TWO LOSSES FINISHES UP THE SPRING SESSION

Norton loses two in a row to finish up their Spring session of 2007.

What looked to be an easy street to glory and the Spring league championships got a big bump in the side the last two Sundays. First a loss to Alpha Phi Alpha (2-3) and then a loss to New Era today (3-4). Both games was plagued with missing players. Last week Frank Jalics, Scott Cornell and Dominic Musitano was not to be found on the field for various reasons and today it was proven how much of a impact Kevin Kraft has to the Norton midfield.  Kevin Kraft was expecting a bay this weekend and that is the reason why he was away. -We lost the game but we gained a baby, was heard amongst the Norton players today.  Today Norton was out of luck putting shots on the posts and at the same time was robbed of a penalty kick. A Norton player was overheard after the game saying that it is sad to see referees being afraid to award penalty kicks just because it is a close game. And this player was correct in his outburst. Fathi Hammami was viciously taken down from behind inside the box at 3-3 and should have been awarded a kick from the spot. The referee was seen putting his mouth on his whistle as it happened, but declined to blow it. Later on Vidar Nilsen was mauled inside the box without anything happening. That is simply awful refereeing and not worthy any soccer field at any level.  Norton was most likely robbed of the championship because of that terrible disregard of the rules of the game. Five minutes before full time New Era scores the winning goal.

It is still unclear how the final standings really are, as some teams in the league simply are incapable of reporting their scores. Teams like Alpha Phi Alpha has yet to report a single score all season, others are either lazy or they don't know where to call or whom to report to. We have gathered a couple of helpful hands to get those last scores. When they are gathered we will find out whether Norton finished first, second, third or fourth this session. Alpha Phi Alpha, New Era, Jackson and Norton are still in the run for the championship.

NORTON BRUSH WEST SIDE ASIDE

Norton Over 30 A brush West Side aside with a 4-2 win in a close and tight game this past Sunday.

The surprising fight that West Side put up came as a revelation to the Norton lads. Finally they had to work hard for a win. It seems that they rarely are handed some kind of a fight for the points, at least the last couple of seasons, but West Side took it to them and held their own way into the second half. But that is where the Norton lads usually explode and take care of business. Both games that they have been challenged this year (This game and the game against Jackson earlier in the season), they have secured points in the latter part of the second half. Against West Side this Sunday the score was tied at 1-1 when the clock said 20 minutes left. The first goal, a utter beauty, scored by Vidar Nilsen midways into the first half. West Side were to tie up the game with the very last kick of the ball in the first half.  That is how it stood until Dominic who arrived late in the second half entered the game and ran around the West Side players as if they were practice cones. Dominic started sprinting as soon as he came out and didn't stop until the game was over. And during that time, he got on the score sheet with a beauty of a break down after a pass from Chris "Capo de Tutti Capi" Mondello. Chris also got on the score sheet with two goals that sealed the points for the lads. 

Vidar Nilsen however had a bit of a tough day and he was heard at the post game, mandatory beer gobble, saying he regretted his decision making a couple of times. He flopped some clear cut chances with some bad shots when he rather should have passed the ball to Kevin Kraft who was all alone inside the box. -It is easy to think about this after the game. As a striker you set your mind at goal when  you get perfect passes, but some times passing the ball would later prove to be the better option, he said.  -I will make it up to Kevin against Alpha Phi Alpha Next Sunday. It must be frustrating getting into positions like that and never receive the ball and see the leather fly into the woods behind the goal instead, he continued.

This is the team's sixteenth game without a loss, will they make it 17 next week? That remains to be seen. Alpha Phi Alpha have impressed in several games this season after losing 18-0 against Jackson in the first game (They had only 8 players on the field that game). They too beat West Side 4-2, so this will definitely not be a game our boys can expect to come out of with a easy win. Now that the opposing teams know about the Flying Hellfishes' superiority they are likely to field their very best team against them.

WILL NILSEN KEEP HIS PROMISE?

Vidar Nilsen promised a scoring frenzy before the season start, but will he be able to keep that promise?

Vidar Nilsen went out blatantly, and filled with confidence, and promised the Norton fans a year loaded with goals. Averaging 21 goals over the two sessions of play the last two years, meaning 20 games each, he looks to be well on his way to fulfill that promise. He has already bagged 17 goals in the first seven games this season. Keeping this up, he could hit his average when only half the games of the year have been played.

COULD REACH 100 THIS SPRING.

Nilsen started his Norton career in August 2002. A stint with Springfield United in division one for half a season (where he by the way bagged 11 goals in ten games), left him out of the Norton scoring loop for a few months. With some research we found out that he, up until the end of this weeks game, has scored 96 goals for the club since he came to the club, leaving him only 4 more goals to reach his 100 goal anniversary. Will someone bet he won't make that before the Spring 2007 session is over?

THE CASCADE RAMPAGE

The Norton Over 30 A lads gave Manchester Menace a lesson winning 8-1 this Sunday and the run just keeps going on.

On a really muggy day Manchester Menace showed up to the game with only 10 players, but that necessarily does not have to mean that a team will win the game easily. Norton started off slowly trying to feed the net by making passes all the way through the field. But pretty soccer does not mean a lot of goals. Although Norton should have been up by seven goals in the first half, the half seemed to be somewhat of a jinx, for the Norton boys. It looked good though after about five minutes, when Vidar Nilsen gets the ball from Fathi Hammami and he beautifully bends it around the Menace goalie into the top left corner from approximately 25 yards. Manchester would answer about ten minutes later making it 1-1. At the 30 minute mark pat Sweeney, would put Norton back on top with a ripper nicely placed in the bottom right corner from the 18 yard line. Norton pressured Menace throughout and should have been up by at least seven goals before the half time whistle. But that was not to be. The wildlife behind the Manchester goal at Cascade valley were living dangerously those 45 minutes.  

In the second half Manchester Menace would adopt the referee as their 11'th player on the field. They probably thought that would even things out. The Manchester players were calling for handballs in situations where the ball hit Norton players on the knee and so forth. And the funny thing was... the referee listened and called whatever they said, although the calls would be wrong 90% of the times the whistle was blown. However, bad sportsmanship does not always pay off even though the Manchester players thought so. As calls were getting more and more ridiculous, the Norton players got more and more lethal. Before you knew it, Norton were up 4-1 after goals by Pat Sweeney, another low and hard shot in the right lower corner, and by Vidar Nilsen who beat the goalie and a Manchester defender heading the ball into the empty net from a "big dipper" by Kevin Kraft.

After that it was one way street and the Manchester players were given a lesson they will not soon forget. The Norton defense stayed steady and didn't give the Menace a single shot at goal for the rest of the game. Instead the Norton midfield and strikers would bring pain and utter suffering to the Menace defense.  Enraged by Manchester's blatant referee play, they didn't slow down, rather the opposite. During the last 20 minutes Norton would add another four goals to the board. Chris Mondello Secured his fifth of the season and Kevin Kraft headed in a beautiful indirect free kick by Fathi Hammami. Vidar Nilsen added two more from breakdowns through the Manchester defense. Albeit bad defending, but when Nilsen is alone with the goalie in front of goal, they might as well call Papa John's and order Pizza. This would be 11 goals for Nilsen in the last three games, 17 so far this season (7 games).

The game ends with a 8-1 win for the Norton lads and they are now on a 15 game unbeaten streak.

OVER 30 A TOPS

The Norton Over 30 A team tops their division with 16 points out of 18 possible.

Yes, with 41 goals scored in the first six games the team is topping the standings pretty confidently. At the same time Norton Over 30 B sits second only topped by Limeys.

Find tables and results at the teams' schedules.

MAGIC 12 HANDED 9

Magic 12 visited Norton this Sunday and were sent home losing 9-0.

The streak goes on and Norton Over 30 A is now unbeaten in fourteen which is a new club record. Whilst the other Norton teams are struggling to get positive results on the board, The Over 30 A lads are bringing in points enough for everyone.

Jozsi Jalics have just scored Norton's fifth of the day. here congratulated by team buddy Fathi Hammami. A utterly disgruntled magic 12 defender is seen in the background.

This Sunday (May 20) had Magic 12 come for a visit and it would not take long before Pat Sweeney sent the team in the lead with a great shot in the lower right hand corner. Then Vidar Nilsen hit twice, one a left footed full volley into the upper left corner after a fantastic pass by Kevin Kraft. His second came from a break down, which some Magic 12 players claimed was offside. They obviously didn't see their left fullback that was yards behind the rest of their line as they tried to put Nilsen offside. Instead they failed and Nilsen did his thing and sent the ball behind the opposing goalie. Just before the half time whistle Sweeney were at it again running with the ball down the sideline, into the box and then fired it in from a close to impossible angle. Most of the spectators didn't realize it was a goal until Magic 12 set up for another kick off. Norton walked off for half time with a 4-0 lead.

Kevin "Keegan" Kraft once again ruled the midfield for Norton.

With three subs for this game, well managed by Sub Chief Arif Utus, Norton certainly could experiment in the second half. The second half would prove to become a very fun but easy half for the lads. After Jozsi Jalics adds a goal for a total of five, they started relaxing and mixing up the team, giving the defense a chance to play forward or further up the field. Whilst the lads were taking it easy and relaxing, a certain Mr. Scott Cornell entered the front line in order to make some Norton Soccer history. Cornell picks up a pass at about midfield and he takes off like a bullet towards the Magic 12 goal. he sprints off with the ball and with the goal about 23 yards away he fires a scorcher so hard the Magic 12 goalie suffered burns from the passing ball. And the ball? Well that hits the back of the net in the very upper left corner and nearly broke the goal in half. The team was excited and Scott Cornell bagged his very first league goal for Norton. WHAT A WAY TO LOSE HIS GOAL VIRGINITY! It will definitely be a candidate for the goal of the year. -This was just as fun for us who were watching as it was for Scott. A fantastic goal, said Ernie "Doctah Freeman". Vidar Nilsen said after the game that he's been waiting for magical event ever since Cornell joined the team one year ago. -Last year Scott brought the ball up field and fired some shots that either hit the post or just brushed the goalposts. He is a sweeper for Pete's sake, Nilsen said.       -Today we were cruising the entire game and it was the perfect day to give him some time off from his sweeping duties. And look what happens. He scores a goal most professionals would brag about for years. I bet Scott will sleep very well tonight, Nilsen added.

Scott Cornell is all smiles after scoring his first ever goal for Norton.

That made it six to nothing, but Norton was not done quite yet. Mike Goebl wanted in on the party and scored two, before Nilsen added his third of the game. The win could have been far greater, but instead they decided to take it easy in the second half.

Yet again Norton proves to be the team to beat in the division. A tight defense where Steve Gilman, Scott Cornell, Jeff Watson, Ernie Freeman and Frank Jalics are all doing a great job. A centre midfield covered by midfield boss Kevin "Keegan" Kraft, Jozsi, and Don Harbert who are yet again in total command. Three wingers in Fathi Hammami, Chris Mondello and Dominic Musitano, who are basically running all over the opposing players and forwards in Vidar Nilsen and Mike Goebl who seemingly just cannot stop scoring. Today's hatrick by Nilsen was his second in six games.

MAGIC 12 ISSUES NILSEN WARNINGS ON CELL PHONE

A certain Springfield Magic 12 has sent Vidar Nilsen warnings that could just as easy be mistaken for threats through the cell phone network.

Yes, just a few days before Norton take on Magic 12 a certain Magic 12 player sent Nilsen a text message saying he needed to get a tan on his bald head to avoid disrupting the Magic 12 players' game by blinding them in their process of attacking... or else. -This was just a part of the message. The message contained foul language and words too graphic to bring out to the public, says Nilsen in a extraordinary press conference this morning. -The message was disturbing, but I will not let it intimidate me. I need to keep my form up and concentrate on the game, he continued.

The text message is clearly an attempt to get Nilsen out of his usual mindset for the game to stop his goal scoring frenzy. To finish his statement of Nilsen added that the message came from a Magic 12 player with very limited skills and that he would need to try such lame techniques to get into his mind. -I don't mind some players that do such things, but it would be nice if opposing players once in a while could act like they are over 30 years old, he said with a slight smirk on his face.

IN AUGUST, NORTON WILL GET THE BLUES!

THE SUNDAY MORNING SMACKDOWN

Norton bags 10 goals as Woodridge Rangers are given a harsh smackdown on Sunday Morning.

Woodridge, the only team that beat Norton last fall came to Norton Sunday morning believing they could do it again this time around. Norton however, without midfielders Dominic Musitano and Kevin "Keegan" Kraft (and without any subs for the day) were to prove that they would not be beaten like that again. At least not by the same team.

Norton started the game quietly to feel their opposing side out. The scoring would start though and who else but Vidar Nilsen would start the pouncing? First from a header after a beautiful pass by Jozsi Jalics, and then by running from the deep, through the Woodridge back line picking up another astonishing pass. This time from Chris Mondello.

After that Norton would pace themselves again and they went to the half time break with a two to nothing lead, having the game under firm control.

Then it was soccer clinic time and Woodridge would be the students. In the second half Norton showed exactly why they are the team to beat this season. The goals poured in like pearls on a string. First one teasing chip over the Woodridge goalie by Mike Goebl, then two in a row by Jozsi Jalics, including a 25 yard scorcher that found the top corner at about 150mph. Absolutely the goal of the day. Then came goals by Nilsen, Fathi Hammami, Chris Mondello, Jalics for his third and Nilsen again for his fourth. Woodridge did get on the score sheet during the second half though. Once after a rare corner and later from a utterly bad penalty call by the morning's referee, who obviously was not aware that a hand against the length of the body is not a hand reaching for the ball.

An absolute smackdown as Chris Mondello called the performance after the game.

Next week the lads take on Springfield Magic 12 at home in Norton. The team is now on a 13 game unbeaten streak. We will have to see if it will stop there or if they will keep up the relentless form.

THE BLUE IS COMING...SOON!

FOGS HAMMERED

The Norton Over 30 A dismantle F.O.G.S at Waterworks Park 5-0 as the run goes on and as Manchester United secures Premiership gold in England.

The news of Labatt becoming the teams next shirt sponsor inspired the 30 A team to play like never before this past Sunday. In the Norton halls Gatorade has now been officially been thrown out of the kit and replaced with real thirst replenishing liquids.

To offer their appreciation, Norton Over 30 went to Waterworks Park and punished their opponents, whom they have normally had trouble overcoming in earlier seasons, with a staggering score line of 5-0. 

-A great team effort, says Vidar Nilsen who himself bagged two goals and two assists during the game. -Today it seemed like everyone wanted to show what they are made of, he continued.

First half started of evenly between the two teams. Halfway in Jozsi Jalics gets the ball wide on the right hand side and spins around three FOGS players, three times (that would be a total of 9 FOGS players), before he hammers the across the box, and at the end of it6 Nilsen stretches his foot after it and it all ends with a thorough massage of the FOGS net. The half ended with a 1-0 lead for Norton although the lead could have been greater.

Second half got off to a good start for the Norton lads and it would only take a few minutes before Mike Goebl finds Nilsen on one of his trademark runs. This time Goebl sends of a tremendous inch perfect  pass through the FOGS defensive line. What the FOGS players didn't know is that Nilsen is back in his best shape and the blur they saw as Nilsen sprinted away from them was just that... a blur. It probably took them some time to see that the ball went along with him. After making the FOGS goalie listen to Dizzie Tunes (A Norwegian pop band) for a while, he shot the ball past the Norton goalie. A perfect break away. After this it was a very one sided game. The next goal would come from Jalics, after a short corner provided by Mike Goebl. As he (Jalics) once again sends a few FOGS players out on a field trip to purchase hot dogs and lomper (Just to illustrate... lomper is not available in Ohio), he fires the ball with might threading the needle at the FOGS goalie's near bottom corner. 3-0

The Norton defense, powered by Steve Gilman, Jeff Watson, Frank Jalics, Ernie Freeman and last year's MVP Scott Cornell, was in total control and didn't give FOGS anything to cheer about. Some sporadic attempts here and there were all they could muster against this powerhouse of a defense. The Norton midfield handsomely captained by Hyperstar Kevin Kraft, shut the FOGS down in a manner that would cause envy by most Over 30 teams in the state of Ohio and possibly across the land of the free.

But the fun was not yet over. Nilsen turns provider for Chris Mondello with a stunning long pass over the FOGS defense that lands on Mondello's shoe laces. A beautiful run by the big guy Mondello who bags his third of the season in an impressive manner. Fantastic play, fantastic goal. The fifth and last goal would come after some FOGS players turned nasty out of disbelief and humiliation. When Nilsen brings down the ball towards one of them a series of bumping and shoving and kicking against the legs of Nilsen who was determined to stand his ground. He eventually passed the FOGS player only to be clipped down viciously by a second FOGS player who was just as disgruntled as the first. Nilsen goes hard to the ground and in the heat of the moment, he lets out a comment that went something like "JESUS...
F%#&@#!% CHRIST". The referee gives the call for a free kick, but the referee was obviously not just a referee but also a highly religious man and didn't like that sort of comment on the field.  He hands Nilsen a yellow card and some would say he was lucky not to get the red.
But Norton got a free kick as well. Up goes Fathi Hammami who tricks everybody and simply puts the ball in by the far post. As of late Monday night, no/one has an explanation as to how that actually found its way into the net. Only Hammami knows and we are all fairly certain he isn't giving up any of his trade secrets. At least not yet. We are all eagerly waiting to see what he's got up his sleeves next.

All in all an outstanding performance by the Norton players this Sunday. Goalie Greg kept his first clean sheet for the season and that could only mean that positive things are coming as they take on Woodridge next week home at Norton.

In a comment after the game Nilsen apologizes to all for his outburst. -I don't know what happened. It was a heat of the moment type thing. But no matter what, one should not take Jesus' name in vain like that. Especially not on a Sunday. I am not a religious person myself, but I have to respect that such vocal outburst could offend those who are on this team. So to keep the harmony intact, I will just have to limit myself to names like Fred, Oscar or maybe even Cletus in the future.

As mentioned, Norton takes on Woodridge this coming Sunday. To fill the stands on this years first home game, the Norton administration gives out free tickets to the first five thousand who arrives early at the stadium. And hot dogs will be only $3.50 at the Summit Mall later the same day.

WHERE'S DA BLUES?

THE ARROWHEAD MASSACRE

Norton Over 30 A team sends a disgruntled Copley team home with nine goals to haunt them for the rest of the year.

After a somewhat dismal effort at Jackson last week, Norton had vengeance in mind and took it out on poor innocents called Copley Kickers.

Little did Copley know when they entered the field on Sunday morning. The Norton team came there with vengeance in mind and when they are in that mindset even teams like Chelsea and Real Madrid would tremble with fear and soil their pants. But Copley didn't know what they were in for until the massacre took off at the beginning of the second half.

The first half was quiet, but Norton took the lead through two goals by stopper Pat Sweeney who all of the sudden snuck up from below the grass and showed us all that size does not really matter. Two times he did that within the first 20 minutes of the game.  Copley were given a goal a little later only to be responded to by Kevin Kraft who shot a perfect free kick from 25 yards over and around the Copley wall and into the back of the net. It stood 3-1 at half time.

Second half kicks off and Norton took the roles as adult schooling teachers, teaching the Copley Kickers how it is done. The goals poured in and the game is won 9-3. 
A comfortable win for Norton this weekend.

Jozsi Jalics bags another two goals this morning. Kevin Kraft gets two added to his name, Pat Sweeney nicks two and the rest was shared between Mike Goebl, Chris Mondello and Vidar Nilsen.

Next week FOGS will be handed the same treatment.

NORTON TIES JACKSON

Norton's first dropped points came already in the second round as they tie Jackson 4-4.

And this was the game they should have won, but the ball just didn't want to find the net at times in the game. Norton had a couple of dozens of chances to win the game, but bad luck and a very good Jackson goalie kept Norton at bay on this Sunday morning.

Jozsi Jalics became man of the match after scoring two and assisting Vidar Nilsen to his one of the game. Mike Goebl scored Norton's first in the game to give them the lead early in the first half. But Jackson held up well and they had a lead of 4-2 when 15 minutes was left of the game. That was when Jozsi took matters into his own hands and salvaged one point for Norton with two late goals to tie the game.

Next week they take on Copley at Arrowhead.

SEASON IS ON!

Norton Over 30A kicks off the season against the Serbs (New Era) with a land... erm... mud slide win(!)...literally!

The Over 30 A team kicked off the Spring season against New Era today, and did so by winning the game in usual fashion on a terribly wet field. With four new players on the pitch, Jozsi Jalics, Frank Jalics, Greg Shilling and Steve Gilman, the question was if they would mix well with their new teammates or if they would need time to mold. And with Kevin Kraft and Ernie "Doctah" Freeman out due to business engagements, they certainly needed to prove themselves against one of the stronger teams in the league. This game however, proved that they would not need too much molding.

First half was not very old when Vidar Nilsen takes a short corner kick into Chris Mondell's feet. Mondello passes it back to Nilsen and Nilsen took his chance and bent it from a close to impossible angle over the New Era goalie and into the net from close to the corner spot. 5 minutes and 1-0. The Serbs would hit back ten minutes later and level the score on a fast breakaway. Mike Goebl decided it was about time he showed his worth to the team and picked up a ball, fought it through a couple of New Era defenders and 450 gallons of muddy water, past the goalie's left foot and neatly turned it into the net. 2-1 Norton. The rest of the first half was evenly played although Norton had some great chances to increase the lead. But today, the mud puddles in front of the goal would rob them from doing so.

Second half started good for Norton. With plenty of chances and  even more mud puddles. Two times during the half Mike Goebl and Fathi Hammami had their shots past the New Era goalie, only to see it stop in the deep end of the "pool". However, Norton were to score yet another two goals in the half whilst New Era would score one more. Vidar Nilsen signed on for his second and Chris Mondello opened his account for the year. Both coming from breakaways with Mike Goebl surgically assisting.

The game ended at the score 4-2 for Norton and the season started as they all hoped, with a great team effort throughout. The new players did very well in their Norton debut and showed that there was more to come from them in the future. Jozsi Jalics with tremendous ball control in centre mid alongside Fathi Hammami. Frank Jalics with determined control down at left full back. Steve Gilman held his own and did great in central defense along with last years MVP Scott Cornell. And finally Greg Shilling who guarded the goal with some fancy saves during the 90 minutes of play.

And as another positive, it seems like the guys continued in the fashion they left off last year... in good shape. Next game they head for Jackson, with Ernie Freeman and Kevin Kraft in the lineup. Something that will be an experience in itself. All in all, Norton Over 30A have not lost a single point in the last nine games, something that smells like a club record. In those nine games they have scored 48 goals and conceded a no more than 9 goals. That is a whooping 5,3 goals scored per. game and only 1 goal conceded per. game.

Rumors has it that the Over 30 B team tied their game today 2-2. I am waiting for more info on that.