for his 2nd goal of the game off a lead pass by Ryan Laughey. However 5 minutes before halftime, Cowichan managed to get one back, taking advantage of an opportunistic bounce to fire one past the JDF keeper. This time around, JDF was NOT to be denied the victory, when Daniel Moreira scored a beautiful volley into the left side of the net. JDF 4 Cowichan 1 A complete team defensive effort and stellar goalkeeping by Travis Henry in the 2nd half sealed the victory for JDF ! HOT FEET...Da…

JDF-40 Bites It Against Gorge-40, 3-7
October 24, 2018, 7:00pm, Hampton Turf

The first 15 minutes began as a defensive affair for both teams, however JDF opened the scoring at the 20 minute mark when Daniel Moreira was left unmarked in the 18 yd box from a cross, and he fired it into the left side for his 2nd goal in as many games. JDF 1 Gorge 0 At the 35th minute mark, Ryan Laughey tipped through a perfect breakaway pass to his brother Adam Laughey who slipped it underneath the keeper on the right side. JDF 2 Gorge 0 However, 5 minutes later a Gorge shot from just outside the 18yd box re-directed off a JDF player off the post and into the net. JDF 2 Gorge 1 Two minutes later, great determination and work from George Godoy up front lead to a Gorge player having no choice but to foul him viciously in the 18yd box. Penalty awarded. Ryan Laughey, coming back from injury, easily converted the penalty shot. JDF 3 Gorge 1 (Halftime) However, it was deja-vu in the 2nd half, as the 2nd …

JDF-55 Frustrates Lakehill-55, 5-1
October 24, 2018, 7:30pm, Royal Bay Turf

When I arrived late to the game on Wednesday night by about 10 minutes, JDF-55 had already racked up two goals against the Lakehill opponents. These were early goals by Hugh D-Y and Ben P, both assisted by Mirek. Lakehill looked upset and frustrated, as they are a team that usually gives us a hard game. Midway into the first half, they kept poking the ball back into our goalie area, not letting it out of our half of the field, yet they watched as the ball pinballed around various players in the area, but never found the net. They must have worn themselves out in these 20 minutes of relentless attacks, because shortly thereafter, we counterattacked and scored three rather easy goals, 2 by Paulo and 1 by Joel. So at the end of the half, we were up 5-0. Second half we throttled down into overdrive, and didn't attack nearly as much. They managed to place a nice free kick from mid-field up into the air …

JDF-55 Surfs Over Orcas-55, 9-3
October 17, 2018, 7:30pm, Royal Bay Turf

No detail account was given, but apparently, Eddie Diesner came out of hiding to score 4 goals, and Mirek had to keep up with him, so he put away four as well! Dan Haley captured the final goal for another strong win by the 55s!

JDF-40 Face-Plants Against Prospect Lake-40
October 17, 2018, 8:15pm, Layritz Turf

The first half began in the 10th minute with a left footed cracker from 20 yards out by Prospect Lake that looked like it was going over the goal, but surprised the JDF goalkeeper Travis Henry by hitting the roof of the net. 1-0 Prospect Lake. However, Daniel Moreira came to the rescue for JDF 5 minutes later off a scramble in the Prospect Lake 6-yard box to poke home the equalizer. Game tied 1-1. 5 minutes later, Prospect Lake responded with another goal, giving them the 2-1 lead. The remaining 25 minutes was the story of constantly missed breakaways and shots by JDF. Halftime 2-1, Prospect Lake. The 2nd half was a bit different, VERY different! Constant turnovers from JDF, as well as bad luck as Jorge Pichardo fired a cannon off the crossbar, as well as another JDF player fired one off the post. This all proved to be very costly, as Prospect Lake made JDF pay dearly with 4 unanswered goals to …

JDF-48 Claws Back to Upset Castaways-48, 3-2
October 21, 2018, 12:00pm, Carnarvon Park

JDF-48 was glad for the help from our 40s players, Travis and Carlo, and Hugh from 55s last Sunday at sunny Carnarvon Park. The grass field was nicely kept, though it was a short and narrow field that had deceptive bumps that made the ball difficult to dribble and control. We brought out a capable squad and played a strong first half with several scoring opportunities that we just couldn't convert. Castaways did well enough to hold us off, but they only had a few credible attacks in the first half, one of which should have been an easy goal when their forward found himself with a rebounded ball and an open net, but he shot wide. Early in the second half, Castaways had a series of nice pass combinations and worked the ball to their strong mid-fielder who took a nice left-foot shot from just inside the 18 and put it in the right lower corner. 0-1. Only about 10 minutes later, we found ourse…

JDF-55 Picks Apart Pen Masters 55, 5-1
October 10, 2018, 7:30pm, Royal Bay Turf

Hugh Dinsdale-Young scored early on a corner. We gave up a sad goal 3 minutes from half against the run of play. 1-1 at the half. Rob was in as goalie and reports that in the 2nd half, "except for being run down by their forward who carried on with the ball despite being called offside and then ran me over when I came out to clear the ball, the only thing I did was watch the bats flying above the pitch." In the second half, Cory scored on a PK. Additional goals by Merik, Dan H, and a header by Graham.

JDF-40 Pummels Sooke-40, 6-2
October 10, 2018, 7:40pm, Sooke Field

An evening in Sooke on their beautiful new field under the lights...Jorge Pichardo scored off Ryan's pass in the box. Adam got one with an assist by Daniel, Zeb scored on a shot that hit both posts before going in, Aaron got a shot in on a break away assisted again by Daniel, and Ryan got a nice one. Zeb might have scored 2, and yes, Dave missed one :) Rafa threw himself a Neymar at the beginning of second half that paused the game for 5 minutes. And Rafa claims that he would have stolen the ball easier on that play if we could just slide in this league. Great game boys!

JDF-48 Sinks Salt Spring-48, 5-1
October 14, 2018, 10:30am, Portlock Park

We arrived with a vanload of surly players to Portlock Park on Salt Spring Island last Sunday morning. Despite the help of Kim, Tom, and Graham from 55s, we had only twelve players against their 17 or 18. Nevertheless, we entered into the game with high spirits that were only lifted by the unseasonably gorgeous day of sunshine and a dry grass field, cow pasture though it was. We essentially controlled the whole game easily. Joel scored his first with a hard shot from just inside the 18 that bobbled off the goalie's arms and in. A few minutes later he scored a second off a nice cross from Paulo. The main excitement of the game was offered by the over-eager referee, who sent off Dave O for 10 minutes after he knocked down a player on an attempted shot. Upon complaining (only mildly!), Dave got a yellow to boot. Minutes later, the ref, with adrenaline still pumping, called a penalty against us -- didn…

JDF-40 Finishes Bays-40, 3-1
October 3, 2018, 7:30pm, Royal Bay Turf

A good game where we controlled the play for most of the first half. Adam scored about 20 min into the game with short side-shot that beat the keeper to make it 1-0. Zeb got the second about 10 minutes later with a nice cracker coming from the left wing. No chance for their goalie. And about 10 mins later, still in the fist half, Kevin took the ball from Gord down the left wing and crossed it into Zeb who flicked it on to Mike who had an easy head into the net. Second half started slow with not much happening. About 30 minutes in, Rob, our keeper, was lonely or bored at this point and decided to pull a guy down so they could get a PK. LOL. They scored to make it 3-1 to end the game.

JDF-48 Puts Away Gorge-48, 3-1
October 3, 2018, 7:00pm, Hampton Grass

With the memory of last year's 2nd half loss to Gorge in a game we had controlled, combined with the keen recollection of Cory getting hacked at the knees in the same game, JDF-48 players converged on the Hampton pitch Wednesday night with a -- shall we say -- certain focused intensity. Charging out of the gates, we played the first 45 minutes of the game with superb discipline and creativity. We pressured consistently while on defense, and we passed the ball well, working to the outsides and back into the middle. Within 15 minutes, we produced our first goal after a pretty combination of passing between Paulo and Ric up front, finishing with a nicely slotted shot into the lower right of the net by Ric. Many of us had opportunities to score, and we thought we might see another goal by Dwight when he wound up his shooter leg and let loose on a ball that soared over the uprights. A goal was called offside by…

JDF-48 Prevails Against Duncan-48, 4-2
September 26, 2018, 7:30pm, Royal Bay Turf

Referee: Bubba
Goalscorers: Rick 3 goals. Dwight 1 goal. Rob 3 assists
Yellow Cards: Duncan 1

It was a beautiful night for footy with very mild conditions for a late September evening. Duncan travelled well and had a healthy number of available subs to bolster their eleven on the field.

The first third of the first half saw us dominate possession and it was only a matter of time before we were able to put up our first goal. Ric who is on absolute fire put a shot through after he was fed the ball from Rob. Our attacks from the side worked well. Spreading it either to the outside left or the right worked well instead of trying to push it up the middle. We moved the ball well and also had pressure on their defence.

The pressure saw us garner a second goal and Ric scored after an error by their keeper (eerily reminiscent of the mistake made by the GH keeper a week ago). At this point we were up 2-0…

JDF-40 Defeats Vic West-40, 5-2
September 26, 2018, 7:30pm, JDF#2 Grass

We got the opener to put us up 1-0. Ryan from 35 yards out had a nice hit and got the keeper sleeping. They came back to make it 1-1 from a miss-play in the middle of the park. We then went up 2-1 when George converted on a corner kick from Rafael to end the first half. In the start of the second half they came out hot and tied the game off a corner kick that dropped in the six yard box and was put passed our keeper to make it 2-2. Scott got the go ahead goal with third or fourth rebound off Bart’s killer shot to make it 3-2. Then we went up 4-2. Kevin shot a low screamer from the 18 that Ricardo tipped into the net from the 6 yard box . The last seconds of the game we went up 5-2 when Kevin took a cross/shot that the keeper mishandled, and it ended up in the net. Great play, boys!

JDF-55 Blasts Past Gordon Head-55, 6-3
September 30, 2018, 12:00pm, Lambrick Meadow

JDF 55 players assembled in the drizzle at the edge of the meadow that is Lambrick and prepared to take on Gordon Head. Mirek and Dan spearheaded the attack but after watching several missed opportunities Graham strode forward from midfield firing in a shot from the edge of the box. 1-0 JDF. Rob was not looking too confident in net, and this was highlighted when having taken a pass from Cory in defence his brain froze and decided to cycle and reset when having 6 outlet options in front of him. Instead he kicked it straight to the GH forward who calmly walked around him and slotted it into the open goal. 1-1. It was to get worse before the half. With the ball cleared out to the edge of the box, GH unleashed an unstoppable shot that went in off the bottom of the crossbar. 1-2 GH at the half. Play resumed with GH trying their luck with shots from multiple angles and ranges having realised that JDF wer…