Rocket Robin Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 Result and details of the Saturday April 29, 2017 League 1 Ontario game between Aurora FC and OSUF (Ottawa South United Force) played at St Maximillion Kolbe High School in Aurora at 4:00pm. 7 min...OSUF Gabriel Bitar GOAL...OSUF Dario Conte cornerkick from right is low and Bitar one-touch shoots low 10 yarder from right into low left side of net. 43 min...Aurora FC Matthew Caguana GOAL...AFC Caguana receives pass threaded through middle and from 35 yards dribbles forward and shoots into the net past goalie Dylan Roisien. 47 min...OSUF Gabriel Bitar GOAL...OSUF Marco Natoli at 45 yards on left rolls ball forward and Bitar shoots 25 yard roller into right corner of net past diving goalie Alexander Jakma. 55 min...OSUF Walker Smith on run down left is pulled down inside box. Referee Jose Sanchez-Laros awards OSUF a Penalty kick. 56 min...OSUF Dario Conte GOAL...Conte blasts Penalty kick about 6 feet high to left side of net as goalie crumples to right. Final Score:...Aurora FC.......1........Ottawa South United Force.......3....... Attendance was about 50 on this cold afternoon with a strong gusty wind from the north. Because I drove here, I could go back to my car and switch to my parka and touque which I hadn't planned to wear until tonight's game between Masters FA and Woodbridge. Referee Jose Sanchez-Laros gave out three Yellow cards—all to Aurora players. Many offsides were called on both teams especially in the first half. Both teams became spooked by these calls and were each caught with a player passing the ball forward and teammates holding back from making runs and the ball rolling out of play. The referee took advantage of the hash marks for throw-ins like saying "take it at the 40" to stop players from cheating trying to get away with lining up ten yards downfield before putting the ball back into play. This is the first League 1 Ontario game played by OSUF who are the only new men's team added to the league this season. There are 16 teams again this year with the Ottawa team filling in the spot in the Eastern Conference vacated by Kingston Clippers, one of the original franchises who did not return to the league for a fourth season. Too bad as OSUF's closest rivalry by geography would have been Kingston. Now the Toronto area teams and Ottawa have a five hour bus trip to play each other. OSUF will be back next week Saturday night to play Masters FA Saints who schedule their home games for 9:00pm kickoffs! The quality of OSUF didn't really shine through until the second half with the wind at their backs. Aurora only won four games out of twenty-two last year, their first season. OSUF maxed their subs out at five (league maximum) four of them after they had the two goal lead giving more players a chance to say they played in the club's first L1O game and a reward for the long bus ride. Aurora made four subs—two were needed for injuries in the second half. This year Aurora moved from Sheppard's Bush to a schoolyard only about a kilometer north of last year's home. I asked a team official for the reason they switched homes. He said the facilities weren't satisfactory. Both places had field turf although the new field is laced with football hash marks. The old place had dressing rooms which looked like they were just trailers towed in and dropped off. The public washroom was just another trailer. He said they had no showers. I'd say both fields had the same capacity with aluminum stands for about 600. The new place however has their stands running from about the 10 yard line in the south to the 40 yard line in the north rather than being half on each side of the 55 yard line. I switched to the other side of the field from the stands at halftime as I was still waiting for the Aurora gamesheet and I could see a lot better from the sideline then the stands which were behind a running track that kept the stands 20 yards away from the sideline. The choice of this field is just an interim solution because there are plans for the club to build their own facility another kilometer north of this field at The Aurora Family Complex on some currently unused land the official said. My eyes glazed over thinking of an 8000 pop-up Canadian Premier League stadium but they are just looking for a place for their L1O teams and all their youth teams. Aurora FC will be back here next Saturday for a home game at 7:00pm against North Toronto Nitros. Rocket Robin robing@eol.ca @RocketRobin01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatest Cockney Rip Off Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 Seems a bit cruel that Bitar was not allowed to take the penalty and get a hat trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopherbashi Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 I think we sat beside each other, Robin. I was convinced you'd go to the Vaughan/Durham game instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Robin Posted April 30, 2017 Author Share Posted April 30, 2017 29 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said: I think we sat beside each other, Robin. I was convinced you'd go to the Vaughan/Durham game instead. As I like to say I've seen every team at least three times a season, I try to get the teams coming into the GTA from afar because I won't be at their home games--so Ottawa was my choice for these conflicting times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Robin Posted April 30, 2017 Author Share Posted April 30, 2017 Result and details of the Sunday April 30, 2017 League 1 Ontario game between Toronto FC III and FC London played at the KIA Training Centre in Downsview at 1:00am. 32 min...TFC Ethan Beckford GOAL...Beckford is given pass for break-in down center by TFC Dante Campbell and rolls 22 yarder past sliding goalie into right side of net. 35 min...TFC Ethan Beckford GOAL...Beckford beats goalie Anthony Sokalski to the ball at 40 yard line, rounds him and shoots low 28 yarder up middle into open net. TFC Matthew Srbely had given Beckford a pass upfield that convinced the goalie to come that far out of his net. 40 min...TFC Nicholas Osorio GOAL...TFC Marko Mandekic gives crossfield short pass to Osorio at 22 yards and he blasts shot into top left corner. 61 min...TFC Nicholas Osorio GOAL...TFC Nikola Stakic feeds ball up the middle at center line for TFC Dante Campbell to run up the middle and tap ball around goalie at 15 yards for Osorio to shoot 15 yarder from left into empty net. 64 min...TFC Dante Campbell rolls pass to TFC Nicholas Osorio who's tripped up in the FCL box and referee Fabrizio Stasolla calls a Penalty kick. 65 min...TFC Ethan Beckford GOAL...Beckford blasts a Penalty kick to his left which flying goalie gets a hand to but only pushes it to the left corner of the net. 80 min...TFC Daniel DaSilva GOAL...TFC Steven Furlano taps pass at center line as he's being upended and DaSilva races down the middle, dekes diving goalie at 10 yards and taps ball into open net. Final Score:....Toronto FC III.......6.......FC London........0....... Attendance varied with the weather conditions but peaked at about 60. It was overcast, very cold, and extremely windy. It also started to drizzle at halftime but had stopped before the second half started. Parkas were worn by everyone except the on-field players and officials. Tomorrow is the first day of May! I took my pass off from around my neck as the wind caught it a few times and slapped me in the face. No sound system was brought out today and the corner flags were allowed to stay blown over. For my notes, a play would have to be pretty special for me to pry my mitt off to write it down so my more detailed notes are not going to be a play-by-play. Filippo Di Bennardo earned the shutout for TFC in a very easy game. An L1O tweet revealed that FCL didn't have one shot on goal. The TFC defence was solid with 2016 league-leading scorer Elvir Gigolaj and captain Christian Devia being held to very few chances. There wasn't too much to learn strategy wise on a day like today except keep the ball low so it doesn't get caught in the wind. The wind was strong and from the north which was cross-field so it didn't give either team an advantage in either half. Both teams were caught offside quite a few times. A security guard answered me that it's been three weeks since the winter bubble had been taken down leaving this field turf open to the elements. The FCL players never adapted the entire afternoon while TFC settled down after a few atomic crosses. TFC have changed their parka colours to gray and black so their subs didn't need to wear pinnies while warming up. I was wearing last year's red (thanks again Jason Bent!) so the ref requested I put one on and I wrestled for a few minutes to get it on in the wind. Best non-scoring chances were at 5 minutes when TFC Marko Mandekic took a 22 yard freekick from the right that had the goalie fly over to the top left corner to get a hand to and a defender cleared behind the end line. 43 minutes had FCL Mohammad Reza Nafar get tripped up in the TFC box getting away a blocked shot but got up and tapped the ball to FCL Sean Fawsitt who blasted a shot from 12 yards on the far right well over the net. 53 minutes had the FCL goalie trapped by a bad backpass with two TFC forwards on him in the box. TFC Ethan Beckford stripped him off the ball and crossed to the center of the box but a defender got back in time to head the ball away. 85 minutes had TFC Glenn Muenkat roll a pass across the box and TFC Daniel DaSilva with an open net blasted a 15 yard shot off the underside of the bar but the ball stayed out and the goalie picked it up on the bounce. 89 minutes had FCL Zach Witt recover a poor TFC back pass but his off balance shot from 18 yards was well wide right. Injury time had TFC Dante Campbell have a long run up the right and center a pass to Muenkat but the goalie slid out to the edge of the box to grab the ball and Muenkat fell over him injuring himself. TFC got off to a slow start last year before finishing strongly. This year rather than being their U-17s, they are referred to as U-19s and so most of the players I recognized from last year's roster. With TFC not operating a PDL team this year and their USL team stacked with foreigners, the Academy team is staying together at the T1O level. An FCL official before the game was telling me how much their roster has changed from last year by now being filled with U-21s but I didn't risk pulling the game rosters out of my bag for fear they'd blow across the field. The two teams' return match is Friday night August 25 at the German Canadian FC Stadium Field. I've been to 'Cove Road' years ago and maybe FCL can ensure an extra helping of mosquitoes for revenge against today's game. FC London captured the Western Conference title last season with TFC Academy (their name last year) finishing third. Sigma FC finished second. Toronto FC III will be back here next Sunday at 1:00pm for a home game against Sigma FC. Those two teams have a rivalry for who can put the most grads into the MLS. Sigma's most famous grad Kyle Larin is expected in town on Wednesday night for Orlando City's game against Toronto FC at the MLS level. Strange that in the parking lot at The Hangar and in then in my own driveway right after the game the wind was only a third of the speed of the KIA field. Rocket Robin robing@eol.ca @RocketRobin01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopherbashi Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Surprising result given how good FCL was last year - hopefully this isn't a precursor to TFC3 just stomping the league this year. Do you think this result was just because London was too cold to move, or has TFC3 improved that much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Robin Posted May 1, 2017 Author Share Posted May 1, 2017 Result and details of the Saturday April 29, 2017 League 1 Ontario game between Masters FA Saints and Woodbridge Strikers played at L'Amoreaux #1 in Scarborough at 9:00pm. 4 min...MFA Nathan Smith GOAL...MFA Maleik DeFreitas on right eludes defender and short centering pass to Smith who shoots low 12 yarder into left corner of net past diving goalie Quillan Roberts. 84 min...WS Luca Baldassarre GOAL...WS Milan Beader takes ball off MFA player who'd just chested ball down at 30 yards on right and taps pass over to Baldassarre who runs in and takes 15 yard shot that's stopped by sprawling goalie Danny Grant with Baldassarre getting first then second rebound from 6 yards into net over goalie. 94 min...WS Joshua Paredes-Proctor GOAL...WS Dylan Carreiro rushes on left and sends low cross from 25 yards into box which is a step in front of charging WS player but Paredes-Proctor is charging in from right and blasts 12 yarder off underside of the bar in the center of net. Final Score:...Masters FA Saints..1..Woodbridge Strikers..2 Attendance eventually grew to about 120 on this cold night. They were quite vocal cheering and booing with a Caribbean flavour. The wind from the L1O afternoon games had died down but my feet were numb by the end of the game. I've never seen a team be called for offside as often as Woodbridge tonight. They never gave up though and eventually it paid off with the two goals with the pressure they put on for the last 25 minutes plus stoppage time. The game had some rough play but referee Braeden Krampert gave out few cards. Whistles and warnings yes but he wasn't listening to the sirens' call from the MFA bench. Strikers have been known over the short L1O history to have one of the best defences in the league. They've made a few changes with goalie Matt George bolting for Oakville Blue Devils. A few new defenders and goalie Quillan Roberts from TFC and TFC II have joined the team. I was expecting Roberts would have an easy time and spend the year with Strikers just waiting for a call up to play somewhere in the new CPL league the next year but he struggled tonight. It might have been the first shot/first goal so early that jarred him but he was saving freekicks and shots but giving up rebounds or fumbling them out of bounds for cornerkicks. We'll have to see if time to fit in with the team and warmer weather helps Roberts' confidence. Danny Grant in the MFA net was much busier. He kept them in the game until the end. Note that both Strikers scorers were subs with Baldassarre scoring after only eight minutes of action. On the MFA bench as a team official was Rick Titus, who last year was the coach of North Mississauga Panthers. He's been with MFA for less than a week but has big plans for the team. He said he wants to treat the club as family. He said he has some players he will bring over from last year's team. This may be four to six of the stars of last year's team (to be fair I'll wait and not speculate who they are). Even with the current roster, the team looks much better than last year. Masters next game will be next Saturday at 9:00pm against Ottawa South United Force. Rocket Robin robing@eol.ca @RocketRobin01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Robin Posted May 2, 2017 Author Share Posted May 2, 2017 On 4/30/2017 at 8:55 PM, Gopherbashi said: Do you think this result was just because London was too cold to move, or has TFC3 improved that much? maybe a little bit of both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopherbashi Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 Are you going to Woodbridge vs Durham this weekend by chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Robin Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 10 hours ago, Gopherbashi said: Are you going to Woodbridge vs Durham this weekend by chance? I'm not sure. It may be by then my fourth game of the weekend with rain expected from last night until Monday...I may have had enough...and might not have enough time to write up all the games. I'd be in my red TFC parka (highs of between 0 and 5 for that night) with binoculars around my neck. You know that old expression--April showers bring......May showers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Robin Posted May 7, 2017 Author Share Posted May 7, 2017 lineups and pictures now added (usually by the middle of the week).... http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports17/17l1o041.htm Aurora FC vs OSUF (Ottawa) TFC III vs FC London http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports17/17l1o042.htm Masters vs Woodbridge http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports17/17l1o043.htm ...and now on to Week 2..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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