Hartford kicked it off, rolling the ball back to their center backs. There was little communication from their attack all the way to their goalkeeper, but they still played a dangerous high-line tactic. Their CB smacked the ball up the field as it bounced off numerous heads before being in the possession of Gregor.
"Gregor!" screamed Reggie. He was making a sprint across the pitch to receive the ball toward the midfield circle.
Gregor looked up and passed the ball cleanly on the ground. Though the ground wasn't completely level, the ball made its way to Reggie perfectly. Reggie couldn't fully turn, though. He lost possession shortly after being bodied off the ball and landing in the mud.
"Yikes, Reggie's gone weak," chuckled Lorenzo. The bench also chuckled a bit. Ian, on the other hand, was fully invested in this game.
*20*
It was a game of kick and rush. Tati was getting irritated, to say the least. Working it up the middle was happening way too often. Immanuel and Richard could not get the ball due to the midfielders inconsistent decisions. On the other hand, Hartford struggled substantially to progress the ball into the opposing half. It took more energy for them to figure out a good play, then actually move the ball past the midfield.
It was a very slow game, and the speed of the ball was changed numerous times due to the field's sludge. Hartford had pushed their center-backs forward, this time moving further up the field. Waterfront pressed the ball carrier, who was a tall, hairy white man with blond hair. Reggie was first, as he tried blocking him but was outmatched by his random burst of speed.
"Support!" he screamed. He turned slowly as his foot was caught in a mud hole. The tall CB moved down the pitch with a convoy in front of him. He had great acceleration but slowed down as one by one his convoy would be picked off, leaving a menacing Gregor in front of him.
"Hey!" screamed the fullback, who had made a run past Richard and received the ball. Though he couldn't run fast, he held the ball up before heaving it into the box the best he could.
Yuri rose up from the crowded box and headed it toward the edge, where a Hartford player had been waiting. He steadied himself before running at the falling ball as he stretched his body out and pivoted his left foot to hold him in place.
"Shoot!" screamed the small number of supporters that came to watch Hartford play.
The player waiting at the edge of the box flung his body forward, then accidentally leaned back as the ball made contact with his laces and flew miles above the goal itself.
"Pfhhh," laughed Sergio.
"Whoa," said Ian. "That was interesting."
The bench was mixed, with some laughing and the others blankly staring at the player who messed up.
"Get back, get up!" screamed Tati. "Quickly! Quickly now!" Tati screamed so loudly that he squealed. He clapped his hands as he moved up and down the sideline.
Ramaggio smacked the ball up the field as it bounced off several heads and landed toward the left side of the field. Immanuel glided into the view of the defenders as he collected the ball and swayed left and right, kicking the ball and breezing through the fullback.
He stopped his run and continued it, leaving the inexperienced fullback clapping his legs together and almost tripping. His movement was fascinating to watch, and his eye movement, although not seen from the bench, was world-class. He moved up further toward the box, as Richard and James were both in it.
"Here!" screamed Klaus as he ran toward the edge of the box.
Immanuel used his left foot to pass it toward the edge. The ball rolled and bobbled up before reaching Klaus in traffic.
"Just pass it back!" screamed Kaiser. "Give it here!"
The ball was knocked back to Kaiser as a shrill of screams from the Waterfront attack flung out. Tati, on the sidelines, was not fully impressed, but the momentum stopped abruptly.
*32*
"Relax!" screamed Ramaggio, holding the ball in his hand. His gloves were soaked and uncomfortable as a downpour randomly started. Everyone was drenched, and the tents were lifted above the benches. The already drenched pitch was being beat down throughout the minutes. Ramaggio slowly moved the ball up the field with a good throw. Ramaggio looked like a true vet, even at his age. He commanded the team while screaming to his heart's content.
Progressing up the pitch, the team looked deadly. It was as if the rain gave them some sort of boost.
"Gregor!" screamed Richard. He positioned himself to blast the ball up the side when receiving the ball.
The ball went to him, and he shot it up the pitch, running past the fullback as he grabbed and pulled his shirt. He wasn't going down easily, as he cut inside and made eye contact with James. James made his way through the two CB's that were blocking him as Richard placed a through ball toward the keeper's left post.
"Come on!" screamed Richard as James, who was getting grabbed and squished, stretched out his foot and tried hitting the ball into the bottom corner. The Hartford keeper reached out and pressed his finger tips to knock the ball off the course it was originally heading.
"Corner, come on!" screamed Ramaggio from the middle of their half.
Luca had commanded the squad in the box, leaving Yuri and Kaiser alone to deal with the counterattack.
The one taking the corner was Richard, who was completely drenched with rain. It also became unbearably colder than it was before. He couldn't fully grip the ball and couldn't wipe it anywhere since everything, from the kit and players to the officials, was drenched.
"Outta the way!" screamed players as they moved and swayed throughout the box. Each person controlled a tiny pocket of space, so they could maneuver better than their counterparts.
Richard sprung his hand up twice before kicking the wet ball towards the crowd of players. Each person wrestling with the other to get a head to it. As the ball went toward the front post, it was headed away. It flung into the path of Richard, who had been slowly watching to make sure he wasn't offsides.
"Another!" screamed Immanuel, who was being blocked out by taller players. He made his way to the edge, pointing his thumb behind him. His run toward the edge made a defender travel with him, leaving an opening for James, who had moved further back.
Immanuel knew both Richard and James's locked eye's judging by his movement. Both James and Richard have gotten much better at reading each other as well as understanding themselves. The issues from the friendly and the improvements today have been evident.
"Go on!" screamed Tati from the sidelines.
Richard had flicked the ball, curling it a bit toward the goalkeeper to get him off his line a bit. The Hartford defenders watched as the ball glided over their heads, some not looking at the destination.
"Clear it!" screamed one of the Hartford players.
"Down the line, Jason!" screamed another.
The only issue for the Hartford players was that the ball had a destination. Richard was at the end of it as it reached his chest. A bit of a bad touch caused it to swipe off of him, but he hit it in an awkward position with much power for it to dig into the mud and bounce toward the keeper. The drenched ball flew at a weird angle as the Hartford keeper positioned himself to receive it up high.
"Quickly!" screamed a Hartford midfielder who had already begun his run down the pitch.
As the Hartford keeper leaped up to grab the ball, his grasp wasn't good enough as it phased through both of his heads and flew past his right ear, causing it to slowly fall past the line.
"Ooooh!" screamed James. "Hahaha!"
"Alright!" screamed Ian. "Fuck yeah!"
The bench got rowdy watching a keeper error lead to a goal. The Hartford keeper looked out of it. He kicked up clumps of mud before throwing the ball back toward the center half. Still, the Hartford bench was still motivated. But for how long?
*45+2*
Half time.