O'Fallon Flames Archives

5.10.07 : Flames Wind Down Season with Strong Play but Mixed Results

The O'Fallon Flames took part in the 2007 Brick Tamland Celebrity Classic on Saturday, March 24th. After a suspicious draw, the Flames had the unfortunate 'luck' of being placed in to the tournaments' "Group of Death" along with Florissant United and St. George Athletic. O'Fallon played two strong matches against two of the top clubs in the country, but could not find the back of the net in either group match. With a 0-0 draw with Keith Constable and his St. George side and a 1-0 loss to Tim Boone and his Florissant side, the Flames somehow found themselves advancing to the championship round. However their bad luck of draws continued as the were paired in the quarterfinals with defending SLSL Champion Mike Keller and the Shaw Rangers. The Flames had thought they had found their scoring touch midway through the first half, but after a video replay it was determined some illegal activity had occurred and the goal was disallowed. A late second half goal by the Rangers sealed the Flames' fate and the tournament ended for O'Fallon without a win and without scoring a goal.

"I thought we actually played very well today." Flames manager Jeff Drake said after the tournament. "I'm not going to make any excuses for our club. You can't expect success if you don't score any goals."

With their 2006-2007 season winding down, the Flames are undoubtedly facing their toughest portion of their schedule. Saturday, April 7 they travelled to Shaw to take on the undefeated and defending SLSL Champion Mike Keller and the Rangers. Shaw Park is always an intimidating pitch to play on, being the largest playing surface in the United States. Shaw took full advantage of their home field in the first half and after 10 minutes the Flames found themselves down 2-0. But a goal with seconds left to play in the first half brought life to side from O'Fallon heading in to the break. However the momentum was short-lived as the Rangers went up by two again five minutes in to the second half. From there Shaw played solid defense and the Flames could not find the back of the net again as O'Fallon took their first loss of the season falling 3-1 on the road.

"Mike has a definite advantage when he plays at home." Drake said after the match. "He plays so well to begin with. And he plays even better when he's at home. The better side won today." O'Fallon could not sulk over their first defeat for too long because they had another Old Firm side Central West End later in the week.

The following Thursday the Flames played their final home match of the season playing host to John Sarra and the Central West End Wildcats. Like Shaw earlier in the week, the Wildcats entered the match undefeated on the season. Playing in front of their home fans for the last time this season, O'Fallon played without a doubt their best defensive match of the season. However they ran into an equally strong defense in the CWE. After a scoreless regulation, a few shots off the woodwork on both ends of the pitch, and a scoreless overtime, the Flames had earned themselves a well deserved point against arguably the best team in the SLSL.

"John is coming off winning the Brick last month, so I knew this was going to be an incredibly tough challenge." Drake said following the contest. "We played our best defense of the season tonight and I could not be more thrilled with the result we ended up with." With the draw, O'Fallon remains in first place in the SLSL standings with 36 points in 15 matches played. They are followed closely by Shaw and Central West End. However they both have 4 games in hand on the Flames.

On Saturday, May 5, the Flames and fellow SLSL members Barntonia (Jim Monken) and Terre du Lac (Darren Koffman) travelled to La Porte, Indiana for the Maple City Supporter's Cup hosted by Maple City Subbuteo Club founder and former ASA National Champion Jon Schultz. The innagural ASA tournament featured players from Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

The Flames advanced with clean sheets against Mike Ewer, and Maple City newcomers Jared Saunders and Matt Findley. Having already secured a knockout round birth, O'Fallon took on the RetroStars of Terre du Lac in the last match of group play. Having never beaten the Flames in their brief history, Terre du Lac manager Darren Koffman had vowed in the past to "rip his shirt off and run around the pitch in celebration" the first time he ever beats O'Fallon. After a 3-2 win by the RetroStars, the pic below shows that Koffman is a man of his word!

After the knockout round bracket was set, the SLSL took on Maple City in the Supporter's Cup team tournament. After all three SLSL members won their respective matches, including the Flames 3-1 victory over host Jon Schultz, the SLSL were crowned Supporter's Cup team champions.

In the quarterfinals of the Supporter's Cup, O'Fallon took on fellow SLSL member Jim Monken and his Barntonia United club. After a goal in each half, the Flames has secured their spot in the semifinals and a rematch with Jon Schultz. O'Fallon took a 1-0 lead to the half, but their luck quickly ran out as the 1994 National Champion scored early in the second half to draw level, then took a 2-1 lead with about 5 minutes remaining. Schultz played a strong possession style game the rest of the way and time had run out on the Flames.

"Jon's club is one of the best we've ever played against and every time you play better competition your own game gets better." Drake said after the match. "Hopefully our club can take something from this weekend and continue to improve."

The Flames have one remaining league match in the 2006-2007 SLSL season. They will be on the road against Mitch Morice and the Fenton Wanderers in the near future. When asked for a comment on the upcoming season ending match, all the O'Fallon manager cared to say was that "Morice is pain in my ass-holes." Should be a good match!