CSL 2010 Week 2 games (includes TFC Academy game)

[Rocket Robin 2]

Result of the CSL game of Saturday May 15, 2010 between TFC Academy and Hamilton Croatia played at Lamport Stadium in Toronto at 6:00pm.

25 min...Hamilton Croatia Jason Shannon GOAL...HC Antonio Zupan's shot up middle is partially blocked by defender at 15 yards and Shannon on right slides 15 yard roller behind sprawling goalie at 7 yards into center of net.

64 min...Hamilton Croatia Aiden O'Keefe GOAL...HC Jason Shannon passes through on right to O'Keefe behind defenders and he chips 25 yarder over goalie Garrett Cyprus who'd charged 12 yards out to cut the angle.

78 min...TFC Academy Nicholas Lindsay GOAL...TFCA Joshua Janniere centers pass from right for three TFCA players but Lindsay stops ball, and his low 12 yard shot is into the right corner of net behind diving goalie Cameron McKay.

Final Score:..........TFC Academy.........1.............Hamilton Croatia.............2............

Attendance was about 200 people with all except about 30 fans being from Hamilton. I didn't notice any Toronto FC fans one other than the TFCA parents and even not many of them. With HC bringing so many travelling fans, it looks promising for large crowds to their home matches on Friday nights.

Hamilton had complete control of the game up to their first game. After that first goal the Academy held the advantage for the rest of the first half. The second half was generally even with each side sometimes controlling the chances for ten minute bursts. Each team could easily have scored three more goals each if their shooting had been more accurate.

Hamilton win their first match in their first game in the Canadian Soccer League. The Academy falls to 1-1 in their season (both home games).

Unlike last week's game at BMO Field, tonight's game was held at Lamport Stadium. The pressbox doors were locked and only one City staff member had keys. All formalities like the national anthem and introducing the players were therefore skipped. The scoreboard was working by the second half. There was no microphone so PA announcer Ennio just yelled out the scorers out the window to the amusement of the crowd.

TFC Academy played without defender Doneil Henry and midfielder/captain Matt Stinson who are away with the Canadian Olympic team. Their presence was missed as Hamilton players got behind the TFCA defenders on more than a few occasions.

I had only seen Hamilton Croatia when they were entered in the CSL's Open Canada Cup a few years ago. I did recognize a few of today's players from the past from other teams. They didn't raid the roster of Toronto Croatia to fill their team. Defender Antonio Zupan played for that CSL team last year but that was the only one. Midfielder Jamie Dodds played for the USL Toronto Lynx from 2004 to 2006 as one of their best players.. His bio reads that he's played for Hamilton Croatia since 2007. Forward Said Ali played for Toronto Lynx in 2005. He didn't score in his 15 games when he came over from USL Vancouver and was frustratingly like the Jeff Cunningham stint with Toronto FC.

Referee Richard Oliveira had a very quiet game to call and gave out only one Yellow card the entire game.

Rocket Robin

robing@eol.ca

[deschamp86]

From the look of the team roster, a lot of players moved have played for them in the past. Good to see and hopefully they do well, prompting some more OSL teams to make the jump.

[Jeremy]

It was my first CSL game today as I attended Impact Academy - Milltown FC. I enjoyed my experience, and was surprised by Milltown, they looked good for a new team. Game ended 0-0. I'd say 150 people in attendance, they should have advertised it during Impact league games... there would have been definitely more people!

[VPjr]

sorry for the late game summary. we got in late last night.

Milltown FC Plays To A Scoreless Draw In First Match in Club History

Montreal, PQ – A long day of travel, foreboding clouds and intermittent rain showers could not dampen the spirits of Canadian Soccer League newcomers, Milltown FC, who took to the Stade Saputo pitch for their first official match against fellow league newcomers, Montreal Impact Academy. Both teams had their chances to score but ultimately settled for a scoreless draw.

Under the guidance of Assistant Coach Vladimir Klinovsky, who stepped in for Head Coach Rafael Carbajal while he serves as a member of the Canadian U20 Men’s National Team Coaching Staff, Milltown FC’s youthful squad dominated possession for long stretches of the match and defended well when necessary.

Led by strong performances from goalkeeper Scott Cliff, central defender Thierry Mangwa and midfielders Jason Morgan and Martijn Kuijpers, Milltown FC was very effective controlling the middle of the pitch for most of the game. Unfortunately, the visitors struggled to make the most of their chances in the final third, although Agustin De Medina did have a few excellent chances on net, especially in the first half. Impact Academy goalkeeper, Andrei Badescu, was very effective, especially collecting crosses put into the 18 yard box.

The home team was well organized defensively and created some dangerous chances of their own on the counter attack, forcing Cliff, MTFC’s captain, to make a few excellent saves to keep his shutout intact.

“Travelling to Quebec is never easy so getting a point from this match is a big accomplishment for our club,” said Coach Klinovsky. In fact, the Montreal Impact reserve team (Trois Rivières Attak) had a perfect 9-0-0 home record in 2009.

“I am very proud of my team and this result clearly shows that the hard work they have put in so far is starting to pay off,” said Coach Carbajal, via email from National Team camp in Holland. “We need to continue down the same path, working hard and believing that we will be a hard team to play against for the other teams in the league.”

Milltown FC has a bye week coming up. Their next game is on May 28, 2010, when they face 2009 CSL runners-up Serbian White Eagles. This will be the club’s first ever home game at Bishop Reding Secondary School in Milton. Game time is 8pm.

Scoring Summary: NONE

Milltown FC Disciplinary Summary:

78th minute - Jason Morgan (Yellow)

80th Minute – Germain Sefa (Yellow)

Milltown FC Starting Lineup:

Scott Cliff, Germain Sefa, Thierry Mangwa, Ben Ragan, Michael Jan, Jason Morgan, Cordell Benjamin, Martijn Kuijpers, Agustin De Medina, Erwin Balazs, Gersi Xhuti

Milltown FC Substitutes:

Daniel Mendez, Chad Fernandez, Range Hussein, Jesse Mahal, Brandon De Serpa, Danilo Richards, Colin Keay

Milltown FC Substitutions:

58th minute – Xhuti out, De Serpa in

58th minute – Balazs out, Hussein in

84th minute – De Serpa out, Richards in

[SoccMan]

Reading the summary of the TFC Academy and Hamilton game at Lamport stadium shows that somethings have not changed in the CSL, the bush league nature of this league still continues after reading that the press box at Lamport was not open because somehow no one could find the key, therefore, there was no player anoucements made, reading stuff like this makes one wonder why they keep insisting that this league is sopposedly a pro league when they can't even get the little things right.

[VPjr]

in fairness, problems consistently sabotage games at Lamport, moreso than anywhere else. Something needs to be done about that facility.

[L.T.]

Sunday, May 16

There were three games in the CSL tonight:

Brantford Galaxy 3, Portugal FC 3

North York Astros 3, Brampton Lions 1

York Region Shooters 1, St. Catharines Wolves 0

Toronto Croatia vs. London City postponed due to poor ground conditions at Centennial Stadium (**I'm interested to hear what that's about...)

[Rocket Robin 2]

Result of the Sunday May 10th, 2010 CSL game between Brampton Lions and North York Astros played at Victoria Park in Brampton at 3:00pm. This was the league opener for both teams.

9 min...Lions Blazej Skoczylas GOAL...Lions Judah Hernandez beats defender along left end line at 18 yards and sends cross across box past Astros goalie Ryan Zamora guarding left post where Skoczylas has 2 yard tap-in into empty net

37 min...Astros Mohamed Aborig GOAL...Aborig gets deflection off left post on another player's shot and he kicks in 8 yarder from left into right side of net over fallen goalie Roy Blanche.

55 min....Lions RED card...Daniel Nascimento picks up his second Yellow card in four minutes for a tackle at Lions 30 yard line knocking a player down.

77 min...Astros Mohamed Aborig GOAL...Astros Peter Dimitrakopoulos cornerkick from left has leaping Aborig on right in crowd of players head 6 yarder into right side of net.

83 min...Lions RED card...Mike Marchese earns it for a hip check on Astros Mahyar Kohbad injuring him on left wing at Lions 30 yard line. Marchese was the last player back and earned the direct ejection.

86 min...Astros Erik Grigore GOAL...Astros Victor Gallo takes 45 yard shot into box from right and ball bounces past a charging Astros player in middle but Grigore about even with left post shoots 10 yarder into high right side of net.

Final Score:........Brampton Lions........1.............North York Astros...........3...........

Attendance was about 400 people with about 60 supporters actually cheering for the Astros.(that's better than some of their home crowds last year). It was a warm day with a bright sun in the south west.

Referee Yusri Rudolph had to give out seven cards to keep the game under control even after giving players verbal warnings earlier in the game.

Astros controlled the game after the Lions first Red card with most of the scoring chances from that point on.

Both teams had many chances at full strength and could have done with more accurate shooting and timing their runs better to avoid offside calls.

Astros have few returnees from last year's ninth place out of ten team finish. This year after year wearing mostly yellow uniforms or navy alternatives they wore orange shirts with black shorts and numbers.

New head coaches for both teams this year. Astros have Michael Ridout and Lions have Goran Rapaic.

This game was broadcast live by Rogers and could be seen on the Rogers Community Channel. Fans in Toronto will see the rebroadcast Monday at 8:00pm. The league had listed Brantford Galaxy FC vs Portugal FC as the only television game this weekend.

Lions now have to play their next game on Saturday at BMO Field against TFC Academy (right after the MLS game between Toronto FC and New England Revolution) without defender Mike Marchese and forward and MVP Daniel Nascimento whose played a few games for Toronto FC when the MLS used to have a Reserves League.

Rocket Robin

robing@eol.ca

[Rocket Robin 2]

Result of the Sunday May 16, 2010 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and London City played at Centennial Stadium at 8:15pm.

The game was called off before it began for unsafe playing conditions!

Rectangular boards of wood running the length of the field from the 50 yard line to the goallines in both ends of the field on the east side of the field were under the field turf. Under this 'grass' which was stapled to the plywood that was covering more cinder track that was used at the City High Schools track and field championships earlier in the week. The wood was outside the football lines but inside the soccer lines. Referee Dave Barrie called off the game as unsafe. I went onto the field to lift it myself and take some pictures and I agree it was the right call.

A Toronto Croatia official said the team played an exhibition game inside the football lines on Tuesday night and the City assured them the field would be playable for tonight!

Ryan Gauss the manager for London City which had to make the three hour drive from London says the coach rental and expenses were over $1000 and they have to cover player salaries. The only bright spot is he has more time to

work out the visa delays of their new star Kevin Zimmerman.

If I had known this game would be cancelled I would have gone to the York Region Shooters season opener against St Catharines Wolves which started one hour earlier. I hope to see the Wolves twice next weekend when they visit the Toronto area so I chose this game.

The City of Toronto messed up last night's game at Lamport Stadium with no one being able to open the press box until the game had started so missing the national anthems and player intros and having the scoreboard working until the second half. There was no microphone at that game. This reminds me the City is acting like that old Flintstones episode where Fred has to order a clown for his daughter Pebble's birthday and the Rockettes for the Water Buffalo Lodge party but the attendant gets the two functions mixed up. He realizes he may have made a mistake after he sends them off but he wonders if he should correct it. "Who cares? I'm the ONLY caterer in town!"

Last year the league was inconvenienced by the City staff going on strike for more than a month.

I've been warned to call ahead before next Sunday night's Toronto Croatia game against Brantford Galaxy FC to make sure this problem is resolved. No idea when this game will be rescheduled.

Rocket Robin

robing@eol.ca

[hamiltonfan]

Brantford 3-3 Portugal FC

[Lord Bob]

Rocket Robin, thanks for the update. Will you be posting these pictures anywhere?

[hamiltonfan]

There's some highlights and pictures of the Brantford home opener at

http://www.brantnews.com/sports.cfm?page=sports&section=read&articleId=7727

[Rocket Robin 2]

Rocket Robin, thanks for the update. Will you be posting these pictures anywhere?

hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday night.

[Alex D]

Great to read from the Brant News article that there was roughly 1000 fans at the Galaxy match. I hope they can keep it up.

[Juby]

it looks like a good crowd on tv, and it looked like a few hundred people at the game in brampton (couldn't tell, camera angle) very good signs

edit: good goals in that brantford game, if any video's pop up I'll make a comp

[VPjr]

Great to read from the Brant News article that there was roughly 1000 fans at the Galaxy match. I hope they can keep it up.

kudos to the Galaxy. Nearly 1000 people for 1st game is a great start.

[hamiltonfan]

I'm looking forward to their next home game vs Milltown. It was a standing room only crowd, I would think that team will consider turning those bleachers facing the baseball field around during games behind the one next.

Any speculation on the attendance of the MTFC homeopener on the 28th.

--also for whoever's interested there's some great pics of the impact vs mtfc game @ http://www.milltownfc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94:milltown-fc-00-impact-academy-photos&catid=34:current-users&Itemid=64

[Guest Clemenza]

I think its fantastic that the Galaxy drew 1,000 people for their first game ever! Its nice to see that they have the newspaper firmly behind them with coverage and also the local media. They are treating it as a pro franchise and so are the other 2 expansion cities. Maybe this will get the old clubs to finally spend money on advertising and the free viral advertising. VP are you getting much local support and coverage! How have the tickets sales and sponsorships been going? I am hoping to make the home opener on the 28th and looking forward to a great home opener. Will you be singing the National Anthem? LOL

[SR]

Also, the three new clubs have great websites. Try getting information on the other teams. The Serbs have the best site out of the rest of the teams but it has not been updated. How are you going to sell the game at this level without telling people who is playing.

VP is the league considering putting detail game reports on the site with lineups and subs?

[VPjr]

hamiltonfan....we are hoping for standing room only too. fingers crossed and lots of work to do the next 10 days to try to make it happen

Clemenza (sorry...its been crazy....i forgot to reply to your email....accept my apologies)....we have been selling season tickets (a couple of new subscribers every day) and lots of interest from youth teams to come out to a game. local sponsors are being signed up as well. The local newspaper (Milton Canadian Champion) has been very good. They have been doing at least 1 news story per week. We hope to work with them to increaase that coverage as the season goes forward.....and no...you won't find me singing the national anthem on the 28th. I am trying to line up someone who will do it. for the first game, i'd like an actual singer rather than just a recording. Be sure to introduce yourself if you come to the opening game.

SR...the league is working on a new website and I am hopeful that detailed game report will be part of their post game summaries....even if it gets added 1 or 2 days later. we don't have the staffing that the big leagues do so live gamecasting and instant game reports as soon as the match is over might not be a realistic wish at this stage...we need to crawl before we walk. however, i think the people who want to support the league will be happy if they can get some information about the teams and players in the league a day or two after a game. We got our game report up on our own website about 23 hours after the game ended, which isn't as quick as I would like it but not bad alll in all.

[Rocket Robin 2]

Pictures of the games I went to last week.

http://22066.vws.magma.ca/10csl021.htm

TFC Academy vs Hamilton Croatia

http://22066.vws.magma.ca/10csl022.htm

Brampton Lions vs North York Astros

http://22066.vws.magma.ca/10csl023.htm

Toronto Croatia vs London City (the cancelled game--plywood on the field.