CSL Roundup Comeback carries St. Barnabas past Banatul, into 3rd

By Jay Mwamba

St. Barnabas staged a Herculean comeback, after trailing 3-1 at one point with 10-men, to edge Banatul S.C. 4-3 in a rescheduled Cosmopolitan Soccer League First Division match at the Con Edison Field in Queens last Sunday.

The remarkable victory elevated the Saints (9-6-1, 28 points) into third place in the standings, eight points behind New York Hungaria, who defeated the vacationing Ronan Downs’s New York Athletic Club 2-1 at Woodbridge to take over the lead in their final game of the season.

Hungaria, coached by Mike Jambrik, will now be praying that St. Barnabas beat NYAC in the four-time champs’ finale this Sunday. Anything less than a NYAC victory will hand the 1999-2000 CSL title to Hungaria.

"We pulled a pretty good side together," St. Barnabas’ Aidan Dennis said, summing up the Saints’ performance on the dirt surface of the Con Edison field. "The game itself, though, was pretty poor."

Banatul, who went into the game needing a win to stave off relegation to the Second Division, were undaunted by the poor playing surface and took a quick 2-0 lead that held until the 35th minute, when Ronan Frawley pulled a goal back.

But the Ridgewood side struck back to make it 3-1, and the Saints suffered another blow when midfielder Mick Hennessy was ejected for a second yellow card.

St. Barnabas, however, came back the hungrier side on resumption. They needed less than a minute to cut Banatul’s lead to 3-2, Freddy Fitzpatrick netting the first of his two goals in the 46th minute.

Fitzpatrick tied the game in the 70th minute and 10 minutes before full time, veteran Tommy Whitty converted a penalty to steal it for the Saints.

"It was a pretty good comeback," Dennis said, matter-of-factly.

Reserve power

The St. Barnabas second team moved a step closer to the First Division Reserve title with a 4-0 sweep over their Banatul opponents.

Denzil Brown was the star of the match in his farewell appearance for the team before returning to Manchester, England. Brown, the club’s registrar, scored two goals.

"We set him up every way we could," said Dennis, who also tallied. Enda Corr was the other scorer.

"Denzil will be badly missed by the club," added Dennis. "He has served the team for a long time."

With the win, the reserves (10-2-1, 31) climbed into second position, two points behind the NYAC second team, but with a game in hand.

NYAC falter

Jeff Saunders (30th) and Joe Tasko, from a 40th minute free kick, were on target for Hungaria in their 2-1 decision over NYAC that left the champions needing to beat St. Barnabas this Sunday to retain their crown. The NYAC

reserves triumphed 4-0.

"This is my happiest day," Hungaria coach Jambrik declared as his men wrapped up the season on a winning note. "Our team was very good. We had a lot of chances and could have scored more goals."

Jambrik also gave credit to his goalie, Aspirni, for an exceptional performance.