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Standings,
results and other stats
Joe Afful scored a last gasp equalizer for New York Greek-American/Atlas to deny under-strength Lansdowne Bhoys a famous victory at Cardoza High School last Sunday.
Despite missing seven starters, Lansdowne twice went ahead through Connor Hunter [10th] and Frankie Lopez [80th].
Tarek Smith [15th] canceled out Hunter’s opener before Afful [90th] salvaged a draw for the First Division [East] leaders who remain four points ahead of the third place Bhoys [6-5-1, 19].
ATLAS DOUBLE
The Lansdowne-Atlas reserves met in a delayed D’Arpino quarterfinal tie at Tibbet Field, with the latter prevailing 2-0 to advance to the semis against Stal Mielec ‘B’ this weekend. Gene Smalls got both goals for the cup holders.
That win came three days after the Atlas seconds had clawed back from 2-0 down, thanks to Lawrence Petrullo, to outgun Mr. Dennehy’s 3-0 on penalties in a Round of 16 encounter.
Lance Pitterson [two] had Mr. Dennehy’s cruising at the half.
Stal Mielec, meanwhile, pipped Second Division Manhattan Celtics reserves 9-8 in a shoot-out at the Metropolitan Oval to reach the final four.
Mariusz Kopczewski scored in the 1-1 regulation draw.
CPR CLIMB
The Atlas first team’s slip up against Lansdowne was a boon for Central Park Rangers, now joint leaders with the Greeks in the East after a 2-1 decision over Stal Mielec ‘A’ the Metropolitan Oval.
Tony DeLorenzo and Patrick White connected for CPR while Dariusz Cioczek had the Poles’ lone effort.
“As we expected, Stal Mielic defended with numbers and were difficult to break down. But outside of a great moment of class by their left midfielder to score we felt that we had them contained for 90 minutes,” said CPR coach Joe Sullivan.
Stal boss Artur Kurasiewicz was riled over the officiating. “This is the third game in the row, when the refs [did] not show us any love. Against CPR they awarded two penalty kicks against my team. It’s really frustrating and my players are rightfully angry.”
The defeat left Stal [3-6-3, 12] shoring up the East standings with compatriots Polonia.
TEN POLES
Ten-man Polonia ground out a goalless tie with New York Athletic Club at McCarren Park -- this after NYAC’s reserves had won 4-0.
Manager Roman Gierczak also took umbrage with the officiating after seeing another goalie ejected for the second week running.
Forward Rafal donned the number one jersey and was outstanding as Polonia eked out a point.
“Overall I am very happy with the work ethic of Polonia,” said Gierczak. “The best players for Polonia were fullbacks Lukasz Bielen and Robert Rzeczycki. The rest of the team can be proud the way they handled playing a second week short-handed.”
KING JULIO
Julio Cesar Santos [43rd, 85th] was the Pancyprian Freedom hero as the Greek-Cypriots knocked off defending CSL champs Brooklyn Italians 2-1 at blustery Verazzano Sports Complex.
“We were missing a number of players through injury and had to deal with a bad pitch and strong winds,” said manager George Halkidis, who only had 11 players.
Greg Metropoulos scored in the reserves’ 1-1 tie.
ROVERS SKID
Julio & Co. [9-2-1, 28] moved six points clear of Barnstonworth Rovers who, after winning three straight in league action this calendar year, succumbed 2-1 to CD Iberia at Francis Lewis High School.
Steve Nyarady starred for CD. He had the assist on Nick Smaldone’s early effort and after Colin Marshall had leveled from a free kicker snatched the winner.
The result put Iberia [6-4-2, 20] within two points of second place Rovers, much to Diego Monteagudo’s glee.
“We are definitely going to try to push for that spot as hard as we can,” Monteagudo vowed.
Yuri Krym and Austin Harris handed the Rovers’ reserves a 2-0 win.
KICKERS ECLIPSED
Skipper Shinobu Ninomiya’s 20th minute strike for FC Japan threw a wrench in first place Manhattan Kickers’ Division Two title hopes.
“We proved that our winning form in the state cup was not a fluke,” said GM Tosh Tatezawa, whose men have been on fire in the Flamhaft Cup.
Kickers’ reserves run riot, knocking six past Japan without reply. Gilad Bloom, Dave Dupuy, Gorliegh Willis (two), and Joe Whiteman (two) tallied.
CELTIC BOUNCE
Manhattan Celtic (8-2-1, 25) are back to within a point of Kickers with a game in hand after edging Ridgewood Romac 3-2 at Chelsea Pier.
Michael Thomas [20th], Ed Mcpherson [30th] and David Linn [70th] scored.
FORWARD MARCH
Also creeping up on Mike Fitzgerald’s Kickers [26 pts] are Frosinone, 2-0 victors over New York Fury at New Utrecht High School despite finishing with nine men.
Abiuso Pasquale [pen.] and Kreshnick Sabiku’s spectacular blast cut the Long Islanders’ deficit to four points.
Frosinone’s reserves won 2-1 on goals by Rosario Mannino and Sanchez Ariel.
BARTEK BLAST
Elsewhere in Division Two, Bartek Kamionka’s quick brace [10th, 12th] inspired Ukrainians to a 3-1 victory over Koha at Randalls Island.
Bartek “Figo” Chrzaszcz [92nd] was the other scorer.
Ukrainians’ reserves won 3-2.
CARIBE DERBY
At Evander Childs High School, youthful Kandia prevailed 3-1 over NIFA in the Second Division’s Caribbean derby.
Cleve Campbell [12th], Kofi Dunbar [26th] and Ghanaian George Darquah [65th] were on the mark for the Jamaicans against their Haitian opponents.
Phil Ramdass, 19, had a goal and two assists in the Kandia reserves’ 3-1 win.
METRO THRILLER
Hoboken FC and Shamrock produced an eight-goal thriller at McCarren Park that earned each side a point in Metro Div. One.
Shamrock led three times only to let the visitors off the hook.
Mario Auglucci [20th, 42nd], Karol Hughes [57th] and Stephen Douglas [83rd] tallied for Shamrock.
Hoboken took the lead through Guillermo Deveyga [7th] and then replied through David Ceron [52nd, 64th] and Shane Correia [87th] every time the Irishmen went ahead.
“It was a shoot-out and a very exciting game to watch,” said Hoboken coach Bill Marth.
The draw left Shamrock [6-2-4] seven points off the pace in the East with four games remaining – two of them against leaders New York Croatia [9-1-2, 29].
CROATIA QUALIFY
Playing in the D’Arpino Cup, Croatia edged the Long Island Soccer Football League’s Irish Rovers 4-3 on penalties to book a semi-final date with the Pancyprian reserves this weekend.
Filip Loncar scored for Croatia in the 1-1 regulation tie.
SPORTING PAYBACK
Ngenzi Rushemeza (two), Chris Tapia and Chris Burns struck in Sporting Astoria’s 4-0 romp over Metro Div. One rivals BW Gottschee at Long Island City High School.
“We avenged our 4-4 away draw,” Ed Romero declared.
“Not having a ref show up once again for the second time in three games did not help Gottschee,” the club’s John Krische complained.
At McCarren Park, Robin Scott had New York Wanderers’ face-saver in a 5-1 shellacking by West leaders Clarkstown [10-2, 30].
Second place Guyana Juniors beat Long Island United 4-3.
DENNEHY’S DELIGHT
Mr. Dennehy’s, reduced to ten men, held off ASA McCarthy 3-2 at Riverbank State Park on goals by Frankie, Danny Mac and Gerry.
METRO TWO
East pace-setter United Rocklanders and Gotham Argo drew 0-0 at Rockland Country Day School.
Rocklanders [4-4-6, 18] opened up a five-point gap over number two side S.C. Eintracht who crashed 2-1 to NY’s Finest at the Met Oval.
Juan Andrada scored for Eintracht.
GOOD SUM
Pythagoras Samos’ George Kritikos (two), Alekos and Andrea Mallias connected in a 4-0 drubbing of ailing Astoria Gaels at Valley Stream State Park to knock Gotham off the perch in the West.
Pythagoras [7-1-3, 24] lead Ronnie Swinkels’ Gotham by a point.
ROVERS ROMP
Jeremy Brown had a hat trick [35th, 55th, 80th], Donald Robertson a brace [25th, 70th] and Cesar Gonzalez one goal in Barnstonworth Rovers’ romp over Zenit FC at Southern Field.
Korabi, meanwhile, blanked EMC 3-0 at Floyd Bennett Field.
EINTRACHT CRUISE
Tommy Strumpf (two) and Scott Sucher were among the scorers at the Met Oval where S.C Eintracht defeated Pele 4-2 in an Over-30 fixture.
Eintracht improved to 10-1-2; a massive 15 points clear of closest pursuers Silver Lake atop the Division One [East] standings.
PREMIER STAR
Barnstonworth Premier outclassed Silver Lake 3-0 at the Verazzano Complex, courtesy of Marlon Johnson [60th], Maurice Wellington [73rd] and Nedgy Nazon [81st).
“We were missing six starters,” said Silver’s Phil Esposito.
GUYANA WIN
Guyana Veterans ‘A’ topped BW Gottschee 3-1 for their fourth win of the season.
Kester Darlington, Junior Walker and Fitzroy Warner replied after Franco Purificato [20th] had given Gottschee the lead at Queens Children’s Hospital.
HOWARD LEVELER
Guyana Veterans ‘B’ nicked a point off Division One [West] top dogs Manhattan Kickers at Verazzano on Howard Beaton’s equalizer [25th] in a testy 1-all affair.
Kickers’ Peter Narvarte hit the post twice before Paul Cowler [15th] latched onto a punt by goalie Raj Gandesha for the opener. Gandesha pulled off a brilliant save late in the game to deny the Guyanese.
Kickers' first tie [10-2-1, 31] saw their lead over another Guyanese club, Pele Masters, shrink to two points after the Caribbean outfit pipped New York Dinamo 2-1 at Kaiser Field.
FUN ODYSSEY
Central Park Rangers came away from Tryon Field in Rutherford, New Jersey, with a 1-0 decision over Odyssey on Creighton Mershon’s winner.
“It was a tight, fair, fun and even game,” CPR’s Andrew Faherty summed up.
TOUGH DOLPHINS
Ante Simunovic and Rob Gretton scored for Division Two [West] leaders New York Croatia but couldn't prevent a 3-2 loss to Maltese Dolphins at the Con Ed field.
JIMMY JAM
James “Scooby” Rogers’ early strike was not enough to fend off rampaging Baisley United who thrashed injury-hit Barnstonworth Old Boys 6-1 in the Marth Cup quarterfinals at Newtown High School.
“Just 12 players were available at kick-off and we went a goal ahead before our goalkeeper dislocated a finger,” Dave Sheeran said, alluding to himself.
The Old Boys would lose another player to a knee injury and eventually grow weary of chasing the game.
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