‘Battle of the ‘burys’ ends in stalemate between Simsbury, Glastonbury

The two coaches had differing opinions on what the 1-1 tie between Simsbury and Glastonbury meant for their teams, in the final game of the regular season for each, played in Simsbury on Nov. 1.

The teams both played stingy defense, especially in the first half, allowing no clean shots at goal, and a 0-0 halftime score. Simsbury struck first, with 31:38 to go in the game, when a direct kick near the corner bounced off of several players and senior forward Grace Myers was able to direct it into the net.

Glastonbury’s score also came from a set piece, as a corner kick was at first deflected out of the box, but fell to the feet of senior defender Anna Shaheen, who sent it into the bottom corner of the goal.

Simsbury coach Steve Jarvis, who said he had never beaten Glastonbury in his 25 years, felt the tie was something of a win.

“I saw a Simsbury team that has found its identity in the right time, and the right moment of the season,” he said. “We matched an unbelievably good, as usual, Glastonbury team, and I think both teams have not gotten a taste of what tournament soccer is all about.”

Glastonbury coach Mark Landers was less than thrilled with the tie.

“It was a very sloppy soccer game,” he said. “We didn’t play very well. We didn’t move the ball. It was a kickball game.”

Landers added that Simsbury was able to take the Guardians out of their game. Jarvis said that was probably true, but was hesitant to reveal what his game plan was.

“We’re not going to give it away, because we might want to use it again in the future,” Jarvis said. “But, they executed it perfectly. Glastonbury has some wonderfully technical players who enjoy possession of the ball, and we wanted them to be uncomfortable at times. It was a good chess match. I think a tie was a fair result.”

Preparing for the tournament, Landers said his team needs to find a couple of elements.

“We’ve got to compose ourselves a bit. We were out of sorts tonight,” he said. “The result doesn’t matter as much as how we are playing.”

Landers said he’d rather have more practice time before the state tournament, but Glastonbury was instead playing a CCC tournament game the next night.

“That’s a difficult thing, but that’s what the league wanted to do,” he said.

Ties are not new for the Trojans, who have notched eight on the season, and heads into the playoffs with a 6-2-8 record, and a likely 13 seed in the Class LL tournament. Glastonbury’s record of 11-1-4 puts it in the number 2 position.

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