Pelicans FC White

This Sunday will see 2 of the clubs squads play their 2nd round Perrin Cup matches. Pelicans FC Blue takes on the winner of a late first round match being played tonight between Division 1 Sting Gold or Division 2 Sting Black. In the other match Pelicans FC White will be matching up again against Tanzanite FC of the third division. Both matches are at 11am on Sunday so come on out to either the Weber School off Roswell in Sandy Springs to support PFC Blue or come down to Georgia Soccer Park to support PFC White.

Good luck to both teams and we hope to see everyone out at Meehan’s Vinings after the games!

The Perrin cup is an intra-league knockout style tournament and the Cup is played throughout the length of the season and is a single-elimination format.

Courtesy of Atlanta Footballnet: http://www.atlanta-footballnet.com/leagues/main/december2010/pelicans_dos.html

Conditions on this day would be challenging for anyone out in the weather, and this was no different for competitors, Bafana Dos and Pelicans FC White at Riverwood HS Field. These teams set themselves to square off in a vital 3rd division match in freezing and snowy conditions to battle for places near the top of the 3rd division table. Bafana Dos began the day with the same 15 points as Georgia Tech Club but behind them on goal difference. Pelicans FC White lay 2 points behind them in 6th place on 13 points.

If the weather was a factor for the players, it was not evident as the whistle blew to start action. A frantic pace set the tone of the early moments of the contest even if the action was a bit scrappy. Each team tried to settle with an advantage in possession and traded blows in the middle of the park. As both teams attempted to settle into a composed passing game, neither could gain an advantage in possession or pressure the keepers. But an advantage would come in minute 22.

As both squads traded possession back and forth, a loose ball was pounced on by Pelican, Dalibor Amaonvic. There did not appear to be much danger as he moved forward, but as other Pelican players made runs diagonally from Amaonvic’s position, it served to split the Dos defense as they looked to cover outlet routes. This action inadvertently opened up the center of the field which Amaonvic exploited by running forward with the ball with pace and neatly dispatched the ball past the Dos keeper into the back of the net. Pelicans were ahead 1 – 0.

A bit of confusion for observers in the 32nd minute when a penalty was awarded to Pelicans after a foul was called in the box. There were brief protest from the Dos players to the call, but the penalty stood. Pelican, Robert Hajinal, had his first successful attempt called back due to the infringement of a teammate in the penalty area as he took the spot kick. However, he successfully scored on his second attempt and put Pelican’s ahead 2 – 0. The match was now slowly going Pelicans way on both the scoreboard and in possession on the field, but Bafana Dos would grab one back before the break.

Bafana Dos had problems holding possession long enough to pressure Steve Cantonis in the Pelican goal mouth. However, on 40 minutes, a move on the left wing saw the #7 Dos player get loose on the left side of the penalty area where his shot on goal got past the out-stretched hands of Cantonis in goal and Dos now had a life-line though still trailing 2 – 1 as the clubs went into the break.

The drama continued in the 2nd half as an even match was made even more dramatic with an equalizer from Bafana Dos. The match was taking on a character all it’s own now with both clubs level and with precious points to be had, each squad looked for the advantage. Pelicans would be the club to find it as the match neared the 90th minute. Pelicans moved forward toward the Dos goal in the 85th minute and with passing routes occupied, Pelican player, Lawrence Monroe found a way to chip a beautifully crafted shot over the Dos keeper and into the back of the net for a crucial goal that ultimately was the game winner.

Both clubs showed courage and determination to show up and play in these conditions but it would be Pelicans FC White to take all 3 points today as they bubble up the 3rd Division table in their challenge for honors this season. Now the stage is set going forward as we get close to another holiday break.

Though Bafana Dos were eliminated in the first round of the Perrin Cup, they are still hot prospects in the 3rd division race for promotion. Pelicans FC White did advance to the 2nd round of the Perrin Cup where they will face Tanzanite FC. Pelicans are just as hot as Bafana Dos for promotion honors and will be looking to continue their fine form going into the 2nd half of the season. It would be well worth any fan to get out to support these fine 2 teams as the season wears on. They will provide a good sporting value for the family in the Atlanta area.

Next Up: Perrin Cup 2nd round 12/19 at 11am vs Tanzanite FC

Making his Pelicans debut, Dalibor "Daca" Amanovic made his presence known quickly and was the first PFC player to earn the honors in his debut game. In his opening game on 10/17 he drew several defenders his way earning several free kicks, including the equalizer that he bent up and over the wall. Pelicans captain Lawrence Monroe said it best [on the set piece], “sick free kick”!

In the 10/24 match against Ga Tech Club Bob Poynter earned his first Man of the Match honors on the season. He provided a spark in the center with his “inspired play and constant work”.

Congrats to both on the honors.

On a day where Newton’s Law of Cooling couldn’t be calculated due to the extreme October heat, Pelicans FC White looked to teach the young lads of Georgia Tech how to play football, the kind played with a round ball, not throwball.

PFC White started out strong earning most of the early possession, and after pie multiplied by the square root of 4 plus 10 minutes PFC White cracked the formula, capitalizing on a cross and quick tap in off the keeper to go up 1-0. A quick strike minutes later made it Pelicans 2 and Tech 0.

Playing on the carpet covered concrete slab known as the Tech SAC field must have gotten in to PFC’s keeper head more than he’d thought. Cantonis was quick to take an off-sides free kick midway through the first half, but with the deft and accurate touch he posses he played the ball perfectly to a Tech player standing 300 minus the multiplicative inverse of 23.8 yards in front of him giving Tech an easy first goal and they quickly scored a second soft goal from an off-sides position. The run of play went back and forth ending 2-2 at the half.

The second half saw the Pelicans go down quickly off a redirected shot, but they would continue to push. Chasing 18 to 20 year old college kids who don’t drink didn’t help the cause. PFC White players started to show signs of fatigue, but they would not give up after surrendering a 4th goal. The toe poke by the Tech forward was directed on a right angle beam of Tmax that beat the PFC keeper for the 4th time on the day leaving him to ponder why he didn’t pay more attention to the Stress Concentration Factor and less on MHL (That’s (M)iller (H)igh (L)ife for those Tech students not as familiar with that formula as PFC players are).

PFC White drew back a third goal and pushed hard for the equalizer but saw several good chances go wide and over ending in a 4-3 loss and their first set back of the season.

After the game the Tech students sat around and shared convection heat-transfer coefficient formulas as the rejoiced in a victory that had been handed to them.

Up next is the Perrin Cup first round, Sunday 10/31 against EP Rovers at 5pm at Arizona Avenue. It’s time for the PFC White squad to step up and play to their potential!

- Pelicans FC Match Report Details -

STARTING SIDE: J.McAbee, J.Holder, A.Eskew, M.Evans, D.Johnson, K.Littrell, B.Poynter, C.Garland, R.Henry, D.Amanovic, S.Cantonis

SUBSTITUTE: M.Clark, O.Omene

MATCH: Screaming Pelicans FC vs. Ga Tech Club
DATE: October 24, 2010
TIME: 11am ET
COMPETITION: League Match

VENUE: Concrete covered with carpet (Tech SAC field)
ATTENDANCE: Mr. Clark, L.Hawkins, E.Boonacker and the rest of the PFC Family!
WEATHER: Sunny

Bryan Leblang earned man of the match honors in PFC White’s first match notching 2 goals while playing with a broken thumb and jacked up elbow late in the match.

Marcus McCain earned man of the match honors in the second match of the season scoring the lone and what would be the winning goal of a header. His relentless work rate kept Atlanta United on it’s heels all game.

It’s great to see 2 new players to the team earning these honors, well done!