There was a different feel in the year on this opening day in the BDSL O35 division. The previous year West United had come in with high expectations and a lot of pressure to repeat the success of 2017. 2018 West United failed to find that same success of the previous year and management found themselves searching for answers all off season. Instead of remaking or tweaking the roster which is usually the first reaction from a team searching to reach that next level, West United opened up the season with zero changes from the previous year. The changes were to be in mindset and off season training. Would this philosophy pay off or lead to a tumble down the table as other teams seemed to add more players and top level clubs such as Celtic and Yemen joined the O35 division.
The Opening game of the 2019 West United campaign against Labatt Blue Stars was sure to be a battle. It always is. To look at their bench pregame you would have thought this was a team built to try and win a title in Championship not in the O35 division. Adding previous Premier MVP Polo Suazo to an already stacked lineup was a reminder of how well connected this club is and how difficult it is to get a result against them. However, There was an odd calmness to the West United sideline pregame. The mindset of winning a championship at all costs had seemed to return to one of just going out there and giving it your all with your friends. This was the mindset that got them to become a relevant team in the division just two years previously. Would it pay off though?
To be fair, It did not look like it for the first 25 minutes of the game. Blue Stars started the game with an air of absolute dominance. Possession was probably 80/20 if not higher and West United seemed like they were punched in the face and had no answers. The quality shown by Blue Stars in terms of their possession was top level. At this point they were not giving up a ton of chances but possession was hard to come by. West United Goalkeeper Brian Mariniello’s early touches showed he may be in line for a great game. If they were to stay in it this would probably have to be the case. Wave after wave of attack during this time was held off by the collection of West United Defenders.
The game settled down for West United and the end of the second half saw some better possession and team defending. In fact, after settling down a bit a counter attack led to defender Jeremy Doak sending a ball to a streaking Sotir Tanevski through the Blue Stars defense that he clinically finished. It looked as though they had taken a 1-0 lead as the AR flag had stayed down but the Center Official overruled and called offsides. In all honesty no one on either side really seemed to know for sure if it was offsides or not but it was a blow for West United who were finding chances hard to come by at this point. It was also a huge break for Blue Stars who would have been down against all odds at this point.
The 1st half was to end 0-0 with Blue carrying the play but West United finally settling into the game.
The 2nd half was a more back and forth affair. West United started to defend much harder and had a 15 minute stretch of attacking ball that led to two great chances in the attacking third. One of which was started with a great ball from Sean Morrisey from the midfield to forward Jon Carter who was able to beat the outside defender and shoot from distance only to hit the cross bar. The other chance came off of a throw in to unmarked defender Jeremy Doak who sent a perfect ball across to the back post to Rick Couell who just missed connecting on a header which looked sure to be a goal. These were to be West United’s last real chances though. Blue Stars were to settle back into control of the second half and the last 15 minutes led to a huge barrage of possession and chances.
At this point the West United defense and Brian Mariniello earned their marks. Brian made several key saves on excellent Blue Star opportunities. Also, full marks to the West United defense led by Center defenders Steve Grocott and Shawn Clancy and on the day consisting outside defenders; Jeremy Doak, Charlie Riley, Dave Riter, and Rob Marsham who at various times had to step up and make huge plays to prevent a goal. The game was to end at 0-0. A very fine result for West United who were on their heels for much of the game but managed to steady the ship and make it a good competitive game. Good Luck to the rest of the league on handling Labatt Blue Stars this season.
