CSL Week 5

[soccerman2]

There was one game in the CSL tonight:

Windsor Border Stars 5, London City 0

[soccerman2]

City's loss to Windsor a 'nightmare'

Sat, June 9, 2007

By MORRIS DALLA COSTA, SUN MEDIA

There was one good thing that came out of London City's dismal 5-0 loss to Windsor Border Stars last night.

The Rogers Television production truck that stores the equipment needed to show the game, broke down and left early in the first half.

The station normally tapes the games and shows them the next day. There'll be no tape of last night's game.

The Canadian Soccer League team had a night to forget at Cove Road last night.

Aaron Byrd blitzed City for three goals, while Dadek Dapiez and Gino Berardi scored the others.

It was a disappointing performance considering City had played so well against Toronto Croatia a week earlier in a 1-1 tie.

City saw first hand what can happen when they use players who are also signed to other teams. A number of players who were part of last week's effort were missing because of commitments to their club sides for the Ontario Cup.

With so many players missing, Mike Sawchuk, who played well on the backline, wound up having to play a striker's position.

He was clearly missed.

"You can't keep changing players all the time," player-coach Gentjan Dervishi said. "We represent London in a higher league. We can't play like that.

"Mike is a forward who last week played at the back because we had no stopper. Tonight, we had no strikers so he had to play up front. We can't play with the players we have. We need players."

The quick-strike Border Stars ran through gaping holes in the City defence, creating all sorts of opportunities.

"Can you say nightmare?" City manager Ryan Gauss asked at the end of the first half.

It took the Stars seven minutes to open the scoring and it came on their third good chance. Byrd took advantage of a bad clearance at the top of the City penalty area, stepped into the ball and drilled it into the top of the net. City keeper Tommy Bianchi got a hand to it but couldn't turn it over the bar.

Byrd did it again in the 23rd minute. This time City gave the ball away at their own three-quarter field near the sideline. By the time they knew what was happening, Byrd and Dadek Dapiez had exchanged a quick one-two pass that sent Byrd in alone. He steered the ball past a hard-charging Bianchi.

In the 32nd minute, the defence collapsed again, this time on the right side. Dapiez made it 3-0.

City was fortunate. It could have been a lot worse. Twice they had to kick a ball off the line with Bianchi beaten.

"We made mistakes. They are a professional team that waits for the chances and scores," Dervishi said. "I'm not blaming anyone but we have to play better, starting with myself."

In what can't be a pleasant prospect, City has to play Border Stars again tonight in Michigan.

[soccerman2]

There was one game in the CSL tonight:

Windsor Border Stars 3, London City 1

[soccerman2]

WEEKEND SWEEP FOR WINDSOR BORDER STARS

Saturday - June 9, 2007

Sampson leads with two

Forward Woreth Sampson of Windsor Border Stars scored twice and Aaron Byrd struck his seventh of the season as Windsor defeated London City 3-1 for a Southwestern Ontario weekend sweep following a 5-0 result in favour of Border Stars Friday.

Sampson’s first goal in the exciting encounter played at Chippewa Valley just outside of Detroit, Michigan, came at the 29th minute mark and Woreth made it 2-0 five minutes later. Byrd found the net 12 minutes later to make it 3-0 to add to his hat-trick in the 5-0 victory at Cove Road on Friday. While the border team were coasting to what appeared to be a 3-0 win, London’s Sean Gauss beat Windsor ‘keeper Anthony Santilli at 86 minutes to reduce the lead, a 3-1 final score.

Windsor lead the National Conference with a 3-3-0 WLT record for nine points following the two weekend wins, while London are at the foot of the same division with a 0-3-1 record for one point.

There are two games slated for Sunday with North York Astros at home to Portuguese Supra, a 4 pm kickoff at Esther Shiner Stadium, and at The Soccer Centre in Vaughan, Italia Shooters are at home to Trois-Rivieres Attak, with a new kickoff time of 5.30 pm.

[soccerman2]

There were two games in the CSL Sunday:

Italia Shooters 2, Trois-Rivieres Attak 2

North York Astros 3, Portuguese Supra 2

[soccerman2]

ITALIA SHOOTERS REMAIN UNBEATEN

Sunday - June 10, 2007

Late win for Astros

North York Astros jumped to a 3-0 lead midway through the second half and held on to defeat Portuguese Supra 3-2, while unbeaten Italia Shooters were held to a 2-2 tie against Trois-Rivieres Attak, two games played in the CSL Sunday.

Following a scoreless, hard-fought first half, Astros fired three goals in a 15 minute period midway through the second half on goals by midfielder Camilo Moreno at 65 minutes, Brian Carbijal at 72 minutes and forward Selvin Lammie at 80 minutes. The win looked assured until Portuguese scored two late goals by midfielder Helio Pereira at 83 and 86 minutes, then veteran defender Carlos Zaballos, who played for North York Argentina in the early 90’s, came close to tying the game.

The exciting encounter became physical as the game progressed and three players were shown the red card by referee Dan Popescu late in the late stages.. Astros’ Lammie and Ryan William were involved in an altercation and sent off, and a few minutes later Portuguese midfielder Selmir Sehic was ejected following a heavy challenge. There were 10 yellow cards handed out in the game.

The win was Astros’ first of the season for a 1-2-1 WLT record for 4 points, while Portuguese Supra have a 1-4-1 record, also 4 points.

Italia forward Gladstone Richards opened the scoring at the 26th minute mark for a 1-0 halftime lead at The Soccer Centre in Vaughan and Jason De Thomasis made it 2-0 for the home side three minutes after the interval. The goal was De Thomasis’ fifth of the season.

Trois-Rivieres bounced back from the 2-0 deficit on goals by Jean-Louis Besse at 85 minutes and defender Elkana Mayard three minutes later, a 2-2 final score.

Shooters remain unbeaten at the top of the International Conference with a 4-0-2 record and 14 points, while the Attak are at 2-2-2 in second position in the National Conference with 8 points.

[North York Astros]

Astros Hang On to First Win in Chippy Affair

NORTH YORK, June 10 – The North York Astros hung on to their first win of the season, defeating the Toronto Portuguese Supra 3-2 in an afternoon affair that saw nine yellow cards and three expulsions. Rain was not a factor in the game for the first time in four home games this season for the Astros.

The Astros (1-2-1) showed signs of improving as a team as they controlled the ball for most of the half. This also helped them take the majority of the chances on goal in the first half, with their best chance coming in the 38th minute on a rising shot by Shane Lammie from just inside the 18-yard box. Lammie’s quick moves caused the Supra defender to slip on the turf, but he could not keep the shot on target. For the second straight match, the teams went into the half deadlocked in a scoreless battle.

The Astros came out sloppy in the second half and the Supra almost made them pay for it. Helio Pereira had a low shot in the 55th minute that had Astros goalkeeper Daniel Baker handcuffed, but was able to make the save with his legs. Ten minutes later, the Astros had their breakthrough. After being awarded a free kick from just outside the penalty area, midfielder Camilo Moreno notched his second of the year with a perfectly placed strike that floated into the top left corner.

The Astros made the score 2-0 only seven minutes later when Lammie was sent in on a 1-on-1 against a Supra defender. After playing with the ball for a few seconds, Lammie spotted Brian Carbajal, who was streaking into the penalty area. Lammie fed the ball to the wide open Carbajal, who did not miss. Lammie then scored himself in the 80th minute after chipping the ball over Supra goalkeeper Michael Silva.

With a three goal lead, the Astros started to relax and it almost cost them the win. A sloppy clearing attemped allowed Supra midfielder Pereira to fire a low shot past Baker in the 83rd minute. Three minutes later, a defensive breakdown allowed Pereirato score his second of the match and make the score 3-2.

That is when the fireworks on the field started to go off. After a foul in the Astros half, the Supra’s Selmir Sehic grabbed the ball to restart play quickly. While grabbing the ball, he pushed Astros defender Marco Pacione out of the way. Pacione took exception to this stepping in front of the ball to delay the restart of the match. The pushing and shoving escalated into a few punches being thrown. Lammie then grabbed Sehic from behind to try to break up the fight, which was not received warmly by the other Supra on the field. After a few minutes of splitting the two teams apart, both Lammie and Sehic were red carded and expelled from the match by referee Dan Popescu.

After the players left the field, Supra defender Carlos Zaballos had a chance from outside the penalty area, but had his cross miss all of his teammates. Less than a minute afterwards, the Supra’s Ryan William was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Astros’ Brian Carbajal.

“I'm very happy for the victory, but we should not have conceded those late goals after the 3-0 lead,” commented Astros head coach Rafael Carbajal. “That is a problem that we need to address immediately because losing concentration in that way could cost us the game next time. Obviously that problem is a consequence of having so many young and inexperience players in the roster, but at the same time they are gaining experience in these type of situations and eventually they will learn to manage results. The key is to take it one step at a time.”

The Astros do not have much time to rest before their next game. It will be on Sunday, June 17th against the Vaughan Italia Shooters. This is the second time this season these two teams will face each other, with the Shooters winning 4-0. Jason De Thomasis led that game with two goals in the first half. Kick-off will take place at 4:00 p.m. at Esther Shiner Stadium. For tickets to the game, call the Astros ticket office at 905-482-2918.

Notes: Astros goalkeeper Haidar Al-Shaibain missed his first game of the year with a lower-body injury…Four of the nine yellow cards handed out by Popescu were against the Astros…The Astros now sit in a three-way tie for 6th in the Canadian Soccer League with the Supra and the St. Catharines Wolves...