CSL 2011--Week 17

[Rocket Robin]

Result of the Friday August 27, 2011 CSL game between SC Toronto and St Catharines Wolves played
at Lamport Stadium in Toronto at 8:00pm.

19 min...SCT Alaon Badat GOAL...Badat taps over short cornerkick from right to SCT Brennan McNicoll who taps pass around defender to Badat who dekes a sliding defender and takes 10 yard shot along right end line around W goalie guarding right post and ball tucks in just inside left post.

24 min...SCT Carlos Nogueira GOAL...SCT player at 25 yards on left taps pass to SCT Jarek Whiteman who pushes 25 yard pass on left forward to Nogueira who shoots 15 yarder just inside left post on short side.

31 min...SCT Massimo Mirabelli GOAL...SCT Brennan McNicoll pushes pass to SCT Jarek Whiteman on left in open and his 22 yard shot is saved by sprawling goalie Claudio Perri at 6 yards. Mirabelli gets rebound after a defender's partial headed clearance and blasts 16 yard low shot from left to right side of net as goalie had just stood up.

41 min...Wolves Matthew Contino GOAL...Contino at 35 yards intercepts SCT Branko Majstorovic's low cross attempt to SCT Antonio Zupan and on breakaway down middle chips from 22 yards over goalie Scott Cliff at 10 yards and the ball bounces into the open net.

90 min...SCT Alexandros Halis GOAL...An SCT player takes a quick freekick from the right at 60 yards chipping it to the middle and it finds Halis in all alone at 33 yards and he rounds the sprawling goalie at 8 yards and rolls the ball into the middle of the open net.

94 min...SCT Alexandros Halis GOAL...SCT Douglas Sereti on run down right chips 30 yards that has goalie dive to stop at 8 yards with outstretched arms. Halis chasing after ball has him take ball when fumbled and past goalie taps 3 yarder into empty net.

Final Score:.....SC Toronto...........5............St Catharines Wolves...........1............

Attendance was about 60 on this warm evening with the temperature dropping slightly after the sun set. The team kicked a souvenir soccer ball into the crowd for each SCT goal to encourage the kids to make some noise. The crowd picked up to about 100 by the end of the game but that was permit holders just waiting for their rec league to start.

The game was closer than the final scoreline indicated with a fear that SCT might not be able to hang on to the lead in the second half. SCT is so deep in players that they could sub in Alexandros Halis and Andrea Lombardo at 56 minutes and pick up the pace. SCT almost put it away at 63 minutes when SCT Douglas Sereti ran down the right and rolled in a cross that deflected off the prone Lombardo and Wolves Matthew Waddington at 3 yards and into the net. Referee Jeff Fearnell actually signalled for a goal but he consulted with his linesman and the play resulted in a freekick for Wolves because of the pull down.

Best of the other non-scoring chances were at 43 minutes when SCT Massimo Mirabelli got a break and ran past the sliding goalie who got a piece of it and Mirabelli recovered it on the left end line, rolled the ball back to SCT Jarek Whiteman who cut over to the center fired a 20 yarder over the net. At 75 minutes Wolves Dana Heimbecker got a tap over pass from the left and his 22 yard shot was just wide left of the post and into the outside webbing of the net. At 84 minutes Alexandros Halis sent in a low cross from 22 yards on the left and SCT Andrea Lombardo sliding in missed a 6 yard tap in up the middle.

The game was broadcast live in Toronto on Rogers Community channel. The commentators said that David Guzman was now on SC Toronto. I saw him in street clothes after the game but didn't know that he was not with Mississauga Eagles any longer. I suspect it won't be long before he reunites with fellow MLS Toronto FC 2007 alum Andrea Lombardo.

St Catharines coach Carlos Arghittu was not pleased with the refereeing this game. He is now retired from playing for Wolves but he was pressed into service earlier this year. He said it is hard to play and coach and now it is time to let the players do their jobs. I saw SCT given two Yellow cards for time wasting when they were hanging on in the second half. I thought Halis was almost 10 yards offside when he received the pass on the quick freekick for his first goal.

The win for SC Toronto extends their lead on the top of the standings to seven points over second place Toronto Croatia with TC having one game in hand. The SCT record is now 14-2-2. Wolves stay in 11th place in the 14 team league with a 3-10-3 record. Their record has fizzled since they held a perfect 3-0-0 record at the end of Week 5.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

[Rocket Robin]

Result of the Sunday August 28, 2011 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and Windsor Stars played at
Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:00pm.

24 min...TC Hayden Fitzwilliams GOAL...Fitzwilliams on 2 on 1 rushes in on left cutting towards goal and shoots low 18 yarder from left into right corner with goalie Anthony Santilli frozen on line waiting for possible pass to the other TC forward.

46 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...TC Hayden Fitzwilliams passes from 15 yards on extreme left and Maletic kicks low 10 yard shot that sprawling goalie gets piece of but ball trickles under him and across line into center of net.

51 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...TC Hayden Fitzwilliams 25 yard cross from near left corner flag has Maletic knock ball down on right and fire 8 yard shot into left side of net.

62 min...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic GOAL...TC Bozenko Lesina at 40 yards rolls ball to middle for TC Tonci Pirija to take 20 yard shot up middle that sprawling goalie blocks and deflects right for Grgic in alone to blast 10 yard rebound into top center of open net.

74 min...TC Hugo Herrera GOAL...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic sends over 20 yard cross from right end line that has Herrera in center slide and connect to knock in 8 yard roller to left corner of net.

Final Score:.........Toronto Croatia.........5.............Windsor Stars.............0...........

Attendance was about 70 on this cool night with the temperature dropping as time passed.

Toronto Croatia outplayed the Stars the entire game but it took the two goals at the start of the second half to put the game away.

Antonio Ilic earned the shutout for Croatia. He had only a few long range shots to save.

Toronto Croatia has signed a new player—defender Josip Keran who played earlier this year for NK Dugopolje of the Druga HNL (Croatian second level). That team plays outside Split on the Adriatic coast. At 4 minutes he stole a ball on a bad Stars back pass at 20 yards on the right and took a 10 yard shot that was into the side webbing of the net. He made a blunder at 12 minutes when he rolled a cross in the defence across the field and it bent over the end line for a Stars cornerkick. He did make an important block on a cross from a Stars player at 56 minutes and nearly scored on a 2 yard flick header from a cornerkick at 44 minutes but the ball just was wide right of the post.

Marin Vucemilovic Grgic, a midfielder, was signed last month and now he fits in well with the team.
He also played in the Croatia 2nd division the season before for NK Mosor Zmovnica in Zmovnica which is also near Split. That was near where Toronto Croatia won the Croatian international tourney this past summer beating an Australian team in the final. Someone in the Toronto organization must have been scouting!

Referee Steve Senderovich gave out a few Yellow cards to each team but it wasn't particularly rough because Croatia could keep the ball away from the Stars for long periods.

Other near scoring chances of the evening were at 20 minutes when TC Grgic's cornerkick from the left had TC Sven Arapovic head a 12 yarder over the bar. At 32 minutes TC Halburto Harris crossed from 25 yards on the left that had TC Bozenko Lesina in the middle of the box head a 10 yarder just over the bar. At 47 minutes TC Tihomir Maletic took a low 12 yard shot from the right that was saved by the sprawling goalie. One minute later TC Hayden Fitzwilliams was in on a break down the middle at 20 yards and he rolled a 10 yarder just wide right of the post. At 60 minute Maletic's freekick from 25 yards on the extreme right had Lesina flick head from the right through the box but out the left side. At 86 minutes TC subs Niko Pesa crossed from 10 yards on right end line that had Carlos Rojas take a 7 yard blast that the goalie made a great hand save.

Although the Stars listed four subs, there were only two visible on their bench throughout the game. Tonight's subbing PA announcer Nikola who calls the games for Mississauga Eagles said the Stars had only two subs at last night's game too where they played to a 1-1 tie. This reminds me of the bad old days of 2008 where the last configuration of Windsor—Border Stars were caught a few times bringing only nine players to Toronto. It's about a four hour drive away.

Toronto Croatia's win tonight improves their record to 12-2-4 and they are in second place four points behind league leading SC Toronto. Windsor Stars are in twelfth place (out of 14) with a record
of 2-11-5. I see the Astros played another game at their usual home Esther Shiner Stadium. The CSL web site listed from the start of the season right up until game time taking place at “TBA”. That could be one of the few big gates of the season for the team as Serbian White Eagles would have brought some travelling fans.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

[north york]

Badat's goal on Friday was officially attributed as an OG by the St Cats CB whose leg the ball went off. Sorry I just can't recall his name right now.