yep, he had the ball in the box and surrounded by 3 players. he got a penalty and took it to score his first competitive goal for larne on 18 minutes (i think). well done big man. lisburn distillery did indeed hammer us 5-0 2 weeks ago in a cup game and played some great football in the process, but today we defended our lead like demons and have thrown our cup group wide open.
Have you got any midweek games coming up lamb? Id like to take in a game the next time im over from Scotland on work.
next up is at home to ballymena on sat. 18th followed by away to institute on tues 21st. the institute game is quite a distance away.....our furthest away opposition. its just outside londonderry at drumahoe. wouldn't expect a big crowd for it with it being midweek to be honest. if i were you the ballymena game would be my choice, if you could make that one (though its a saturday). they're our local rivals and we beat them at theirs last month. plus straight off/on the boat - no travel i couldn't even tell you what to expect at the minute. we've had so much upheavel this last few months, losing our manager and 9 players and with so many new players coming in, that its a rollercoaster ride right now - one game playing brilliantly, the next woeful. lucky dip time
Larne beat Lisburn FC today 1-0 with Loverso getting the only goal from the spot. http://www.irelandssaturdaynight.co.uk/irish_football/story.jsp?story=560717 http://blue.srv2.com/~lisburn/MR CIS 4 Larne 110904.htm
Steve is great. I'm already a big fan of this player. I'm sure he'll do very well at Larne. If any of you want to keep a closer eye on Steve then... www.irishleagueforums.net is probably the best place to do it. Also, marrez, if things go well for us we might have a midweek Quarter Final match in the CIS Cup either away to Glentoran, or home to Newry or Coleraine. I'm sure you'd be made most welcome. Our participation depends on how we do this Saturday and next Tuesday. Fingers crossed.
from the Larne Times match report: "The game was a personal triumph for twenty year old Steve Loverso. The big american who bagged a hat-trick in a friendly against Donegal Celtic scored the all-important goal to make it a memorable debut." manager Jimmy Mcgeough: "The big guy did very well. He hasn't yet adapted to Irish League football, that will take time, but he has all the attributes and can create his own openings as he did on Saturday. It was a good debut." steve himself: "I enjoyed it a lot.It is a different game than I am used to. There is a lot more running and more ball played in the air. I am doing my best to adapt to the different tactics and I am happy with it so far. We had a lot of defending to do after the sending off but we worked hard." "If I worked for the penalty I was going to take it no matter who else wanted it"
update on steves progress - yesterday was the first league game, and larne were triumphant in a 2-0 win over omagh, steve was not among the goals, but is getting to grips with the physical game in Ireland. Bear in mind Larne are favorites to get relegated this season, so its a great result. The larne fans appear to have nicknamed him "ton-ton" i think because he's a big lad. Im meeting up on Tuesday with him, so ill let you guys know how he's getting on when i return from Northern Ireland.
the whole team are only finding their feet at the minute after a mass exodus in the summer. on saturday we started with only 4 players that were there last season! steve seems to be settling more now and once the players start figuring out what the other is going to do he will get more chances. the signs were there on saturday that a bit of familiarity with each others play will certainly improve the overall play. time will fix it. by the way, steve's marker on saturday has to have been one of the dirtiest players i have seen in a long time, elbowing, pinching, pushing, stamping on his feet. i'm surprised steve didn't end up punching him to be honest. maybe the manager was thinking he might and decided he might be safer subbing him half way thru the 2nd half! tell him he better be up for next saturday's game as portadown are a very good side, one of the top 3. i hear he is getting extra training as well with an ex-manager (who i think also did some youth coaching in the USA a few years ago). should help him. LOL at the "Ton Ton" nickname. i'll tell you exactly where that came from! we had heard we were signing someone on trial at falkirk, but i didn't know who, so i went searching and threw a couple of names around, one being an ex-arsenal youth player called Ton Ton Mkouku, no one had released steve's name yet so some of the fans started using it when talking about this new signing then a sunday newspaper just stole that from the forum without bothering to check it out and printed it as truth saying "larnes new signing ton ton mkouku had scored against donegal celtic etc etc." so theres the story and the name seems to have stuck! ps. league cup quarter finals are on tues night if you want to take one in while you are over. glentoran v ballymena would be my pick of the 4 to watch.
cheers for that, that has to be the bizarrest reason for a nickname ever, it has to be said Ill be over next week now, my wifes not well, so ive changed my plans.
not an awful lot to be honest. its a semi-pro league. anything from around $100-800/week. nearly all the players have full-time jobs as well, though there are exceptions. the last 10-15 years have been lean times in the irish league. all the pro clubs have cut back and went semi-pro in that time, though there are rumours of one or 2 going pro again in the not too distant future.
Steves not getting paid at all, but he's living rent and food free ( i suppose its a bit like being a prisoner of larne fc) in an attempt to better himself. Thats the measure of the guy, he's investing in his future and learning the game. He could have stayed at Falkirk albeit in a left back position, but wants to play as a forward, hense the move to larne. Lamb, are there any games on next tues/wed? Ive rearranged my trip till then.
the only game i know of at the minute is Carrick Rangers v. Bangor or Dundela (5th October, Dixon Park, Ballyclare - 10 miles or so from Larne) in the semi-final of the Daily Mirror Trophy (cup for the lower leagues). 7.45 kickoff i think. admission is only £4
hi guys, i thought id update you. I met up for lunch with Steve today, he's really enjoying his time in Larne, says the fans are totally crazy and he was thrilled they were chanting his name last week If he can get his italian citizenship sorted out he plans to stay on over here, but he wants to see the full season out with Larne as they are really helping him develop. thats about it
steve scored our 4th goal in a 5-2 hammering of crusaders. (i actually thought he got a flick on header to our first too but maybe not.) it was his best game in a larne shirt so far in competitive matches. well done to steve and all the team. a fine performance all round.
just a quick update on steve. he picked up a concussion a few games ago which ruled him out for a few games and has flown back home to renew his visa, get some attention for a back injury and visit his family. he'll be back over with us sometime around the start of december. ps. may as well give dave bulow a mention here too. i think he has mostly been a sub so far for limavady utd but i know he has scored in a regional cup final.
well, steve's back in NI and getting himself back to fitness again. he played 60 mins of a reserve match on friday night and came on as sub for the last 15 minutes of the first team match on saturday against last years champions, Linfield. The game finished 1-1, though Larne probably deserved to win. no more goals yet, will keep you posted.
I found this, a little old, but it shows what he was up to before Tobago. 6ft 4ins American striker signed from Welsh League club Taffs Well. Twice had trials with Falkirk in the summer of 2006, but re-signed for the Crows after failing to impress the Scottish Premier Division outfit. Left in December 2006 to return to his native country. Made 13 apperances for Cwmbran Town scoring 3 goals http://www.welsh-premier.com/player_detail_solo.php?player_id=1036 Found a youtube video from 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFWHSTRTQYQ&feature=related
He is now an assistant coach at Union College in Kentucky. http://www.ucbulldogs.com/roster/8/1/6395.php
Snip (didn't realize someone had already found him -- nice work prowazekii): Steven Loverso enters his second season as an assistant coach with the Union College Men's Soccer program. He joined the coaching staff in July of 2010. http://www.ucbulldogs.com/coach/0/1.php Man, those were the days.