Sean Proctor focusses intently on a free kick; Sean Callahan examines the field ahead. The Garden City Gladiators met North Babylon Minutemen at North Babylon's Parliament Place Elementary School on the morning of Sunday 10/30/05. Although there was a brisk wind from the north, the weather was perfect for soccer: just cool enough for the team to wear their white T-shirts below their gold jerseys. The Gladiators immediately moved into an attacking position, and before long Sean Bingham amazed the crowd by dribbling through several defenders before passing the ball to Alex Sapuppo who delivered a cross to the feet of Sebastian Macias in the Minutemen's goal area. The movement was frustrated by the North Babylon keeper, but the tone was set for the remainder of the half.

The Gladiator defenders and mid-fielders delivered the ball safely deep into their opponents' territory, and then remained ready to directly support subsequent movements. In one instance, Kyle Lynch played a key role in a particularly promising Gladiator attack, and then took his own shot at goal when the Minutemen blocked the initial drive. PK Thorstenn and Alex Sapuppo played similar roles, both getting into shooting range, and contributing to some tense moments for their opponents.

Brandon Badgett controls a loose ball and turns it upfield. Although the Gladiators dominated the bulk of the first half of the game, the Garden City defenders did not have the opportunity to rest. Nick Fusco, Yohei Yamauchi and Brandon Badgett seemed to alternate in thwarting the North Babylon drives down the sidelines, and Sean Callahan and Sean Proctor repeatedly blocked movements down the middle of the field. The Garden City defenders did not simply clear the ball from their territory, but played a thinking game by ensuring that the ball was safely passed between one another and then upfield in a controlled manner.

After about 15 minutes of play Gladiator keeper Danny Miller was called upon to face a penalty kick that was awarded to the Minutemen after a near perfect slide tackle by Brandon Badgett unfortunately caused his opponent to trip in the goal area. Although Danny Miller faced the striker calmly and moved quickly to get his hands to the ball, the power of the shot carried it just over the line before Danny could control the bounce and secure the ball. North Babylon was ahead 1-0.

Garden City appeared ready to even the score on several occasions after their opponents' penalty. Sean Callahan delivered a powerful free kick that beat the North Babylon keeper but was deflected by a defender, and a movement that was started by Brandon Badgett and included Michael Escribano and Sean Bingham ended when Michael Escribano's blast was deflected by the Minuteman keeper. A similar movement involving these players started with one of Brandon Badgett's legendry deep throws; Michael Escribano received the throw and crossed the ball over the goal mouth causing the keeper to leap to control the ball. Several other scoring opportunities excited the Garden City supporters, and Kyle Lynch again anticipated play and was in a position to drive a hard and long shot at the goal when North Babylon blocked an attempt on their goal.

In another display of tight teamwork and thinking play, Costa Trikas received skillful pass from Michael DiRusso and moved up the field at speed, delivering the ball to Vincent Tavernese with the assistance of Sean Bingham. Although Vincent Tavernese's well aimed shot was blocked, the relentless Gladiator pressure was rewarded soon thereafter, ironically also by a penalty kick. A movement involving Mark Pallai, Sean Bingham and Costa Trikas allowed Michael Escribano to blast a shot at the Minuteman goal, and a defender inadvertently caught the ball that ricocheted off the keeper. Michael Escribano made sure of the kick, bringing the score to one goal each.

The Garden City supporters were amazed when a second penalty was awarded to the Gladiators only minutes later when a fast moving Vincent Tavernese was tripped in the North Babylon goal area. Michael Escribano took the shot again, and although his kick was hard and high, the Minuteman keeper was just able to get a hand to the ball and deflected it to the left of his goal. The score remained even. Shortly thereafter an indirect free kick to Garden City from just outside the North Babylon goal area raised the expectations of their supporters, but two well aimed kicks were deflected and the half ended with the score 1-1.

The second half did not favor the Gladiators at all. Not only was the wind in their faces, but the Minutemen seemed to be able to turn the flow of play to their advantage with frustrating regularity. The Gladiators were forced onto the defensive frequently, and keeper Danny Miller was required to pull the ball out of a crowd of players on several occasions. In one such instance he moved fearlessly into the fray and, although he secured the ball, was knocked to the ground with some force.

The Gladiators drove back into the North Babylon territory, and were able to score their second goal following a free kick by Sean Proctor. Sean Bingham received the ball, and neatly chipped it just ahead of Sebastian Macias who took the ball into the Minuteman goal area and skillfully beat the keeper with a well aimed kick to the right of the goal. The Gladiators were ahead 2-1. Soon thereafter a similar movement involving Michael Escribano allowed PK Thorstenn to lift the team's hopes as he was able to drive close to the North Babylon goal, but the score remained unchanged.

The Gladiator defense knitted together tightly, forming an almost solid barrier to the Minutemen offensive, often switching positions to cover for each other as their opponents pushed hard towards the Gladiator goal.

Brandon Badgett, Yohei Yamauchi, Nick Fusco, Sean Callahan and Sean Proctor anticipated each other's movements well, but the North Babylon pressure remained intense and the Gladiator mid-fielders regularly fell back into primarily defensive roles too. In one particularly intense push, the Minutemen leveled the score when a deep throw from the side-line resulted in a hard kick that bounced off the Gladiator cross-bar into the mouth of the goal where a North Babylon player was able to header the ball over the line.

In the final five minutes of the game both teams played with renewed purpose. Notwithstanding the solid Gladiator defense and the skill of keeper Danny Miller, the Minutemen were able to score again. The Gladiators pressed forward and broke into the North Babylon goal area with a very promising move. Alex Sapuppo drove deep to the corner, and as he prepared to cross the ball over the goal, was tackled hard and had to leave the field. The Gladiators counted down the remaining minutes, driving forward at every opportunity, but the final whistle brought an end to the game before they could score again. This game marks the first league game loss for the Gladiators, who left the field analyzing the reasons for the reversal in the trend of play between the two halves.

The Gladiators meet Great Neck in a make-up game on Saturday November 5th at 11:50 AM, and play Cold Spring Harbor at St. Paul's on Sunday November 6th at 11:30 AM.