O'Fallon Flames Archives

10.2.05 : Flames Top Wanderers in OT

Sunday saw the O’Fallon Flames host Mitch Morice and his Fenton Wanderers in their 2005-2006 home opener at The Crematorium. After a midfield dominated opening minutes, the Flames grabbed the lead in the 7th minute breaking down the right wing and firing a bomb just inside the far post. The Flames found themselves with a 1-0 lead. “We were playing really well at the beginning of the match, knocking the ball around well and playing smart defense.” said Flames manager Jeff Drake. “I was pleased that we were able to reward ourselves with that goal.” However the lead would be short-lived. Four minutes later Morice lead the Wanderers downfield and tied the match at 1 in the 11th minute with a rope from the left wing. At the end of the first half the sides were level 1-1.

In the second half the pace picked up dramatically with both sides having strong scoring chances. But with overtime looming the match’s best chances came in the last few minutes of regulation when Fenton rung the ball off the far post from the left wing with 5 minutes left, then moments later hit the crossbar with just over 1 minute remaining on shot from the right side. “Fenton had tremendous momentum late in regulation there.” said Drake. “We were fortunate to survive there at the end still tied.”

New SLSL rules dictated the overtime began where regulation play ends. The Wanderers still had possession deep in the Flames end and Fenton was dangerous. But the Flames had played tight defense all afternoon and in the early moments of overtime it held strong again. The Flames took over possession deep in their own end and moved the ball quickly up the right side of the pitch. Three minutes in to overtime the ball ended up just outside the shooting line. After a touch to put the ball just inside the line, the Flames right winger quickly fired a low shot beating the Wanderers’ keeper and the Flames had secured their first victory of the season in thrilling fashion. “I think our quick strike there at the end caught Fenton by surprise.” Drake said after the match. “We played well on both sides of the ball today and obviously got the result we were looking for.” A visibly upset Wanderers’ manager Mitch Morice was unavailable for comment after the match.