League 1 Ontario--Week 08

[Rocket Robin]

Result and details of the Sunday June 18, 2017 League 1 Ontario game between
Oakville Blue Devils and Ottawa South United Force played at Sheridan College
Trafalgar Campus in Oakville at 4:00pm.

3 min...OSUF Gabriel Bitar GOAL...Bitar intercepts defender at 20 yard line
on left and dribbles towards end line and chips 18 yard sharp angle shot
over goalie David Monk at 7 yards guarding left post and ball bounces
into right corner of net.

23 min...OBD Anthony Novak blasts a recovered blocked shot at 25 yards
which hits a defender's arm just inside box. Referee Hassane Rifai calls
for a Penalty kick.

23 min...OBD Filipe Vilela GOAL...Vilela stutter steps then blasts Penalty
kick low to center of goal as goalie Nick Jeffs dives left.

27 min...OBD Mathew Santos GOAL...OBD Khody Ellis beats defender at 25 yards
on right side by letting ball run by both of them and rescues ball on right
end line and rolls short centering pass back to Santos who drags trailing
foot at 8 yards on left and flicks it over sprawling goalie to center of net.

58 min...OBD Anthony Novak GOAL...OBD Khody Ellis cuts in from right
along 25 yard line and rolls ball up middle too far for teammate
at 15 yards but charging Novak gets to ball ahead of teammate and defender
to ball at 8 yards and one touches ball into left corner of net.

59 min...OSUF George Anthony El-Asmar GOAL...OBD defenders clear ball
on edge of box wth OSUF Cornwall tripped up and El-Asmar recovers partial
clearance and blasts low 25 yarder forward between defenders and into left
side of net just inside left post beyond diving goalie.

85 min...OBD Mikeal Taylor McNamara GOAL...Taylor McNamara takes short
cornerkick from left and is immediately passed back ball. He runs out
to just outside top left corner of box and blasts 25 yarder that banks
off inside of right post.

Final Score:...Oakville Blue Devils...4...Ottawa South United Force...2...

Attendance was about 125 on this hot but mostly overcast afternoon.
It started to rain at 24 minutes and varied between hard rain and stopping
a few more times during the game. It certainly made it tougher for goalies
to make catches.

OSUF had a long drive from Ottawa to get here as Oakville is 40 kms south
west of Toronto slightly closer to Hamilton. From the original schedule
at the beginning of the year, this game was moved from 1PM to 4PM
to accommodate the 5+ hour drive it would take to get here. OSUF only
brought four subs and their choices were limited when at the 11 minute
mark starter Walker Smith was injured and couldn't continue.

Referee Hassane Rifai gave out five Yellow cards (three to OSUF and the
Oakville ones were after the 87 minute mark) and awarded the Penalty
kick. He was popular calling water breaks at 24 and 68 minutes.
Actually from 24 minutes the players could have ran with their tongues
stuck out as it rained for most of the rest of the game.

OBD Taylor McNamara's goal was the final insurance needed to ensure
the win at 85 minutes. I counted this as the sixth cornerkick he took
from the left corner in the second half! He tried high crosses, short
workouts and passbacks before crossing, and low crosses. This final
one was a jaw dropper

OBD's regular goalie Matt George was serving a suspension but was
watching from the stands. He served a few when I watched him over
the years playing for Woodbridge.

Since this was Father's Day that was the theme through today's events.
The lineup for the national anthem had goalkeeping coach Glenn McNamara
stand beside his sons Connor, captain Taylor and a third son,
and Judah Hernandez carried out his baby daughter. After the game
there was a group picture of the ballboys from OBD and their fathers.

A locksmith had to be called in to pry a way into the broadcast booth
so announcements could be made and music played besides the league
laptops. This game was broadcast live on Livestream so the technology
was important to work.

I had a choice of one out of three games to see this afternoon
as they overlapped. See a team win for the first time this season?
That would be Sanjaxx vs Toronto Skillz in the eighth week of the
season. A game not so competitive? Toronto FC III vs Aurora; yep
that one was 7-0 for TFC...or this game involving a contending team
each from the East and West. This was probably the best.
Also I didn't want to be standing out in the rain as Sheridan College
has a covered stands although the way the gusty wind direction blew
the rain was falling over the first 12 rows and I ended up cowering
back in the last 7 rows. The Toronto area games probably ended
before the rain started. Yeah this one was the best played with
lots of end to end action.

Oakville Blue Devils win and improve their record to 7 wins and
1 loss, 0 ties for first place in the Western Conference. They
actually pass Sigma FC who held first for a day who had played
and won yesterday.

OSUF lose and drop to 3 wins, 5 losses and 0 ties for fifth place
in the eight team Eastern Conference. I saw them the first two
weeks of the season come to the GTA and beat Aurora FC then
Master's Futbol (in the pre Rick Titus era) and thought they
would do very well but they have certainly fizzled after that
great early start. About all that's left for them is to keep
advancing in the League Cup where they have a second round match
(final eight teams) against Durham United. It was just posted
to the L1O website within the last day or so that the game
is on Wednesday June 18 at 7:00pm and the venue is George Nelms
Park which is the OSUF home so I'd rate them as favourites
as Durham have to travel to Ottawa for a midweek game. We'll see
what the DUFA bench strength will be.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter  @RocketRobin01