johnnybluenose
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Weekly Review 2008/2009 Azzi's Weekly Report
- Thread starter gilly
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alleyezonme
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knvb for life.. pasta tuesday?
WEEK #14—2008-12-09
All 6 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as the weatherman continued to cooperate! No major upsets took place although a couple of aspiring teams—Croatia SC and the Metro-Ford Wolves—had to settle for single points against Westside FC and the RCIU Legends respectively. In the most important game of the week, the Norvan Eagles defeated the Serbian White Eagles 3-1 and therefore were able to elevate themselves out of the dreaded relegation zone.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC remained in the running for the coveted Premier Division title by defeating Sporting Club of Vancouver by a 2-0 margin, leaving the defending champions mired in the last place in the standings. Very early in the match, the home team took the lead as veteran Paul Dailly took advantage of an uncharacteristic blunder on the part of goalkeeper Brian Brum to slot home what proved to be the winning goal. In fact, a poor clearance by Brum was brilliantly converted by Dailly as he pounded the ball into the open net from long range. Midway through the first half, the former Trollers added their second marker when Ryan Glanville rose above the Sporting defenders to head home a well-executed corner kick by none other than Paul Dailly. West Van continued to press and came close to scoring on numerous occasions but some poor finishing on the part of its forwards, as well as some bad luck, kept the score at 2-0 at the halftime break. In particular, shots by Milad Rahmati and Paul Dailly bounced off the woodwork and out of danger with the Sporting Club goalkeeper well beaten. It should also be mentioned that Sporting Club came close to narrowing the margin when Jeff Yoon made a great run down the right flank, crossed the ball to Ryan Dormer, whose close-range shot just missed the net. In the second half, West Van continued to dominate and only some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of substitute goalkeeper Shameel Shariff kept the score somewhat respectable. Defensively, Leo Nash and Geoff Buchanan were rock-solid for West Van, making life relatively easy for goalkeepers Marco Durante and young Nick Boyd as they shared the clean sheet. The victory solidifies West Van’s hopes of reaching first place, while the loss puts the reigning VMSL champions deeper and deeper in hole!!!
Also on Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, the visiting Surrey United Firefighters and ICSF Inter settled for a 1-1 tie after a rather scrappy and uneventful 90 minutes of play. The Firemen had most of the play in the early going and could have taken the lead had it not been for an outstanding save by young goalkeeper Erman Ozkan on a wicked drive by Tom Lowndes. Midway through the first half, however, Surrey United was finally able to get on the scoresheet when Lucas Barrett capitalized on a poor Inter clearance to slot home the opening goal. In the second half Inter made several substitutions, a tactic which proved to be useful since the ‘Italians’ started to create some goalscoring opportunities of their own—something that didn’t occur in the first half. The fact that the Firemen were reduced to 10 men—due to the expulsion of Tom Lowndes for having received 2 cautions—did not help the visitors’ cause either! However, the tying goal did not get scored until very late in the game when a patented cross from the foot of Joseph Marrello was hammered towards the net by young Marco Visentin. The ball, after bouncing off the post, was then calmly headed into the wide open net by Andrew Corazza for the equalizer. Midfielder Mike Winters and defender Anthony Marrello played very well for ICSF, while newly-transferred Josh Bennett and goalkeeper Mike Franks turned in excellent performances for Surrey United. The single point helps neither team a great deal as the Firemen remain in the dreaded relegation zone, while ICSF Inter’s chances of finishing in the top 4 diminished considerably.
The third Friday evening game was played at Burnaby Lake West Complex and featured the seemingly unbeatable Columbus-Clan FC and the young, and skillful, Delta WFC. After a very entertaining 90 minutes of non-stop action, Columbus came away with a hard-fought 4-2 victory, a result that helps the ‘Italians’ quest to capture the very elusive Premier Division championship. Very early in the match, the ‘prospects’ took the lead when Harry Lakhan’s cross was flicked onto the path of Marcus Johnstone by Ian Clark. Without a moment’s hesitation, Johnstone blasted the ball into the top corner of the net for his 7th goal of the season. Columbus came storming back and tied things up shortly thereafter when Steve De Blasio’s cross was inadvertently re-directed into his own net by Delta defender Rhys Volkenant. Midway through the first half Columbus took the lead when Tino Cucca was sent in on goal on a breakaway by a clever pass by Tiernan King. Cucca had no difficulty in slotting the ball into the back of the net for Columbus’ go-ahead goal. It should be mentioned that, a few minutes earlier, Cucca had missed the net by inches on a very similar situation. A few minutes later, Delta tied things up with the goal of the match as Navid Maschinchi finished off a slick passing play, also involving Marcus Haber and Nolan Moore. It should be noted that this was Maschinchi’s 8th goal of the season. Shortly thereafter, the prospects had a great opportunity to take the lead as they were awarded a penalty kick when Marcus Haber was fouled inside the penalty area by Columbus’ goalkeeper, Thomas Lindley. Unfortunately to the Delta lads, Marcus Johnstone missed the net on the ensuing penalty kick. Very late in the first half, Rhys Volkenant committed his second cardinal sin of the match as he held Rizal Ganief as he was streaking towards the Delta goal. As a result, a direct free kick was awarded to Columbus and Volkenant was expelled from the match for having denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Tiernan King’s wicked free kick bounced off the crossbar onto the path of defender Blair Robertson who calmly tapped the ball into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. In the second half, Columbus created many glorious goalscoring chances—mostly by Tiernan King and Rizal Ganief—but converted only one of them to walk away with the well-deserved 4-2 victory. The final goal was not a thing of beauty as a goalmouth scramble resulted in Ganief firing a shot towards the Delta goal. The ball was cleared off the line onto the path of a once again strategically-placed Blair Robertson who had no difficulty in slotting the ball home for his second goal of the match. It should be mentioned that young defender Kyle Knees had an outstanding game for Delta WFC. As mentioned earlier, the victory keeps Columbus in the running for the Premier Division title, while Delta WFC’s record drops to a still very respectable 7-1-6.
The fourth, and last, Friday evening game was played at Point Grey School in Vancouver between Westside FC and Croatia SC. The heavily-favoured Croatians were unable to score against the struggling Westsiders and eventually settled for a 0-0 draw, a result that helps neither one of the teams. In fact, Croatia SC—as a result of the tie—loses ground at the top of the table to fellow contenders Columbus and West Van, while Westside FC is now only 2 points out of penultimate place in the Premier Division table. As has been the case recently, the Croatians had most of the scoring chances but were unable to convert them into the all-important goals they so badly needed to remain in contention for the title. In particular, during the second half, Croatia had a couple of glorious chances to score. First, Adrian Kekec—on a set-up by Gary Anderson—missed the net by a few inches with a wicked shot from the edge of the penalty area. Then, a Johnny Sulentic blistering free kick was brilliantly saved by Westside’s goalkeeper, Rowan Anders. Late in the match, Sulentic was unable to convert yet another great opportunity as he missed the wide open net with Anders beaten. At the other end of the pitch, Westside also had a couple of semi-chances but Michael Sami and Sebastian Crema were unable to capitalize on them. Midfielder John Stonhocker played very well for the Westsiders, while goalkeeper Rowan Anders was at his absolute best as he repeatedly denied the Croatians their much-needed goal.
On Saturday, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, two desperate Eagles—Norvan and the Serbians—clashed in a drastic attempt to gain all 3 points and, as a result, to get out of the relegation zone. After 90 minutes of non-stop action, the Norvan Eagles came away with a hard-fought, and well-earned, 3-1 victory over the very skillful Serbian White Eagles. Led by Gibson Bardsley and Blake Burgon, Norvan took the game to the White Eagles from the opening whistle and created several goal-scoring opportunities. Eventually, the home team was able to score the opening goal as Bardsley—with an immaculate pass—set up veteran Shawn Blakeway for an easy tap-in from close range. After the halftime break, the Serbians started taking control of the match and tied things up very early in the second half as a result of a fine passing play involving Alex Kosanin, Dejan Purisic and Vojan Kos. In the end it was Kos that capped off a fine individual performance by slotting the ball into the back of the net past a bewildered Drew Smiley. The Serbians continued their attack, but some excellent defending on the part of Norvan’s Mike Speakman, Edward Bradford, and Matt Brewster kept the skillful visitors at bay. Also, the persistent man-marking tactic of Dejan Purisic by Norvan’s Harpeet Khakh paid huge dividends as the talented Purisic was unable to display his usual ball control and passing skills. As luck would have it, however, it was Norvan that took the lead on a clinical counter-attack as Nick Cashmere received an impeccable pass from Gibson Bardsley, raced in all alone and slotted the ball into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. At this point, the Serbians pushed forward even more in their desperate attempt to score the equalizer and came very close when Miso Rakita watched agonizingly as his wicked full-volley sailed just wide of the net. Once again, however, the White Eagles were punished on a Norvan counter-attack when Shawn Blakeway scored his second goal of the match to seal the victory for the home team. The all-important 3 points elevate Norvan out of penultimate place in the Premier Division table, a spot now occupied by the Serbian White Eagles.
Also on Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, the RCIU Legends held the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves to a 1-1 tie. In actual fact, it was the heavily-favoured Wolves that held the underdog Legends to the tie since the home team had a vast advantage of the ball possession as well as goalscoring opportunities. Richmond took the early lead when a long clearance by goalkeeper Matt Clayton was flicked on by Brad Caldwell onto the path of Chris Jarvie who, after outpacing a flat-footed Metro-Ford backline, calmly deposited the ball past goalkeeper Mathew Bird for the game’s opening goal. The Wolves stormed back in search of the equalizer, but some excellent defensive play on the part of Richmond’s Stu Walters and Tim Sowerby denied the visitors of any clear-cut scoring opportunities. In fact, it was the Legends that came close to increasing their lead when, midway through the first half, another long clearance by Matt Clayton once again found a wide-open Chris Jarvie. This time, however, Mat Bird rose to the occasion and pulled off a sensational save to keep the score at 1-0. In the second half, the Wolves began to take control of the tempo of the mach as they desperately searched for the equalizer. However, they had to wait until the dying moments of the match when Brian Van Schagen found a streaking Joey Scigliano with a perfectly-executed pass. The newly-transferred veteran made no mistake in slotting home the equalizer from the edge of the penalty area with one of his patented, clinical finishing touches. Defensively, Brook Scott had an outstanding game for Metro-Ford, while Geoff Salt was practically unbeatable on the Legends’ backline. Richmond’s forward Darren Prentice was also a going concern throughout the contest as he drove the Metro-Ford defenders to distraction with his penetrating runs and excellent skills. The result leaves the Wolves in first place, but only by the slimmest of margins, while the Legends remain in the middle of the pack with a 4-5-5 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: NORVAN EAGLES for their gutsy performance in defeating the visiting Serbian White Eagles by a 3-1 margin in a ‘relegation-avoidance’ battle. Led by the 2-goal performance of veteran Shawn Blakeway, as well as some excellent defending on the part of Matt Brewster, Edward Bradford, and Mike Speakman, the Eagles were able to accomplish the all important goal of gaining all 3 points.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Columbus-Clan’s defender BLAIR ROBERTSON for his amazing 2-goal performance in his team’s 4-2 victory over Delta WFC. Not only did Robertson contribute 2 goals to the all-important victory, but he also turned in a remarkable defensive performance as he continually thwarted the young and skillful Delta forwards. For his brilliant effort, BLAIR ROBERTSON will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2008-12-30.
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All 6 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as the weatherman continued to cooperate! No major upsets took place although a couple of aspiring teams—Croatia SC and the Metro-Ford Wolves—had to settle for single points against Westside FC and the RCIU Legends respectively. In the most important game of the week, the Norvan Eagles defeated the Serbian White Eagles 3-1 and therefore were able to elevate themselves out of the dreaded relegation zone.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC remained in the running for the coveted Premier Division title by defeating Sporting Club of Vancouver by a 2-0 margin, leaving the defending champions mired in the last place in the standings. Very early in the match, the home team took the lead as veteran Paul Dailly took advantage of an uncharacteristic blunder on the part of goalkeeper Brian Brum to slot home what proved to be the winning goal. In fact, a poor clearance by Brum was brilliantly converted by Dailly as he pounded the ball into the open net from long range. Midway through the first half, the former Trollers added their second marker when Ryan Glanville rose above the Sporting defenders to head home a well-executed corner kick by none other than Paul Dailly. West Van continued to press and came close to scoring on numerous occasions but some poor finishing on the part of its forwards, as well as some bad luck, kept the score at 2-0 at the halftime break. In particular, shots by Milad Rahmati and Paul Dailly bounced off the woodwork and out of danger with the Sporting Club goalkeeper well beaten. It should also be mentioned that Sporting Club came close to narrowing the margin when Jeff Yoon made a great run down the right flank, crossed the ball to Ryan Dormer, whose close-range shot just missed the net. In the second half, West Van continued to dominate and only some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of substitute goalkeeper Shameel Shariff kept the score somewhat respectable. Defensively, Leo Nash and Geoff Buchanan were rock-solid for West Van, making life relatively easy for goalkeepers Marco Durante and young Nick Boyd as they shared the clean sheet. The victory solidifies West Van’s hopes of reaching first place, while the loss puts the reigning VMSL champions deeper and deeper in hole!!!
Also on Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, the visiting Surrey United Firefighters and ICSF Inter settled for a 1-1 tie after a rather scrappy and uneventful 90 minutes of play. The Firemen had most of the play in the early going and could have taken the lead had it not been for an outstanding save by young goalkeeper Erman Ozkan on a wicked drive by Tom Lowndes. Midway through the first half, however, Surrey United was finally able to get on the scoresheet when Lucas Barrett capitalized on a poor Inter clearance to slot home the opening goal. In the second half Inter made several substitutions, a tactic which proved to be useful since the ‘Italians’ started to create some goalscoring opportunities of their own—something that didn’t occur in the first half. The fact that the Firemen were reduced to 10 men—due to the expulsion of Tom Lowndes for having received 2 cautions—did not help the visitors’ cause either! However, the tying goal did not get scored until very late in the game when a patented cross from the foot of Joseph Marrello was hammered towards the net by young Marco Visentin. The ball, after bouncing off the post, was then calmly headed into the wide open net by Andrew Corazza for the equalizer. Midfielder Mike Winters and defender Anthony Marrello played very well for ICSF, while newly-transferred Josh Bennett and goalkeeper Mike Franks turned in excellent performances for Surrey United. The single point helps neither team a great deal as the Firemen remain in the dreaded relegation zone, while ICSF Inter’s chances of finishing in the top 4 diminished considerably.
The third Friday evening game was played at Burnaby Lake West Complex and featured the seemingly unbeatable Columbus-Clan FC and the young, and skillful, Delta WFC. After a very entertaining 90 minutes of non-stop action, Columbus came away with a hard-fought 4-2 victory, a result that helps the ‘Italians’ quest to capture the very elusive Premier Division championship. Very early in the match, the ‘prospects’ took the lead when Harry Lakhan’s cross was flicked onto the path of Marcus Johnstone by Ian Clark. Without a moment’s hesitation, Johnstone blasted the ball into the top corner of the net for his 7th goal of the season. Columbus came storming back and tied things up shortly thereafter when Steve De Blasio’s cross was inadvertently re-directed into his own net by Delta defender Rhys Volkenant. Midway through the first half Columbus took the lead when Tino Cucca was sent in on goal on a breakaway by a clever pass by Tiernan King. Cucca had no difficulty in slotting the ball into the back of the net for Columbus’ go-ahead goal. It should be mentioned that, a few minutes earlier, Cucca had missed the net by inches on a very similar situation. A few minutes later, Delta tied things up with the goal of the match as Navid Maschinchi finished off a slick passing play, also involving Marcus Haber and Nolan Moore. It should be noted that this was Maschinchi’s 8th goal of the season. Shortly thereafter, the prospects had a great opportunity to take the lead as they were awarded a penalty kick when Marcus Haber was fouled inside the penalty area by Columbus’ goalkeeper, Thomas Lindley. Unfortunately to the Delta lads, Marcus Johnstone missed the net on the ensuing penalty kick. Very late in the first half, Rhys Volkenant committed his second cardinal sin of the match as he held Rizal Ganief as he was streaking towards the Delta goal. As a result, a direct free kick was awarded to Columbus and Volkenant was expelled from the match for having denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Tiernan King’s wicked free kick bounced off the crossbar onto the path of defender Blair Robertson who calmly tapped the ball into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. In the second half, Columbus created many glorious goalscoring chances—mostly by Tiernan King and Rizal Ganief—but converted only one of them to walk away with the well-deserved 4-2 victory. The final goal was not a thing of beauty as a goalmouth scramble resulted in Ganief firing a shot towards the Delta goal. The ball was cleared off the line onto the path of a once again strategically-placed Blair Robertson who had no difficulty in slotting the ball home for his second goal of the match. It should be mentioned that young defender Kyle Knees had an outstanding game for Delta WFC. As mentioned earlier, the victory keeps Columbus in the running for the Premier Division title, while Delta WFC’s record drops to a still very respectable 7-1-6.
The fourth, and last, Friday evening game was played at Point Grey School in Vancouver between Westside FC and Croatia SC. The heavily-favoured Croatians were unable to score against the struggling Westsiders and eventually settled for a 0-0 draw, a result that helps neither one of the teams. In fact, Croatia SC—as a result of the tie—loses ground at the top of the table to fellow contenders Columbus and West Van, while Westside FC is now only 2 points out of penultimate place in the Premier Division table. As has been the case recently, the Croatians had most of the scoring chances but were unable to convert them into the all-important goals they so badly needed to remain in contention for the title. In particular, during the second half, Croatia had a couple of glorious chances to score. First, Adrian Kekec—on a set-up by Gary Anderson—missed the net by a few inches with a wicked shot from the edge of the penalty area. Then, a Johnny Sulentic blistering free kick was brilliantly saved by Westside’s goalkeeper, Rowan Anders. Late in the match, Sulentic was unable to convert yet another great opportunity as he missed the wide open net with Anders beaten. At the other end of the pitch, Westside also had a couple of semi-chances but Michael Sami and Sebastian Crema were unable to capitalize on them. Midfielder John Stonhocker played very well for the Westsiders, while goalkeeper Rowan Anders was at his absolute best as he repeatedly denied the Croatians their much-needed goal.
On Saturday, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, two desperate Eagles—Norvan and the Serbians—clashed in a drastic attempt to gain all 3 points and, as a result, to get out of the relegation zone. After 90 minutes of non-stop action, the Norvan Eagles came away with a hard-fought, and well-earned, 3-1 victory over the very skillful Serbian White Eagles. Led by Gibson Bardsley and Blake Burgon, Norvan took the game to the White Eagles from the opening whistle and created several goal-scoring opportunities. Eventually, the home team was able to score the opening goal as Bardsley—with an immaculate pass—set up veteran Shawn Blakeway for an easy tap-in from close range. After the halftime break, the Serbians started taking control of the match and tied things up very early in the second half as a result of a fine passing play involving Alex Kosanin, Dejan Purisic and Vojan Kos. In the end it was Kos that capped off a fine individual performance by slotting the ball into the back of the net past a bewildered Drew Smiley. The Serbians continued their attack, but some excellent defending on the part of Norvan’s Mike Speakman, Edward Bradford, and Matt Brewster kept the skillful visitors at bay. Also, the persistent man-marking tactic of Dejan Purisic by Norvan’s Harpeet Khakh paid huge dividends as the talented Purisic was unable to display his usual ball control and passing skills. As luck would have it, however, it was Norvan that took the lead on a clinical counter-attack as Nick Cashmere received an impeccable pass from Gibson Bardsley, raced in all alone and slotted the ball into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. At this point, the Serbians pushed forward even more in their desperate attempt to score the equalizer and came very close when Miso Rakita watched agonizingly as his wicked full-volley sailed just wide of the net. Once again, however, the White Eagles were punished on a Norvan counter-attack when Shawn Blakeway scored his second goal of the match to seal the victory for the home team. The all-important 3 points elevate Norvan out of penultimate place in the Premier Division table, a spot now occupied by the Serbian White Eagles.
Also on Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, the RCIU Legends held the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves to a 1-1 tie. In actual fact, it was the heavily-favoured Wolves that held the underdog Legends to the tie since the home team had a vast advantage of the ball possession as well as goalscoring opportunities. Richmond took the early lead when a long clearance by goalkeeper Matt Clayton was flicked on by Brad Caldwell onto the path of Chris Jarvie who, after outpacing a flat-footed Metro-Ford backline, calmly deposited the ball past goalkeeper Mathew Bird for the game’s opening goal. The Wolves stormed back in search of the equalizer, but some excellent defensive play on the part of Richmond’s Stu Walters and Tim Sowerby denied the visitors of any clear-cut scoring opportunities. In fact, it was the Legends that came close to increasing their lead when, midway through the first half, another long clearance by Matt Clayton once again found a wide-open Chris Jarvie. This time, however, Mat Bird rose to the occasion and pulled off a sensational save to keep the score at 1-0. In the second half, the Wolves began to take control of the tempo of the mach as they desperately searched for the equalizer. However, they had to wait until the dying moments of the match when Brian Van Schagen found a streaking Joey Scigliano with a perfectly-executed pass. The newly-transferred veteran made no mistake in slotting home the equalizer from the edge of the penalty area with one of his patented, clinical finishing touches. Defensively, Brook Scott had an outstanding game for Metro-Ford, while Geoff Salt was practically unbeatable on the Legends’ backline. Richmond’s forward Darren Prentice was also a going concern throughout the contest as he drove the Metro-Ford defenders to distraction with his penetrating runs and excellent skills. The result leaves the Wolves in first place, but only by the slimmest of margins, while the Legends remain in the middle of the pack with a 4-5-5 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: NORVAN EAGLES for their gutsy performance in defeating the visiting Serbian White Eagles by a 3-1 margin in a ‘relegation-avoidance’ battle. Led by the 2-goal performance of veteran Shawn Blakeway, as well as some excellent defending on the part of Matt Brewster, Edward Bradford, and Mike Speakman, the Eagles were able to accomplish the all important goal of gaining all 3 points.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Columbus-Clan’s defender BLAIR ROBERTSON for his amazing 2-goal performance in his team’s 4-2 victory over Delta WFC. Not only did Robertson contribute 2 goals to the all-important victory, but he also turned in a remarkable defensive performance as he continually thwarted the young and skillful Delta forwards. For his brilliant effort, BLAIR ROBERTSON will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2008-12-30.
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- Thread starter
- #124
Wow.......the weekly report needs to go. I mean they really are fabricated reading. Willy was at the game and didn't realize that it was not Jomo that patentedly crossed the ball. Worse yet, Jomo wasn't even on the park. And to show you how fabricated things are; Jomo didn't even play against Firemen.
Nice cross Nick Seddon.
Gilly
- Thread starter
- #128
Sixfyv,
It may well be that Koeman may have made an error while submitting his report, but my point is that when Mr. Azzi is present at the game that he should know whether or not a player actually participates in the game itself. I think he may have been distracted for a moment or two with our indomitable performances of late. However, each week it just seems like cut and paste with occasional team and name changes.
Jomo10,
I'm sure my reports would include subtle nuances from a sideline perspective that often get missed by the naked eye. And I'm almost as certain as Azzi's report, that it was indeed Seds, who magnificently played an exquisite ball from the left flank position that led directly to our equalizer in the dying moments of the game.
Gilly
I had no hand in the writing of this report, or the last few. I used to make such submissions but became frustrated that the effort that went into making them accurate and entertaining to read was not reflected in the final product.
As you know, I have had the displeasure of watching all of Inter's games this year, sometimes several times due to the miracle of modern technology.
I do know the difference between Jomo and Seddon. If it were a patented cross, someone should sue for trademark infringement.
As you know, I have had the displeasure of watching all of Inter's games this year, sometimes several times due to the miracle of modern technology.
I do know the difference between Jomo and Seddon. If it were a patented cross, someone should sue for trademark infringement.
WEEK #15—2008-12-16
All 6 Premier Division games were played this past weekend since they were scheduled for either Friday or Saturday, thus avoiding the snow fall and subsequent field closures. The battle at the top of the table got more interesting as West Van FC and Croatia SC climbed a step closer to the top while the Metro-Ford Wolves and Columbus-Clan FC slipped down the ladder a wee bit. At the bottom of the standings, the struggle to avoid relegation became even more intense as the Norvan Eagles, the Serbian White Eagles, and Sporting Club all lost their very important games.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the reigning VMSL champions—Sporting Club of Vancouver—sank even deeper in the basement of the Premier Division table by dropping a 2-0 decision to the visiting Westside FC. Sporting Club got off to a good start and controlled most of the early action, but once again they were unable to finish off any of their numerous chances. As luck would have it, it was the visiting Westsiders that got on the scoreboard midway through the first half. Midfielder John Stoenhocker took advantage of a defensive Sporting turnover and laid a perfectly-executed pass onto the path of young Sebastian Crema, who raced in all alone and calmly deposited the ball into the Sporting net for the all-important first goal. Sporting Club continued to press in search of the equalizer but its forwards were unable to penetrate a rock-solid Westside defence—led by newly-signed Graham Smith and veteran Cam Kochorek. Midway through the second half, once again against the run of play, Sebastian Crema slammed home his second goal of the match as he volleyed an excellent cross by Jay Kent-Hume into the back of the Sporting net. Sporting rallied back and came close to scoring late in the game when a well-taken free kick by Mark Gomes was redirected off the goal post by Mike Gomes. Sporting’s veteran forward Ryan Dormer, as well as defender Mike Gomes, had outstanding games, albeit in a losing cause. The victory lifts Westside FC out of the relegation zone, at least temporarily, while Sporting Club now needs a minor miracle to avoid demotion to Division 1.
Also on Friday evening, the battle of the giants—between Croatia SC and Columbus-Clan FC—took place at Point Grey School in Vancouver. Both teams desperately needed the entire 3 points to remain in contention for the coveted Premier Division title. In the end, the Croatians prevailed by a 2-1 margin, a result that left them only 5 points behind the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves—with a game in hand. The first half of play provided the numerous spectators with a lot of entertaining and exciting action as both teams took turns attacking and defending. Very early in the game, Columbus took the lead when defender Blair Robertson found Tiernan King at the edge of the penalty area with an impeccable long cross. Without a moment’s hesitation, King converted the cross into the go-ahead goal as he volleyed the ball into back of the net, giving goalkeeper Didar Sandhu no chance whatsoever. Columbus retained control of the match for the next 20 minutes and came very close to adding to its lead on at least 3 occasions as Sandhu was forced to make a few miraculous saves—in particular on breakaways by Tino Cucca, Rizal Ganief, and Tiernan King. After the Croatians weathered the early Columbus onslaught, they composed themselves and started creating some goalscoring opportunities of their own. At about the 30th minute mark, former professional Johnny Sulentic tied the score on a clever shot from the edge of the penalty area. Soon thereafter, Adrian Kekec took advantage of a defensive blunder on the part of Tynan Diaz and proceeded to blast the ball into the Columbus net for what proved to be the winning goal. The Croatians continued to attack for the remainder of the first half and only some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Thomas Lindley prevented them from adding more goals to their lead. In particular, a wicked free kick drive by Johnny Sulentic was brilliantly saved by Lindley. Also, Daniel Rogic—on a great set-up by Adrian Kekec—narrowly missed the net with Lindley well-beaten. In the second half, Columbus tried hard to get back into the match, but the Croatians were able to maintain their composure as they sat back and defended their narrow lead brilliantly. In fact, Croatia SC had the best scoring opportunities in the second half as Adrian Kekec and Gary Anderson—both on counter-attacks—came very close to adding to their team’s lead. As mentioned earlier, the Croatian victory keeps them in the race for first place, while Columbus goes into the Christmas break 4 points behind the league leaders.
The third Friday evening game was played at Cloverdale Athletic Park and featured the rejuvenated Surrey United Firefighters and the slumping, but still league-leading, Metro-Ford Wolves. The final 1-1 result pretty well tells the tale of the game as neither team really deserved to walk away with all 3 points. After an evenly-played opening 30 minutes, the Wolves took the lead on a brilliant display of skill as veteran Joe Scigliano took advantage of an uncharacteristic Surrey United turnover and quickly spotted Emilio Bottiglieri down the left flank. Bottiglieri then proceeded to cross the ball to an unmarked Kingsley Jones who neatly headed the ball across the face of the goal for Azad Palani to head home. In the second half, Surrey United pressed hard in search of the equalizer, but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Mathew Bird kept the Wolves in the lead until the 70th minute of the match. At this point, Surrey’s newly-signed Josh Bennett gained control of the ball in his team’s defensive area, raced down the field, and brilliantly crossed the ball to an unmarked Lucas Barrett who was able to convert it into the tying goal from close range. It should be mentioned that veteran Steve McAuley and young Brad Peetoom kept the vaunted Metro-Ford attackers at bay for most of the match with some excellent defensive work. The single point does neither team any favours as the ‘Firefighters’ remain in the danger area near the bottom of the table and the Wolves are now on the verge of losing the Premier Division leadership.
The fourth, and last, Friday evening game was played at Vancouver Technical School between two teams at the opposite end of the standings and, therefore, with two totally different reasons for wanting the victory. In fact, the visiting West Van FC are in the middle of a highly-contested battle with at least 3 other teams for the league championship while the Serbian White Eagles are mired in the dreaded relegation zone and, as a result, in desperate need of points. As expected, the former Trollers took control of the match right from the opening whistle and fully deserved the 2-0 victory with one of their typically skillful performances. Newly-signed youngster Robbie Giezen opened the scoring at the 6th minute mark when he converted a superlative 3-way passing play, also involving Paul Dailly and Ryan Glanville. Midway through the first half, veteran Paul Dailly added the insurance marker when he unleashed a powerful free kick from outside the penalty area, a shot that gave goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic no chance whatsoever. The free kick had been awarded when Milad Rahmati was fouled by Dejan Purisic. West Van continued to press forward in search of more goals but goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic—yet another former Whitecap playing in the VMSL—stood tall and saved everything thrown his way. At the other end of the pitch, West Van defenders Leo Nash and Geoff Buchanan kept the skillful White Eagles at bay, making life relatively easy for young goalkeeper Nick Boyd as he recorded West Van’s 9th shutout of the season. For the White Eagles, defender Sava Okuka, midfielder Dejan Purisic, forward Nemanja Okuka, and goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic played extremely well, albeit in a losing cause. The victory keeps the West Vancouver team in the race for first place, while the White Eagles go into the Christmas break in penultimate place in the standings.
On Saturday afternoon, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, the visiting RCIU Legends edged the Norvan Eagles 1-0 in yet another very important game between two teams in desperate need of points. Led by the excellent performance of newly-reinstated Jason Jordan, the Legends took the game to Norvan in the opening stages, forcing the Eagles to resort to long-ball tactics, particularly to target-man Shawn Blakeway. However, Club Ireland’s centre-back—Stu Walters—was able to shut down the ever-dangerous Blakeway with some gritty defensive work. At around the 30th minute mark, Jason Jordan—in his first VMSL game of the season after having been released by the Whitecaps—unleashed a fierce drive from well outside the penalty area, a drive that was inadvertently deflected into the net by player/coach Steve Millar. Norvan stormed back in the second half and threw caution to the wind in search of the equalizer. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Matt Clayton kept the home team off the scoresheet. In particular, Norvan’s Gibson Bardsley, Harpreet Khakh, and Nick Hearne had glorious goalscoring chances midway through the second half. At the other end of the pitch, the Richmond lads also came close to scoring with Jason Jordan, Jeff Potratz, and Brad Caldwell having the best opportunities. In every case, however, veteran goalkeeper Drew Smiley came up with sensational saves. The victory places the Legends in the middle of the pack with 20 points, while the Eagles remain only two points out of penultimate place.
The Saturday evening match—between Delta WFC and ICSF Inter—was moved to Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam due to the fact that the original venue—Simon Fraser University Field—was covered in snow. After a well-played and exciting 90 minutes of non-stop action, ICSF walked away with a hard-fought, but well-earned, 2-0 victory over the young ‘prospects’. Inter dominated the first half of play with Alex Marrello controlling the midfield with his inimitable skill and high-level work rate. Early in the match, Inter took the lead as Michael Nonni calmly deposited the ball into the back of the net from close range after a 3-way passing play also involving Mike Winters, Mike Tempesta, and Laurent Scaligine. Inter continued to press and took advantage of a somewhat disinterested Delta team to add to their lead midway through the first half when Michael Nonni scored his second goal of the game, this time on a nifty pass from Mike Tempesta. After receiving Tempesta’s pass, Nonni beat 3 defenders on his way to the Delta goal, and then proceeded to slot the ball into the wide-open net. Shortly thereafter, Nonni became the provider as he set up Andrew Corazza with a brilliant pass only to have Corazza miss the net by mere inches. Probably motivated by a half-time inspirational talk by coach Bart Chofour, the Delta lads bounced back in the second half and managed to provide Inter with a much more competitive game. The ‘prospects’ came close to scoring on various occasions but some poor finishing—coupled with some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Erman Ozkan—kept the score at 2-0 for the duration of the match. In particular, Carlos Del Aguila’s header was saved by Ozkan, while Rhys Volkenant, Marcus Haber, and Ian Clark missed the net from close range. At the other end of the pitch, Inter also came close to adding a third goal when Mike Nonni’s great pass found a wide-open Alex Marrello whose shot was brilliantly saved by Delta’s young goalkeeper, Karm Shergill. The result leaves both teams in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings—Delta with 22 points and Inter with 20.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: CROATIA SC for its excellent performance in defeating the red-hot Columbus-Clan by a 2-1 margin, thus remaining in contention for the Premier Division title. Led by the outstanding performances of Johnny Sulentic, Adrian Kekec, and goalkeeper Didar Sandhu, the Croatians bounced back from an early Columbus onslaught to finally capture the entire 3 points.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s MICHAEL NONNI for his brilliant 2-goal performance in his team’s 2-0 victory over Delta WFC. Not only did Nonni score both goals in the all-important victory, but he also set up a few of his teammates with impeccable passes. For his excellent effort, MIKE NONNI will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2008-12-30.
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All 6 Premier Division games were played this past weekend since they were scheduled for either Friday or Saturday, thus avoiding the snow fall and subsequent field closures. The battle at the top of the table got more interesting as West Van FC and Croatia SC climbed a step closer to the top while the Metro-Ford Wolves and Columbus-Clan FC slipped down the ladder a wee bit. At the bottom of the standings, the struggle to avoid relegation became even more intense as the Norvan Eagles, the Serbian White Eagles, and Sporting Club all lost their very important games.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the reigning VMSL champions—Sporting Club of Vancouver—sank even deeper in the basement of the Premier Division table by dropping a 2-0 decision to the visiting Westside FC. Sporting Club got off to a good start and controlled most of the early action, but once again they were unable to finish off any of their numerous chances. As luck would have it, it was the visiting Westsiders that got on the scoreboard midway through the first half. Midfielder John Stoenhocker took advantage of a defensive Sporting turnover and laid a perfectly-executed pass onto the path of young Sebastian Crema, who raced in all alone and calmly deposited the ball into the Sporting net for the all-important first goal. Sporting Club continued to press in search of the equalizer but its forwards were unable to penetrate a rock-solid Westside defence—led by newly-signed Graham Smith and veteran Cam Kochorek. Midway through the second half, once again against the run of play, Sebastian Crema slammed home his second goal of the match as he volleyed an excellent cross by Jay Kent-Hume into the back of the Sporting net. Sporting rallied back and came close to scoring late in the game when a well-taken free kick by Mark Gomes was redirected off the goal post by Mike Gomes. Sporting’s veteran forward Ryan Dormer, as well as defender Mike Gomes, had outstanding games, albeit in a losing cause. The victory lifts Westside FC out of the relegation zone, at least temporarily, while Sporting Club now needs a minor miracle to avoid demotion to Division 1.
Also on Friday evening, the battle of the giants—between Croatia SC and Columbus-Clan FC—took place at Point Grey School in Vancouver. Both teams desperately needed the entire 3 points to remain in contention for the coveted Premier Division title. In the end, the Croatians prevailed by a 2-1 margin, a result that left them only 5 points behind the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves—with a game in hand. The first half of play provided the numerous spectators with a lot of entertaining and exciting action as both teams took turns attacking and defending. Very early in the game, Columbus took the lead when defender Blair Robertson found Tiernan King at the edge of the penalty area with an impeccable long cross. Without a moment’s hesitation, King converted the cross into the go-ahead goal as he volleyed the ball into back of the net, giving goalkeeper Didar Sandhu no chance whatsoever. Columbus retained control of the match for the next 20 minutes and came very close to adding to its lead on at least 3 occasions as Sandhu was forced to make a few miraculous saves—in particular on breakaways by Tino Cucca, Rizal Ganief, and Tiernan King. After the Croatians weathered the early Columbus onslaught, they composed themselves and started creating some goalscoring opportunities of their own. At about the 30th minute mark, former professional Johnny Sulentic tied the score on a clever shot from the edge of the penalty area. Soon thereafter, Adrian Kekec took advantage of a defensive blunder on the part of Tynan Diaz and proceeded to blast the ball into the Columbus net for what proved to be the winning goal. The Croatians continued to attack for the remainder of the first half and only some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Thomas Lindley prevented them from adding more goals to their lead. In particular, a wicked free kick drive by Johnny Sulentic was brilliantly saved by Lindley. Also, Daniel Rogic—on a great set-up by Adrian Kekec—narrowly missed the net with Lindley well-beaten. In the second half, Columbus tried hard to get back into the match, but the Croatians were able to maintain their composure as they sat back and defended their narrow lead brilliantly. In fact, Croatia SC had the best scoring opportunities in the second half as Adrian Kekec and Gary Anderson—both on counter-attacks—came very close to adding to their team’s lead. As mentioned earlier, the Croatian victory keeps them in the race for first place, while Columbus goes into the Christmas break 4 points behind the league leaders.
The third Friday evening game was played at Cloverdale Athletic Park and featured the rejuvenated Surrey United Firefighters and the slumping, but still league-leading, Metro-Ford Wolves. The final 1-1 result pretty well tells the tale of the game as neither team really deserved to walk away with all 3 points. After an evenly-played opening 30 minutes, the Wolves took the lead on a brilliant display of skill as veteran Joe Scigliano took advantage of an uncharacteristic Surrey United turnover and quickly spotted Emilio Bottiglieri down the left flank. Bottiglieri then proceeded to cross the ball to an unmarked Kingsley Jones who neatly headed the ball across the face of the goal for Azad Palani to head home. In the second half, Surrey United pressed hard in search of the equalizer, but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Mathew Bird kept the Wolves in the lead until the 70th minute of the match. At this point, Surrey’s newly-signed Josh Bennett gained control of the ball in his team’s defensive area, raced down the field, and brilliantly crossed the ball to an unmarked Lucas Barrett who was able to convert it into the tying goal from close range. It should be mentioned that veteran Steve McAuley and young Brad Peetoom kept the vaunted Metro-Ford attackers at bay for most of the match with some excellent defensive work. The single point does neither team any favours as the ‘Firefighters’ remain in the danger area near the bottom of the table and the Wolves are now on the verge of losing the Premier Division leadership.
The fourth, and last, Friday evening game was played at Vancouver Technical School between two teams at the opposite end of the standings and, therefore, with two totally different reasons for wanting the victory. In fact, the visiting West Van FC are in the middle of a highly-contested battle with at least 3 other teams for the league championship while the Serbian White Eagles are mired in the dreaded relegation zone and, as a result, in desperate need of points. As expected, the former Trollers took control of the match right from the opening whistle and fully deserved the 2-0 victory with one of their typically skillful performances. Newly-signed youngster Robbie Giezen opened the scoring at the 6th minute mark when he converted a superlative 3-way passing play, also involving Paul Dailly and Ryan Glanville. Midway through the first half, veteran Paul Dailly added the insurance marker when he unleashed a powerful free kick from outside the penalty area, a shot that gave goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic no chance whatsoever. The free kick had been awarded when Milad Rahmati was fouled by Dejan Purisic. West Van continued to press forward in search of more goals but goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic—yet another former Whitecap playing in the VMSL—stood tall and saved everything thrown his way. At the other end of the pitch, West Van defenders Leo Nash and Geoff Buchanan kept the skillful White Eagles at bay, making life relatively easy for young goalkeeper Nick Boyd as he recorded West Van’s 9th shutout of the season. For the White Eagles, defender Sava Okuka, midfielder Dejan Purisic, forward Nemanja Okuka, and goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic played extremely well, albeit in a losing cause. The victory keeps the West Vancouver team in the race for first place, while the White Eagles go into the Christmas break in penultimate place in the standings.
On Saturday afternoon, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, the visiting RCIU Legends edged the Norvan Eagles 1-0 in yet another very important game between two teams in desperate need of points. Led by the excellent performance of newly-reinstated Jason Jordan, the Legends took the game to Norvan in the opening stages, forcing the Eagles to resort to long-ball tactics, particularly to target-man Shawn Blakeway. However, Club Ireland’s centre-back—Stu Walters—was able to shut down the ever-dangerous Blakeway with some gritty defensive work. At around the 30th minute mark, Jason Jordan—in his first VMSL game of the season after having been released by the Whitecaps—unleashed a fierce drive from well outside the penalty area, a drive that was inadvertently deflected into the net by player/coach Steve Millar. Norvan stormed back in the second half and threw caution to the wind in search of the equalizer. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Matt Clayton kept the home team off the scoresheet. In particular, Norvan’s Gibson Bardsley, Harpreet Khakh, and Nick Hearne had glorious goalscoring chances midway through the second half. At the other end of the pitch, the Richmond lads also came close to scoring with Jason Jordan, Jeff Potratz, and Brad Caldwell having the best opportunities. In every case, however, veteran goalkeeper Drew Smiley came up with sensational saves. The victory places the Legends in the middle of the pack with 20 points, while the Eagles remain only two points out of penultimate place.
The Saturday evening match—between Delta WFC and ICSF Inter—was moved to Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam due to the fact that the original venue—Simon Fraser University Field—was covered in snow. After a well-played and exciting 90 minutes of non-stop action, ICSF walked away with a hard-fought, but well-earned, 2-0 victory over the young ‘prospects’. Inter dominated the first half of play with Alex Marrello controlling the midfield with his inimitable skill and high-level work rate. Early in the match, Inter took the lead as Michael Nonni calmly deposited the ball into the back of the net from close range after a 3-way passing play also involving Mike Winters, Mike Tempesta, and Laurent Scaligine. Inter continued to press and took advantage of a somewhat disinterested Delta team to add to their lead midway through the first half when Michael Nonni scored his second goal of the game, this time on a nifty pass from Mike Tempesta. After receiving Tempesta’s pass, Nonni beat 3 defenders on his way to the Delta goal, and then proceeded to slot the ball into the wide-open net. Shortly thereafter, Nonni became the provider as he set up Andrew Corazza with a brilliant pass only to have Corazza miss the net by mere inches. Probably motivated by a half-time inspirational talk by coach Bart Chofour, the Delta lads bounced back in the second half and managed to provide Inter with a much more competitive game. The ‘prospects’ came close to scoring on various occasions but some poor finishing—coupled with some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Erman Ozkan—kept the score at 2-0 for the duration of the match. In particular, Carlos Del Aguila’s header was saved by Ozkan, while Rhys Volkenant, Marcus Haber, and Ian Clark missed the net from close range. At the other end of the pitch, Inter also came close to adding a third goal when Mike Nonni’s great pass found a wide-open Alex Marrello whose shot was brilliantly saved by Delta’s young goalkeeper, Karm Shergill. The result leaves both teams in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings—Delta with 22 points and Inter with 20.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: CROATIA SC for its excellent performance in defeating the red-hot Columbus-Clan by a 2-1 margin, thus remaining in contention for the Premier Division title. Led by the outstanding performances of Johnny Sulentic, Adrian Kekec, and goalkeeper Didar Sandhu, the Croatians bounced back from an early Columbus onslaught to finally capture the entire 3 points.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s MICHAEL NONNI for his brilliant 2-goal performance in his team’s 2-0 victory over Delta WFC. Not only did Nonni score both goals in the all-important victory, but he also set up a few of his teammates with impeccable passes. For his excellent effort, MIKE NONNI will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2008-12-30.
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Captain Shamrock
Well-Known Member
Club I Champ, did you play in this game?
WEEK #16—2009-01-20
Five of the 6 Premier Division games were played this past weekend, the first time any games have been played since mid-December. Three of the 5 games ended in ties, all 3 rather surprising results since the heavy favourites—Columbus-Clan, Metro-Ford Wolves, and Croatia SC—are all title contenders while their opponents—Norvan Eagles, Sporting Club, and Surrey United Firefighters—are struggling near the bottom of the Premier Division standings. West Van FC took advantage of the above-mentioned results and climbed to the top of the table by defeating Westside FC by a narrow 2-1 margin. The only postponed game—due to heavy fog—was the ICSF Inter vs Serbian White Eagles encounter scheduled for Saturday evening at Point Grey School. Things should get even more interesting this coming weekend as West Van FC will host Columbus-Clan FC on Friday evening at Ambleside Park in what could easily be called the battle of the Titans. Another interesting match should be the one between Sporting Club vs Surrey United Firefighters, also scheduled for Friday evening at Byrne Creek School. Both teams are in desperate need of points to avoid relegation.
On a foggy Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, the visiting West Van FC defeated Westside FC by a narrow, but well-deserved, 2-1 margin. The visitors got off to a flying start and only some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Rowan Anders kept the home side in the game. In particular, Anders thwarted breakaway efforts by Milad Rahmati and twice by Ryan Glanville. As well, Anders pulled off a couple of semi-miraculous saves on shots by Sean Taylor and young Robbie Giezen. As luck would have it however, it was Westside FC that took the lead midway through the first half when young Sebastian Crema blasted a wicked free kick from well outside the penalty area towards the West Van net. The shot deflected off the West Van wall and into the net past the outstretched fingers of goalkeeper Nick Boyd. The goal seemed to inspire the West Van attackers even more as they continued their barrage against a very stubborn Westside defence. Once again, however, it was Rowan Anders who rose to the occasion numerous times, particularly on headers by Leo Nash, shots that seemed destined for the back of the net. In the second half, West Van continued to dominate proceedings and eventually tied things up at about the 65th minute mark as Milad Rahmati finally found the answer to Anders’ heroic performance as he slotted the ball home after beating three Westside defenders. Not satisfied with the tie, the former Trollers continued to press for the winning goal and were finally rewarded for their efforts when young Robbie Giezen and veteran Mike Dodd combined to set up Milad Rahmati who was able to slot home the winning goal from close range. As mentioned earlier, the victory—along with Metro-Ford’s 0-0 tie with Sporting Club—catapults West Van FC to first place in the Premier Division standings.
On Saturday afternoon, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, the Metro-Ford Wolves and Sporting Club squared off in a desperate attempt to gain all 3 points, albeit for totally different reasons. However, at the end of a rather poorly-played 90 minutes, both teams had to settle for a 0-0 tie, a result that drops the Wolves out of the first place and keeps last season’s champions mired in last place in the Premier Division table. Sporting Club controlled most of the first half and missed a couple of glorious goalscoring opportunities to take the all-important early lead. In particular, very early in the match, veteran Ryan Dormer failed to convert a near-range chance on a set-up by Ben Hunt. Sporting’s pressure continued in the early part of the second half as Steve Dormer, Ben Hunt, and Mike Gomes all had clear-cut chances to give their team the lead. However, some solid goalkeeping on the part of Mathew Bird, coupled with some poor finishing by the Sporting Club forwards, kept the game scoreless. As the game progressed, the Wolves became more dangerous as they started to take control of the match. Very late in the game, substitute Aaron Arnold came very close to scoring the winning goal for Metro-Ford but missed the wide-open net from close-range. Newly-transferred midfielders Russel Huggon and Joey Scigliano, as well as young forward Milad Mehrabi, acquitted themselves quite well in the Metro-Ford lineup, while defender Mike Gomes and midfielders Brian Gebbie and Ryan Dormer played extremely well for Sporting Club. As mentioned earlier, the result helps neither team as Sporting Club remains in last place in the standings, while the Wolves drop to second place—behind the red-hot West Van FC.
Also on Saturday afternoon, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, the Surrey United Firefighters and Croatia SC settled for a 1-1 draw after an exciting, and well-played, 90 minutes of non-stop action. Led by the excellent midfield play of young Tom Lowndes and Gagan Josan, the Firefighters controlled the early part of the game and tested Croatia’s goalkeeper Didar Sandhu on several occasions. However, the veteran former Whitecap goalkeeper stood tall, allowing his team to re-group and eventually get back into the game. In fact, at about the 30th minute mark, the Croatians almost took the lead as Mirko Maras—after receiving a perfectly-executed pass from Johnny Sulentic—unleashed a powerful drive that barely missed the net. Sulentic himself also came very close to scoring the go-ahead goal but, once again, the shot missed the far post by inches. In the dying moments of the first half, Croatia SC finally took the lead as a Johnny Sulentic corner kick found Johnny Pashalidis at the near post. The veteran Pashalidis cleverly back-healed the ball into the danger area where Darko Jelic had no trouble putting it into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal. In the second half, the Croatians continued applying pressure and only some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Paul Shepherd kept the score at 1-0. In particular, Shepherd pulled off a couple of brilliant saves on shots by young Shawn Parkes. To its credit, the home team never gave up and actually started taking control of the match in the latter part of the second half. With about 10 minutes to go, Surrey United was able to score the tying goal as newly-transferred Josh Bennett sent an impeccable cross onto the path of Steve McAuley who had no difficulty in tapping the ball into the net for the equalizer. Shortly thereafter, Lucas Barrett came very close to scoring the winning goal for the Firemen, but his header sailed over the cross bar. Very late in the game, Surrey United almost ‘stole’ the game as yet another great cross by Josh Bennett was headed towards the net my newly-signed Cam Wilson. Unfortunately for the Firefighters, the ball bounced off the cross bar and out of danger, thus preserving the 1-1 tie. The result does not help either team a great deal as Croatia SC is trying desperately to get into the title race, while Surrey United is still struggling near the bottom of the table.
The third Saturday game was played at Minoru Park in Richmond and featured the RCIU Legends and the visiting Delta WFC. After a rather exciting 90 minutes of play, the young Delta lads came away with a well-deserved 3-2 victory over the hot and cold home team. The Richmond team came out flat and, as a result, surrendered 2 early goals to the inspired ‘prospects’. On the first goal, a perfect near-post cross by Marcus Haber was calmly deposited into the net by an unmarked Navid Mashinchi. Shortly thereafter, Gagan Dosanjh added to the lead when he converted yet another immaculate cross, this one from the foot of Coulton Jackson. At this point, the Legends seemed to settle down and were able to narrow the margin when Chris Jarvie chipped the ball over the Delta goalkeeper’s head from the edge of the penalty area. Just as things seemed to turn in Richmond’s favour, the young Delta team came storming back and scored what proved to be the winning goal when Coulton Jackson and Gagan Dosanjh once again took advantage of some sloppy Richmond defending to score a goal that was virtually a carbon copy of the previous one. In fact, Jackson’s cross was clinically finished off by an unmarked Dosanjh to give the young lads a 3-1 half time lead. In the second half, the Legends threw caution to the wind and began to dictate the pace of the match. The insertion of former Whitecap forward Jason Jordan, as well as central defender Stu Walters, appeared to inspire the rather lethargic Legends as they began to take over the reins of the match. After squandering a few golden scoring opportunities, Richmond narrowed the margin at the 55th minute mark when a long throw-in by Geoff Salt was controlled by Mike Revel, whose subsequent shot was inadvertently redirected into the net by a Delta defender. The Legends continued to exert abundant pressure for the remainder of the match, but were unable to score what would have been the tying goal. The final result has little impact on the standings, as both teams remain in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division table.
The final game, between Columbus-Clan FC and the Norvan Eagles, was played on Sunday at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver and ended in an unpredictable 2-2 tie. The heavily-favoured Columbus ‘Italians’ appeared to suffer from some winter-break rust as they struggled against the desperate Eagles. Columbus took a rather fortuitous early lead when veteran Tiernan King was unnecessarily fouled inside the penalty area by playing-coach Steve Millar. On the ensuing penalty kick, King’s shot appeared to be saved by goalkeeper Drew Smiley, but somehow managed to find the back of the net for the go-ahead goal. The remainder of the first half saw Norvan try hard to get back into the match with some excellent runs by speedy Gibson Bardsley, as well as some excellent ball control by midfielder Harpreet Khakh. Finally, at the 35th minute mark, the Eagles were able to knot the score when veteran target man Shawn Blakeway rose above all the Columbus defenders to head home a fine cross from the foot of Gibson Bardsley. Early in the second half, much to Columbus’ chagrin, Norvan was able to take the lead as yet another Bardsley cross was headed onto Khakh’s path by Blakeway. Without a moment’s hesitation, Harpreet Khakh made no mistake from close range to give his team the well-deserved lead. Shortly thereafter, Bardsley failed to finish off a glorious chance from close range on a great set-up by Blake Burgon. As luck would have it, Columbus was able to tie things up a few minutes later when a clearance by Norvan defender Matt Brewster bounced off teammate Harpreet Khakh and into the Norvan net. It should be mentioned that former Whitecap Steve Kindel made his seasonal VMSL debut as he came on as a substitute in the second half. The result does not help either team’s quest: Columbus in its effort to win the VMSL title, and Norvan’s attempt to get out of the relegation zone.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating Westside FC by a narrow, but well-deserved, 2-1 margin. Led by the excellent performance of forward Milad Rahmati, West Van dominated the entire 90 minutes of the match and could easily have won the game by a more emphatic margin had it not been for some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Westside’s Rowan Anders.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Westside FC’s goalkeeper ROWAN ANDERS and West Van FC’s forward MILAD RAHMATI for their marvellous performances in Friday evening’s game at foggy Point Grey School. In fact, it could be said that the only visible shining stars during the entire match were Anders and Rahmati! Anders made numerous miraculous saves to keep his team in the match, while Rahmati scored both goals in his team’s important 2-1 victory. For their excellent performances Anders and Rahmati will each receive a price of a pizza for two, compliment of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-01-29.
Five of the 6 Premier Division games were played this past weekend, the first time any games have been played since mid-December. Three of the 5 games ended in ties, all 3 rather surprising results since the heavy favourites—Columbus-Clan, Metro-Ford Wolves, and Croatia SC—are all title contenders while their opponents—Norvan Eagles, Sporting Club, and Surrey United Firefighters—are struggling near the bottom of the Premier Division standings. West Van FC took advantage of the above-mentioned results and climbed to the top of the table by defeating Westside FC by a narrow 2-1 margin. The only postponed game—due to heavy fog—was the ICSF Inter vs Serbian White Eagles encounter scheduled for Saturday evening at Point Grey School. Things should get even more interesting this coming weekend as West Van FC will host Columbus-Clan FC on Friday evening at Ambleside Park in what could easily be called the battle of the Titans. Another interesting match should be the one between Sporting Club vs Surrey United Firefighters, also scheduled for Friday evening at Byrne Creek School. Both teams are in desperate need of points to avoid relegation.
On a foggy Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, the visiting West Van FC defeated Westside FC by a narrow, but well-deserved, 2-1 margin. The visitors got off to a flying start and only some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Rowan Anders kept the home side in the game. In particular, Anders thwarted breakaway efforts by Milad Rahmati and twice by Ryan Glanville. As well, Anders pulled off a couple of semi-miraculous saves on shots by Sean Taylor and young Robbie Giezen. As luck would have it however, it was Westside FC that took the lead midway through the first half when young Sebastian Crema blasted a wicked free kick from well outside the penalty area towards the West Van net. The shot deflected off the West Van wall and into the net past the outstretched fingers of goalkeeper Nick Boyd. The goal seemed to inspire the West Van attackers even more as they continued their barrage against a very stubborn Westside defence. Once again, however, it was Rowan Anders who rose to the occasion numerous times, particularly on headers by Leo Nash, shots that seemed destined for the back of the net. In the second half, West Van continued to dominate proceedings and eventually tied things up at about the 65th minute mark as Milad Rahmati finally found the answer to Anders’ heroic performance as he slotted the ball home after beating three Westside defenders. Not satisfied with the tie, the former Trollers continued to press for the winning goal and were finally rewarded for their efforts when young Robbie Giezen and veteran Mike Dodd combined to set up Milad Rahmati who was able to slot home the winning goal from close range. As mentioned earlier, the victory—along with Metro-Ford’s 0-0 tie with Sporting Club—catapults West Van FC to first place in the Premier Division standings.
On Saturday afternoon, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, the Metro-Ford Wolves and Sporting Club squared off in a desperate attempt to gain all 3 points, albeit for totally different reasons. However, at the end of a rather poorly-played 90 minutes, both teams had to settle for a 0-0 tie, a result that drops the Wolves out of the first place and keeps last season’s champions mired in last place in the Premier Division table. Sporting Club controlled most of the first half and missed a couple of glorious goalscoring opportunities to take the all-important early lead. In particular, very early in the match, veteran Ryan Dormer failed to convert a near-range chance on a set-up by Ben Hunt. Sporting’s pressure continued in the early part of the second half as Steve Dormer, Ben Hunt, and Mike Gomes all had clear-cut chances to give their team the lead. However, some solid goalkeeping on the part of Mathew Bird, coupled with some poor finishing by the Sporting Club forwards, kept the game scoreless. As the game progressed, the Wolves became more dangerous as they started to take control of the match. Very late in the game, substitute Aaron Arnold came very close to scoring the winning goal for Metro-Ford but missed the wide-open net from close-range. Newly-transferred midfielders Russel Huggon and Joey Scigliano, as well as young forward Milad Mehrabi, acquitted themselves quite well in the Metro-Ford lineup, while defender Mike Gomes and midfielders Brian Gebbie and Ryan Dormer played extremely well for Sporting Club. As mentioned earlier, the result helps neither team as Sporting Club remains in last place in the standings, while the Wolves drop to second place—behind the red-hot West Van FC.
Also on Saturday afternoon, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, the Surrey United Firefighters and Croatia SC settled for a 1-1 draw after an exciting, and well-played, 90 minutes of non-stop action. Led by the excellent midfield play of young Tom Lowndes and Gagan Josan, the Firefighters controlled the early part of the game and tested Croatia’s goalkeeper Didar Sandhu on several occasions. However, the veteran former Whitecap goalkeeper stood tall, allowing his team to re-group and eventually get back into the game. In fact, at about the 30th minute mark, the Croatians almost took the lead as Mirko Maras—after receiving a perfectly-executed pass from Johnny Sulentic—unleashed a powerful drive that barely missed the net. Sulentic himself also came very close to scoring the go-ahead goal but, once again, the shot missed the far post by inches. In the dying moments of the first half, Croatia SC finally took the lead as a Johnny Sulentic corner kick found Johnny Pashalidis at the near post. The veteran Pashalidis cleverly back-healed the ball into the danger area where Darko Jelic had no trouble putting it into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal. In the second half, the Croatians continued applying pressure and only some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Paul Shepherd kept the score at 1-0. In particular, Shepherd pulled off a couple of brilliant saves on shots by young Shawn Parkes. To its credit, the home team never gave up and actually started taking control of the match in the latter part of the second half. With about 10 minutes to go, Surrey United was able to score the tying goal as newly-transferred Josh Bennett sent an impeccable cross onto the path of Steve McAuley who had no difficulty in tapping the ball into the net for the equalizer. Shortly thereafter, Lucas Barrett came very close to scoring the winning goal for the Firemen, but his header sailed over the cross bar. Very late in the game, Surrey United almost ‘stole’ the game as yet another great cross by Josh Bennett was headed towards the net my newly-signed Cam Wilson. Unfortunately for the Firefighters, the ball bounced off the cross bar and out of danger, thus preserving the 1-1 tie. The result does not help either team a great deal as Croatia SC is trying desperately to get into the title race, while Surrey United is still struggling near the bottom of the table.
The third Saturday game was played at Minoru Park in Richmond and featured the RCIU Legends and the visiting Delta WFC. After a rather exciting 90 minutes of play, the young Delta lads came away with a well-deserved 3-2 victory over the hot and cold home team. The Richmond team came out flat and, as a result, surrendered 2 early goals to the inspired ‘prospects’. On the first goal, a perfect near-post cross by Marcus Haber was calmly deposited into the net by an unmarked Navid Mashinchi. Shortly thereafter, Gagan Dosanjh added to the lead when he converted yet another immaculate cross, this one from the foot of Coulton Jackson. At this point, the Legends seemed to settle down and were able to narrow the margin when Chris Jarvie chipped the ball over the Delta goalkeeper’s head from the edge of the penalty area. Just as things seemed to turn in Richmond’s favour, the young Delta team came storming back and scored what proved to be the winning goal when Coulton Jackson and Gagan Dosanjh once again took advantage of some sloppy Richmond defending to score a goal that was virtually a carbon copy of the previous one. In fact, Jackson’s cross was clinically finished off by an unmarked Dosanjh to give the young lads a 3-1 half time lead. In the second half, the Legends threw caution to the wind and began to dictate the pace of the match. The insertion of former Whitecap forward Jason Jordan, as well as central defender Stu Walters, appeared to inspire the rather lethargic Legends as they began to take over the reins of the match. After squandering a few golden scoring opportunities, Richmond narrowed the margin at the 55th minute mark when a long throw-in by Geoff Salt was controlled by Mike Revel, whose subsequent shot was inadvertently redirected into the net by a Delta defender. The Legends continued to exert abundant pressure for the remainder of the match, but were unable to score what would have been the tying goal. The final result has little impact on the standings, as both teams remain in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division table.
The final game, between Columbus-Clan FC and the Norvan Eagles, was played on Sunday at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver and ended in an unpredictable 2-2 tie. The heavily-favoured Columbus ‘Italians’ appeared to suffer from some winter-break rust as they struggled against the desperate Eagles. Columbus took a rather fortuitous early lead when veteran Tiernan King was unnecessarily fouled inside the penalty area by playing-coach Steve Millar. On the ensuing penalty kick, King’s shot appeared to be saved by goalkeeper Drew Smiley, but somehow managed to find the back of the net for the go-ahead goal. The remainder of the first half saw Norvan try hard to get back into the match with some excellent runs by speedy Gibson Bardsley, as well as some excellent ball control by midfielder Harpreet Khakh. Finally, at the 35th minute mark, the Eagles were able to knot the score when veteran target man Shawn Blakeway rose above all the Columbus defenders to head home a fine cross from the foot of Gibson Bardsley. Early in the second half, much to Columbus’ chagrin, Norvan was able to take the lead as yet another Bardsley cross was headed onto Khakh’s path by Blakeway. Without a moment’s hesitation, Harpreet Khakh made no mistake from close range to give his team the well-deserved lead. Shortly thereafter, Bardsley failed to finish off a glorious chance from close range on a great set-up by Blake Burgon. As luck would have it, Columbus was able to tie things up a few minutes later when a clearance by Norvan defender Matt Brewster bounced off teammate Harpreet Khakh and into the Norvan net. It should be mentioned that former Whitecap Steve Kindel made his seasonal VMSL debut as he came on as a substitute in the second half. The result does not help either team’s quest: Columbus in its effort to win the VMSL title, and Norvan’s attempt to get out of the relegation zone.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating Westside FC by a narrow, but well-deserved, 2-1 margin. Led by the excellent performance of forward Milad Rahmati, West Van dominated the entire 90 minutes of the match and could easily have won the game by a more emphatic margin had it not been for some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Westside’s Rowan Anders.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Westside FC’s goalkeeper ROWAN ANDERS and West Van FC’s forward MILAD RAHMATI for their marvellous performances in Friday evening’s game at foggy Point Grey School. In fact, it could be said that the only visible shining stars during the entire match were Anders and Rahmati! Anders made numerous miraculous saves to keep his team in the match, while Rahmati scored both goals in his team’s important 2-1 victory. For their excellent performances Anders and Rahmati will each receive a price of a pizza for two, compliment of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-01-29.
WEEK #17—2009-01-27
All 6 Premier Division games were played this past weekend, most of them ending with unpredicted results. The Serbian White Eagles, Sporting Club, and Delta WFC recorded huge upsets as they respectively defeated the heavily-favoured Metro-Ford Wolves, Surrey United Firefighters, and Croatia SC. As a result, the battles at the top and at the bottom of the table became even more intense. The next few weeks should prove to be very interesting as all 12 teams will be trying desperately to gain some points in their respective and different quests.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, two of the top teams in the VMSL—West Van FC and Columbus-Clan FC—faced off in a rematch of their very confrontational encounter played earlier in the season at Hastings Bowl. The initial match ended in a rather lop-sided 3-0 victory for West Van but the return match told a totally different story as the Columbus lads displayed a great deal of composure and were rewarded with a 2-1 victory. Very early in the contest, West Van’s Ryan Glanville intercepted a back-pass from Jonathan Poli but was unable to beat veteran goalkeeper Steve London who miraculously kept the ball out of the net with a brilliant diving save. The remainder of the first half proved to be a hard-fought affair with both teams trying hard to get on the score sheet. However, both teams’ very strong defensive units prevailed and the game remained scoreless at the half time break. Very early in the second half, however, Columbus’ Sheu Fortunato took advantage of an uncharacteristic West Van defensive blunder and proceeded to send Rizal Ganief in on goal with an excellent pass. Ganief, after rounding the West Van goalkeeper—Marco Durante—calmly deposited the ball into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal. Soon thereafter, West Van knotted the score as a well-taken free kick by veteran Paul Dailly was headed into the net by Ryan Glanville. At this point, both teams appeared to throw caution to the wind and pressed hard to score the all-important winning goal. West Van, led by the superlative performance of Milad Rahmati, controlled most of the play but some excellent defensive work on the part of Columbus’ veteran Tony Gaita and former Whitecap Steve Kindel kept the home team off the score sheet. As luck would have it, very late in the match, Columbus scored the winning goal as Tino Cucca set up a flying Rizal Ganief with an impeccable through ball. Once again, Ganief raced in all alone and capped off a fine individual performance by scoring the winning goal. Soon thereafter, a skirmish in the middle of the field resulted in the expulsion of two West Van players—Leo Nash and Milad Rahmati. The drama did not end here however, as a long cross by West Van’s Drew Gelley was headed towards the net by Ryan Glanville. Some people—including the referee—thought the ball had gone through a hole in the net, while others—including the assistant referee—thought the ball had gone over the net. Needless to say, this provided even more fuel for the already red-hot fire! The final decision by the officials was that the ball did not enter the net and therefore the score remained 2-1 in Columbus’ favour. The result leaves West Van FC in first place in the Premier Division standings, albeit by the narrowest of margins, while Columbus is now only 2 points out of first place.
Also on Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, the Serbian White Eagles came out of their slump by defeating the aspiring Metro-Ford Wolves by a 2-1 margin. Both teams were missing some of their top players and, as a result, the game turned out to be a rather scrappy affair. Metro-Ford controlled most of the play in the early going and came close to scoring on 3 different occasions. Both Russel Huggon and Milad Mehrabi had their close-range shots brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Ted Hans, while veteran Joe Scigliano rang a shot off the post. To their credit, the White Eagles bounced back, worked very hard for the remainder of the match, and fully deserved the narrow margin of victory. All 3 goals were scored in the first half as the White Eagles took a 2-0 lead before the Wolves narrowed the margin late in the first half. The Serbians took the lead midway through the first half as a result of a corner kick taken by Dejan Nesic. Miso Rakita’s subsequent header was saved by goalkeeper Mathew Bird. However, the rebound was calmly slotted into the net by a wide open Alex Kosanin for the go-ahead goal. A few minutes later, Brandon Ferridge took advantage of a turnover at the edge of the Metro-Ford penalty area when he quickly spun around and blasted an unstoppable low shot into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. Very late in the half, the Wolves got back into the game when a speculative, long-range shot by Trevor Rosencrans found the back of the Serbian net. The second half proved to be very disappointing, particularly for the visiting team, as the White Eagles defended tenaciously and the Wolves were unable to generate any really solid goalscoring opportunities. The victory keeps the White Eagles’ hopes of avoiding relegation alive, while the Wolves’ loss puts a damper on their aspirations to win the league title.
The third Friday evening game took place at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and featured two teams mired in the relegation zone—the Surrey United Firefighters and the last place Sporting Club. At the end, the reigning VMSL champions—Sporting Club—came away with a narrow 1-0 victory, a result which keeps its slim hopes of remaining in the Premier Division alive. Obviously both teams were in desperate need of all 3 points but neither team appeared willing to throw caution to the wind and, as a result, the match turned out to be a rather boring and lethargic affair. In particular, the first half was a defensive battle with very few scoring chances occurring. On one of these rare occasions, Sporting Club scored the lone goal of the match as veteran Mike Gomes beat 3 Surrey United defenders before crossing the ball onto the path of an unmarked Steve Frazao who clinically placed it into the corner of the net for the game’s lone goal. Sporting Club had a glorious opportunity to add to its lead in the second half when, on a counter-attack, Ben Hunt was brought down inside the Firefighters’ penalty area by James Giebelhaus. On the ensuing penalty kick, Souza Nascimento blasted the ball wide of the net, thus making the remaining 15 minutes very interesting. Surrey’s Josh Bennett came very close to tying things up in the late going, but was thwarted by a brilliant tackle on the part of Sporting’s Mike Gomes. As mentioned earlier, the victory keeps Sporting Club’s chances of remaining in the Premier Division alive, while Surrey United sinks deeper into the dreaded relegation zone.
The fourth, and last, Friday evening game was played at Point Grey School in Vancouver between two middle of the table teams—Westside FC and the visiting RCIU Legends. After a hard-fought 90 minutes of play, the Westsiders came away with a rather fortuitous 1-0 victory, a result that catapults them ahead of the Legends in the Premier Division standings. Led by the excellent performances of forward Justin Student, midfielders Mike Revel and Jeff Potratz, as well as defender Stu Walters, the Legends controlled most of the action throughout the match and were very unlucky not to get a better result. Midway through the first half, after Richmond had controlled most of the play, a Westside counter-attack produced the lone goal of the match as James Possee slammed a loose ball into the net after Sebastian Crema had created havoc inside the box with his grit and perseverance. Soon thereafter, former Whitecap Jason Jordan, after receiving a brilliant pass from Jeff Potratz, unleashed a brilliant long-range shot towards the Westside net only to have defender George Roumanos clear the ball off the goal line. The second half was more or less a carbon-copy of the first, as the Legends controlled most of the action and Westside continued to defend stubbornly. Unfortunately for Richmond, some great saves by goalkeeper Rowan Anders and some excellent defending on the part of George Roumanos and Chris Mehuys kept the visitors off the score sheet. Mathematically, both teams are still in danger of being relegated despite the fact that they sit in the middle of the Premier Division table.
On Saturday afternoon, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, ICSF Inter and the Norvan Eagles battled to a 0-0 tie, a result the helps neither team a great deal. Both teams took turns attacking and defending and, in the end, the tie appeared to be a fair result. In the first half, Inter came close to taking the lead when Colin Streckmann missed a glorious opportunity as he sailed a shot just over the crossbar on a great cross by Anthony Marrello. Norvan replied in kind when a Steve Millar free kick was headed towards the goal by target man Shawn Blakeway. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the ball bounced off the crossbar and into the arms of goalkeeper Erman Ozkan to keep the game scoreless at the halftime break. The second half was very similar to the first as both teams took turns attacking and defending. Both young goalkeepers, Inter’s Erman Ozkan and Norvan’s Reid Alsop, came up with some tremendous saves to keep the game scoreless. In particular, Inter’s Bevan Footman—after having received a great pass from Kevin Crouch—blasted a wicked drive from outside the penalty box towards the Norvan goal. Alsop, however, rose to the occasion and made a brilliant save to keep his team in the match. Shortly thereafter, it was Ozkan’s turn as he made a miraculous save on a header by Mike Speakman. Defensively, Inter’s Anthony Marrello and Bevan Footman, as well as Norvan’s Ed Bradford, Steve Millar, and Mat Brewster, turned in outstanding performances throughout the contest. The result leaves the Eagles only one point out the relegation zone, while ICSF’s chances of finishing in the top 4 diminish substantially.
The lone Sunday game was played at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver between Croatia SC and Delta WFC. The final result, 3-0 for the young Delta lads, was very surprising mostly because the ‘prospects’ played most of the match short-handed due to the rather early expulsion of Jerome Baker for a violent conduct infraction. At the time of the expulsion the game was still scoreless but the Croatians failed to capitalize on the man advantage for the remainder of the match. The Croatians came close to scoring on a couple of occasions before the Baker send-off but were unable to convert them. In particular, a nifty two-way passing play between Johnny Sulentic and Gary Anderson resulted in Anderson’s shot going wide of the Delta net. Shortly thereafter, it was Delta’s turn to miss a glorious goalscoring chance as a penalty kick was awarded to the visiting team for a hand ball infraction—inside the penalty area—by Dan Rogic. Young Sahil Sandhu stepped up to the plate but was unable to beat ‘uncle’ Didar Sandhu in the Croatia net. The veteran Sandhu, a former Whitecaps goalkeeper, made a sensational save to deny the youngsters the lead. Midway through the first half, Delta WFC was reduced to 10 players due to the afore-mentioned expulsion of Jerome Baker, but the Croatians failed to take advantage of the situation. Adrian Kekec had the best opportunity to score for the Croatians but was denied by an outstanding save on the part of goalkeeper Simon Thomas. Early in the second half, the Delta boys took advantage of a couple of Croatian defensive errors to take an unexpected 2-0 lead. On the first goal, Sahil Sandhu won a battle for the ball inside the Croatia 18-yard box before slipping the ball to Gagan Dosanjh who, without a moment’s hesitation, calmly slotted it into the back of the net. The second goal was scored a few minutes later and came as a result of a fine individual effort by Coulton Jackson who stripped the ball from a Croatian defender before blasting it into the net for the insurance marker. At the other end of the pitch, Adrian Kekec once again came close to scoring but, much to the chagrin of the numerous Croatian fans, saw his shot bounce off the crossbar and out of danger. Near the end of the match, the Delta lads added insult to Croatia’s injury as they added yet another goal to their remarkable scoreline when Bobby Jhutty beat two defenders along the touchline before cutting the ball back to an unmarked Gagan Dosanjh whose quick shot gave Didar Sandhu no chance whatsoever. Very late in the game, Croatia’s veteran defender—and captain—Darko Jelic was ejected from the match for having received his second caution. As a result of the victory, Delta WFC climbs to a 4th place tie with the Croatians, whose loss considerably diminishes their chances of winning the Premier Division title.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: DELTA WFC for its superlative performance in defeating Croatia SC by an emphatic, and well earned, 3-0 margin. Led by the excellent performances of forward Gagan Dosanjh and goalkeeper Simon Thomas, Delta managed to win the game against the very experienced and talented Croatia team. Due to several injuries, Delta was able to dress only 11 players for this very important match. Furthermore, the Delta ‘prospects’ played most of the match with only 10 players, due to the early expulsion of Jerome Baker!
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Columbus-Clan’s forward RIZAL GANIEF and Delta WFC forward GAGAN DOSANJH for their marvellous performances in their teams’ respective matches. Both Ganief and Dosnajh scored twice against very strong opposition—all first class goals! For their excellent performances Ganief and Dosanjh will each receive a price of a pizza for two, compliment of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-02-05.
All 6 Premier Division games were played this past weekend, most of them ending with unpredicted results. The Serbian White Eagles, Sporting Club, and Delta WFC recorded huge upsets as they respectively defeated the heavily-favoured Metro-Ford Wolves, Surrey United Firefighters, and Croatia SC. As a result, the battles at the top and at the bottom of the table became even more intense. The next few weeks should prove to be very interesting as all 12 teams will be trying desperately to gain some points in their respective and different quests.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, two of the top teams in the VMSL—West Van FC and Columbus-Clan FC—faced off in a rematch of their very confrontational encounter played earlier in the season at Hastings Bowl. The initial match ended in a rather lop-sided 3-0 victory for West Van but the return match told a totally different story as the Columbus lads displayed a great deal of composure and were rewarded with a 2-1 victory. Very early in the contest, West Van’s Ryan Glanville intercepted a back-pass from Jonathan Poli but was unable to beat veteran goalkeeper Steve London who miraculously kept the ball out of the net with a brilliant diving save. The remainder of the first half proved to be a hard-fought affair with both teams trying hard to get on the score sheet. However, both teams’ very strong defensive units prevailed and the game remained scoreless at the half time break. Very early in the second half, however, Columbus’ Sheu Fortunato took advantage of an uncharacteristic West Van defensive blunder and proceeded to send Rizal Ganief in on goal with an excellent pass. Ganief, after rounding the West Van goalkeeper—Marco Durante—calmly deposited the ball into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal. Soon thereafter, West Van knotted the score as a well-taken free kick by veteran Paul Dailly was headed into the net by Ryan Glanville. At this point, both teams appeared to throw caution to the wind and pressed hard to score the all-important winning goal. West Van, led by the superlative performance of Milad Rahmati, controlled most of the play but some excellent defensive work on the part of Columbus’ veteran Tony Gaita and former Whitecap Steve Kindel kept the home team off the score sheet. As luck would have it, very late in the match, Columbus scored the winning goal as Tino Cucca set up a flying Rizal Ganief with an impeccable through ball. Once again, Ganief raced in all alone and capped off a fine individual performance by scoring the winning goal. Soon thereafter, a skirmish in the middle of the field resulted in the expulsion of two West Van players—Leo Nash and Milad Rahmati. The drama did not end here however, as a long cross by West Van’s Drew Gelley was headed towards the net by Ryan Glanville. Some people—including the referee—thought the ball had gone through a hole in the net, while others—including the assistant referee—thought the ball had gone over the net. Needless to say, this provided even more fuel for the already red-hot fire! The final decision by the officials was that the ball did not enter the net and therefore the score remained 2-1 in Columbus’ favour. The result leaves West Van FC in first place in the Premier Division standings, albeit by the narrowest of margins, while Columbus is now only 2 points out of first place.
Also on Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, the Serbian White Eagles came out of their slump by defeating the aspiring Metro-Ford Wolves by a 2-1 margin. Both teams were missing some of their top players and, as a result, the game turned out to be a rather scrappy affair. Metro-Ford controlled most of the play in the early going and came close to scoring on 3 different occasions. Both Russel Huggon and Milad Mehrabi had their close-range shots brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Ted Hans, while veteran Joe Scigliano rang a shot off the post. To their credit, the White Eagles bounced back, worked very hard for the remainder of the match, and fully deserved the narrow margin of victory. All 3 goals were scored in the first half as the White Eagles took a 2-0 lead before the Wolves narrowed the margin late in the first half. The Serbians took the lead midway through the first half as a result of a corner kick taken by Dejan Nesic. Miso Rakita’s subsequent header was saved by goalkeeper Mathew Bird. However, the rebound was calmly slotted into the net by a wide open Alex Kosanin for the go-ahead goal. A few minutes later, Brandon Ferridge took advantage of a turnover at the edge of the Metro-Ford penalty area when he quickly spun around and blasted an unstoppable low shot into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. Very late in the half, the Wolves got back into the game when a speculative, long-range shot by Trevor Rosencrans found the back of the Serbian net. The second half proved to be very disappointing, particularly for the visiting team, as the White Eagles defended tenaciously and the Wolves were unable to generate any really solid goalscoring opportunities. The victory keeps the White Eagles’ hopes of avoiding relegation alive, while the Wolves’ loss puts a damper on their aspirations to win the league title.
The third Friday evening game took place at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and featured two teams mired in the relegation zone—the Surrey United Firefighters and the last place Sporting Club. At the end, the reigning VMSL champions—Sporting Club—came away with a narrow 1-0 victory, a result which keeps its slim hopes of remaining in the Premier Division alive. Obviously both teams were in desperate need of all 3 points but neither team appeared willing to throw caution to the wind and, as a result, the match turned out to be a rather boring and lethargic affair. In particular, the first half was a defensive battle with very few scoring chances occurring. On one of these rare occasions, Sporting Club scored the lone goal of the match as veteran Mike Gomes beat 3 Surrey United defenders before crossing the ball onto the path of an unmarked Steve Frazao who clinically placed it into the corner of the net for the game’s lone goal. Sporting Club had a glorious opportunity to add to its lead in the second half when, on a counter-attack, Ben Hunt was brought down inside the Firefighters’ penalty area by James Giebelhaus. On the ensuing penalty kick, Souza Nascimento blasted the ball wide of the net, thus making the remaining 15 minutes very interesting. Surrey’s Josh Bennett came very close to tying things up in the late going, but was thwarted by a brilliant tackle on the part of Sporting’s Mike Gomes. As mentioned earlier, the victory keeps Sporting Club’s chances of remaining in the Premier Division alive, while Surrey United sinks deeper into the dreaded relegation zone.
The fourth, and last, Friday evening game was played at Point Grey School in Vancouver between two middle of the table teams—Westside FC and the visiting RCIU Legends. After a hard-fought 90 minutes of play, the Westsiders came away with a rather fortuitous 1-0 victory, a result that catapults them ahead of the Legends in the Premier Division standings. Led by the excellent performances of forward Justin Student, midfielders Mike Revel and Jeff Potratz, as well as defender Stu Walters, the Legends controlled most of the action throughout the match and were very unlucky not to get a better result. Midway through the first half, after Richmond had controlled most of the play, a Westside counter-attack produced the lone goal of the match as James Possee slammed a loose ball into the net after Sebastian Crema had created havoc inside the box with his grit and perseverance. Soon thereafter, former Whitecap Jason Jordan, after receiving a brilliant pass from Jeff Potratz, unleashed a brilliant long-range shot towards the Westside net only to have defender George Roumanos clear the ball off the goal line. The second half was more or less a carbon-copy of the first, as the Legends controlled most of the action and Westside continued to defend stubbornly. Unfortunately for Richmond, some great saves by goalkeeper Rowan Anders and some excellent defending on the part of George Roumanos and Chris Mehuys kept the visitors off the score sheet. Mathematically, both teams are still in danger of being relegated despite the fact that they sit in the middle of the Premier Division table.
On Saturday afternoon, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, ICSF Inter and the Norvan Eagles battled to a 0-0 tie, a result the helps neither team a great deal. Both teams took turns attacking and defending and, in the end, the tie appeared to be a fair result. In the first half, Inter came close to taking the lead when Colin Streckmann missed a glorious opportunity as he sailed a shot just over the crossbar on a great cross by Anthony Marrello. Norvan replied in kind when a Steve Millar free kick was headed towards the goal by target man Shawn Blakeway. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the ball bounced off the crossbar and into the arms of goalkeeper Erman Ozkan to keep the game scoreless at the halftime break. The second half was very similar to the first as both teams took turns attacking and defending. Both young goalkeepers, Inter’s Erman Ozkan and Norvan’s Reid Alsop, came up with some tremendous saves to keep the game scoreless. In particular, Inter’s Bevan Footman—after having received a great pass from Kevin Crouch—blasted a wicked drive from outside the penalty box towards the Norvan goal. Alsop, however, rose to the occasion and made a brilliant save to keep his team in the match. Shortly thereafter, it was Ozkan’s turn as he made a miraculous save on a header by Mike Speakman. Defensively, Inter’s Anthony Marrello and Bevan Footman, as well as Norvan’s Ed Bradford, Steve Millar, and Mat Brewster, turned in outstanding performances throughout the contest. The result leaves the Eagles only one point out the relegation zone, while ICSF’s chances of finishing in the top 4 diminish substantially.
The lone Sunday game was played at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver between Croatia SC and Delta WFC. The final result, 3-0 for the young Delta lads, was very surprising mostly because the ‘prospects’ played most of the match short-handed due to the rather early expulsion of Jerome Baker for a violent conduct infraction. At the time of the expulsion the game was still scoreless but the Croatians failed to capitalize on the man advantage for the remainder of the match. The Croatians came close to scoring on a couple of occasions before the Baker send-off but were unable to convert them. In particular, a nifty two-way passing play between Johnny Sulentic and Gary Anderson resulted in Anderson’s shot going wide of the Delta net. Shortly thereafter, it was Delta’s turn to miss a glorious goalscoring chance as a penalty kick was awarded to the visiting team for a hand ball infraction—inside the penalty area—by Dan Rogic. Young Sahil Sandhu stepped up to the plate but was unable to beat ‘uncle’ Didar Sandhu in the Croatia net. The veteran Sandhu, a former Whitecaps goalkeeper, made a sensational save to deny the youngsters the lead. Midway through the first half, Delta WFC was reduced to 10 players due to the afore-mentioned expulsion of Jerome Baker, but the Croatians failed to take advantage of the situation. Adrian Kekec had the best opportunity to score for the Croatians but was denied by an outstanding save on the part of goalkeeper Simon Thomas. Early in the second half, the Delta boys took advantage of a couple of Croatian defensive errors to take an unexpected 2-0 lead. On the first goal, Sahil Sandhu won a battle for the ball inside the Croatia 18-yard box before slipping the ball to Gagan Dosanjh who, without a moment’s hesitation, calmly slotted it into the back of the net. The second goal was scored a few minutes later and came as a result of a fine individual effort by Coulton Jackson who stripped the ball from a Croatian defender before blasting it into the net for the insurance marker. At the other end of the pitch, Adrian Kekec once again came close to scoring but, much to the chagrin of the numerous Croatian fans, saw his shot bounce off the crossbar and out of danger. Near the end of the match, the Delta lads added insult to Croatia’s injury as they added yet another goal to their remarkable scoreline when Bobby Jhutty beat two defenders along the touchline before cutting the ball back to an unmarked Gagan Dosanjh whose quick shot gave Didar Sandhu no chance whatsoever. Very late in the game, Croatia’s veteran defender—and captain—Darko Jelic was ejected from the match for having received his second caution. As a result of the victory, Delta WFC climbs to a 4th place tie with the Croatians, whose loss considerably diminishes their chances of winning the Premier Division title.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: DELTA WFC for its superlative performance in defeating Croatia SC by an emphatic, and well earned, 3-0 margin. Led by the excellent performances of forward Gagan Dosanjh and goalkeeper Simon Thomas, Delta managed to win the game against the very experienced and talented Croatia team. Due to several injuries, Delta was able to dress only 11 players for this very important match. Furthermore, the Delta ‘prospects’ played most of the match with only 10 players, due to the early expulsion of Jerome Baker!
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Columbus-Clan’s forward RIZAL GANIEF and Delta WFC forward GAGAN DOSANJH for their marvellous performances in their teams’ respective matches. Both Ganief and Dosnajh scored twice against very strong opposition—all first class goals! For their excellent performances Ganief and Dosanjh will each receive a price of a pizza for two, compliment of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-02-05.
dickens_cider
Member
trece verde
Well-Known Member
worked for me too.
I wonder how many of these MVP prizes go unclaimed:
I can confirm that the pizza from week 6 was claimed... as well as a glass of wine... 4 beers... and a salad.
Burp.
Fan-tas-tic 'za, for the record.
WEEK #18—2009-02-03
No big upsets took place in the Premier Division this past weekend, as all 6 scheduled games were played. The Metro-Ford Wolves climbed back to the top of the table, mostly due to the fact that West Van FC was held to a 1-1 tie by ICSF Inter in the only “semi-upset” of the week. On the other hand, Columbus-Clan FC continued to impress and remained in the battle for first place by destroying Westside FC by a 4-0 margin. At the bottom of the table, the Serbian White Eagles and Sporting Club remained mired in the relegation area due to their respective losses to Surrey United and Delta WFC.
On Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, ICSF Inter hosted the first place West Van FC in a very important game for both teams. West Van needed the victory to remain in first place, while ICSF is trying desperately to gather some points to stay in contention for a Province Cup spot. At the end, however, both teams had to settle for a 1-1 tie after a very exciting and entertaining 90 minutes of non-stop action. The visiting West Van team started the game in fine fashion, taking the game to the ‘Italians’ during the first 15 minutes of play. As luck would have it, however, it was Inter that opened the scoring midway through the first half when Andrew Corazza finished off a brilliant effort on the part of teammate Sheldon Maistry. Maistry, after beating several West Van defenders, found a wide-open Corazza with a perfect cross. Corazza had no difficult whatsoever in converting the pass into the game’s opening goal from close range. The remainder of the first half was quite evenly played with both teams creating several opportunities to score. In particular, West Van’s Ryan Glanville and Robbie Giezen created a couple of golden opportunities, while at the other end of the pitch Tim Perry unleashed a wicked, long-range drive that was tipped over the bar by West Van’s goalkeeper Nick Boyd. The second half got off to a terrible start for the visitors as veteran Trevor Short was ejected from the game for having received his second caution. Despite the fact that West Van was reduced to 10 players, the game continued to be evenly played and, once again, both teams took turns attacking and defending. Inter’s Mike Tempesta and Michael Nonni came close to adding to their team’s lead, while Ryan Glanville continued to be a thorn on the side of the ICSF defenders as he created several goalscoring opportunities at the other end of the field. With only a couple of minutes left in the match, West Van was reduced to 9 men as when Max Baessato was sent off for denying speedy Michael Nonni an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Instead of packing their bags, the former Trollers fought back with incredible determination and were able to tie things up well into injury time. A free kick was awarded to West Van near the half way line and goalkeeper Nick Boyd came out of his goal to tap the ball to veteran Paul Dailly. Undisturbed and unchallenged, Dailly dribbled towards the ICSF area and finally sent one of his patented crosses into the ICSF penalty box. Robbie Giezen was able to head the ball onto the path of an unmarked Ryan Glanville who proceeded to slam it home for the well-deserved equalizer. To call this a dramatic finish would not be an exaggeration!
Also on Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan FC remained in solid contention for the Premier Division title by defeating the struggling Westside FC by an emphatic 4-0 margin. Columbus took control of the match right from the opening whistle and carried most of the play throughout the contest. The visitors took the lead very early in the match when defender Tynan Diaz unleashed a wicked, long-range, free kick towards the Westside goal. Goalkeeper Rowan Anders was able to save the shot but the rebound fell onto the path of Steve DeBlasio who had no difficulty in finding the back of the net for the opening goal. Midway through the first half, Columbus added to its lead when Sheu Fortunato beat a couple of Westside defenders down the right flank before crossing the ball to Rizal Ganief who calmly slotted it home for the insurance marker. Moments later, Tiernan King finished off a 3-way passing play—also involving Tino Cucca and Rizal Ganief—for Columbus’ third goal. Just before the halftime whistle, King converted a penalty kick for Columbus’ fourth and final goal. The penalty kick was awarded when King himself was brought down inside the penalty area by goalkeeper Rowan Anders. The second half was a rather lacklustre affair as Columbus seemed satisfied with the result and Westside was unable to generate any really dangerous goalscoring opportunities, making life reasonably easy for goalkeeper Thomas Lindley as he recorded his first shutout of the season. Columbus is now within a point of the first place Metro-Ford Wolves, while Westside FC remains in the middle of the Premier Division pack.
On Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West Complex, Delta WFC defeated the reigning VMSL champions—Sporting Club of Vancouver—by a 2-0 thus sinking the Portuguese team even deeper in the relegation hole. The first part of the game belonged entirely to the young Delta lads but Sporting Club woke up midway through the first half and started taking control of the match. Several excellent goalscoring chances went awry as the Sporting forwards seemed unable to finish off some great opportunities. In particular, Steve Dormer, Jeff Yoon, and Ryan Dormer missed clear-cut chances to give their team the lead and, as a result, the first half ended scoreless. Early in the second half, the Delta ‘prospects’ took the lead against the run of play as Bobby Juhty set up Gagan Dosanjh with a great through ball. Dosanjh clinically finished off the play by placing the ball in the back of the Sporting net for what proved to be the winning goal. The frustrated Sporting team continued to attack in search of the equalizer while Delta WFC sat back and seemed content to counter-attack. The tactic paid off as, late in the game, Delta was able to add its second goal of the match when Coulton Jackson raced down the left flank and cut the ball back onto the path of Gagan Dosanjh who proceeded to slot it home for his second goal of the match, and his fourth in the last two games. As mentioned earlier, Sporting Club remains mired in last place with only 10 points from 18 games, while Delta WFC climbs to fourth place, with an enviable 10-1-7 record.
Also on Saturday afternoon, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, the Surrey United Firefighters came out of the slump with a vengeance as they defeated the Serbian White Eagles by a well-earned 4-0 margin. The White Eagles came into the game with an optimistic outlook, after having defeated the first place Metro-Ford Wolves the previous week. However, the home team took over the reins of the match right from the beginning and the game turned out to a no-contest. Very early in the match, veteran playing-coach Niall Thompson opened the scoring when he pounced on a loose ball inside the White Eagles’ penalty area and, without a moment’s hesitation, blasted it into the empty net. Midway through the first half, Surrey United added to its lead as young Gagan Josan made a great run down the left flank before cutting the ball back onto the path of newly-signed Cam Wilson who had no difficulty whatsoever in scoring his first goal of the season. Early in the second half, Niall Thompson scored his second goal of the match when he headed home a well-executed corner kick by Gagan Josan. Midway through the second half, the Firefighters put the game out of the Serbians’ reach when Brad Petoom too advantage of yet another well-taken corner kick by Gagan Josan, controlled the ball and fired it into the net. It should be mentioned that the White Eagles’ goalkeeper, Ted Hans, made some excellent saves throughout the match to keep the scoreline somewhat respectable. Defensively, Surrey United’s Steve McAuley and Jeff Skinner had excellent games, making life reasonably easy for goalkeeper Mike Franks as he registered his third shutout of the season. The victory elevates the Firefighters out of the dreaded relegation zone, while the White Eagles remained mired near the bottom of the table.
The third Saturday game was played at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam and featured the Metro-Ford Wolves and the visiting Norvan Eagles. The end result, 2-0 in Metro-Ford’s favour, leap-frogs the Wolves back in first place, albeit only one point ahead of West Van FC. On the other hand, the Eagles remain in the relegation danger zone, only one point ahead of the Serbian White Eagles. The first half was rather uneventful as both teams appeared to be very cautious and unwilling to take any chances. The most exciting part of the opening frame came when Metro-Ford goalkeeper Mathew Bird made a spectacular sliding save on a Shawn Blakeway breakaway. The beginning of the second half was more or less a carbon-copy of the first until the midway point when Metro-Ford’s Omari Aldridge took matters into his own hands as he beat a couple of Norvan defenders at the top of the box and proceeded to slot the ball home for the winning goal. Shortly thereafter, young Milad Mehrabi caught the Norvan defenders napping as he headed home a well-taken corner kick by Trevor Rosencrans for the insurance marker. Midfielder Andrew Veer, defender Brook Scott, and forward Omari Aldridge played extremely well for the Wolves, while Norvan’s Gibson Bardsley and Shawn Blakeway worked tirelessly throughout the contest, albeit in a losing cause. It should be noted that goalkeeper Mathew Bird recorded his 8th shutout of the season in the Metro-Ford net.
The fourth, and last, Saturday game was played at Minoru Park in Richmond between the RCIU Legends and the visiting Croatia SC—two teams with totally different styles! In fact, the young Croatians tried hard to control the flow of the play with their skillful passing, while the Legends relied mainly on their aggressive and physical play. Neither tactic paid great dividends as the game ended in a 0-0 tie, a disappointing result for both teams in their different quests. Very early in the match, Richmond’s Geoff Salt was ejected from the match for a serious foul play offence against newly-signed Gustavo Argueta. The Croatians tried to capitalize on their numerical advantage but a couple of good scoring chances by Adrian Kekec and Johnny Sulentic went awry. It should also be mentioned that Richmond’s backline, spearheaded by Tim Sowerby, Stu Walters, and Jon Bula, played extremely well and prevented the vaunted Croatian attack from scoring. In the second half, probably out of frustration, two Croatian players—Maarten Koorn and Ryan Zaharjia—were ejected from the game in rapid succession. Despite playing with only 9 men, Croatia had yet another great goalscoring opportunity but the Legends’ goalkeeper Matt Clayton came up with a magnificent save to deny veteran Johnny Pashalidis the chance to score what would have been the winning goal. The late insertion of forwards Jason Jordan and Spencer Coppin, as well as the fine play of Brad Caldwell and Justin Student, added a little fire to the Legends’ attack but they were unable to score against former Whitecaps goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. It should be noted that 4 youngsters—Goran Vitic, Danny Rogic, Tomislav Malenica, and Gustavo Argueta—played very well in the Croatian line-up as they battled very hard against the more experienced Richmond team.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its amazing come-back performance against ICSF Inter. Trailing by a 1-0 margin, and playing with only 9 men—due to the expulsions of two players—West Van battled back tenaciously and tied the game well into injury time! Led by the excellent performance of veteran midfielder Paul Dailly, the former Trollers never gave up and fully deserved the share of the points at the end of the 90 minutes of non-stop action.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Delta WFC forward GAGAN DOSANJH for yet another wonderful performance in his team’s 2-0 victory over the defending VMSL champions, Sporting Club. This is the second week in a row that young Dosanjh has been chosen as the VMSL’s player of the week! For his excellent performance Gagan Dosanjh will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-02-17.
No big upsets took place in the Premier Division this past weekend, as all 6 scheduled games were played. The Metro-Ford Wolves climbed back to the top of the table, mostly due to the fact that West Van FC was held to a 1-1 tie by ICSF Inter in the only “semi-upset” of the week. On the other hand, Columbus-Clan FC continued to impress and remained in the battle for first place by destroying Westside FC by a 4-0 margin. At the bottom of the table, the Serbian White Eagles and Sporting Club remained mired in the relegation area due to their respective losses to Surrey United and Delta WFC.
On Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, ICSF Inter hosted the first place West Van FC in a very important game for both teams. West Van needed the victory to remain in first place, while ICSF is trying desperately to gather some points to stay in contention for a Province Cup spot. At the end, however, both teams had to settle for a 1-1 tie after a very exciting and entertaining 90 minutes of non-stop action. The visiting West Van team started the game in fine fashion, taking the game to the ‘Italians’ during the first 15 minutes of play. As luck would have it, however, it was Inter that opened the scoring midway through the first half when Andrew Corazza finished off a brilliant effort on the part of teammate Sheldon Maistry. Maistry, after beating several West Van defenders, found a wide-open Corazza with a perfect cross. Corazza had no difficult whatsoever in converting the pass into the game’s opening goal from close range. The remainder of the first half was quite evenly played with both teams creating several opportunities to score. In particular, West Van’s Ryan Glanville and Robbie Giezen created a couple of golden opportunities, while at the other end of the pitch Tim Perry unleashed a wicked, long-range drive that was tipped over the bar by West Van’s goalkeeper Nick Boyd. The second half got off to a terrible start for the visitors as veteran Trevor Short was ejected from the game for having received his second caution. Despite the fact that West Van was reduced to 10 players, the game continued to be evenly played and, once again, both teams took turns attacking and defending. Inter’s Mike Tempesta and Michael Nonni came close to adding to their team’s lead, while Ryan Glanville continued to be a thorn on the side of the ICSF defenders as he created several goalscoring opportunities at the other end of the field. With only a couple of minutes left in the match, West Van was reduced to 9 men as when Max Baessato was sent off for denying speedy Michael Nonni an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Instead of packing their bags, the former Trollers fought back with incredible determination and were able to tie things up well into injury time. A free kick was awarded to West Van near the half way line and goalkeeper Nick Boyd came out of his goal to tap the ball to veteran Paul Dailly. Undisturbed and unchallenged, Dailly dribbled towards the ICSF area and finally sent one of his patented crosses into the ICSF penalty box. Robbie Giezen was able to head the ball onto the path of an unmarked Ryan Glanville who proceeded to slam it home for the well-deserved equalizer. To call this a dramatic finish would not be an exaggeration!
Also on Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan FC remained in solid contention for the Premier Division title by defeating the struggling Westside FC by an emphatic 4-0 margin. Columbus took control of the match right from the opening whistle and carried most of the play throughout the contest. The visitors took the lead very early in the match when defender Tynan Diaz unleashed a wicked, long-range, free kick towards the Westside goal. Goalkeeper Rowan Anders was able to save the shot but the rebound fell onto the path of Steve DeBlasio who had no difficulty in finding the back of the net for the opening goal. Midway through the first half, Columbus added to its lead when Sheu Fortunato beat a couple of Westside defenders down the right flank before crossing the ball to Rizal Ganief who calmly slotted it home for the insurance marker. Moments later, Tiernan King finished off a 3-way passing play—also involving Tino Cucca and Rizal Ganief—for Columbus’ third goal. Just before the halftime whistle, King converted a penalty kick for Columbus’ fourth and final goal. The penalty kick was awarded when King himself was brought down inside the penalty area by goalkeeper Rowan Anders. The second half was a rather lacklustre affair as Columbus seemed satisfied with the result and Westside was unable to generate any really dangerous goalscoring opportunities, making life reasonably easy for goalkeeper Thomas Lindley as he recorded his first shutout of the season. Columbus is now within a point of the first place Metro-Ford Wolves, while Westside FC remains in the middle of the Premier Division pack.
On Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West Complex, Delta WFC defeated the reigning VMSL champions—Sporting Club of Vancouver—by a 2-0 thus sinking the Portuguese team even deeper in the relegation hole. The first part of the game belonged entirely to the young Delta lads but Sporting Club woke up midway through the first half and started taking control of the match. Several excellent goalscoring chances went awry as the Sporting forwards seemed unable to finish off some great opportunities. In particular, Steve Dormer, Jeff Yoon, and Ryan Dormer missed clear-cut chances to give their team the lead and, as a result, the first half ended scoreless. Early in the second half, the Delta ‘prospects’ took the lead against the run of play as Bobby Juhty set up Gagan Dosanjh with a great through ball. Dosanjh clinically finished off the play by placing the ball in the back of the Sporting net for what proved to be the winning goal. The frustrated Sporting team continued to attack in search of the equalizer while Delta WFC sat back and seemed content to counter-attack. The tactic paid off as, late in the game, Delta was able to add its second goal of the match when Coulton Jackson raced down the left flank and cut the ball back onto the path of Gagan Dosanjh who proceeded to slot it home for his second goal of the match, and his fourth in the last two games. As mentioned earlier, Sporting Club remains mired in last place with only 10 points from 18 games, while Delta WFC climbs to fourth place, with an enviable 10-1-7 record.
Also on Saturday afternoon, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, the Surrey United Firefighters came out of the slump with a vengeance as they defeated the Serbian White Eagles by a well-earned 4-0 margin. The White Eagles came into the game with an optimistic outlook, after having defeated the first place Metro-Ford Wolves the previous week. However, the home team took over the reins of the match right from the beginning and the game turned out to a no-contest. Very early in the match, veteran playing-coach Niall Thompson opened the scoring when he pounced on a loose ball inside the White Eagles’ penalty area and, without a moment’s hesitation, blasted it into the empty net. Midway through the first half, Surrey United added to its lead as young Gagan Josan made a great run down the left flank before cutting the ball back onto the path of newly-signed Cam Wilson who had no difficulty whatsoever in scoring his first goal of the season. Early in the second half, Niall Thompson scored his second goal of the match when he headed home a well-executed corner kick by Gagan Josan. Midway through the second half, the Firefighters put the game out of the Serbians’ reach when Brad Petoom too advantage of yet another well-taken corner kick by Gagan Josan, controlled the ball and fired it into the net. It should be mentioned that the White Eagles’ goalkeeper, Ted Hans, made some excellent saves throughout the match to keep the scoreline somewhat respectable. Defensively, Surrey United’s Steve McAuley and Jeff Skinner had excellent games, making life reasonably easy for goalkeeper Mike Franks as he registered his third shutout of the season. The victory elevates the Firefighters out of the dreaded relegation zone, while the White Eagles remained mired near the bottom of the table.
The third Saturday game was played at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam and featured the Metro-Ford Wolves and the visiting Norvan Eagles. The end result, 2-0 in Metro-Ford’s favour, leap-frogs the Wolves back in first place, albeit only one point ahead of West Van FC. On the other hand, the Eagles remain in the relegation danger zone, only one point ahead of the Serbian White Eagles. The first half was rather uneventful as both teams appeared to be very cautious and unwilling to take any chances. The most exciting part of the opening frame came when Metro-Ford goalkeeper Mathew Bird made a spectacular sliding save on a Shawn Blakeway breakaway. The beginning of the second half was more or less a carbon-copy of the first until the midway point when Metro-Ford’s Omari Aldridge took matters into his own hands as he beat a couple of Norvan defenders at the top of the box and proceeded to slot the ball home for the winning goal. Shortly thereafter, young Milad Mehrabi caught the Norvan defenders napping as he headed home a well-taken corner kick by Trevor Rosencrans for the insurance marker. Midfielder Andrew Veer, defender Brook Scott, and forward Omari Aldridge played extremely well for the Wolves, while Norvan’s Gibson Bardsley and Shawn Blakeway worked tirelessly throughout the contest, albeit in a losing cause. It should be noted that goalkeeper Mathew Bird recorded his 8th shutout of the season in the Metro-Ford net.
The fourth, and last, Saturday game was played at Minoru Park in Richmond between the RCIU Legends and the visiting Croatia SC—two teams with totally different styles! In fact, the young Croatians tried hard to control the flow of the play with their skillful passing, while the Legends relied mainly on their aggressive and physical play. Neither tactic paid great dividends as the game ended in a 0-0 tie, a disappointing result for both teams in their different quests. Very early in the match, Richmond’s Geoff Salt was ejected from the match for a serious foul play offence against newly-signed Gustavo Argueta. The Croatians tried to capitalize on their numerical advantage but a couple of good scoring chances by Adrian Kekec and Johnny Sulentic went awry. It should also be mentioned that Richmond’s backline, spearheaded by Tim Sowerby, Stu Walters, and Jon Bula, played extremely well and prevented the vaunted Croatian attack from scoring. In the second half, probably out of frustration, two Croatian players—Maarten Koorn and Ryan Zaharjia—were ejected from the game in rapid succession. Despite playing with only 9 men, Croatia had yet another great goalscoring opportunity but the Legends’ goalkeeper Matt Clayton came up with a magnificent save to deny veteran Johnny Pashalidis the chance to score what would have been the winning goal. The late insertion of forwards Jason Jordan and Spencer Coppin, as well as the fine play of Brad Caldwell and Justin Student, added a little fire to the Legends’ attack but they were unable to score against former Whitecaps goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. It should be noted that 4 youngsters—Goran Vitic, Danny Rogic, Tomislav Malenica, and Gustavo Argueta—played very well in the Croatian line-up as they battled very hard against the more experienced Richmond team.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its amazing come-back performance against ICSF Inter. Trailing by a 1-0 margin, and playing with only 9 men—due to the expulsions of two players—West Van battled back tenaciously and tied the game well into injury time! Led by the excellent performance of veteran midfielder Paul Dailly, the former Trollers never gave up and fully deserved the share of the points at the end of the 90 minutes of non-stop action.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Delta WFC forward GAGAN DOSANJH for yet another wonderful performance in his team’s 2-0 victory over the defending VMSL champions, Sporting Club. This is the second week in a row that young Dosanjh has been chosen as the VMSL’s player of the week! For his excellent performance Gagan Dosanjh will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-02-17.
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