A rather abbreviated report of last Saturday’s games, as the Red Sox and Patriots occupied center stage around these parts much to Roscoe’s chagrin.

Harvard- Lafayette

The Crimson had a big fourth quarter and came away with a 27-17 victory in their final non-league game of the year. The big play of the game was Steve Williams’ 91-yard return of an interception in the fourth quarter that salted away the game for Harvard. Gordon and Ho combined for 100 yards rushing and Pizzotti was 19-27-174-1TD. But they key was Lafayette’s DiPaolo throwing four interceptions. All in all, it was a nice afternoon for the Crimson.


Wrexham at Macclesfield:

It seems these days as if the Dragons are inventing new ways to lose. On the road at Moss Rose Ground, they held a 2-1 lead going into injury-time and came out four minutes later on the short end. Poor old Roscoe, he seemed in shock as he tuned into the live updates. “Mind numbing” was all he said as he walked away from the desktop for his afternoon tea.

After he awoke from his nap he was able to coherently describe the details of Wrexham’s dramatic defeat. Things started wonderfully for the Dragons, as Michael Proctor was the victim of a hard tackle in the sixth, and the referee awarded Wrexham a penalty kick. Proctor made good and Dragons were ahead. They continued dominating the Silkmen in the following minutes of action. In the 22nd, Mark Jones found an opening on the right wing and streaked with the ball. He found Chris Llewellyn unattended, slipped the ball across and Llewellyn put the ball top corner. So, things were looking great. Macclesfield’s Gritton pulled the Silkmen to within a goal with a header. In the 39th, Robbie Garrett was booked for “unsporting behaviour”, an otherwise unimportant matter that would have profound consequences later on.

In the second half, Macclesfield starting taking control of the match. In the 80th, play had moved to the Macclesfield end of the pitch. Garrett was knocked into goalkeep Tommy Lee. There was a bit of a scuffle between the players. Lee grabbed Garrett in a headlock and the referee witnessed the two players tangled. Both were booked, but since it was Garrett’s second of the match, he was sent off and Wrexham was a man down for the remainder of the match. Garrett’s red card was the team’s undoing. The game went into stoppage time and shortly thereafter, David Morley’s header was the equalizer. As the match was in its waning moments, Danny Thomas’ cross was mishandled by Williams and the ball ended up in the net.

Since the team currently sits a mere point above the relegation zone at 3-7-0-9pt., the team’s chairman, Neville Dickens, advised the local media that Carey’s goose is in the frying pan despite having another full term after this as head coach. Dragons are contemplating bringing in more players on loan. It does get any easier on Saturday as seventh-place Barnet (5-2-4-19 pt.) comes to the Racecourse Ground. Hopefully, the legendary support from the patrons continues in force.

Piacenza – Bologna

On Sunday afternoon, Biancorossi were defeated 1-nil at Bologna last Saturday on Mingazzini’s goal in the 68th. The squad remained without Kharja, Nainggolan, Stamilla and Wolf. Nef and Miglionico returned, but after the defeat the group is demoralized for sure.

With 9 points, their sitting near the bottom of the pack and travel to league-leading Pisa (21 pt.) on Saturday. It ought to be quite a challenge for the lads. Buona fortuna!

New England – Columbus:

Revs lost 3-2 at home to the Crew, who are desperately fighting for the last playoff spot in MLS East. Taylor Twellman put Revs ahead in the 26th, but after that the team seemed to lose momentum. Eddie Gaven (61) and Stefani Miglioranzi (77) put Columbus on top in the second half. Steve Ralston responded with a goal in the 83rd, but Guillermo Barros Schelotto knocked in the go-ahead goal just three minutes later. It was a lousy way to close out the home portion of the regular season, but New England’s second-place spot has been fixed for quite some time now. They had nothing to gain and Columbus had everything to lose. Next up, New England closes out the regular season with a trip to FC Toronto in one of the best soccer venues in North America. Let’s hope they head into playoffs healthy and ready to kick ass.