(From our correspondent Michel de la Vallée-noire) Caltech, Pasadena. It is not often that one can see Techers awake and alert at such an early hour as 9.00am, and what is more, on a Sunday. Yet that is precisely what happened this morning, when a festive crowd cheered PRN as they trotted onto the freshly irrigated Caltech north field to oppose JPL's Cosmics.

Fans had been worried by news that valiant Player-Manager Bill had suffered an injury that might keep him out of this game. Misplaced concerns: although unable to run, and obviously suffering, Bill entered the field to serve as goalkeeper, and left it unabashed and undefeated. The rest of the line-up saw Mike, Marc, Michele and Kevin as fullbacks, Liz, Doug, Wei, Gabrielle, Alexa and Jessica as midfielders, and Yuri, Eichi, Peter, and Royan as forwards. Jason was in the game for a few minutes, but mostly his role was that of Dad to PRN fan #1.

Cosmics looked fit and well-organized, yet the game began to the tune of PRN aggressively probing Cosmics' defenses, while PRN's fullbacks, wisely orchestrated by Marc, nonchalantly blunted the rare threats to Bill's goal. PRN's dominance was almost immediately rewarded by a goal, when Peter crafted a finely angled shot almost from the Cosmics goal line. For the rest of the first half, PRN demonstrated a good organization of play, supported by robust passing skills and the ever-famous PRN teamwork.

At the beginning of second half, Cosmics tried to increase their pressure; but their appreciable volition was not backed by equal amounts of technique and reasoning, so that Marc's defense could fairly easily withstand the assault. Nevertheless, it became clear that PRN should endeavour to secure the game right then, thus avoiding unnecessary risks. It was Yuri that saw to that, with a little bit of help from the opposing keeper, who fumbled on his well-placed but not overwhelming long-range shot.

Cosmics' attacks became frantic, much to the detriment of their midfield play; and if at times Marc's fullbacks had to juggle with more men that they would have liked to, Cosmics' untoward rush made it easy for Eichi and Yuri to finish off the game with two more goals, both scored after long runs that pierced through Cosmics' disoriented defense.

Altogether, PRN's performance was quite convincing: without doubt, some players still have to grow physically, while tactics and disposition could use some fine tuning (e.g., for corner kicks); yet today PRN hinted that their liveliness, teamwork, and technique could carry them a long way indeed.

Webmaster: Michele Vallisneri