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Weekly Review 2008/2009 Azzi's Weekly Report
- Thread starter gilly
- Start date
- Status
Regs,
Gagan Josan is the Surrey United player that has left the youth ranks to sign with the mens team permanatly, the other Gagan that playes for the whitecaps is from abbotsford and both have really bright futures ahead of them.
Gagan Josan is the Surrey United player that has left the youth ranks to sign with the mens team permanatly, the other Gagan that playes for the whitecaps is from abbotsford and both have really bright futures ahead of them.
Captain Shamrock
Well-Known Member
Gee, I wonder who wrote the RCIU/Croatia write-up. RCIU had better chances in the first half.....and of course the Croatian red-cards were out of frustration from so much domination. 
Laughable that one.....on top of that, the Geoff Salt should NEVER have been sent off for that tackle.
Croatia were VERY average on the day and weren't playing silky smooth football as the write-up might indicate.
Laughable that one.....on top of that, the Geoff Salt should NEVER have been sent off for that tackle. Croatia were VERY average on the day and weren't playing silky smooth football as the write-up might indicate.
keep this up, Captain... and you may lose your membership from Referees Union Local 69.
Dancin Bear
Active Member
Gee, I wonder who wrote the RCIU/Croatia write-up. RCIU had better chances in the first half.....and of course the Croatian red-cards were out of frustration from so much domination.
Croatia were VERY average on the day and weren't playing silky smooth football as the write-up might indicate.
I have to admit that the weekly write-ups are a bit off, but I did hear from 'non-bias, impartial' spectators CS that Salty's tackle was a high studs up tackle that really didn't need to be committed anyway. Maybe the infraction was 2 yellows....one for the tackle and the second for lack of judgement
Hail Hail
Captain Shamrock
Well-Known Member
I have to admit that the weekly write-ups are a bit off, but I did hear from 'non-bias, impartial' spectators CS that Salty's tackle was a high studs up tackle that really didn't need to be committed anyway. Maybe the infraction was 2 yellows....one for the tackle and the second for lack of judgement
Hail Hail
Honestly, Dancing Bear, even if Salty was wearing a Rangers' top I would not have sent him off for the tackle.
There is no way it was high as he tackling foot was on the ground. It was definitely late...guy jumped in the air and made it look a lot worse. The screaming from the players around him made it that much worse. We had a similar incident earlier in the year against West Van......their players went mental with a tackle.ref pulled out a straight red. In that case, I definitely would have red carded the player....ref overreacted to a tackle which was made to look a lot worse than it actually was.
Captain Shamrock
Well-Known Member
I know.....I told the ref on the way out to ref a game that it was a terrible call.
He looked a little confused. I was just a spectator when I made the comment.
Pacific2010
New Member
Captain Shamrock said:
Captain:
Once a REFEREE you'll be a referee.
The same...that you are the RCIU's President then you'll always be THE PRESIDENT (Ex-President or former President).
Mr. Base
Gilly nothing has changed. That is good that you have pointed it out. Mr Azzi will nine out of ten do a right thing. And to a lad that wrote that Sulentic played in div two Bundas that is a false statment. He played in Div three St Poolie German league. In div two he would want to be a coach manager and a player and also paper rep. Good player wrong sicop terapist and a manager. Should have gone long ways.
Captain Shamrock
Well-Known Member
Captain:
Once a REFEREE you'll be a referee.
The same...that you are the RCIU's President then you'll always be THE PRESIDENT (Ex-President or former President).
Mr. Base
Wearing my wellies and balaclava.....I was a spectator. I think my appearance might have been more of a problem than what I actually said.
WEEK #19—2009-02-10
Three of the 6 Premier Division games played this past weekend resulted in ties, demonstrating once again the high level of parity which exists in the VMSL. Having said that, two lopsided results contradicted the above-mentioned theory as ICSF Inter easily defeated the hot-and-cold Westside FC by a 4-1 margin, while Delta WFC made mince meat out the slumping Serbian White Eagles by clobbering them 6-0. At the top of the table, West Van FC regained sole possession of first place with a narrow 3-2 victory over the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves, in a battle between two of the top teams in the league. At the bottom of the standings, things got worse for Sporting Club as a result of a 2-2 tie against Croatia SC. A minor miracle is now required to allow the reigning VMSL champions to remain in the Premier Division!
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC and the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves faced off in a very important match since both teams were aspiring to win the Premier Division title. At the conclusion of a very hard-fought and well-played match, the former Trollers walked away with a 3-2 victory, thus catapulting them back in first place. West Van FC came flying out of the starting gate and applied some early pressure on the Metro-Ford defence, pressure that eventually produced the opening goal at about the 10th minute mark when Corey Birza took advantage of a defensive blunder to give his team the lead. The goal served as a wake-up call for the Wolves as they started taking control of the match and were finally rewarded at the 30th minute mark when Omari Aldridge—on a great pass from Emilio Bottiglieri—outran the West Van defence and proceeded to slot the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer. The Coquitlam lads continued to apply pressure on the West Van defence as they searched for the go-ahead goal. In particular, a long-range drive by Trevor Rosencrans bounced off the cross-bar with goalkeeper Marco Durante well-beaten. As luck would have it, however, it was West Van that took a 2-1 into the dressing room when, just before the halftime whistle, Corey Birza took advantage of yet another Metro-Ford defensive miscue as he set up Robbie Giezen for West Van’s all-important second goal. The goal seemed to take the wind out of the Wolves’ sails as West Van took control of virtually the entire second half and created numerous other chances. Midway through the second half, West Van scored what proved to be the winning goal as Corey Birza finished off a nifty 3-way passing play—also involving Mike Dodd and Desmond Tachie—for his second goal of the match. At this point, Metro-Ford threw caution to the wind, thus allowing West Van to counter-attack in dangerous fashion. The hosts came close to adding to their lead when veteran Paul Dailly sailed a longe-range shot over the crossbar and also when Corey Birza almost completed his hat-trick but watched agonizingly as his shot hit the crossbar. Very late in the game, Metro-Ford’s Joey Scigliano was fouled inside the West Van box by young Geoff Buchanan and then proceeded to score on the ensuing penalty kick to narrow the margin. Soon thereafter, the final whistle blew, giving the West Van boys the well-earned 3-2 victory, a victory that places them into first place in the Premier Division table, with a 2-point lead over Metro-Ford and Columbus-Clan FC.
Also on Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, Delta WFC totally destroyed the struggling Serbian White Eagles by beating them by a 6-0 margin. As the score indicates, the young ‘prospects’ totally dominated the entire 90 minutes of play and fully deserved the emphatic margin of victory. After a rather slow and lacklustre start, the Delta lads took the lead at the 20th minute mark as a result of an excellent 3-way passing play involving Phil Davies, Alex Seminets, and Sahil Sandhu. In the end it was Sandhu that gave his team the lead with a lethal, first-time shot at the far post. Shortly thereafter, Alex Seminets was fouled inside the White Eagles penalty area by goalkeeper Ted Hans. On the ensuing penalty kick, Seminets himself gave Delta the 2-0 halftime lead. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the Delta youngsters continued to dominate and proceeded to add 4 more goals to their tally. Early in the second half, Alex Seminets was sent flying towards goal by an excellent Gagan Dosanjh pass. In clinical fashion, Seminets placed the ball into the back of the net for Delta’s third goal. Seminets completed his hat-trick shortly thereafter by converting a well-taken free kick by Rhys Volkenant. Late in the match, Delta added insult to the Serbians’ injury by adding two more goals—both by Gagan Dosanjh. Delta’s Philippe Davies was dominant in the midfield, while Bobby Jhutty and Sahil Sandhu worked expremely hard throughout the match and contributed enormously to their team’s successful endevour.
The third Friday evening game was played at Point Grey School in Vancouver between the host Westside FC and the visiting ICSF Inter. The ‘Italians’ controlled the match from start to finish andat the end, fully deserved the 4-1 victory. Andrew Corazza opened the scoring early in the game as he finished off a great 4-way passing play also involving Joseph Marrello, Mike Nonni, and Sunny Uppal. In the end, it was Uppal’s wonderful cross that found a wide-open Corazza in the penalty box. Midway through the first half, Corazza added his second goal of the match as he took advantage of some miscommunication among Westside defenders and proceeded to blast the ball into the net from just outside the penalty area. Early in the second half, Corazza’s long-range free kick was saved by goalkeeper Rowan Anders but the rebound was calmly deposited into the back of the net by a wide-open Joseph Marrello. Shortly thereafter, Corazza capped off an impressive individual performance by blasting a wicked drive from well outside the penalty area, a shot that gave Anders no chance whatsoever. Late in the match, Westside was awarded a penalty kick which was converted by Gavin Barrett for the consolation marker. It should be noted that Inter’s Sheldon Maistry was a going concern throughout the contest as he drove the Westside defenders to distraction with his speed and skill. The victory solidifies Inter’s chances of qualifying for the Province Cup playdowns, while the Westsiders’ loss keeps them near the bottom of the table, just a few points out of the relegation zone.
The fourth, and final, Friday evening game was played at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and featured the aspiring Croatia SC and the struggling Sporting Club of Vancouver. Both teams needed all 3 points, albeit for different reasons, but had to settle for a 2-2 tie. Sporting Club, trying desperately to remain in the Premier Division, got off to a bright start and totally dominated the early part of the contest. At the 10th minute mark, Sporting Club took the lead when Steve Dormer and Devon Greenside combined to set up Steve Frazao who made no mistake from close range as he slotted the ball into the back of the Croatia net for the go-ahead goal. Shortly thereafter, Frazao almost added to his team’s lead but uncharacteristically missed the wide open net from close range. Late in the first half, the Croatians evened the score when veteran Johnny Pashalidis sent a speculative shot/cross into the Sporting box. The shot/cross eluded goalkeeper Briam Brum and bounced off defender Blake Douglas into the net for the tying goal. Not the prettiest goal of the year, but a very important one for the Croatians. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first with Sporting Club dictating the pace of the match and creating the better goalscoring opportunities. With about 15 minutes remaining in the game, Sporting’s veteran Mike Gomes was taken down inside the Croatia penalty area by defender Mirko Maras. Steve Frazao converted the ensuing penalty kick, giving his team the lead, a lead that lasted almost to the final whistle. However, very late in the game and much to Sporting Club’s chagrin, veteran Petar Sulentic—after receiving a great pass from Niko Marcina—was able to lob the ball over Brian Brum’s outstretched hands for the equalizer. Defensively, veterans Mike Gomes and Darko Jelic played extremely well for Sporting Club and Croatia SC respectively. The result pretty well eliminates Croatia SC from the title race, while Sporting Club now needs a minor miracle to avoid relegation.
On Saturday afternoon, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, two teams in desperate need of points—the Norvan Eagles and the Surrey United Firefighters—met in what proved to be a very interesting and exciting match. Unfortunately for both teams, the final 1-1 result leaves them near the bottom of the table, only a couple of points out the dreaded relegation zone. Surrey United got off to a good start and dominated the first part of the match. Midway through the first half, the Firemen were rewarded for their superior play when playing-coach Niall Thompson converted a well-executed long pass from Brad Petoom into the game’s opening goal by cleverly chipping the ball over the head of Norvan goalkeeper Drew Smiley. At this point, the Eagles fought back tenaciously and carried most of the play for the remainder of the first half. They were finally able to knot the score when Nick Cashmere made a great run down the left flank before crossing the ball to Gibson Bardsley, who proceeded to back-heal it into the back of the net past a bewildered Chris Sheppard. In the second half, Norvan continued to dominate and only some excellent goalkeeping by Sheppard kept the host team off the scoresheet. Late in the game, however, Surrey United also came close to scoring on a couple of occasions. First a great shot by Tommy Lowndes just went wide of the post and then Lucas Barrett fired a shot towards the Norvan net, a shot that was cleared off the line by defender Mike Speakman. It should be mentioned that Speakman and fellow defender Brian Fowler played extremely well in the Eagles’ lineup. As mentioned earlier, the result does neither team any favours as they both remain in the danger zone, near the bottom of the table.
Also on Saturday, at Byrne Creek School, Columbus-Clan FC and the RCIU Legends settled for a 1-1 after a hard-fought and very competitive 90 minutes of action. A victory for Columbus would have elevated the ‘Italians’ to a first place tie—with West Van FC—in the Premier Division table. However, a very hard-working and determined Richmond team was able to earn the draw and thus deprive the home team of the opportunity to rise to the top. Both teams created many dangerous goalscoring opportunities, but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Richmond’s Matt Clayton and Columbus’ Thomas Lindley kept the goals at a minimum. Despite the fact that the Legends controlled most of the action in the early going, it was Columbus that took the lead at around the 25th minute mark when veteran Tiernan King outraced goalkeeper Matt Clayton, beat a couple of Richmond defenders and poked the ball into the net from close range for the go-ahead goal. About 10 minutes later, the Legends equalized when Mike Revelle, Chris Jarvie, and Brad Caldwell combined to set up Terry Bell who proceeded to hammer the ball into the net for the tying goal. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, as both teams took turns attacking and defending. Late in the match, both teams claimed a penalty kick, Columbus for an alleged foul inside the penalty area, and Richmond for a hand ball, but the referee denied both claims and, therefore, the match ended in a 1-1 stalemate. The tireless work of Richmond’s midfielders—Mike Revelle and Jeff Potratz—made life difficult for Columbus’ talented midfielders throughout the match, while Columbus’ Tiernan King came close to scoring late in the game on a couple of well-taken free kicks. It should be mentioned that King’s first half goal puts him in the lead in the ‘GOLDEN BOOT AWARD’ race. It should be noted that the contest would have been very one-sided had Columbus been able to field their full squad… most notably, Rizal Ganief… who was unable to make to game due to a personal commitment. It should also be noted that Rizal is dreamy… and smells nice too.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves by a narrow 3-2 margin. Led by the excellent performances of veteran midfielder Mike Dodd and the clinical goalscoring prowess of Corey Birza, the former Trollers fully deserved the gain all 3 points and thus gain sole-possession of first place in the Premier Division table.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s forward ANDREW CORAZZA and West Van’s forward COREY BIRZA for their brilliant goalscoring performances against Westside FC and Coquitlam Metro-Ford respectively. Corazza scored 3 of Inter’s 4 goals, while Birza not only scored 2 of West Van’s goals, but also set up the other! For their excellent perormances, Andrew Corazza and Corey Birza will each receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-03-10.
Three of the 6 Premier Division games played this past weekend resulted in ties, demonstrating once again the high level of parity which exists in the VMSL. Having said that, two lopsided results contradicted the above-mentioned theory as ICSF Inter easily defeated the hot-and-cold Westside FC by a 4-1 margin, while Delta WFC made mince meat out the slumping Serbian White Eagles by clobbering them 6-0. At the top of the table, West Van FC regained sole possession of first place with a narrow 3-2 victory over the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves, in a battle between two of the top teams in the league. At the bottom of the standings, things got worse for Sporting Club as a result of a 2-2 tie against Croatia SC. A minor miracle is now required to allow the reigning VMSL champions to remain in the Premier Division!
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC and the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves faced off in a very important match since both teams were aspiring to win the Premier Division title. At the conclusion of a very hard-fought and well-played match, the former Trollers walked away with a 3-2 victory, thus catapulting them back in first place. West Van FC came flying out of the starting gate and applied some early pressure on the Metro-Ford defence, pressure that eventually produced the opening goal at about the 10th minute mark when Corey Birza took advantage of a defensive blunder to give his team the lead. The goal served as a wake-up call for the Wolves as they started taking control of the match and were finally rewarded at the 30th minute mark when Omari Aldridge—on a great pass from Emilio Bottiglieri—outran the West Van defence and proceeded to slot the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer. The Coquitlam lads continued to apply pressure on the West Van defence as they searched for the go-ahead goal. In particular, a long-range drive by Trevor Rosencrans bounced off the cross-bar with goalkeeper Marco Durante well-beaten. As luck would have it, however, it was West Van that took a 2-1 into the dressing room when, just before the halftime whistle, Corey Birza took advantage of yet another Metro-Ford defensive miscue as he set up Robbie Giezen for West Van’s all-important second goal. The goal seemed to take the wind out of the Wolves’ sails as West Van took control of virtually the entire second half and created numerous other chances. Midway through the second half, West Van scored what proved to be the winning goal as Corey Birza finished off a nifty 3-way passing play—also involving Mike Dodd and Desmond Tachie—for his second goal of the match. At this point, Metro-Ford threw caution to the wind, thus allowing West Van to counter-attack in dangerous fashion. The hosts came close to adding to their lead when veteran Paul Dailly sailed a longe-range shot over the crossbar and also when Corey Birza almost completed his hat-trick but watched agonizingly as his shot hit the crossbar. Very late in the game, Metro-Ford’s Joey Scigliano was fouled inside the West Van box by young Geoff Buchanan and then proceeded to score on the ensuing penalty kick to narrow the margin. Soon thereafter, the final whistle blew, giving the West Van boys the well-earned 3-2 victory, a victory that places them into first place in the Premier Division table, with a 2-point lead over Metro-Ford and Columbus-Clan FC.
Also on Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, Delta WFC totally destroyed the struggling Serbian White Eagles by beating them by a 6-0 margin. As the score indicates, the young ‘prospects’ totally dominated the entire 90 minutes of play and fully deserved the emphatic margin of victory. After a rather slow and lacklustre start, the Delta lads took the lead at the 20th minute mark as a result of an excellent 3-way passing play involving Phil Davies, Alex Seminets, and Sahil Sandhu. In the end it was Sandhu that gave his team the lead with a lethal, first-time shot at the far post. Shortly thereafter, Alex Seminets was fouled inside the White Eagles penalty area by goalkeeper Ted Hans. On the ensuing penalty kick, Seminets himself gave Delta the 2-0 halftime lead. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the Delta youngsters continued to dominate and proceeded to add 4 more goals to their tally. Early in the second half, Alex Seminets was sent flying towards goal by an excellent Gagan Dosanjh pass. In clinical fashion, Seminets placed the ball into the back of the net for Delta’s third goal. Seminets completed his hat-trick shortly thereafter by converting a well-taken free kick by Rhys Volkenant. Late in the match, Delta added insult to the Serbians’ injury by adding two more goals—both by Gagan Dosanjh. Delta’s Philippe Davies was dominant in the midfield, while Bobby Jhutty and Sahil Sandhu worked expremely hard throughout the match and contributed enormously to their team’s successful endevour.
The third Friday evening game was played at Point Grey School in Vancouver between the host Westside FC and the visiting ICSF Inter. The ‘Italians’ controlled the match from start to finish andat the end, fully deserved the 4-1 victory. Andrew Corazza opened the scoring early in the game as he finished off a great 4-way passing play also involving Joseph Marrello, Mike Nonni, and Sunny Uppal. In the end, it was Uppal’s wonderful cross that found a wide-open Corazza in the penalty box. Midway through the first half, Corazza added his second goal of the match as he took advantage of some miscommunication among Westside defenders and proceeded to blast the ball into the net from just outside the penalty area. Early in the second half, Corazza’s long-range free kick was saved by goalkeeper Rowan Anders but the rebound was calmly deposited into the back of the net by a wide-open Joseph Marrello. Shortly thereafter, Corazza capped off an impressive individual performance by blasting a wicked drive from well outside the penalty area, a shot that gave Anders no chance whatsoever. Late in the match, Westside was awarded a penalty kick which was converted by Gavin Barrett for the consolation marker. It should be noted that Inter’s Sheldon Maistry was a going concern throughout the contest as he drove the Westside defenders to distraction with his speed and skill. The victory solidifies Inter’s chances of qualifying for the Province Cup playdowns, while the Westsiders’ loss keeps them near the bottom of the table, just a few points out of the relegation zone.
The fourth, and final, Friday evening game was played at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and featured the aspiring Croatia SC and the struggling Sporting Club of Vancouver. Both teams needed all 3 points, albeit for different reasons, but had to settle for a 2-2 tie. Sporting Club, trying desperately to remain in the Premier Division, got off to a bright start and totally dominated the early part of the contest. At the 10th minute mark, Sporting Club took the lead when Steve Dormer and Devon Greenside combined to set up Steve Frazao who made no mistake from close range as he slotted the ball into the back of the Croatia net for the go-ahead goal. Shortly thereafter, Frazao almost added to his team’s lead but uncharacteristically missed the wide open net from close range. Late in the first half, the Croatians evened the score when veteran Johnny Pashalidis sent a speculative shot/cross into the Sporting box. The shot/cross eluded goalkeeper Briam Brum and bounced off defender Blake Douglas into the net for the tying goal. Not the prettiest goal of the year, but a very important one for the Croatians. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first with Sporting Club dictating the pace of the match and creating the better goalscoring opportunities. With about 15 minutes remaining in the game, Sporting’s veteran Mike Gomes was taken down inside the Croatia penalty area by defender Mirko Maras. Steve Frazao converted the ensuing penalty kick, giving his team the lead, a lead that lasted almost to the final whistle. However, very late in the game and much to Sporting Club’s chagrin, veteran Petar Sulentic—after receiving a great pass from Niko Marcina—was able to lob the ball over Brian Brum’s outstretched hands for the equalizer. Defensively, veterans Mike Gomes and Darko Jelic played extremely well for Sporting Club and Croatia SC respectively. The result pretty well eliminates Croatia SC from the title race, while Sporting Club now needs a minor miracle to avoid relegation.
On Saturday afternoon, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, two teams in desperate need of points—the Norvan Eagles and the Surrey United Firefighters—met in what proved to be a very interesting and exciting match. Unfortunately for both teams, the final 1-1 result leaves them near the bottom of the table, only a couple of points out the dreaded relegation zone. Surrey United got off to a good start and dominated the first part of the match. Midway through the first half, the Firemen were rewarded for their superior play when playing-coach Niall Thompson converted a well-executed long pass from Brad Petoom into the game’s opening goal by cleverly chipping the ball over the head of Norvan goalkeeper Drew Smiley. At this point, the Eagles fought back tenaciously and carried most of the play for the remainder of the first half. They were finally able to knot the score when Nick Cashmere made a great run down the left flank before crossing the ball to Gibson Bardsley, who proceeded to back-heal it into the back of the net past a bewildered Chris Sheppard. In the second half, Norvan continued to dominate and only some excellent goalkeeping by Sheppard kept the host team off the scoresheet. Late in the game, however, Surrey United also came close to scoring on a couple of occasions. First a great shot by Tommy Lowndes just went wide of the post and then Lucas Barrett fired a shot towards the Norvan net, a shot that was cleared off the line by defender Mike Speakman. It should be mentioned that Speakman and fellow defender Brian Fowler played extremely well in the Eagles’ lineup. As mentioned earlier, the result does neither team any favours as they both remain in the danger zone, near the bottom of the table.
Also on Saturday, at Byrne Creek School, Columbus-Clan FC and the RCIU Legends settled for a 1-1 after a hard-fought and very competitive 90 minutes of action. A victory for Columbus would have elevated the ‘Italians’ to a first place tie—with West Van FC—in the Premier Division table. However, a very hard-working and determined Richmond team was able to earn the draw and thus deprive the home team of the opportunity to rise to the top. Both teams created many dangerous goalscoring opportunities, but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Richmond’s Matt Clayton and Columbus’ Thomas Lindley kept the goals at a minimum. Despite the fact that the Legends controlled most of the action in the early going, it was Columbus that took the lead at around the 25th minute mark when veteran Tiernan King outraced goalkeeper Matt Clayton, beat a couple of Richmond defenders and poked the ball into the net from close range for the go-ahead goal. About 10 minutes later, the Legends equalized when Mike Revelle, Chris Jarvie, and Brad Caldwell combined to set up Terry Bell who proceeded to hammer the ball into the net for the tying goal. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, as both teams took turns attacking and defending. Late in the match, both teams claimed a penalty kick, Columbus for an alleged foul inside the penalty area, and Richmond for a hand ball, but the referee denied both claims and, therefore, the match ended in a 1-1 stalemate. The tireless work of Richmond’s midfielders—Mike Revelle and Jeff Potratz—made life difficult for Columbus’ talented midfielders throughout the match, while Columbus’ Tiernan King came close to scoring late in the game on a couple of well-taken free kicks. It should be mentioned that King’s first half goal puts him in the lead in the ‘GOLDEN BOOT AWARD’ race. It should be noted that the contest would have been very one-sided had Columbus been able to field their full squad… most notably, Rizal Ganief… who was unable to make to game due to a personal commitment. It should also be noted that Rizal is dreamy… and smells nice too.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves by a narrow 3-2 margin. Led by the excellent performances of veteran midfielder Mike Dodd and the clinical goalscoring prowess of Corey Birza, the former Trollers fully deserved the gain all 3 points and thus gain sole-possession of first place in the Premier Division table.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s forward ANDREW CORAZZA and West Van’s forward COREY BIRZA for their brilliant goalscoring performances against Westside FC and Coquitlam Metro-Ford respectively. Corazza scored 3 of Inter’s 4 goals, while Birza not only scored 2 of West Van’s goals, but also set up the other! For their excellent perormances, Andrew Corazza and Corey Birza will each receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-03-10.
alleyezonme
New Member
nice matty nice. i caught that!
WEEK #20—2009-02-17
Five Premier Division games were played this past weekend, while the sixth game—between Croatia SC and the Serbian White Eagles—will be played on Monday, February 23 at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam. All 5 games resulted in narrow victories, results which caused very few changes in the standings. In fact, West Van FC remains solidly in first place with a two-point margin over Coquitlam Metro-Ford—as well as a game in hand—while Sporting Club is still languishing in last place—with a very slight hope of avoiding relegation.
On Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, the ‘Italian’ derby took place between ICSF Inter and the aspiring Columbus-Clan FC. The heavily-favoured Columbus, in its quest to win the Premier Division title, needed the points much more than Inter but, as luck would have it, it was the underdogs that came away with a hard-fought 2-0 victory. Columbus got off to a flying start and carried most of the play in the early going, applying a lot of pressure on the ICSF defence. However, some excellent work on the part of Inter’s Liam Smith and Scott Sparklin—as well as some brilliant goalkeeping by Giancarlo Martino—kept the vaunted Columbus attack off the scoresheet. In particular, Martino made a couple of outstanding saves on shots by Tiernan King and Rizal Ganief—the two top goalscorers in the Premier Division. The Inter lads were able to weather the storm and began applying some pressure of their own midway through the first half. Led by the skillful play of Sheldon Maistry and Michael Nonni, Inter started taking the game to Columbus and was rewarded at the 35th minute mark when Andrew Corazza took advantage of some miscommunication between Jonathan Poli and Scott McEachern, raced in all alone and slotted the ball into the back of the net, giving goalkeeper Thomas Lindley no chance whatsoever. In the second half, Inter made a few key substitutions as veterans Jesse Dhami, Nick Seddon, Bevan Footman, and Kevin Crouch entered the field of play and proceeded to help their team’s cause tremendously. Young goalkeeper Erman Ozkan also came on as a substitute, and was forced to make one outstanding save on a close-range shot by Nathan Quan. Just before the final whistle, Michael Nonni once again displayed his enormous speed as he raced down the right flank before crossing an impeccable ball onto the path of Andrew Corazza who rocketed the ball into the Columbus net for the insurance marker. Columbus’ aspirations of winning the Premier Division title thus diminished substantially, while Inter’s quest of qualifying for the Province Cup improved immensely as a result of the victory.
The second Friday evening game was played at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and featured the first place West Van FC and the struggling Surrey United Firefighters. After a hard-fought 90 minutes of action, the home team came away with a 2-0 victory, a result which solidifies its hold on first place. The former Trollers took the lead very early in the game when Desmond Tachie—after receiving a great pass from Robbie Giezen—beat a couple of defenders down the right flank before crossing the ball to the near post. Young Rick Teixeira, after having made a great near-post run, tucked the ball into the back of the net with a brilliant full-time volley for what proved to be the winning goal. Surrey United tried desperately to get back into the match, but some excellent defending on the part of Max Baessato, Drew Gelley, and veteran Trevor Short, kept the visitors off the scoresheet. In the second half, West Van regained control of the match and came close on several occasions to adding to its lead. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Surrey’s Mike Franks kept the scoreline respectable. In particular, Franks made a couple of brilliant saves on shots by Ryan Glanville. However, midway through the second half, Glanville was able to put the match out of Surrey United’s reach when he unleashed a thunderous low shot into the net for the insurance marker. Glanville had been set up by a great through ball from young Robbie Giezen as he capped off a brilliant individual performance by setting up his second goal of the match. As mentioned earlier, the victory solidifies West Van’s hold of first place, while Surrey United is still not out of the relegation danger zone.
On Saturday afternoon, at Town Centre Park, the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves hosted Westside FC in a very important game. Both teams needed all 3 points, albeit for different reasons: the Wolves to remain in contention for the Premier Division title and the Westsiders to stay out of the relegation zone and perhaps qualify for the Province Cup playdowns. After a hard-fought and highly-contested 90 minutes of non-stop action, the Wolves finally prevailed by a 2-0 margin. Both teams created numerous goalscoring opportunities in the early going but the sparse crowd had to wait until the 30th minute mark for the first goal. A well-taken corner kick by Metro-Ford’s Emilio Bottiglieri was headed towards the Westside net by Scott Butchler, resulting in a somewhat clumsy goalmouth scramble. Azad Palani capitalized on the defenders’ hesitation and hammered the ball home for the opening goal. The Westsiders bounced back tenaciously and carried most of the play for the remainder of the first half, coming close to scoring on a few occasions. In particular, a well-taken corner kick by veteran Keith Moore was headed towards the goal by Cam Kochorek, but glanced off the goalpost. In the second half, Westside FC continued to attack in search of the equalizer and came close to scoring on several occasions. However, some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Mathew Bird kept the visitors off the scoresheet. In particular, Bird made a couple of excellent saves on shots by Gavin Barrett and Jay Kent-Hume. It should also be mentioned that Westside’s James Brown rang a long-range shot off the post with Bird well-beaten. As luck would have it, however, it was Metro-Ford that added to its lead late in the game as veteran Joe Scigliano demonstrated his enormous skill level as he beat a couple of Westside defenders before slotting the ball behind goalkeeper Rowan Anders for the insurance marker. Westside’s midfielders Keith Moore and Chris Mehuys—as well as defender James Possee—turned in excellent performances, albeit in a losing cause. The Wolves thus remain 2 points behind West Van FC in the battle for first place, with West Van having a game in hand.
Also on Saturday, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles came out of their slump by defeating the young Delta WFC and thus earn 3 extremely important points. The young ‘residents’ started out well and pressured the Norvan defence right from the start. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Drew Smiley kept the Delta lads at bay for the first 25 minutes. At this point, Delta deservedly took the lead as Gagan Dosanjh pounced upon a poor clearance, beat a couple of defenders on his way to the goal, and slotted the ball home with an accurate and powerful shot. Late in the first half, Norvan’s Gibson Bardsley missed a golden opportunity to tie things up as he raced in on a breakaway but was thwarted by Delta’s goalkeeper Simon Thomas. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the Delta youngsters—led by the excellent play of midfielders Philippe Davies and Nolan Moore—continued to dominate but some excellent defensive work on the part of Ed Bradford, Steve Millar, Matt Brewster, and Brian Fowler kept the Eagles in the game. With 10 minutes remaining in the match, Norvan began to create its own goalscoring chances and came close to knotting the score on efforts by Harpreet Khah and Nick Cashmere. Late in the game, a wonderful through ball from veteran Brian Gibson split the Delta defence and found a wide-open Gibson Bardsley who made amends for his previous blunder by scoring the tying goal. Moments later, yet another perfect pass from Brian Gibson was converted into the winning goal by veteran Shawn Blakeway who calmly shot the ball past the rushing Delta goalkeeper. In the last few minutes, Delta threw caution to the win in search of the equalizer but Norvan’s veteran defensive core held on and thus secured the all-important 3 points. The victory gives the Eagles a breath of fresh air as they are now 5 points ahead of the Serbian White Eagles in the battle to avoid relegation. It should be mentioned, however, that the Serbians have two games in hand!
The fifth, and final, game of the week was played on Saturday at Minoru Park in Richmond between the RCIU Legends and Sporting Club of Vancouver. Sporting Club desperately needed a victory to retain its hopes of avoiding relegation and demonstrated this need by attacking throughout the match. In the end, the 1-0 result in favour of the reigning champions was a fair result, even though the game was not well played by either team. Sporting Club totally dominated the entire first half and only some amazing goalkeeping on the part of Matt Clayton kept the score respectable at the break. In particular, Ryan Dormer and Steve Frazao had several goalscoring opportunities but Clayton rose to the occasion on all but one of them. In fact, a rocket of a shot by Ryan Dormer—from the edge of the penalty area—eluded Clayton’s outstretched hands and found the top corner of the net for the game’s lone goal. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first as the Legends sat back and relied mostly on long balls to try and penetrate Sporting’s defensive core. However, some excellent work on the part of midfielder Brian Gebbie and defender Mike Gomes kept the Portuguese team in the lead till the final whistle. It should be mentioned that Richmond’s midfielder Darren Prentice and forward Justin Student also worked tirelessly throughout the match, albeit in a losing cause. The victory, coupled with Norvan’s upset victory over Delta WFC, does little to help Sporting Club’s hopes of avoiding relegation. Only a major miracle can now keep the defending VMSL champions in the Premier Division!
TEAM OF THE WEEK: ICSF INTER for its excellent performance in upsetting Columbus-Clan FC by a 2-0 margin in the ‘Italian’ derby. Led by Andrew Corazza’s brilliant 2-goal performance, as well as some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Giancarlo Martino and Erman Ozkan, Inter virtually erased all of Columbus’ hopes of winning the Premier Division championship. Inter’s victory also enhances its chances of qualifying for the Provincial Cup playdowns.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s forward ANDREW CORAZZA for his brilliant 2-goal performance in his team’s 2-0 upset victory over arch-rivals Columbus-Clan FC. Corazza has now scored 5 goals in the last 2 games and, if he continues at this pace, could be in the running for the ‘GOLDEN BOOT AWARD’!!! For his excellent performance, Andrew Corazza will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-03-10.
Five Premier Division games were played this past weekend, while the sixth game—between Croatia SC and the Serbian White Eagles—will be played on Monday, February 23 at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam. All 5 games resulted in narrow victories, results which caused very few changes in the standings. In fact, West Van FC remains solidly in first place with a two-point margin over Coquitlam Metro-Ford—as well as a game in hand—while Sporting Club is still languishing in last place—with a very slight hope of avoiding relegation.
On Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, the ‘Italian’ derby took place between ICSF Inter and the aspiring Columbus-Clan FC. The heavily-favoured Columbus, in its quest to win the Premier Division title, needed the points much more than Inter but, as luck would have it, it was the underdogs that came away with a hard-fought 2-0 victory. Columbus got off to a flying start and carried most of the play in the early going, applying a lot of pressure on the ICSF defence. However, some excellent work on the part of Inter’s Liam Smith and Scott Sparklin—as well as some brilliant goalkeeping by Giancarlo Martino—kept the vaunted Columbus attack off the scoresheet. In particular, Martino made a couple of outstanding saves on shots by Tiernan King and Rizal Ganief—the two top goalscorers in the Premier Division. The Inter lads were able to weather the storm and began applying some pressure of their own midway through the first half. Led by the skillful play of Sheldon Maistry and Michael Nonni, Inter started taking the game to Columbus and was rewarded at the 35th minute mark when Andrew Corazza took advantage of some miscommunication between Jonathan Poli and Scott McEachern, raced in all alone and slotted the ball into the back of the net, giving goalkeeper Thomas Lindley no chance whatsoever. In the second half, Inter made a few key substitutions as veterans Jesse Dhami, Nick Seddon, Bevan Footman, and Kevin Crouch entered the field of play and proceeded to help their team’s cause tremendously. Young goalkeeper Erman Ozkan also came on as a substitute, and was forced to make one outstanding save on a close-range shot by Nathan Quan. Just before the final whistle, Michael Nonni once again displayed his enormous speed as he raced down the right flank before crossing an impeccable ball onto the path of Andrew Corazza who rocketed the ball into the Columbus net for the insurance marker. Columbus’ aspirations of winning the Premier Division title thus diminished substantially, while Inter’s quest of qualifying for the Province Cup improved immensely as a result of the victory.
The second Friday evening game was played at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and featured the first place West Van FC and the struggling Surrey United Firefighters. After a hard-fought 90 minutes of action, the home team came away with a 2-0 victory, a result which solidifies its hold on first place. The former Trollers took the lead very early in the game when Desmond Tachie—after receiving a great pass from Robbie Giezen—beat a couple of defenders down the right flank before crossing the ball to the near post. Young Rick Teixeira, after having made a great near-post run, tucked the ball into the back of the net with a brilliant full-time volley for what proved to be the winning goal. Surrey United tried desperately to get back into the match, but some excellent defending on the part of Max Baessato, Drew Gelley, and veteran Trevor Short, kept the visitors off the scoresheet. In the second half, West Van regained control of the match and came close on several occasions to adding to its lead. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Surrey’s Mike Franks kept the scoreline respectable. In particular, Franks made a couple of brilliant saves on shots by Ryan Glanville. However, midway through the second half, Glanville was able to put the match out of Surrey United’s reach when he unleashed a thunderous low shot into the net for the insurance marker. Glanville had been set up by a great through ball from young Robbie Giezen as he capped off a brilliant individual performance by setting up his second goal of the match. As mentioned earlier, the victory solidifies West Van’s hold of first place, while Surrey United is still not out of the relegation danger zone.
On Saturday afternoon, at Town Centre Park, the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves hosted Westside FC in a very important game. Both teams needed all 3 points, albeit for different reasons: the Wolves to remain in contention for the Premier Division title and the Westsiders to stay out of the relegation zone and perhaps qualify for the Province Cup playdowns. After a hard-fought and highly-contested 90 minutes of non-stop action, the Wolves finally prevailed by a 2-0 margin. Both teams created numerous goalscoring opportunities in the early going but the sparse crowd had to wait until the 30th minute mark for the first goal. A well-taken corner kick by Metro-Ford’s Emilio Bottiglieri was headed towards the Westside net by Scott Butchler, resulting in a somewhat clumsy goalmouth scramble. Azad Palani capitalized on the defenders’ hesitation and hammered the ball home for the opening goal. The Westsiders bounced back tenaciously and carried most of the play for the remainder of the first half, coming close to scoring on a few occasions. In particular, a well-taken corner kick by veteran Keith Moore was headed towards the goal by Cam Kochorek, but glanced off the goalpost. In the second half, Westside FC continued to attack in search of the equalizer and came close to scoring on several occasions. However, some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Mathew Bird kept the visitors off the scoresheet. In particular, Bird made a couple of excellent saves on shots by Gavin Barrett and Jay Kent-Hume. It should also be mentioned that Westside’s James Brown rang a long-range shot off the post with Bird well-beaten. As luck would have it, however, it was Metro-Ford that added to its lead late in the game as veteran Joe Scigliano demonstrated his enormous skill level as he beat a couple of Westside defenders before slotting the ball behind goalkeeper Rowan Anders for the insurance marker. Westside’s midfielders Keith Moore and Chris Mehuys—as well as defender James Possee—turned in excellent performances, albeit in a losing cause. The Wolves thus remain 2 points behind West Van FC in the battle for first place, with West Van having a game in hand.
Also on Saturday, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles came out of their slump by defeating the young Delta WFC and thus earn 3 extremely important points. The young ‘residents’ started out well and pressured the Norvan defence right from the start. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Drew Smiley kept the Delta lads at bay for the first 25 minutes. At this point, Delta deservedly took the lead as Gagan Dosanjh pounced upon a poor clearance, beat a couple of defenders on his way to the goal, and slotted the ball home with an accurate and powerful shot. Late in the first half, Norvan’s Gibson Bardsley missed a golden opportunity to tie things up as he raced in on a breakaway but was thwarted by Delta’s goalkeeper Simon Thomas. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the Delta youngsters—led by the excellent play of midfielders Philippe Davies and Nolan Moore—continued to dominate but some excellent defensive work on the part of Ed Bradford, Steve Millar, Matt Brewster, and Brian Fowler kept the Eagles in the game. With 10 minutes remaining in the match, Norvan began to create its own goalscoring chances and came close to knotting the score on efforts by Harpreet Khah and Nick Cashmere. Late in the game, a wonderful through ball from veteran Brian Gibson split the Delta defence and found a wide-open Gibson Bardsley who made amends for his previous blunder by scoring the tying goal. Moments later, yet another perfect pass from Brian Gibson was converted into the winning goal by veteran Shawn Blakeway who calmly shot the ball past the rushing Delta goalkeeper. In the last few minutes, Delta threw caution to the win in search of the equalizer but Norvan’s veteran defensive core held on and thus secured the all-important 3 points. The victory gives the Eagles a breath of fresh air as they are now 5 points ahead of the Serbian White Eagles in the battle to avoid relegation. It should be mentioned, however, that the Serbians have two games in hand!
The fifth, and final, game of the week was played on Saturday at Minoru Park in Richmond between the RCIU Legends and Sporting Club of Vancouver. Sporting Club desperately needed a victory to retain its hopes of avoiding relegation and demonstrated this need by attacking throughout the match. In the end, the 1-0 result in favour of the reigning champions was a fair result, even though the game was not well played by either team. Sporting Club totally dominated the entire first half and only some amazing goalkeeping on the part of Matt Clayton kept the score respectable at the break. In particular, Ryan Dormer and Steve Frazao had several goalscoring opportunities but Clayton rose to the occasion on all but one of them. In fact, a rocket of a shot by Ryan Dormer—from the edge of the penalty area—eluded Clayton’s outstretched hands and found the top corner of the net for the game’s lone goal. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first as the Legends sat back and relied mostly on long balls to try and penetrate Sporting’s defensive core. However, some excellent work on the part of midfielder Brian Gebbie and defender Mike Gomes kept the Portuguese team in the lead till the final whistle. It should be mentioned that Richmond’s midfielder Darren Prentice and forward Justin Student also worked tirelessly throughout the match, albeit in a losing cause. The victory, coupled with Norvan’s upset victory over Delta WFC, does little to help Sporting Club’s hopes of avoiding relegation. Only a major miracle can now keep the defending VMSL champions in the Premier Division!
TEAM OF THE WEEK: ICSF INTER for its excellent performance in upsetting Columbus-Clan FC by a 2-0 margin in the ‘Italian’ derby. Led by Andrew Corazza’s brilliant 2-goal performance, as well as some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Giancarlo Martino and Erman Ozkan, Inter virtually erased all of Columbus’ hopes of winning the Premier Division championship. Inter’s victory also enhances its chances of qualifying for the Provincial Cup playdowns.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s forward ANDREW CORAZZA for his brilliant 2-goal performance in his team’s 2-0 upset victory over arch-rivals Columbus-Clan FC. Corazza has now scored 5 goals in the last 2 games and, if he continues at this pace, could be in the running for the ‘GOLDEN BOOT AWARD’!!! For his excellent performance, Andrew Corazza will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-03-10.
WEEK #21—2009-02-24
Two of the numerous issues were resolved this past weekend as West Van FC clinched its first ever Premier Division title, while Sporting Club of Vancouver was unceremoniously relegated to the first division. The Imperial Cup playdowns also got underway as the Norvan Eagles and Westside FC were able to defeat a couple of aspiring first division teams—the Sapperton Rovers and Lobbans FC respectively. The Imperial Cup competition will continue during the next few weeks as the final is scheduled for late March.
Last Tuesday evening, at William Griffin Park in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles officially avoided relegation by defeating the visiting Westside FC by a clear-cut 3-0 margin. The Eagles dominated the entire first half against a rather flat-footed Westside team. As a result, the home team was able to take a decisive 3-0 lead into the dressing room, a lead which they maintained throughout the second half. At about the 18th minute mark, Norvan took the lead as a result of a great passing play involving Mike Gahan, Todd Stauber, Shawn Blakeway, and Brian Fowler. In the end, it was Blakeway’s square pass that set up Fowler for the game’s opening goal. Shortly thereafter, Blakeway once again played the role of the provider as he flicked on a Steve Millar cross onto the path of Harpreet Khakh who proceeded to race towards the net before slotting the ball home for the insurance marker. The Eagles continued to press and scored the clincher at about the 32nd minute mark—once again on a nifty passing play, this time involving Todd Stauber, Brian Gibson, Mike Gahan, and Shawn Blakeway. Stauber’s perfectly-placed cross was headed home brilliantly by Blakeway to put the game out of Westside’s reach. In the second half, the Westsiders—led by the fine play of Indy Khabra, Jay Kent-Hume, John McKillop, and John Stonehocker—tried valiantly to get back into the game but some excellent defending on the part of veterans Brian Fowler, Edward Bradford, and Steve Millar make life relatively easy for goalkeeper Drew Smiley. As mentioned earlier, the result places the Eagles out of the danger zone, while Westside FC remains in a rather perilous position near the bottom of the table.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC clinched the Premier Division title with a narrow 1-0 victory over the visiting RCIU Legends. West Van came flying out of the starting blocks and could easily have scored a couple of goals in the early going as the Legends’ goalkeeper—Matt Clayton—stopped Ryan Glanville and Robbie Giezen on clear-cut opportunities. However, the brilliant play of Milad Rahmati drove the Legends to distraction throughout the entire match as he displayed an incredible level of speed and skill. Finally, near the end of the first half, Rahmati was able to score the winning goal, on a fine individual effort, against a very stubborn Richmond defense—led by Tim Sowerby and Geoff Salt. In the second half, the Legends bounced back and tried hard to get score the equalizer, but some excellent defending on the part of Trevor Short, Drew Gelley, Max Baessato, and Paul Dailly maintained the clean sheet for West Van’s young goalkeeper Nick Boyd. It should be noted that this is the first time that West Van FC has won the Premier Division championship! Congratulations!! Despite the loss, Club Ireland is now officially out of the relegation zone.
Also on Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, Columbus-Clan FC defeated the desperate Serbian White Eagles by a 3-1 margin, thus diminishing the struggling Eagles’ chances of remaining in the Premier Division. Very late in the first half, a long free kick by veteran Tiernan King was converted into Columbus’ go-ahead goal by young Rizal Ganief, as he scored his 13th goal of the season. Early in the second half, the White Eagles bounced back and knotted the score when a long-range shot by Jorge Israel was accidentally deflected into his own net by defender Frank Mollica. Midway through the second half, Columbus took the lead on a fine individual effort by Tiernan King as he scored his 14th goal of the season—and thus regained possession of first place in the ‘GOLDEN BOOT AWARD’ race. At this point, things started to get a little chippy as both teams were reduced to 10 men due to the expulsions of the White Eagles’ Milos Jestic and Columbus’ Robbie Cairns. Late in the game, Steve DeBlasio unleashed a wicked drive from the edge of the penalty area, a drive that found the top corner of the net for Columbus’ third goal. Columbus’ chances of ending the season in second place remain alive, while the White Eagles will now require a minor miracle in order to avoid relegation.
The third Friday evening game was played at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and featured the desperate Sporting Club and the red-hot ICSF Inter. After and exciting 90 minutes of action, Inter managed to edge the reigning VMSL champions by a narrow 1-0 margin. The result means that Sporting Club has now been officially relegated to the first division, while ICSF is now assured a spot in the Province Cup playdowns. Sporting Club got off to a flying start and came very close to taking an early lead when a Matt Dobie header—off a corner kick by Steve Frazao—bounced off the post with goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino well beaten. As luck would have it, however, it was Inter that took the lead midway through the first half when Andrew Corazza took advantage of an uncharacteristic defensive blunder on the part of Mark Gomes to set up Sheldon Maistry who proceeded to score the game’s lone goal with a wicked blast from outside the penalty area. ICSF proceeded to control the remainder of the first half and could have added to its lead but Laurent Scaligine was thwarted on a couple of occasions by goalkeeper Brian Brum. In the second half, Sporting Club tried desperately to get on the scoresheet, but some excellent defending on the part of Inter’s Bevan Footman, Anthony Marrello, Scott Spracklin, Tim Perry, and Sunny Uppal kept the defending champions off the scoresheet as Giancarlo Martino and Erman Ozkan once again shared the shutout. It should be noted that Sporting Club’s midfielders Mike Gomes and Steve Frazao played very well throughout the match, albeit in a losing cause.
Also on Friday, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, Croatia SC hosted the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves in a match that ended in a 1-1 tie. The result knocked the Wolves out of contention for the Premier Division title, while the Croatians are now guaranteed a spot in the Provincial Cup playdowns. It was obvious from the start that the Wolves were hungrier as they pressed hard in search of the go-ahead goal. The Croatians, on the other hand, seemed lethargic—probably due to the fact that there was little at stake for them. However, the Wolves had to wait till the 15th minute of the second half to score the opening goal as veteran Joe Scigliano—after having receiving a neat pass from Justin Mazzei—unleashed a powerful, and well-placed, drive into the top far corner of the net past goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. The Wolves came close to adding to their lead on two separate occasions but Sandhu was up to the challenge as he thwarted Omari Aldridge and Azad Palani on clear-cut breakaways. However, the Croatians were able to knot the score late in the game when Maarten Koorn hammered home an unstoppable low shot from the edge of the penalty area. Just before the full-time whistle, Metro-Ford goalkeeper Mathew Bird pulled off an amazing save on a point-blank effort by former professional Johnny Sulentic. Defensively, Darko Jelic, Goran Vitic, Robin Hart, and Daniel Rogic played extremely well for the Croatians, while midfielders Emilio Bottiglieri and Matt Besuschko—as well as defender Justin Mazzei—turned in superlative performances for the Wolves.
On Saturday, at Vancouver Technical School, Delta WFC and the Surrey United Firefighters faced off in a match that was of the utmost importance to the visitors but of little consequence to the young ‘residents’. At the end of the 90 minutes, both teams had to settle for a 1-1 tie, a result that keeps the Firemen in the dreaded relegation zone. After a scoreless first half, Delta WFC took the lead soon after the restart when Gagan Dosanjh converted a penalty kick awarded when Dosanjh himself was fouled inside the Surrey United penalty area by Steve McAuley. The Firemen fought back with grit and determination and came close to knotting the score but Lucas Barrett and Cam Wilson were unable to finish off a couple of golden goalscoring opportunities. Finally, at about the 70th minute mark, veteran Niall Thompson was taken down inside the Delta penalty area by Luca Bellisomo, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded to Surrey United. Tommy Lowndes made no mistake from the penalty mark and the Firefighters managed to walk away with the hard-earned tie.
On Monday evening, at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam, the long-awaited ‘Balkan’ rematch—between Croatia SC and the Serbian White Eagles—was played in front of at least 500 enthusiastic spectators. The final result, a 1-1 tie, was a huge disappointment for the White Eagles who badly needed a victory to help them in their quest to remain in the Premier Division. The Croatians carried most of the play in the first half and came close to taking the lead on a few occasions. In particular, Gary Anderson barely missed the net on a couple of occasions, while Adrian Kekec’s short-range shot was brilliantly saved by young goalkeeper Jovan Lucic. In the second half, the Serbians started attacking in search of the all-important first goal and were rewarded at the 70th minute mark when they were awarded a penalty kick when Johnny Pashalidis fouled Nemanja Okuka inside the penalty area. Alex Kosanin capped off a brilliant individual performance by slotting the ball past Didar Sandhu for the go-ahead goal. With about 15 minutes to go, however, the Croatians were able to tie things up as Gary Anderson was set up by Johnny Sulentic and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner of the net. Very late in the match, veteran Darko Jelic almost scored the winning goal for the Croatians but his scissor-kick shot was brilliant saved by Jovan Lucic. The White Eagles must now gather at least 4 points from their remaining 2 games—against Westside FC and ICSF Inter—to retain any hopes of staying in the Premier Division.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the RCIU Legends by a 1-0 margin, thus clinching the very elusive Premier Division title. Led by the excellent defensive work of veterans Paul Dailly and Trevor Short, as well as the indomitable performance of young striker Milad Rahmati, West Van fully deserved the victory and the championship. Congratulations to all the West Van players, managers, and coaches for their excellent performances throughout the season!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: West Van FC’s forward MILAD RAHMATI for his brilliant performance in his team’s 1-0 victory over the RCIU Legends. Coming back from a lengthy suspension, Rahmati was a going concern throughout the match, driving the Club Ireland defenders to distraction with his speed and skill. Needless to say, Rahmati also scored the game’s lone goal on a superlative individual effort! For his excellent performance, Milad Rahmati will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-03-17.
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Two of the numerous issues were resolved this past weekend as West Van FC clinched its first ever Premier Division title, while Sporting Club of Vancouver was unceremoniously relegated to the first division. The Imperial Cup playdowns also got underway as the Norvan Eagles and Westside FC were able to defeat a couple of aspiring first division teams—the Sapperton Rovers and Lobbans FC respectively. The Imperial Cup competition will continue during the next few weeks as the final is scheduled for late March.
Last Tuesday evening, at William Griffin Park in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles officially avoided relegation by defeating the visiting Westside FC by a clear-cut 3-0 margin. The Eagles dominated the entire first half against a rather flat-footed Westside team. As a result, the home team was able to take a decisive 3-0 lead into the dressing room, a lead which they maintained throughout the second half. At about the 18th minute mark, Norvan took the lead as a result of a great passing play involving Mike Gahan, Todd Stauber, Shawn Blakeway, and Brian Fowler. In the end, it was Blakeway’s square pass that set up Fowler for the game’s opening goal. Shortly thereafter, Blakeway once again played the role of the provider as he flicked on a Steve Millar cross onto the path of Harpreet Khakh who proceeded to race towards the net before slotting the ball home for the insurance marker. The Eagles continued to press and scored the clincher at about the 32nd minute mark—once again on a nifty passing play, this time involving Todd Stauber, Brian Gibson, Mike Gahan, and Shawn Blakeway. Stauber’s perfectly-placed cross was headed home brilliantly by Blakeway to put the game out of Westside’s reach. In the second half, the Westsiders—led by the fine play of Indy Khabra, Jay Kent-Hume, John McKillop, and John Stonehocker—tried valiantly to get back into the game but some excellent defending on the part of veterans Brian Fowler, Edward Bradford, and Steve Millar make life relatively easy for goalkeeper Drew Smiley. As mentioned earlier, the result places the Eagles out of the danger zone, while Westside FC remains in a rather perilous position near the bottom of the table.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC clinched the Premier Division title with a narrow 1-0 victory over the visiting RCIU Legends. West Van came flying out of the starting blocks and could easily have scored a couple of goals in the early going as the Legends’ goalkeeper—Matt Clayton—stopped Ryan Glanville and Robbie Giezen on clear-cut opportunities. However, the brilliant play of Milad Rahmati drove the Legends to distraction throughout the entire match as he displayed an incredible level of speed and skill. Finally, near the end of the first half, Rahmati was able to score the winning goal, on a fine individual effort, against a very stubborn Richmond defense—led by Tim Sowerby and Geoff Salt. In the second half, the Legends bounced back and tried hard to get score the equalizer, but some excellent defending on the part of Trevor Short, Drew Gelley, Max Baessato, and Paul Dailly maintained the clean sheet for West Van’s young goalkeeper Nick Boyd. It should be noted that this is the first time that West Van FC has won the Premier Division championship! Congratulations!! Despite the loss, Club Ireland is now officially out of the relegation zone.
Also on Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, Columbus-Clan FC defeated the desperate Serbian White Eagles by a 3-1 margin, thus diminishing the struggling Eagles’ chances of remaining in the Premier Division. Very late in the first half, a long free kick by veteran Tiernan King was converted into Columbus’ go-ahead goal by young Rizal Ganief, as he scored his 13th goal of the season. Early in the second half, the White Eagles bounced back and knotted the score when a long-range shot by Jorge Israel was accidentally deflected into his own net by defender Frank Mollica. Midway through the second half, Columbus took the lead on a fine individual effort by Tiernan King as he scored his 14th goal of the season—and thus regained possession of first place in the ‘GOLDEN BOOT AWARD’ race. At this point, things started to get a little chippy as both teams were reduced to 10 men due to the expulsions of the White Eagles’ Milos Jestic and Columbus’ Robbie Cairns. Late in the game, Steve DeBlasio unleashed a wicked drive from the edge of the penalty area, a drive that found the top corner of the net for Columbus’ third goal. Columbus’ chances of ending the season in second place remain alive, while the White Eagles will now require a minor miracle in order to avoid relegation.
The third Friday evening game was played at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and featured the desperate Sporting Club and the red-hot ICSF Inter. After and exciting 90 minutes of action, Inter managed to edge the reigning VMSL champions by a narrow 1-0 margin. The result means that Sporting Club has now been officially relegated to the first division, while ICSF is now assured a spot in the Province Cup playdowns. Sporting Club got off to a flying start and came very close to taking an early lead when a Matt Dobie header—off a corner kick by Steve Frazao—bounced off the post with goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino well beaten. As luck would have it, however, it was Inter that took the lead midway through the first half when Andrew Corazza took advantage of an uncharacteristic defensive blunder on the part of Mark Gomes to set up Sheldon Maistry who proceeded to score the game’s lone goal with a wicked blast from outside the penalty area. ICSF proceeded to control the remainder of the first half and could have added to its lead but Laurent Scaligine was thwarted on a couple of occasions by goalkeeper Brian Brum. In the second half, Sporting Club tried desperately to get on the scoresheet, but some excellent defending on the part of Inter’s Bevan Footman, Anthony Marrello, Scott Spracklin, Tim Perry, and Sunny Uppal kept the defending champions off the scoresheet as Giancarlo Martino and Erman Ozkan once again shared the shutout. It should be noted that Sporting Club’s midfielders Mike Gomes and Steve Frazao played very well throughout the match, albeit in a losing cause.
Also on Friday, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, Croatia SC hosted the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves in a match that ended in a 1-1 tie. The result knocked the Wolves out of contention for the Premier Division title, while the Croatians are now guaranteed a spot in the Provincial Cup playdowns. It was obvious from the start that the Wolves were hungrier as they pressed hard in search of the go-ahead goal. The Croatians, on the other hand, seemed lethargic—probably due to the fact that there was little at stake for them. However, the Wolves had to wait till the 15th minute of the second half to score the opening goal as veteran Joe Scigliano—after having receiving a neat pass from Justin Mazzei—unleashed a powerful, and well-placed, drive into the top far corner of the net past goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. The Wolves came close to adding to their lead on two separate occasions but Sandhu was up to the challenge as he thwarted Omari Aldridge and Azad Palani on clear-cut breakaways. However, the Croatians were able to knot the score late in the game when Maarten Koorn hammered home an unstoppable low shot from the edge of the penalty area. Just before the full-time whistle, Metro-Ford goalkeeper Mathew Bird pulled off an amazing save on a point-blank effort by former professional Johnny Sulentic. Defensively, Darko Jelic, Goran Vitic, Robin Hart, and Daniel Rogic played extremely well for the Croatians, while midfielders Emilio Bottiglieri and Matt Besuschko—as well as defender Justin Mazzei—turned in superlative performances for the Wolves.
On Saturday, at Vancouver Technical School, Delta WFC and the Surrey United Firefighters faced off in a match that was of the utmost importance to the visitors but of little consequence to the young ‘residents’. At the end of the 90 minutes, both teams had to settle for a 1-1 tie, a result that keeps the Firemen in the dreaded relegation zone. After a scoreless first half, Delta WFC took the lead soon after the restart when Gagan Dosanjh converted a penalty kick awarded when Dosanjh himself was fouled inside the Surrey United penalty area by Steve McAuley. The Firemen fought back with grit and determination and came close to knotting the score but Lucas Barrett and Cam Wilson were unable to finish off a couple of golden goalscoring opportunities. Finally, at about the 70th minute mark, veteran Niall Thompson was taken down inside the Delta penalty area by Luca Bellisomo, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded to Surrey United. Tommy Lowndes made no mistake from the penalty mark and the Firefighters managed to walk away with the hard-earned tie.
On Monday evening, at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam, the long-awaited ‘Balkan’ rematch—between Croatia SC and the Serbian White Eagles—was played in front of at least 500 enthusiastic spectators. The final result, a 1-1 tie, was a huge disappointment for the White Eagles who badly needed a victory to help them in their quest to remain in the Premier Division. The Croatians carried most of the play in the first half and came close to taking the lead on a few occasions. In particular, Gary Anderson barely missed the net on a couple of occasions, while Adrian Kekec’s short-range shot was brilliantly saved by young goalkeeper Jovan Lucic. In the second half, the Serbians started attacking in search of the all-important first goal and were rewarded at the 70th minute mark when they were awarded a penalty kick when Johnny Pashalidis fouled Nemanja Okuka inside the penalty area. Alex Kosanin capped off a brilliant individual performance by slotting the ball past Didar Sandhu for the go-ahead goal. With about 15 minutes to go, however, the Croatians were able to tie things up as Gary Anderson was set up by Johnny Sulentic and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner of the net. Very late in the match, veteran Darko Jelic almost scored the winning goal for the Croatians but his scissor-kick shot was brilliant saved by Jovan Lucic. The White Eagles must now gather at least 4 points from their remaining 2 games—against Westside FC and ICSF Inter—to retain any hopes of staying in the Premier Division.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the RCIU Legends by a 1-0 margin, thus clinching the very elusive Premier Division title. Led by the excellent defensive work of veterans Paul Dailly and Trevor Short, as well as the indomitable performance of young striker Milad Rahmati, West Van fully deserved the victory and the championship. Congratulations to all the West Van players, managers, and coaches for their excellent performances throughout the season!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: West Van FC’s forward MILAD RAHMATI for his brilliant performance in his team’s 1-0 victory over the RCIU Legends. Coming back from a lengthy suspension, Rahmati was a going concern throughout the match, driving the Club Ireland defenders to distraction with his speed and skill. Needless to say, Rahmati also scored the game’s lone goal on a superlative individual effort! For his excellent performance, Milad Rahmati will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-03-17.
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IMPERIAL CUP—ROUND OF 16—2009-03-03
No major upsets took place in the Imperial Cup round of 16 as all the Division 1 teams were eliminated, thus leaving only Premier Division teams in the quarter-final round. The quarter-finals will be played this coming weekend, while the final will take place on March 29 at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver.
GAME #4: West Van FC – Westside FC 4-3: On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, the 2008-09 Premier Division champions—West Van FC—managed to edge the struggling Westside FC by a 4-3 margin. West Van took an early 2-0 lead as striker Ryan Glanville scored two impressive goals in rapid succession. However, the Westsiders refused to give up and narrowed the margin before the halftime whistle on a very clever chip shot by Sebastian Crema. Early in the second half, the recently-crowned VMSL champions re-established their 2-goal lead—and even expanded it to a 3-goal lead—as Milad Rahmati scored two spectacular goals to cap off yet another excellent individual performance. To their credit, however, the visitors never gave up and scored two late goals to make things very interesting. Sebastian Crema and Gavin Barrett—on a pair of great individual efforts—scored the Westside goals to make things rather uncomfortable for the former Trollers, who will now face the Norvan Eagles in the next round of the Imperial Cup. The ‘North Shore Derby’ will be played on Friday evening at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, starting at 7:30 p.m.
GAME #5: Norvan Eagles – Cliff Avenue United 3-0: On Saturday, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles defeated the first division Cliff Avenue lads by a 3-0 after a hard-fought and somewhat closely-contested 90 minutes of play. Even though the Eagles carried most of the play in the first half, the visitors had numerous goalscoring opportunities of their own—mostly on very dangerous counter-attacks. After a scoreless first half, Cliff Avenue came close to taking the lead early in the second half when speedy David McPhail appeared to have been fouled inside the penalty area on a clear-cut breakaway. Unfortunately for the visitors, the referee did not award a penalty kick and the match remained scoreless till the 75th minute mark. At this point, a well-executed corner kick by veteran Brian Gibson was headed home by target man Shawn Blakeway for what proved to be the winning goal. Naturally, Cliff Avenue threw caution to the wind at this point and pushed everyone forward in search of the equalizer. As often happens, however, a lethal counter-attack on the part of the Eagles resulted in the insurance marker as Gibson Bardsley beat a couple of Cliff Avenue defenders before slotting the ball into the back of the net. Near the end of the match, Bardsley added his second goal of the match as he tapped in a brilliant pass from Shawn Blakeway. Defensively, Steve Millar, Edward Bradford, and Mat Brewster played extremely well for the Eagles, making life relatively easy for goalkeeper Drew Smiley. For the visitors, midfielder Massimo Pannozzo and defender Jamie Olson also turned in excellent performances, albeit in a losing cause. Norvan will now take on West Van in the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup.
GAME #6: Croatia SC – Sporting Club 5-2: On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Croatia SC advanced to the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup by defeating the struggling Sporting Club by a rather emphatic 5-2 margin. In actual fact, it was Sporting Club that controlled most of the play in the early going and fully deserved a 2-1 halftime lead. After Sporting’s Jeff Yoon had come close to scoring on a couple of occasions, it was central defender John Blair’s amazing shot from inside the centre circle that gave the visitors the lead midway through the first half. At about the 40th minute mark, Croatia SC knotted the score as Gary Anderson converted a great pass from Steve Dickinson into the tying goal. Just before the halftime whistle, however, Sporting Club regained the lead as Ryan Dormer set up Mike Gomes who clinically proceeded to slot the ball into the corner of the net. The Croatians came out flying in the second half and scored three quick goals to put the game out of Sporting Clubs reach. The tying goal was a result of a clever pass from Johnny Pashalidis that was clinically finished by Johnny Sulentic. A few minutes later, Sulentic added insult to Sporting’s injury when he converted yet another fine pass—this one from Gary Anderson. Shortly thereafter, Sulentic became the provider as he set up Steve Dickinson on the right flank. Dickinson outraced the flat-footed Sporting defenders and brilliantly slotted the ball into the net for the insurance marker. Very late in the game, the Croatians added their 5th goal as Gary Anderson capped off a fine individual performance by converting a 3-way passing play—also involving Oliver Heald and Johnny Pashalidis—into Croatia’s 5th and final goal. The Croatians will now host ICSF Inter in the next round of the Imperial Cup. The game is scheduled for Sunday—at 2:00 p.m.—at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver.
GAME #7: ICSF Inter – Serbian White Eagles 4-1: On Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, ICSF Inter easily defeated the struggling Serbian White Eagles by a clear-cut 4-1 margin. The opening goal was scored at the 6th minute mark as young Marco Visintin intercepted a poor clearance and drove home a wicked shot from just outside the penalty area. Shortly thereafter, Andrew Corazza scored what proved to be the winning goal as his rather innocuous shot was uncharacteristically fumbled by young goalkeeper Jovan Lucic. It should be mentioned that, despite the early blunder, Lucic turned in an excellent performance throughout the match. Late in the first half, Inter’s goalkeeper—Giancarlo Martin—emulated Lucic’s faux pas as he allowed Brandon Ferridge to score on a rather weak shot from long range. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as Inter continued to press and came close to scoring on several occasions. In particular, Sheldon Maistry was denied on several occasions by some outstanding saves on the part of Jovan Lucic. Late in the game, however, Cristiano Tropeano—on a great set-up by Andrew Corazza—tapped in a close-range shot for the insurance marker. Kevin Crouch then proceeded to score his first goal of the season as he outraced Lucic to the ball before slotting it home. As mentioned earlier, Inter will now face Croatia SC in the next round of the cup.
GAME #8: Metro-Ford Wolves – Punjab Hurricanes 4-0: On Saturday, at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves hosted the first division Punjab Hurricanes in what turned out to be a very entertaining game. The first half was very closely contested with the Hurricanes coming close to scoring on a few occasions early in the match. In particular, the Chivers twins—Alan and Peter—almost gave the underdogs the lead only to have their point-blank shots brilliantly saved by Metro-Ford goalkeeper Mathew Bird. Late in the half, however, the Wolves were able to take a 2-0 lead into the dressing room as a result of two brilliant goals. On the first, young Matthew Besuschko—after receiving a great through ball from Keegan Ayre—unleashed a wicked drive from well outside the penalty box into the top corner of the net. The second goal was set up by Brian Van Schagen, whose impeccable cross was headed home by Keegan Ayre. In the second half, the Wolves inserted Alfredo Valente into the lineup and the former Whitecap made an immediate impact in the game as he blasted home two long-range shots—left-footed, of course!—to round out the scoring. Midfielder Matthew Besuschko and defenders Scott Butschler and Brook Scott turned in superlative performances in a winning cause. The Wolves will now host the resurgent Surrey United Firefighters in the quarter-finals. The game is scheduled for Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Town Centre Park.
GAME #9: ICST Pegasus – Surrey United Firefighters 2-5: On Saturday evening, at Newton Athletic Park, the ‘Surrey Derby’ took place with the newly-promoted ICST Pegasus hosting the hot-and-cold Surrey United Firefighters. The first half was a roller-coaster affair with both teams creating numerous goalscoring chances. Early in the match, Surrey United took advantage of two Pegasus defensive errors and scored a couple of quick goals. The first goal was scored by veteran player/coach Niall Thompson and the second by young Gagan Josan. It should be also mentioned that Lucas Barrett almost gave Surrey United a 3-0 lead but his shot barely missed the net. At this juncture, Pegasus rallied back tenaciously and managed to knot the score before the halftime whistle on goals by Ryan Powell and former Whitecap David Morris. On the first goal, Powell half-volleyed the ball into the net from close range, while Morris’ tying goal was scored on a penalty kick after Morris himself had been fouled inside the penalty area. The second half began with Pegasus taking the game to the Firemen but, as luck would have it, it was Surrey United that took the lead at about the 70th minute mark when Lucas Barrett slotted the ball home on a clever set-up by Niall Thompson. A few minutes later, Surrey United put the game out of Pegasus’ reach on a wicked drive by young Gagan Josan. Very late in the game, the Firefighters were awarded a penalty kick which was converted by Peter Bergholz. Surrey United will now travel to Coquitlam where they will clash with arch-rivals Metro-Ford Wolves in an Imperial Cup quarter-final match.
GAME #10: Columbus-Clan FC – Vancouver Olympics 6-0: On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan destroyed the visiting first division Olympics, proving without a doubt the huge difference between the two divisions. Columbus took over the reins of the match from the opening whistle and scored the opening goal very early in the game. Rizal Ganief—one of the top goal-scorers in the VMSL—volleyed home a great cross from Ylya Malek for what proved to be the winning goal. Moments later, former Whitecap Steve Kindel made a great run down the left flank before crossing the ball to the far post where Ylya Malek had no difficulty in slotting it home. In the second half, Columbus continued to dominate and scored 4 more times to lay claim to the easy victory. First, Steve DeBlasio found a wide open Tiernan King inside the 6-yard box for an easy tap-in. Then, veteran Tony Gaita headed home a fine cross by Tino Cucca for Columbus’ 4th goal. Late in the game, Tiarnan King and Rizal Ganief rounded out the scoring for Columbus. Thomas Lindley and Steve London shared the rather easy shutout in the Columbus goal. The ‘Italians’ will now take on the RCIU Legends in the next round of the Imperial Cup. The game is scheduled to be played on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Hastings Bowl.
GAME #11: RCIU Legends – Akal FC 2-0: On Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, the RCIU Legends defeated the first division Akal FC by a narrow, but well-earned 2-0 margin. The Legends controlled most of the action throughout the match, mostly due to the excellent midfield play of Spencer Coppin and former Whitecap Jason Jordan. The Legends created several goalscoring opportunities in the first half but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Akal’s Alex Marquez kept the home team off the scoresheet. In particular, Marquez made a phenomenal save on a great header by Darren Prentice—on a fine cross by defender Geoff Salt. Finally, midway through the first half, the Legends were able to get on the scoreboard when Jason Jordan’s sublime pass sent Darren Prentice in on goal with only goalkeeper Marquez to beat. Prentice made no mistake in slotting the ball home for what proved to be the winning goal. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, with Club Ireland controlling most of the action. Once again, however, goalkeeper Alex Marquez rose to the occasion with some fantastic saves, thus keeping Akal in the game. However, with about 15 minutes left in the contest, Jason Jordan once again played the part of the provider as he—after beating a couple of Akal defenders—set up John Lawrence inside the penalty area. Having just entered the match as a substitute, Lawrence controlled the ball with his first touch of the game and scored the insurance marker with his second touch! The Legends will face much tougher opposition in the next round of the Imperial Cup as they take on the heavily-favoured Columbus-Clan FC.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: CROATIA SC for its gutsy performance in defeating the desperate Sporting Club by a 5-2 margin. The visiting Portuguese teams needed the victory to remain in contention for a Province Cup spot and tried extremely hard to accomplish this goal. In fact, Sporting Club twice took the lead in the first half, but the Croatians fought back with grit and determination and, in the end, fully deserved the victory.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Four former Whitecaps—JASON JORDAN, JOHNNY SULENTIC, ALFREDO VALENTE, and STEVE KINDEL—have been chosen as Players of the Week for their superlative efforts in guiding their respective teams to important victories in the Imperial Cup competition. Jordan controlled the middle of the park in the RCIU Legends’ 2-0 victory over Akal FC and set up both of his team’s goals. Sulentic scored two goals and set up a third in Croatia’s 5-2 victory over Sporting Club. Valente scored twice on blistering shots from well outside the penalty area to lead his team—the Metro-Ford Wolves—to a 4-0 victory over the Punjab Hurricanes. Kindel, playing in his favourite left back position, performed superlatively well in Columbus’ emphatic 6-0 victory over the Vancouver Olympics, setting up several goalscoring opportunities as well as a couple of goals. For their excellent performances, the 4 former Whitecaps will each receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-03-24.
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No major upsets took place in the Imperial Cup round of 16 as all the Division 1 teams were eliminated, thus leaving only Premier Division teams in the quarter-final round. The quarter-finals will be played this coming weekend, while the final will take place on March 29 at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver.
GAME #4: West Van FC – Westside FC 4-3: On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, the 2008-09 Premier Division champions—West Van FC—managed to edge the struggling Westside FC by a 4-3 margin. West Van took an early 2-0 lead as striker Ryan Glanville scored two impressive goals in rapid succession. However, the Westsiders refused to give up and narrowed the margin before the halftime whistle on a very clever chip shot by Sebastian Crema. Early in the second half, the recently-crowned VMSL champions re-established their 2-goal lead—and even expanded it to a 3-goal lead—as Milad Rahmati scored two spectacular goals to cap off yet another excellent individual performance. To their credit, however, the visitors never gave up and scored two late goals to make things very interesting. Sebastian Crema and Gavin Barrett—on a pair of great individual efforts—scored the Westside goals to make things rather uncomfortable for the former Trollers, who will now face the Norvan Eagles in the next round of the Imperial Cup. The ‘North Shore Derby’ will be played on Friday evening at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, starting at 7:30 p.m.
GAME #5: Norvan Eagles – Cliff Avenue United 3-0: On Saturday, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles defeated the first division Cliff Avenue lads by a 3-0 after a hard-fought and somewhat closely-contested 90 minutes of play. Even though the Eagles carried most of the play in the first half, the visitors had numerous goalscoring opportunities of their own—mostly on very dangerous counter-attacks. After a scoreless first half, Cliff Avenue came close to taking the lead early in the second half when speedy David McPhail appeared to have been fouled inside the penalty area on a clear-cut breakaway. Unfortunately for the visitors, the referee did not award a penalty kick and the match remained scoreless till the 75th minute mark. At this point, a well-executed corner kick by veteran Brian Gibson was headed home by target man Shawn Blakeway for what proved to be the winning goal. Naturally, Cliff Avenue threw caution to the wind at this point and pushed everyone forward in search of the equalizer. As often happens, however, a lethal counter-attack on the part of the Eagles resulted in the insurance marker as Gibson Bardsley beat a couple of Cliff Avenue defenders before slotting the ball into the back of the net. Near the end of the match, Bardsley added his second goal of the match as he tapped in a brilliant pass from Shawn Blakeway. Defensively, Steve Millar, Edward Bradford, and Mat Brewster played extremely well for the Eagles, making life relatively easy for goalkeeper Drew Smiley. For the visitors, midfielder Massimo Pannozzo and defender Jamie Olson also turned in excellent performances, albeit in a losing cause. Norvan will now take on West Van in the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup.
GAME #6: Croatia SC – Sporting Club 5-2: On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Croatia SC advanced to the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup by defeating the struggling Sporting Club by a rather emphatic 5-2 margin. In actual fact, it was Sporting Club that controlled most of the play in the early going and fully deserved a 2-1 halftime lead. After Sporting’s Jeff Yoon had come close to scoring on a couple of occasions, it was central defender John Blair’s amazing shot from inside the centre circle that gave the visitors the lead midway through the first half. At about the 40th minute mark, Croatia SC knotted the score as Gary Anderson converted a great pass from Steve Dickinson into the tying goal. Just before the halftime whistle, however, Sporting Club regained the lead as Ryan Dormer set up Mike Gomes who clinically proceeded to slot the ball into the corner of the net. The Croatians came out flying in the second half and scored three quick goals to put the game out of Sporting Clubs reach. The tying goal was a result of a clever pass from Johnny Pashalidis that was clinically finished by Johnny Sulentic. A few minutes later, Sulentic added insult to Sporting’s injury when he converted yet another fine pass—this one from Gary Anderson. Shortly thereafter, Sulentic became the provider as he set up Steve Dickinson on the right flank. Dickinson outraced the flat-footed Sporting defenders and brilliantly slotted the ball into the net for the insurance marker. Very late in the game, the Croatians added their 5th goal as Gary Anderson capped off a fine individual performance by converting a 3-way passing play—also involving Oliver Heald and Johnny Pashalidis—into Croatia’s 5th and final goal. The Croatians will now host ICSF Inter in the next round of the Imperial Cup. The game is scheduled for Sunday—at 2:00 p.m.—at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver.
GAME #7: ICSF Inter – Serbian White Eagles 4-1: On Friday evening, at Vancouver Technical School, ICSF Inter easily defeated the struggling Serbian White Eagles by a clear-cut 4-1 margin. The opening goal was scored at the 6th minute mark as young Marco Visintin intercepted a poor clearance and drove home a wicked shot from just outside the penalty area. Shortly thereafter, Andrew Corazza scored what proved to be the winning goal as his rather innocuous shot was uncharacteristically fumbled by young goalkeeper Jovan Lucic. It should be mentioned that, despite the early blunder, Lucic turned in an excellent performance throughout the match. Late in the first half, Inter’s goalkeeper—Giancarlo Martin—emulated Lucic’s faux pas as he allowed Brandon Ferridge to score on a rather weak shot from long range. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as Inter continued to press and came close to scoring on several occasions. In particular, Sheldon Maistry was denied on several occasions by some outstanding saves on the part of Jovan Lucic. Late in the game, however, Cristiano Tropeano—on a great set-up by Andrew Corazza—tapped in a close-range shot for the insurance marker. Kevin Crouch then proceeded to score his first goal of the season as he outraced Lucic to the ball before slotting it home. As mentioned earlier, Inter will now face Croatia SC in the next round of the cup.
GAME #8: Metro-Ford Wolves – Punjab Hurricanes 4-0: On Saturday, at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves hosted the first division Punjab Hurricanes in what turned out to be a very entertaining game. The first half was very closely contested with the Hurricanes coming close to scoring on a few occasions early in the match. In particular, the Chivers twins—Alan and Peter—almost gave the underdogs the lead only to have their point-blank shots brilliantly saved by Metro-Ford goalkeeper Mathew Bird. Late in the half, however, the Wolves were able to take a 2-0 lead into the dressing room as a result of two brilliant goals. On the first, young Matthew Besuschko—after receiving a great through ball from Keegan Ayre—unleashed a wicked drive from well outside the penalty box into the top corner of the net. The second goal was set up by Brian Van Schagen, whose impeccable cross was headed home by Keegan Ayre. In the second half, the Wolves inserted Alfredo Valente into the lineup and the former Whitecap made an immediate impact in the game as he blasted home two long-range shots—left-footed, of course!—to round out the scoring. Midfielder Matthew Besuschko and defenders Scott Butschler and Brook Scott turned in superlative performances in a winning cause. The Wolves will now host the resurgent Surrey United Firefighters in the quarter-finals. The game is scheduled for Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Town Centre Park.
GAME #9: ICST Pegasus – Surrey United Firefighters 2-5: On Saturday evening, at Newton Athletic Park, the ‘Surrey Derby’ took place with the newly-promoted ICST Pegasus hosting the hot-and-cold Surrey United Firefighters. The first half was a roller-coaster affair with both teams creating numerous goalscoring chances. Early in the match, Surrey United took advantage of two Pegasus defensive errors and scored a couple of quick goals. The first goal was scored by veteran player/coach Niall Thompson and the second by young Gagan Josan. It should be also mentioned that Lucas Barrett almost gave Surrey United a 3-0 lead but his shot barely missed the net. At this juncture, Pegasus rallied back tenaciously and managed to knot the score before the halftime whistle on goals by Ryan Powell and former Whitecap David Morris. On the first goal, Powell half-volleyed the ball into the net from close range, while Morris’ tying goal was scored on a penalty kick after Morris himself had been fouled inside the penalty area. The second half began with Pegasus taking the game to the Firemen but, as luck would have it, it was Surrey United that took the lead at about the 70th minute mark when Lucas Barrett slotted the ball home on a clever set-up by Niall Thompson. A few minutes later, Surrey United put the game out of Pegasus’ reach on a wicked drive by young Gagan Josan. Very late in the game, the Firefighters were awarded a penalty kick which was converted by Peter Bergholz. Surrey United will now travel to Coquitlam where they will clash with arch-rivals Metro-Ford Wolves in an Imperial Cup quarter-final match.
GAME #10: Columbus-Clan FC – Vancouver Olympics 6-0: On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan destroyed the visiting first division Olympics, proving without a doubt the huge difference between the two divisions. Columbus took over the reins of the match from the opening whistle and scored the opening goal very early in the game. Rizal Ganief—one of the top goal-scorers in the VMSL—volleyed home a great cross from Ylya Malek for what proved to be the winning goal. Moments later, former Whitecap Steve Kindel made a great run down the left flank before crossing the ball to the far post where Ylya Malek had no difficulty in slotting it home. In the second half, Columbus continued to dominate and scored 4 more times to lay claim to the easy victory. First, Steve DeBlasio found a wide open Tiernan King inside the 6-yard box for an easy tap-in. Then, veteran Tony Gaita headed home a fine cross by Tino Cucca for Columbus’ 4th goal. Late in the game, Tiarnan King and Rizal Ganief rounded out the scoring for Columbus. Thomas Lindley and Steve London shared the rather easy shutout in the Columbus goal. The ‘Italians’ will now take on the RCIU Legends in the next round of the Imperial Cup. The game is scheduled to be played on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Hastings Bowl.
GAME #11: RCIU Legends – Akal FC 2-0: On Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, the RCIU Legends defeated the first division Akal FC by a narrow, but well-earned 2-0 margin. The Legends controlled most of the action throughout the match, mostly due to the excellent midfield play of Spencer Coppin and former Whitecap Jason Jordan. The Legends created several goalscoring opportunities in the first half but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Akal’s Alex Marquez kept the home team off the scoresheet. In particular, Marquez made a phenomenal save on a great header by Darren Prentice—on a fine cross by defender Geoff Salt. Finally, midway through the first half, the Legends were able to get on the scoreboard when Jason Jordan’s sublime pass sent Darren Prentice in on goal with only goalkeeper Marquez to beat. Prentice made no mistake in slotting the ball home for what proved to be the winning goal. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, with Club Ireland controlling most of the action. Once again, however, goalkeeper Alex Marquez rose to the occasion with some fantastic saves, thus keeping Akal in the game. However, with about 15 minutes left in the contest, Jason Jordan once again played the part of the provider as he—after beating a couple of Akal defenders—set up John Lawrence inside the penalty area. Having just entered the match as a substitute, Lawrence controlled the ball with his first touch of the game and scored the insurance marker with his second touch! The Legends will face much tougher opposition in the next round of the Imperial Cup as they take on the heavily-favoured Columbus-Clan FC.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: CROATIA SC for its gutsy performance in defeating the desperate Sporting Club by a 5-2 margin. The visiting Portuguese teams needed the victory to remain in contention for a Province Cup spot and tried extremely hard to accomplish this goal. In fact, Sporting Club twice took the lead in the first half, but the Croatians fought back with grit and determination and, in the end, fully deserved the victory.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Four former Whitecaps—JASON JORDAN, JOHNNY SULENTIC, ALFREDO VALENTE, and STEVE KINDEL—have been chosen as Players of the Week for their superlative efforts in guiding their respective teams to important victories in the Imperial Cup competition. Jordan controlled the middle of the park in the RCIU Legends’ 2-0 victory over Akal FC and set up both of his team’s goals. Sulentic scored two goals and set up a third in Croatia’s 5-2 victory over Sporting Club. Valente scored twice on blistering shots from well outside the penalty area to lead his team—the Metro-Ford Wolves—to a 4-0 victory over the Punjab Hurricanes. Kindel, playing in his favourite left back position, performed superlatively well in Columbus’ emphatic 6-0 victory over the Vancouver Olympics, setting up several goalscoring opportunities as well as a couple of goals. For their excellent performances, the 4 former Whitecaps will each receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2009-03-24.
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I give Mr Azzi credit for always posting about these guys. Lets face it, almost all are to old to even try for CAPS. Caps are after new market new kids and new future. I just do not understand why Mr Azzi would give resedency kids a chance in the VMSL. These guys do not want to be part of any cup. To me it would be better to leave Eagles in the league and kick them out. Eagles at least draw good crouds and try hard to play nice soccer.When do the caps do anything for Mr. Azzi. We do not see any local kids moving up. Resedency is a top piramid level. A pro club taking a place of a good amature side.
We are responsable for our own falts.
Kick the dam ball.
We are responsable for our own falts.
Kick the dam ball.
Captain Shamrock
Well-Known Member
That's funny.........I swear I saw Spencer Coppin send Darren through for the first goal.
That's some classic stuff.
That's some classic stuff.
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