O'Fallon Flames Archives

6.26.06 : Flames Lose Heart-Breaker In "FISTF Satellite of Texas" Final

This weekend the O'Fallon Flames and 3 fellow SLSL members took their show on the road and travelled to Dallas for two weekend tournaments hosted by Scott Givens and the Bedford Premier League.

First up was the FISTF Satellite of Texas tournament. The Flames played strong defense and scored all they needed in group play defeating newcomers Scott Brister from Oklahoma 3-0, and Henry Garcia from Houston 5-0. Next up were the quarter-finals where they faced Stephen Brister from Oklahoma. Although another newcomer to the game, the young Brister played strong defense holding the Flames to two first half tallies and then scored a second half strike of his own. When it was all said and done the Flames held on for a 2-1 victory moving on to the semi-finals and a date with fellow SLSL'er Matt Brown and the Swansea Swans. In and attempt to dictate the pace of the match, O'Fallon came out strong and scored in the first minute of the match. Continuing their strong defensive play, the Flames shut down the counter-attack of the Swans and scored late in the match for a 2-0 win. The Flames had moved on their first tournament final where they faced the grizzled Tex-Brit, Keith Constable and his St. George Athletic side. Knowing they were in for an intense match, O'Fallon played their best match of the day on both sides of the ball. After 30 minutes of regulation, no goals were scored and the match moved to extra time. With only 2:30 remaining Constable broke through the left side of the O'Fallon defense and beat the Flames keeper with a well placed shot to the near post. The standing room only crowd of 15 had thought they had just witnessed the game winner, but the Flames dug deep and 30 seconds later sent a well placed pass behind Constable's defensive line and fired a rocket to the upper far post and tied the match at one! It now looked as though the match was definitely headed for penalties. But then with just under a minute left in the extra time, Constable found a hole in the Flames defense and fired a blast past the O'Fallon keeper and sealed the victory 2-1.

"It was probably the most emotional matches our franchise has ever played." Flames manager Jeff Drake said after the tournament. "Of course I'm dissapointed that we lost, but this was our clubs first final appearance, and I'm very proud of our (plastic) guys today. We played well throughout the entire tournament and are starting to make a name for our franchise."

Saturday night the SLSL contingent attended the FC Dallas match against the Colorado Rapids. The ASA banner was displayed proudly and a good time was had by all.

The Flames were right back at it Sunday in the Lone Star Open tournament. Drawn into the annointed "group of death", O'Fallon started the day off with a 3-0 victory against the ever-improving Steven Brister. The Flames followed that up with a 2-0 win against Houston's Arturo Padilla. That set up a group deciding match with the tournament host Scottenham and manager Scott Givens. Already assured a spot in the quarter-finals, the Flames played to a 0-0 draw. However, O'Fallon placed second in the group due to goal differential. And as a result drew another fellow SLSL'er Tim Boone and his Florissant United squad. After a scoreless first half, Florissant quickly opened the second half with a goal and the Flames had to play catch up. Down 1-0 late in the match the Flames were pressing forward and paid the price allowing a goal with under 2 minutes to play. But back came the Flames and they quickly responded with a goal to make it 2-1. But time was not their ally and time ran out on their chance to reach another final and they were out.

"We played well again today, but unfortunately just got beat by a better club today." Drake said. "It was an overall great weekend for our organization. We played very well, met some great new players to our game and had a great time here in Texas. I want to give our host Scott Givens a huge thanks, and we'll see him down the road."

When asked how many ASA and FISTF points the O'Fallon Flames received over the weekend, manger Jeff Drake had no comment. :)

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