Signings & Such

Watford has recently completed two academy signings, 16-year old midfielder Sean Murray and goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, both to 3-year contacts.

Moving off the squad on loan to Yeovil Town until the end of August is midfielder Rob Kiernan.

AC St. Louis 3-0 Portland

First, my apologies to Mike Ambersley whose play I denigrated in a previous post (the mobility of a traffic barrel was the phrase I believe). Mike pulled off the first hat trick in franchise history last night and managed some impressive counter-attacking moves as well. Congrats, Mike! Keep proving me wrong - I'll gladly eat my words.

I went out with Jim, Barb, & Jackson last night (thanks for the ride guys) and was met with a complete turn-around from the July 4th weekend. Players were hustling, the squad played like a team and attendance was way up, giving me hope that the franchise just might survive. I think good play will get fans in the seats and we've seen a lot of improvement since coach Schilly has taken the reins. AC finds itself in 4th place in the NASL conference of the D-2.

The only downside: full-price ticket for the four-year old. C'mon guys - don't be greedy.

A Pair of Losses

A pair of poor results for watchers of this spot yesterday. Watford fell to Barnet 1-0 and AC St. Louis lost to Montreal 2-0.

Catching Up on the Pre-Season

I've been doing a little traveling for business (more on that in a later post) and not posting the pre-season results so here we go:

A 5-0 trouncing of non-League Boreham Wood a week ago Saturday

A 2-0 win over St. Albans City last Saturday that saw Danny Graham leave after 10 minutes with a broken nose.

At Barnet today. I'll see if I can get the match on Player.

Players for Peace Postponed

AC St. Louis Fanatic Blog is reporting the Aug. 7 match is called off.

"Players for Peace" Game May Be Called Off

There's been little news on the South America v The Rest of the World all-star match scheduled for August 7 at the Edward Jones Dome since its announcement in February. A planned statement about ticket sales in late May came & went without a word and, as we come up on two weeks from the date, there has still been no announcement as to when tickets go on sale.

A call to the CVC (the folks that run the Dome) yielded an unofficial statement that as of yesterday, word was the match is probably called off though, as usual, there is no official announcement.

When I hear, I'll let you know.

Hornets Win First Pre-Season Friendly 5-0

While the rest of us were distracted by that World Cup thing, Watford managed its first win of the pre-season over Conference South squad Boreham Wood.

Now THAT'S football.

Weekend 4

Spain did what Spain does, the German blitzkrieg rolled over Argentina, The Netherlands upset Brazil, and Uruguay cheated its way to the semis over Ghana (click the headline for Yahoo!s most famous handballs).

Semis start today.

Also over the weekend, Mary Anne & I went to see AC St. Louis get thumped by the (Cary, North) Carolina Railbirds. Our front line, especially Ambersley, has all the mobility of a traffic barrel.

Two New Signees Join Watford As Training Starts Today

Keeper Rene Gilmartin and defender Tom Aldred join the squad from Walsall & Carlisle United respectively.

Gilmartin is 6'5" and has earned a cup for the Republic of Ireland U21 squad.

Aldred is 19-years old and spent most of 2009 on loan at Workington.