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Imperial Cup 2018 Imperial Cup

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machel

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Nice highlights @GoF .
Looked like an entertaining game!

Maybe a little over exuberant with the cellys when Rino's tied it up but you can see how much it meant to them. Nothing wrong with having some passion in the game especially in an under dog role imo.

The rumour, if true, is disgusting. No room in the game for sucker punches whatsoever. How does the league deal with this especially with arguably one of the best players around. $40 and 4 games ala Poli?
 

Dude

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Yes, the Imperial Cup Final is set and it will be two very young teams as Rino's will appear in the VMSL's showpiece event for the first time in their club's history. They have also booked a first ever trip to the Provincial Cup for a team that has struggled to establish itself at the top level after breaking away from Westside roughly a decade ago. Recent investment has given the club a platform for a springboard to success a la Man City and they will look to win one of the biggest and most historic trophies available to compete for at the amateur level in Canada. Opposing them will be a Croatia side who last lifted the Imperial Cup in 2005. Sulentic and Co. have rebuilt their program in recent years and will know look for the club's biggest win since they lifted the Provincial Cup in 2014. The two teams booked their tickets for the big dance on a lovely, sunny, springlike day down at Empire which was picture perfect for a pair of side by side semi-finals.

The first of the staggered kickoffs was Rino's against Inter. The "Italians" controlled the early play and had the better of the chances to open the scoring as Marco Visintin and Milad Mehrabi both uncharacteristically blasted wide from inside the penalty area after Inter had attacked quickly down the flanks and provided service for the big men up front. Mehrabi would atone for his miss, however, later in the half when he did indeed begin the scorekeeper's work. He picked up the ball on the left hand side and simply out muscled the Rino's defender, powering home a shot to make it 1-0 Inter. At the other end, Rino's were hardly troubling Erman Ozkan in the Inter goal, settling for mostly tepid, long rang attempts on target. If the first half was to be the template for the match, Inter were shaping up for a relatively easy day at the office and it could have got even easier when the first major refereeing decision occurred part way through the opening period. Tigers were attacking with pace through the midfield when their man was pulled back with an arm across the chest. Simultaneously, the Inter centreback was charging hard, coming to clear out the ball, the man and likely anything else that got in his way. Already fouled and falling, the Rino's attacker took the opportunity to challenge two footed on the charging centreback, sending him tumbling and giving referee Kevin Uppal a decision to make. It was certainly a horror tackle, but the Rino's man would argue that he simply lost control of his body after being pulled back initially. It was a grey area of just how much did he actually know what he was doing and, on a big stage, with lots of time still to play, Uppal reached for only the yellow card and informed the Rino's player that the only reason it was not a sending off was because he had in fact being fouled initially. Inter protested, but perhaps this was foreshadowing of most of the critical decisions not breaking their way on the afternoon; 1-0 at half time.

As the second half kicked off for Rino's and Inter, action got underway on the neighbouring pitch between Crotia and West Van. Perhaps somebody forgot to inform Croatia of what time kickoff was because it was all West Van early. The former Trollers were having an abundance of joy attacking down their right wing and we sending in crosses by what felt like the dozen. Croatia scrambled them all away, but it felt simply a matter of when, not if, the North Shore boys were going to get on top. The amount of times Croatia crossed the halfway line with any sort of meaningful possession in the opening half an hour could likely have been counted on one hand. As the first half entered it's final third Croatia did start to come into the game, but West Van were still in control overall. Meanwhile, back on the North pitch, Rino's started as they had finished the first half, controlling possession, but not creating any guilt edged opportunities. They were still settling for long range attempts, but served notice that their shooting should be respected when the hit the bar soon after the restart. Out of almost nothing they were level when their fullback was allowed to travel fully the width of the pitch and shape one up on his favoured right foot from just outside the area. Not sure if Ozkan did not see it but, whatever the case, he was rooted to the spot as it sailed past him at his near post. Inter were undeterred though and had their lead back after just over five minutes. The move was nothing special at all as the Tiger's defence hardly covered themselves in glory, especially after just having got back into the game at 1-1. This time it was Visitin who out-muscled the Rino's back line before squaring across the top of the six-yard-box for Milad Rahmati to add himself to the score sheet alongside his namesake who had got Inter's first.

From this point on Rino's took over and were the better team as they streamed forward in waves on attack after attack. Their play likely deserved an equalizer, but their finishing was woeful. Inter looked gassed, but still posed a counter attacking threat. Rino's wasteful finishing looked to have cost them when, roughly twelve minutes from time, their keeper, who had been very aggressive and quick off his line all afternoon, got caught in no-mans-land and fouled the Inter attacker just outside the area. Inter turned in the ball with their next touch, but referee Uppal had not played any type of advantage. He also only reached for a yellow card when there surely could have been a case for an obvious goal scoring opportunity and, therefore, a red card, because the challenge came outside the area. Inter's protests were fervent, understandably so, and Uppal could clearly be heard saying that he had "made a mistake" in blowing the whistle as quickly as he did. Small consolation for Inter whose free kick came to nothing. Simultaneously, on the South pitch, West Van finally got their deserved opener when they turned home their umpteenth cross from the right wing.

Back on the North side, while it should have been 3-1 and lights out, instead Rino's still had a pulse and boy did they make it count. Two minutes from time, Connor McMillan finally turned home the equalizer that had been coming for about half an hour and sent the Rino's camp into ecstasy. The celebrations were a bit too over the top, however, as the Tiger's coach, Blaise Nkufo, along with a player not dressed, stormed off the bench to join the players on the field. While the passion was to be admired, it certainly was not professional and those sorts of antics cannot be tolerated. Blaise was rightly sent to the stands for the conclusion of the ninety minutes and ensuing extra time. It will be interesting to see if there is any further supplemental discipline from the league regarding his sending off that might impact his involvement moving forward. We had another thirty minutes to come as the full time score between Inter and Rino's was 2-2, while Croatia trailed West Van 1-0 at half time.

As the action resumed on both pitches Croatia had finally woken up. Their young attacking force put together a nice, flowing move that saw them bang in the equalizer, right under the crossbar within a few minutes of the restart. From here the game was very well matched with both teams exchanging chances, but most of the game was a midfield battle with few moments to truly get the blood racing in front of goal. In extra time between Rino's and Inter it was one way traffic. Rino's continued to have the "Italians" on the back foot, but they continued to be unable to find the back of the net. The big talking point was yet another refereeing decision. The Rino's attacker cut into the box at full tilt as the Inter defender came sliding in with the tackle. The attackers touch was heavy and the ball rolling away from him, but the challenge got no where near the ball and forced the attacker tumbling over. The main issue from Inter's perspective was that they claimed there was no actual contact between the players. Tough to tell from Uppal's angle how much of that he could see, but there was, in fact, no direct contact at any point between the players. The flip side of the argument is that the defender had no play on the ball and the only reason that he avoided the contact was because the attacker was nimble enough to hurdle the challenge. A bit of a grey area, but when you put in that kind of an all or nothing challenge and get nothing you leave yourself open to the referee's interpretation. Likely a penalty was the correct decision in this case, but, if you are Inter, I think you are understandably frustrated when you continue to be on the wrong side of all these calls. Regardless, it was a penalty and perhaps karma from the Inter perspective, because, after tying the game at the death, McMillan stepped up and took a very poor penalty that was easily saved. While obviously disappointed, Rino's got right back to work and continued to wrack up the chances. At one point they did have the ball behind Ozkan, only to see it strike the post and roll into the Inter keeper's grateful arms.

As the clock ticked towards full time of extra time we saw the other part of Inter that the "Italians" are famous, or perhaps infamous, for, as things got ugly. Inter certainly have a temper and the way that they play right on the edge often helps them find that extra gear, but it can also lead to very poor scenes. One needs only to think back to how the Provincial Cup final ended last season to see another example of the East Van based boys and their hot heads. This time, with their last attack, Inter pinged the ball down the near touchline for Rahmati to chase. He was always going to be second best with the Rino's defender taking a good angle and getting across to position his body between Milad and the ball. Milad, undaunted, tried his best to force a turnover and, likely as a result of some pent up frustration, he was rather overzealous with his actions. He grabbed the arm and jersey and anything else he could get a hold of on the Rino's man until he ultimately wrapped his arms around the neck/chest of the defender from behind and drew a whistle. The Rino's defender and captain then turned to take issue with Milad and, given the size advantage, he threw his weight around a bit, wrapping up Milad before shoving him rather forcefully, two handed in the chest. Milad, of course, is not one to back down, and went right back at the Rino's man exchanging shoves as others rushed towards the scene. Milad's teammates were just seconds too late to save the highly talented, but hot tempered, attacker from himself though, as just as they arrived to try and pull him away from the melee, Milad threw a punch. The big Rino's man seemed to dodge it, but the damage was done. Likely the situation could have been resolved with each player receiving a yellow card for their role in the nonsense, but once a punch was thrown Milad had to be off and Uppal duly produced the red card and brandished in his direction. He then seemed to put the card away before turning to deal with the Tiger's player and perhaps he was thinking that a yellow would be in order for the defender and the role he played in the altercation, but, with the Inter bench baying and tempers running high, Uppal went back for the red and the teams finished at 10 aside. The decision seemed harsh on the Rino's man, but there was no time to dwell on things given that the final whistle sounded immediately following the restart and we were off to penalties.

While all that was getting set on the North pitch, the action on the South pitch seemed like it too might be heading towards extra time. There was to be a sting on the tail however, as this time it was Croatia who were able to cross a ball in from the right wing. It bobbled around in the penalty area until one of the Europeans was quickest to react and stabbed it home to make it 2-1. Eight minutes from time West Van had it all to do and they threw everything at the Croatians but the ball just would not land kindly for them. With everyone committed forward Croatia sprung a two-on-none counter attack in injury time to make the result safe. The attacker in possession chose to keep the ball and take the shot on himself with only the keeper to beat. He actually hit the post, but the rebound fell kindly to his teammate who simply rolled it into an unguarded cage; maybe it was a pass all along. FT West Van 1-3 Croatia. Penalties were underway on the North pitch and Michael Nonni shot third for Inter. His effort would hit the post and no one else would miss. FT (AET) Inter 2(4)-2(5) Rino's.

*******
Heard rumours that after the dust settled there was an incident at the dressing rooms between Inter and Rino's. Allegedly Milad Rahmati came over to congratulate Rino's and shake a players hand, at which point Milad then, beer in hand, sucker punched the Rino's player square in the face. Again, I was not there at the time, but I am told that the police were called, though Milad had slipped away into the night by the time they arrived. Not sure all the facts in this one, but certainly not the kind of thing you want to be talking about after two well contested semi-finals. If true, that would certainly be a stain that the league will not fancy having on their reputation and one has to think that they would come down incredibly hard on Inter and Milad.

Great write-up.

If memory serves, Inter has already qualified for Provincials, no? if so, this Red could have some serious implications to their run...especially if a league investigation follows (i.e.: Westside file a formal complaint w/ the league), and he's judged to have committed said act by the kangaroo court. Could be looking at the remainder of the season, maybe more.

Sounds like Uppal had a very tough and challenging match to officiate, but you want someone coolheaded and experienced in that spot. Good on him. Offsetting reds, well, it's an easy decision to send of the two tango partners. Even if one was less willing to dance, and didn't throw a punch, was still dancing. As for the PK call, again a tough one there. It can be argued that the tackle attempt, even if it didn't quite connect, affected the striker's chance on goal. The intent was there, it was late, and only through an agile jump to avoid contact can you say it wasn't ugly. Dunno...very tough call. I suppose you'd have to be very sharp on the laws of the game in that moment and have a clear head to make that call. I could never be a ref....
 

Canucks4Ever

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Yes Inter are already in the Provincials. I thought Milad was already suspended for the Provincials anyway as I thought he was one of the guys sent off after the melee last season but I just watched the tape back and it looks like, despite acting like a complete maniac, he was not one of the players who received a red card. He really probably should have been as, if you watch, he comes sprinting in and tries to wrap up and tackle a guy from behind but ends up on the ground himself. Then, after the final whistle, instead of celebrating with his teammates, he goes straight over to the Aldergrove keeper and gets in his face. Probably should have been at least a second yellow in there for him somewhere (he was booked for taking off his shirt after scoring the 2-0 goal), but I guess in the chaos it is understandable that the officials missed some of the nonsense. Still cannot believe Connor from Aldergrove was not sent off for that horror show challenge, it looks just as bad a year later, but that's neither here nor there at the moment.

The VMSL will suspend him for his red card, but, because of an issue a few seasons ago with yellow card accumulations where yellow cards in league play were forcing players to miss important cup games, in the VMSL changed the rule and now cup suspensions only apply to the cup. I would have to think that, after this incident, the league may wish to review the language around that so that it only applies to yellow card accumulations and not sendings off. So, yes, I am sure he will get a handful of games, but they will only apply to the Imperial Cup next season and beyond.

Technically speaking the off field/changing room incident I think would fall outside of the remit of the league. None of the match officials were there to include it in their report, so it is not likely to be on the official record. Definitely a grey area. How long after the game would an incident still be considered to be a part of the match? If the police were called and a report made, as it sounds like was the case, Milad could very well be facing some legal action as this would have to be considered assault. I think this is a case where BC Soccer may have to step in and levy a punishment, but again, I am not sure how wide their scope would range on this type of incident.
 

Dude

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Yes, super interesting situation to follow. Complete grey area; on one side, the match was over. On the other, presumably the facilities were "rented" under the premise of a VMSL Match being played there, and conduct on those grounds then falls to the VMSL...ultimately.

I was many years back involved w/ a squad where one of our very dumb young players mooned a ref well after the match, like the ref was en route to the parking lot after having changed. It wasn't a friendly moon, either, more of an angry moon. We'd lost, and there were some questionable calls against us. Imagine?

Ref includes it in a report, kid gets to site the balance of the season, and then some.

How is this really different? Obviously the ref was long gone, but in terms of context, how is an "assault" on a ref after the match- but on the grounds- any different than a player-on-player assault on the grounds after a match? Not that different. I'd argue that it's effectively the same. Big difference being no ref present...but that may prove to be a non issue if indeed there are charges laid. You'd have to assume the word of the VDP should serve as at least equally valuable to the word of a match official?

This one will be interesting to follow....
 

Canucks4Ever

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Agreed. Certainly the facilities fall under the umbrella of part of the match. If this was a professional game obviously there would be league officials etc. still at the stadium and any conduct at the dressing rooms after the match would fall under their jurisdiction (ie Mourino going into the City dressing room after they won at Old Trafford this year) even if the match referees were not their to witness it.

While there were obviously several neutral witness around (sounds like @Crazy-K was there as were I am sure many Croatia and West Van players) can the league use their accounts of the altercation as evidence when none of them were there in an official capacity? What if the incident had occurred in the parking lot instead of in front of the dressing rooms? Would the league still have a mandate to action this? And again, with the VMSL differentiating between "Cup" and "League" suspensions, as this was a cup game, do they have the authority to blanket a punishment across everything? Presumably they would, but I don't know for sure. This might sound like splitting hairs, we all know the right thing to do is to have Milad removed for quite a period of time, but unfortunately we have rules and the way they are written, he might just escape severe punishment. For example, with no official league witnesses, what if Milad says the Rino's guy provoked him? Maybe some of the West Van players "saw that" (I don't think that is the case here, but for arguments sake) then what? Who's story is to be believed? Presumably the VPD investigation will be entirely separate and if the VMSL is waiting for that to conclude, Milad could well be playing for a few more years before a decision.

It will be very interesting to watch how this one gets handled.
 

Dude

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First point, "What if the incident had occurred in the parking lot instead of in front of the dressing rooms?": Irrelevant. It didn't occur in the parking lot, it occurred on the grounds.

The rest, agree, total dogs breakfast, and I suppose that the league execs, as representing their membership, can pretty much do anything they want simply by siting general code of conduct rules. This is, after-all, a society, and inside a society the members have the ability to govern themselves (which the executive is voted in to represent), and I'm sure somewhere there are guidelines written to describe how to deal with exceptional situations. Society laws, etc.. The reality is, if the league wants to step in and do something, they can do whatever they want, really, all they have to do is justify it. They can quite easily site witnesses and make a judgment call, and ruling.

Who knows....
 

dezza

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You guys type too much.

One of the match officials from the Croatia/WestVan match witnessed the incident.

For reference, I believe a Burnaby Firefighters player was suspended a number of months by BC Soccer in August/September for a similar incident outside the change rooms at Burnaby Lake after a pre-season match vs Coquitlam Metro Ford
 

Canucks4Ever

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I'd still say the Croatia/West Van official was not there in an official capacity at that point with regards to that match.

Per @Dude I took a scroll through the Rules/Reg and Constitution on the Excellent Site and all I could find was this under Article 4 of the Constitution:

4.7. The Board of Directors may, from time to time, institute temporary rules and regulations covering specific cases not covered in the Constitution, By-Laws, or Rules and Regulations. However, the membership must ratify the temporary rules and regulations at the next Annual General Meeting.

Presumably that would give them the broad power to apply a suspension across both league and cup games. Again though, I think that they will likely try to defer to BC Soccer. If @dezza is right about the Burnaby Firefighters situation in the FVSL then there is obviously precedent for this.

Again I get that this all sounds nit-picky; but we have these rules for a reason and they must be followed. There's no question that the book should be thrown at Milad here (again assuming the accounts here are how it played out; we obviously have no comment from the player himself or any representatives from Inter), but the league only has the power to impose these punishments as the rules are currently written. Like it or not, that's how a society works.
 

lego3

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I was there and saw Milad assault the other player. There is no room for behaviour like this, I get that the game was heated and emotions ran high but to assault someone well AFTER the game is just uncalled for. It wasn't just a sucker punch it was a hit with a beer bottle, I think that constitutes assault with a weapon. The league needs to send a message that this type of behaviour does not get tolerated. Whats next?? he brings a knife and stabs someone just because he lost a game?? Although I would not be surprised if he does that next time around. If I was Inter I wound suspend the player until the league decides what to do with him.

Just my 2 cents....
 

Canucks4Ever

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Was a beer bottle used (confirmed)? Was the person injured/was there blood? Thanks.

Story I got was beer can not bottle. I believe the Rino's player was bleeding from the nose after the incident, not sure if it was broken or just cut.
 

Crazy-K

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A linesman from the west van/Croatia game was present when it happened also Ruben was there as the league rep. So I’m sure he saw or was there right after it happened.

Beer can and lots of blood.
 

Dude

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I'd still say the Croatia/West Van official was not there in an official capacity at that point with regards to that match.

Per @Dude I took a scroll through the Rules/Reg and Constitution on the Excellent Site and all I could find was this under Article 4 of the Constitution:

4.7. The Board of Directors may, from time to time, institute temporary rules and regulations covering specific cases not covered in the Constitution, By-Laws, or Rules and Regulations. However, the membership must ratify the temporary rules and regulations at the next Annual General Meeting.

Presumably that would give them the broad power to apply a suspension across both league and cup games. Again though, I think that they will likely try to defer to BC Soccer. If @dezza is right about the Burnaby Firefighters situation in the FVSL then there is obviously precedent for this.

Again I get that this all sounds nit-picky; but we have these rules for a reason and they must be followed. There's no question that the book should be thrown at Milad here (again assuming the accounts here are how it played out; we obviously have no comment from the player himself or any representatives from Inter), but the league only has the power to impose these punishments as the rules are currently written. Like it or not, that's how a society works.

So, I've done my time in a society like this as a Board Member. I have a pretty good idea how it works.

The Execs could go to 4.7, could call a meeting (even by phone), could ask the team reps to attend and that there will be a special situation brought to the table for discussion, and those present (team reps, excutive) could vote after hearing the case / proposed temporary rule. How do you think the vote would carry?

Yeah, that IS how a society is supposed to work. But no, I doubt it's even go that far. Like you said, I see this being handed to BC Soccer, and a heavy book being thrown. Especially now hearing about the alleged beer can. This is a bit crazy now, and the league has a very tough situation on their hands.
 

club_i_champ

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I was there and saw Milad assault the other player. There is no room for behaviour like this, I get that the game was heated and emotions ran high but to assault someone well AFTER the game is just uncalled for. It wasn't just a sucker punch it was a hit with a beer bottle, I think that constitutes assault with a weapon. The league needs to send a message that this type of behaviour does not get tolerated. Whats next?? he brings a knife and stabs someone just because he lost a game?? Although I would not be surprised if he does that next time around. If I was Inter I wound suspend the player until the league decides what to do with him.

Just my 2 cents....

Why even allow there to be a chance that he could do this kind of thing again? He did something similar a couple years back at the Nations Cup did he not? Wanker.

The league message should be you're no longer welcome to play anywhere across our league for life, full stop.
 

akslop

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Why even allow there to be a chance that he could do this kind of thing again? He did something similar a couple years back at the Nations Cup did he not? Wanker.

The league message should be you're no longer welcome to play anywhere across our league for life, full stop.


Milad says, I'm very very Sorry . This wont happen again.

Stevie Wonder says, I'll buy you a beer next time I see you.

If you had to chose one, Who's word do you take?
 
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