Azzi's Superlative VMSL Week in Review 07/08'

[Herb Jr.]

Despite the labour dispute affecting the use of Vancouver fields, the 2007-2008 VMSL season got off to a good start as all 7 Premier Division games were played. Needless to say, all 7 games were played outside of Vancouver! No major upsets took place as most of the games were closely contested and hard fought. Perhaps the most stunning result was Sporting Club’s emphatic 4-1 victory over perennial powerhouse Surrey United as the Cloverdale-based team struggled during the entire 90 minutes of play against the very strong and determined Portuguese team.

On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the season got under way in a very bright fashion for the defending Group ‘B’ champions, Sporting Club of Vancouver. As mentioned earlier, the Portuguese team waltzed to a decisive 4-1 victory over the visiting Surrey United. Led by the fine play of defender Mark Gomes and midfielder Mike Wooldridge, Sporting Club dominated proceedings from start to finish and fully deserved the uncharacteristic margin of victory. Sporting Club took the lead at the 15th minute mark when Matt Ormerod, after streaking down the right flank, crossed the ball into the Surrey United box where an unmarked Ryan Dormer calmly controlled it and slotted it home for the go-ahead goal. Early in the second half, Sporting Club added to its lead when Mark Gomes converted a penalty kick that was awarded when Ryan Dormer was fouled inside the penalty area. After Surrey United had narrowed the margin—on a goal by Ryan Hopp—Sporting Club restored its 2-goal lead when Mike Wooldridge converted an impeccable cross from Mike Gomes. Wooldridge then added insult to injury when he scored his second goal of the match as he took advantage of some sloppy defending by intercepting a Surrey United back pass before chipping the ball over goalkeeper Paul Shepherd.

Also on Friday evening, at Mundy Park in Coquitlam, the Norvan Eagles and the Metro-Ford Wolves kicked off their season with a closely-fought encounter that ended in a 1-0 victory for the visiting North Shore team. The Eagles got off to a good start as Danny Nind, James Wilton, and Blake Burgon drove the Metro-Ford defenders to distraction with their pace and constant pressure. The Wolves recovered from the early onslaught and began creating chances of their own, mostly due to the fine play of young veterans Emilio Bottiglieri and Andrew Veer. In fact, the Norvan goalkeeper—the newly signed Mike Norris—came up with a couple of brilliant saves late in the first half to keep Metro-Ford off the scoresheet. Most of the second half was a carbon-copy of the first 45 minutes as both teams took turns attacking. The turning point of the match occurred midway through the second half when Nick Slaney and John Reda were inserted into the Norvan lineup by new coach Craig Smith. The two substitutes seemed to turn things around as they exerted some considerable pressure on the Metro-Ford defence. In fact, it was Nick Slaney who scored the lone goal of the match late in the game as he skipped past 2 defenders before tucking the ball behind goalkeeper Zach Burns and into the back of the net. Metro-Ford came storming back but some more excellent goalkeeping on the part of Mike Norris kept the score at 1-0 in favour of the Eagles.

The third Friday evening place took place at Confederation Park in North Vancouver as the two newly-promoted teams—Delta Metro Blaze and Westside FC—met in a cross-over match. Westside controlled most of the match but was unable to penetrate a very stubborn and well-organized Delta defence. Led by Louis Hughes, Tim Sowerby, Tommy Loewe, and Daniel Tshimba, Delta kept the Westside attackers at bay throughout the entire contest. Coached by Randy Samuel—the most-capped player in Canada’s soccer history—Delta appeared satisfied with defending and counter-attacking. The strategy paid off late in the match as Shane Waterhouse—on a brilliant set-up by Paulo Valdez—was able to race in all alone and score the lone goal of the match. It should be noted that defensively Gaby Bourbara and Dave Irvine played extremely well for Westside FC, albeit in a losing cause.

On Saturday, the Sapperton Rovers hosted West Van FC at Queen’s Park Stadium in a Group ‘A’ match that ended with the visitors edging the Rovers by a 1-0 margin. West Van carried most of the play during the first half and fully deserved its 1-0 lead at the break. Jesse Fetterley scored the lone goal of the match in the early going and his teammates managed to squander several other opportunities that could have put an end to Sapperton’s chances of recovery. In the second half, however, the Rovers came roaring back and, led by the indomitable play of Ted Ullrich, came close to tying things up on several occasions. Both goalkeepers—Cory Breure for Sapperton and Marco Durante for West Van—played extremely well throughout the match. Veterans Nico Berg and Mike Dodd were at the very best in the West Van line-up in their respective defensive and midfield roles. Ryan Glanville and Drew Gelley also deserve special mention for their fine play in a winning cause.

Also on Saturday, at Town Centre Stadium in Coquitlam, the Vancouver Firefighters got off to a great start by defeating the rather disorganized AFC Leopards by a 3-1 margin. The Leopards had most of the play in the first half, due mainly to their speed and technical skills. However, some timely saves by former Whitecaps goalkeeper Mike Franks kept the game scoreless till halftime. The Firemen took control of the match in the second half and scored 3 great goals to lay claim to all 3 points. The first goal originated from a great through ball by another former Whitecap—Jeff Skinner—which sent Peter Bergholtz flying down the wing. Bergholtz’ cut-back pass was calmly tapped into the net by Niall Thompson—yet another former Whitecap—for the opening goal. Soon thereafter the Leopards knotted the score when Desmond Tachie converted a clever set-up by Gretshen Waite for the equalizer. The Firemen recaptured the lead a few minutes later when Jeff Skinner once again played the role of the provider as he sent newly-signed Trevor Rosencrans in on goal. Rosencrans made no mistake as he unleashed an unstoppable shot past AFC goalkeeper Che Koostra-Nair. Late in the match, the Firefighters added the insurance marker as Greg Pears and Chris Jarvie combined to set up Niall Thompson for his second goal of the match as he calmly chipped the ball over Koostra-Nair’s head into the net.

The third Saturday game was played at the new turf field at Burnaby North High School and featured Croatia SC and Indo FC in a hotly-contested Group ‘B’ match-up. Both teams came prepared to play and exhibited some excellent skills and a lot of competitiveness. The final 2-1 score in favour of Croatia SC does not tell the entire tale of the match as Indo FC probably deserved at least a tie. After having a goal called back—for an offside infraction—Croatia took the lead midway through the first half when two newly-signed veteran players—Rob Hall and Oliver Heald—combined to score the first goal of the game. It was Hall’s perfectly-placed free kick from the middle of the park that found Heald in the middle of the Indo FC penalty area. Heald, a former Whitecap, took advantage of a defensive lapse as he pounced on the loose ball and slotted home the go-ahead goal. For the remainder of the first half, and for most of the second half, Indo FC attacked relentlessly in search of the equalizer. Unfortunately for the visiting team, however, it was Croatia that added to its lead on a goal by Mike Masi midway through the second half. Despite the 2-goal deficit, Indo FC continued to press and came very close to scoring on several occasions. Goldy Takhar, David Samra, and Patrick Mohammed were particularly unlucky not to narrow the margin as they came very close to scoring but were thwarted either by the woodwork or by some excellent goalkeeping on the part of former Indo FC (and Vancouver Whitecaps) goalkeeper, Didar Sandhu. Late in the game, Indo FC was finally rewarded for its perseverance when Robby Toor converted a superb cross from Patrick Mohammed. All in all, a very entertaining match! Congratulations to both teams!!

Finally, also on Saturday at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the match of the week took place between Columbus-Clan FC and ICSF Inter. The ‘Italian’ Derby lived up to expectations as the numerous fans were treated to some entertaining and exciting soccer action. The final result, 3-2 in favour of Columbus, was a bit of a shocker as ICSF led by a 2-goal margin for most of the match. Inter got off to a great start, scoring 2 goals in the early going and missing a few other golden goal-scoring chances—in particular a poorly-executed penalty kick by Matt Judd. It should also be noted that Columbus goalkeeper, Luca Dalla Pace, stood on his head on various occasions to prevent Inter from scoring. Kevin Crouch opened the scoring when he headed home a Bevan Footman free kick. After Judd had missed his penalty kick, Crouch himself took the responsibility of taking yet another 12-yarder and added Inter’s second goal to the scoresheet. At this point Inter seemed content with the result and reverted to a defensive strategy, a strategy that came back to haunt them. Throughout the second half, Columbus attacked relentlessly as second half substitutes Robbie Cairns, Davide Xausa (yet another former Whitecap playing the VMSL), and Brendan Stabeno injected a much-needed spark to the attack. With 15 minutes left in the match, and with the score still 2-0 in Inter’s favour, Columbus was able to get on the scoreboard when Robbie Cairns curled a brilliant shot from outside the penalty area into the top right corner of the net. Columbus continued to demonstrate a lot of character and snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat by scoring two more excellent goals in the dying moments of the contest. First, defender Tony Gaita took advantage of a goalmouth scramble to tie the game with 5 minutes remaining in the match. Then, with practically the last kick of the game, Tiarnan King converted a brilliant pass from Joey Scigliano into the winning goal. All in a all, a remarkable performance by the entire Columbus squad! It should be noted that Columbus is the defending Province Cup champions and will represent BC in the upcoming National championships in Nova Scotia.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBUS-CLAN FC for its brilliant performance in defeating ICSF Inter by a 3-2 margin in a game played on Saturday at Charles Best School in Coquitlam. Inter led 2-0 for most of the match and only some amazing demonstration of grit allowed the defending Province Cup champions to come back and claim all 3 points. Columbus will represent BC in the National Championships which will be held in Nova Scotia during the Thanksgiving weekend. GOOD LUCK BOYS!

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Vancouver Firefighters’ NIALL THOMPSON for his remarkable 2-goal performance in his team’s hard-earned 3-1 victory over the AFC Leopards. Thompson, last years’s GOLDEN BOOT AWARD winner, got off to a flying start this season by scoring 2 brilliant goals to lead his team to an all-important victory. For his outstanding performance this past weekend, NIALL THOMPSON will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-09-27.

 

[Hands of Stone]

Re: VMSL review week 1

That was a quick one for Sir Azzi, sure is no labour dispute at Head Office. Makes you wonder why everyone is allways critical of VMSL brass?

No major upsets, but Slurrey U. had their assses handed to them by Sporting, but no Upset, just knvb.

hos

 

[gilly]

WEEK #2—2007-09-17

Only a couple of Premier Division teams—Sporting Club and Croatia SC—retained a perfect record after 2 weeks of play. Both teams are in Group ‘B’ while in Group ‘A’ 4 teams remained unbeaten, albeit each with a tie. Once again, no major upsets took place as most of the games were closely contested. The only exception was the emphatic 4-0 drubbing that the Sapperton Rovers inflicted upon the struggling AFC Leopards. A mini-upset took place at Holly Park in Ladner on Friday evening when the mighty Columbus-Clan FC was held to a 1-1 tie by the newly-promoted Delta Metro Blaze.

On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC hosted the Metro-Ford Wolves in a game that provided the sparse crowd plenty of action and excitement. The home team dominated the first 15 minutes of play and could easily have lead by a couple of goals had it not been for the outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Mathew Bird. However, as often happens, Metro-Ford survived the early onslaught and took the lead midway through the first half when young veteran Andrew Veer unleashed a powerful shot from well outside the penalty area, a shot that left goalkeeper Jamie Locke totally stunned. A few minutes later, the Wolves added to their lead in a brilliant fashion as Emilio Bottiglieri cleverly chipped the ball over the last West Van defender thus sending newcomer Adam Day flying towards the West Van goal. Day made no mistake in placing the ball into the net and Metro-Ford took what appeared to be an insurmountable 2-0 lead. Late in the first half, however, West Van got on the scoresheet when veteran Todd Vass narrowed the margin as a result of a goalmouth scramble. In the second half West Van took control of the match and eventually got the tying goal when defender Leo Nash took advantage of some poor defending on the part of the Wolves before putting the ball into the back of the net. Defensively, West Van was led by veteran Nico Berg and young Leo Nash, while two other veterans—Mike Dodd and Paul Dailly—led the way in the middle of the park. West Van thus remains unbeaten with a 1-1-0 record while the Wolves are still struggling near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ table with a 0-1-1 record.

Also on Friday evening, at Holly Park in Ladner, the defending Province Cup champions—Columbus-Clan FC—had to settle for a 1-1 tie against the newly-promoted Delta Metro Blaze. Columbus dominated proceedings for most of the first half, particularly in the early going. Chance after chance went awry, mostly due to the superb goalkeeping on the part of Delta’s Matt Clayton. Columbus finally took the lead midway through the first half on a speculative shot by Brendan Stabeno from well outside the penalty area. Delta bounced back in the second half and starting exhibiting some slick passing and an enormous work rate. One of the hardest workers on the field, Craig McMillan, was compensated for his indomitable effort when, at about the 65th minute, he scored the tying goal for the Blaze. A long clearance by goalkeeper Matt Clayton was chipped over an unrushing Luca Dalla Pace by McMillan who then outworked former Whitecap Davide Xausa before calmly tapping the ball into the net for the equalizer. Forward Paulo Valdez once again turned in a stellar performance for the Blaze, while Columbus defender Jonathan Poli and midfielder Steve DeBlasio acquitted themselves quite well throughout the contest. Both teams thus remain undefeated—with 1-1-0 records—and at the top of the Group ‘A’ table.

On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, the Sapperton Rovers demolished the AFC Leopards by a 4-0 margin. Ted Ullrich opened the scoring early in the match as he capitalized on a Leopards’ defensive blunder before placing the ball into the empty net. Young Fabio Confiteiro scored the first of his two goals late in the first half, giving his team a rather comfortable 2-0 halftime lead. In the second half the Rovers continued to press and were rewarded when Robert Sing unleashed a wicked shot from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner of the net. Late in the match, Confiteiro added his second goal by finishing off a well-executed 3-way passing play involving Jeff Rogers and Rey Ismail. Veteran Sapperton midfielder—and player-coach—Mike Favaro was at his best guiding his team to a very impressive victory. Another veteran, defender Edward Bradford, was rock solid in the Rovers backline and contributed immensely to the shutout victory. The Rovers thus evened their record to 1-1 while the Leopards are still pointless with a 0-0-2 record.

Also on Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, Indo FC dropped a 1-0 decision to newly-promoted Westside FC after a rather boring 90 minutes of play. The game seemed destined for a scoreless draw until the 70th minute of the match when Westside’s Spencer Nebel earned his team all 3 points with his first VMSL Premier Division goal. At this point, Indo FC started to press for the equalizer and the match became more entertaining as Westside created a few goalscoring opportunities on counter-attacks. Indo’s Jag Sajjan came very close to tying things up late in the game as he narrowly missed the net on a header. Westside veteran James Prescott turned in a stellar performance throughout the contest in his defensive role. The result leaves Indo FC pointless in the Group ‘B’ table, while Westside FC climbs to the middle of the same table as a result of the victory.

The third Saturday game was played at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam and it featured two of the top VMSL contenders—ICSF Inter and the Vancouver Firefighters. The final 0-0 result does not tell the entire tale of the match as both teams seemed eager to gain all 3 points and took turns attacking in search of the all-important first goal. As the final score indicates, however, both teams were kept off the scoresheet mostly due to the outstanding goalkeeping on the part of the Firemen’s Mike Franks and Inter’s young Erman Ozkan. It should be mentioned that Ozkan has just graduated from the youth ranks and was making his debut in the VMSL. The best scoring chance came early in the game when the Firemen came very close to taking the lead but Chris Craveiro uncharacteristically missed the golden opportunity. For the Firemen, young defender Jeff Buchanan and veteran midfielder Jeff Skinner were outstanding throughout the match, while Mike Tempesta was a going concern in the middle of the park for ICSF. The single point allows the Firefighters to lay claim to a share of first place in Group ‘A’, while Inter is still languishing near the bottom of the table in the same group.

The fourth, and final, Saturday game was played at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver between the Norvan Eagles and Sporting Club of Vancouver. Despite the fact that the match was evenly played, it was the more experienced Portuguese team that came away with a 3-1 victory. Sporting Club took the lead midway through the first half when Ryan Dormer brilliantly headed a great cross from Edwin Rodriguez into the bottom corner of the Norvan net. The Eagles bounced back and tied things up when Blake Burgon picked up a rebound and slotted the ball home from close range. Late in the first half, however, Sporting Club regained the lead when the two Gomes brothers—Mike and Mark—combined to set up Matt Ormerod’s header for what proved to be the winning goal. Midway through the second half, Mark Gomes rounded out the scoring with a perfectly-executed free kick from the edge of the penalty area. The free kick was awarded when Gomes himself was fouled as he was streaking in on goal. Norvan came roaring back and came very close to narrowing the margin on a few occasions but particularly in the late going when James Wilton saw his excellent header bounce off the crossbar. The result leaves Sporting Club tied for first place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while Norvan is now sitting in the middle of the same table.

The lone Sunday game was played at Cloverdale Athletic Park as Surrey United hosted the red-hot Croatia SC in a Group ‘B’ match-up. In the end, the final 3-1 result in favour of the Croatians was probably a fair result as the visitors controlled most of the play. The game got off to a fast start as both teams appeared anxious to gain all 3 points. Midway through the first half, Croatia took the lead when veteran Oliver Heald—yet another former Whitecap playing in the VMSL—was taken down in the penalty area. Heald converted the penalty kick himself, thus giving his new team a 1-0 halftime lead. Croatia continued to set the pace and came close to adding to the lead on several occasions although it must be mentioned that Surrey United was also dangerous, mostly on counter-attacks. Oliver Heald added what proved to be the winner midway through the second half and then rounded out the scoring late in the game after Surrey United’s Dave Hleucka had narrowed the margin. Croatia SC is now tied for first place with Sporting Club in the Group ‘B’ standings, while Surrey United is uncharacteristically languishing in last place in the same group.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: SPORTING CLUB OF VANCOUVER for its clinical performance in defeating the very determined Norvan Eagles by a 3-1 margin. Sporting Club used its experience to the utmost and fully deserved the margin of victory. As a result, Sporting Club now shares first place in the Group ‘A’ standings with Croatia SC.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Croatia SC’s OLIVER HEALD for his outstanding 3-goal performance in his team’s hard-earned 3-1 victory over Surrey United. Heald, after playing the last couple of seasons in the Masters’ Division, made a remarkable return to the Premier Division by scoring 4 goals in 2 games! For his outstanding performance this past weekend, OLIVER HEALD will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-10-04.

 

[Dude]

Just got off the phone w/ Sixf...erm, I mean, Matt Clayton. He's pretty chuffed and proud about having his named mentioned not once, but twice by Azzie. If Sixfy...erm, I mean, Matt Clayton ever posted here, he'd tell you.

But, he's very shy. And humble.

 

[Herb Jr.]

WEEK #3—2007-09-24

Five extremely close games featured this past weekend’s Premier Division schedule, while the other two were as one-sided as could possibly be imagined! Sporting Club took advantage of Croatia’s unexpected loss to the Norvan Eagles to lay claim to sole possession of first place in the Group ‘B’ standings while the Vancouver Firefighters—as a result of an action-filled 3-2 victory over Columbus-Clan—remained tied for first place with the surprisingly strong Delta Metro Blaze in Group ‘A’. At the bottom of each table, the AFC Leopards and Indo FC are still pointless after 3 weeks of action.

On Friday evening, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves came out of their early-season slumber by defeating the newly-promoted Westside FC by a convincing 6-1 margin. The Wolves got off to a flying start, scoring 3 excellent goals in the first 10 minutes of play. The first goal came shortly after the opening kick-off as Emilio Bottiglieri completed a brilliant 4-way passing play—involving Russel Huggon, Andrew Veer, and Scott Butschler—for the opening goal of the contest. Shortly thereafter, Bottiglieri and Butschler reversed roles as a perfectly-placed cross by Bottiglieri was finished off clinically by a wide-open Butschler. At the 10th minute mark a similar play, this time involving Aaron Arnold and Russel Huggon gave Metro-Ford an insurmountable 3-0 lead as Arnold crossed to ball into the box where Huggon had no difficulty whatsoever in placing it into the net. To their credit, the visitors never gave up and came close to scoring on a few chances of their own and finally got on the scoreboard when Keith Moore converted a penalty kick awarded when Andrew Veer handled the ball inside the penalty area. Before the halftime break, however, the Wolves added 2 more goals to their margin as Emilio Bottiglieri and Russel Huggon each scored their second goal of the game, both on great crosses by newcomer Adam Day. The second half featured several excellent scoring opportunities by both teams, but only one goal as Emilio Bottiglieri completed his hat-trick by hammering an unstoppable rocket into the net from well outside the penalty area. Defender Paul Ballard, goalkeeper Zach Burns, and forward Scott Butschler all played well for the Wolves, while for Westside, forward Andrew Cook and midfielder Nick Graham worked hard throughout the match, albeit in a losing cause.

Also on Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, Sporting Club of Vancouver remained undefeated with yet another clear-cut victory, this one a 6-1 trouncing of the struggling AFC Leopards. Sporting took a comfortable 3-0 lead into the dressing room—a little humour there, since we all know that there are no dressing rooms at Byrne Creek!—and coasted to a well-deserved victory in the second half. Steve Dormer opened the scoring early in the match when, after receiving a perfectly-placed pass from Mike Gomes, he wired a blistering shot into the top corner of the net. Jeff Yoon added what proved to be the winning goal shortly thereafter as he took advantage of a great through ball from Ryan Dormer before blasting the ball past the Leopards’ goalkeeper, Che Koostra-Nair. The third goal came as a result of a well-taken free kick by Mark Gomes, a free-kick that was saved by Koostra-Nair only to have Ryan Dormer calmly slot home the rebound. The Leopards narrowed the margin early in the second half when Guy Fundjo capitalized on a rare defensive blunder to score his team’s lone goal. Sporting Club bounced right back and restored the 3-goal lead when Matt Dobie headed home a Mark Gomes corner kick. The fifth Sporting goal was scored by Mike Gomes as he dribbled around the goalkeeper before slotting the ball into the back of the net. It should be noted that Gomes had been set up by a John Blair free-kick. Blair also contributed to the sixth, and final, goal as he sent a streaking Mike Wooldridge down the left flank. Wooldridge proceeded to beat two defenders before crossing the ball to an unmarked Steve Dormer who promptly drilled it into the net for his second goal of the game. It should be mentioned that Sporting’s back-up goalkeeper, Taylor Weakes, started in his first VMSL Premier game and comported himself quite admirably, making a few big saves. Sporting Club thus maintains its perfect record at the top of the Group ‘B’ table, while the Leopards remain pointless after 3 games.

On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, ICSF Inter won its first game of the season by shutting out the Sapperton Rovers by a 2-0 margin. The game was quite evenly played with the big difference being that Inter played with more vigour and was able to capitalize on its scoring opportunities while the Rovers were shut down by a strong ICSF defensive core, led by goalkeeper Denis Kindel and veteran fullback Ivan Lee. ICSF took the lead late in the first half when Sheldon Maistry—a standout throughout the match—clinically slotted home a rebound from a shot by Matt Mori. Kevin Crouch capped off a fine individual performance by scoring the insurance marker midway through the second half as he headed home a well-struck cross by Mike Tempesta. Sapperton’s young Rey Ismail once again was a going concern, driving the Inter defenders to distraction with his energy and speed. Inter’s record is now an even 1-1-1, while the Rovers languish near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ table with a 1-0-2 record.

Also on Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, Surrey United also won its first game of the season by edging the visiting Indo FC by a 2-1 margin. The Cloverdale-based team applied a lot of pressure on the Indo FC defence right from the start. Cam Wilson, in particular, was very dangerous in the early going, but was denied two clear-cut goalscoring opportunities—one by the goalpost and one by a great save by goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre. Despite the early dominance by Surrey United, it was Indo FC that scored first, on a counter-attack, when Mackie Badyal converted a clever pass by veteran Billy Shokar. Soon thereafter, Surrey United knotted the score when player-coach Steve Millar rose to the occasion and headed home a great cross by Cam Wilson. Indo FC slowly gained some momentum in the second half, but it was Surrey United that scored the winner on a great solo effort by Cam Wilson. Despite the fine efforts of David Samra and Jag Gill, Indo FC was unable to finish off several goalscoring chances and, as a result, dropped its third consecutive game by a narrow margin.

The third Saturday game was played at the new Burnaby North High School field and featured the top VMSL contenders—the Vancouver Firefighters and Columbus-Clan FC. To say that this turned out to be the match of the week is an understatement as it could easily qualify as the match of year and perhaps even the match of the decade! For the few old-timers present at the game it must have been reminiscent of the great rivalry that existed between these two clubs in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The only difference, of course, being that in those days Callister Park would have been filled with enthusiastic spectators! However, the game turned out to be a fast-paced, see-saw battle for the entire 90 minutes with the Firemen finally prevailing by a narrow, but well-deserved 3-2 margin. The Firefighters came out of the starting blocks with a vengeance and were nearly rewarded in the early going when the very skillful Chris Craveiro saw a golden opportunity go awry as his shot just missed the far post. As luck would have it, however, it was Columbus that opened the scoring when Steve DeBlasio converted a great cross from Blair Robertson much to the chagrin of the numerous Firefighters supporters who were expecting an offside call. Shortly thereafter, the Firemen were reduced to 10 men when Ratish Kumar was sent off for a serious foul play infraction, a call that added even more fuel to the Firefighters angry fire! Despite being reduced to 10 players, the Firemen got off to a great start in the second half and finally equalized when Trevor Rosencrans and Jeff Buchanan combined to set up Chris Craveiro for an easy tap-in goal. Columbus, however, restored its lead when former Whitecap Davide Xausa scored a magnificent goal as he controlled a cross from Frank Mollica with his chest, quickly turned towards the net and brilliantly volleyed the ball past goalkeeper Mike Franks—yet another former Whitecap playing in the VMSL. Most people would have thought that at this point the Firemen would pack up their bags, but quite the opposite occurred as they threw caution to the wind and attacked in relentless fashion in search of the equalizer. The Firefighters were rewarded for their indomitable effort when Columbus goalkeeper, Luca Dalla Pace, fumbled a shot by Jeff Skinner—another former Whitecap!—only to see a wide-open Peter Bergholz slot the ball home from close range. At this point, one would have thought that the short-handed Firefighters would be satisfied with the tie and defend till the final whistle. However, in true Firemen fashion, they continued to attack and eventually got the winning goal on a great shot, from well outside the box, by Aaron Keay. The last 15 minutes of action saw Columbus—led by the outstanding play of young midfielder Jonathan Poli—surging forward against a very tired Firemen crew, but some excellent defending on the part of Trevor Bourne, Steve McAuley, and Greg Pears—as well as goalkeeper Mike Franks—kept the score at 3-2 for the rest of the match. As we stated earlier, this match was truly one of the most exciting and entertaining encounters witnessed in many years! Congratulations to both teams!! As a result of the victory, the Firefighters now find themselves tied for first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Columbus slips to the middle of the same table.

On Sunday, at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles won their second game of the season at the expense of the previously undefeated Croatia SC in a highly-contested Group ‘B’ game. The match ended 1-0 in Norvan’s favour with Sean Regan scoring the only goal. Croatia was very unfortunate not to take the early lead as Mike Masi and Oliver Heald missed golden opportunities after they had taken advantage of a couple of defensive blunders on the part of the Eagles. Norvan responded in kind and also came close to scoring but excellent efforts by Greg Muir, James Wilton, and Jamie Dunnett were saved by goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. In the second half, the tide turned in Norvan’s favour when Croatia’s Kresho Vonic was ejected for having received his second caution. The Eagles took full advantage of the situation as they began to press for the winning goal, a goal that was accomplished when Sean Regan blasted a long-range shot past the outstretched fingers of Didar Sandhu. At this point, despite playing short-handed, the Croatians threw caution to the wind and began to press hard for the equalizer but Norvan’s defensive core—led by Max Baessato, Matt Brewster, and Nick Seddon—held firm and allowed the Eagles to walk away with a 1-0 victory. It should be noted that Croatia’s Bradley Haga had an outstanding game in the middle of the park.

On Sunday evening, at Ambleside Park in North Vancouver, the newly-promoted Delta Metro Blaze retained its unbeaten record by upsetting West Van FC by a 2-1 margin. The former Trollers dominated the first 15 minutes of the game but were unable to penetrate of very solid Delta defence, anchored by Louis Hughes and Daniel Tshimba. As the game progressed, Delta began to gain control of the play, mostly due to the outstanding midfield work of Emmanuel Ayiku. Midway through the first half, Craig McMillan scored the opening goal for Delta as he unleashed a speculative shot from the edge of the penalty area, a shot that eluded the West Van goalkeeper. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first as both teams took turns attacking and defending. At about the 60th minute mark some great hustle by Paulo Valdez resulted in what proved to be the winning goal as he took advantage of some bad communication in the West Van defence by pouncing on a loose ball and depositing it in the back of the net. Shortly thereafter, West Van got on the scoreboard when Jesse Fetterley scored after being brilliantly set up by an impeccable pass from Paul Dailly.. For the rest of the match, West Van attacked furiously in search of the equalizer but some outstanding goalkeeping by Delta’s Tyler Baldock kept the score at 2-1 for the visitors. Baldock was particularly sensational on a wicked half-volley drive by West Van’s Austin Lowrie from the edge of the penalty area. Delta’s victory leaves the Blaze in a first place tie in Group ‘A’, while West Van’s first defeat of the season drops them to the middle of the table in the same group.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: VANCOUVER FIREFIGHTERS for their incredible performance in defeating the Province Cup champions, Columbus-Clan FC, by a 3-2 margin. In front of numerous long-time fans—including soccer legend Ken Pears—the Firemen twice came from behind 1-goal deficits to finally gain all 3 points against a very strong Columbus team. This feat was accomplished despite the fact that the Firefighters had to play three-quarters of the match with only 10 players due to the expulsion of defender Ratish Kumar in the early stages of the game.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Metro-Ford Wolves’ EMILIO BOTTIGLIERI for his outstanding 3-goal performance in his team’s 6-1 victory over Westside FC. Not only did Bottiglieri score three times, but he also contributed to the other 3 goals with his brilliant ball control and immaculate passing. For his outstanding performance this past weekend, EMILIO BOTTIGLIERI will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-10-11.

 

[Dude]

"...indomitable effort..."

Quality Willy.

I want an "omnipotent" appearance next week. Hook a bother up.

 

[gilly]

WEEK #4—2007-10-01

A couple of major upsets featured this past weekend’s Premier Division schedule, with the Provincial Cup finalists—Columbus-Clan FC and the Vancouver Firefighters—losing to the upstart Sapperton Rovers and Delta Metro Blaze respectively, albeit by narrow 2-1 margins. Sporting Club, on the other hand, continued its impressive run by easily defeating the newly-promoted Westside FC. The cross-over match involved two of the top contenders—ICSF Inter and Croatia SC—and ended in a 1-0 victory for the Italians who thus remain in contention for the Group ‘A’ title.

On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, ICSF Inter edged Croatia SC by a 1-0 margin in the week’s lone cross-over match. After a scrambly and cautiously-played first half, things opened up in the second half as both teams seemed eager to gain all 3 points. Early in the second half, Joseph Marrello’s wicked drive from well outside the penalty area hit the goalpost and bounced directly to Laurent Scaligine who promptly deposited the ball into the back of the net. Inter’s celebrations were abruptly ended when the assistant referee raised his flag to signify that Scaligine was in an offside position. To add insult to injury, the usually quiet and subdued Scaligine was cautioned for dissent and ejected from the match for having received his second yellow card. Despite playing with only 10 men, ICSF continued to put pressure on the Croatia defenders and was eventually rewarded when Sheldon Maistry was fouled inside the penalty box by Darko Jelic. Kevin Crouch made no mistake from the penalty spot and gave Inter a well-deserved 1-0 lead. At this point, the Croatians started to take control of the match and only some excellent defending on the part of Scott Spracklin and some brilliant goalkeeping by young Erman Ozkan kept them off the scoresheet. It should be noted that Ozkan earned his second clean sheet in as many games in the ICSF goal. Veteran Matt Mori was also a standout in the Inter midfield, while Croatia’s veterans Darko Jelic and Oliver Heald tried their best to organize a come-back, but to no avail. Inter’s record thus improves to 2-1-1, good for a second place tie in the Group ‘A’ table, while Croatia SC also remains in a second place tie in Group ‘B’, with a 2-0-2 record.

Also on Friday evening, at Holly Park in Ladner, the newly-promoted Delta Metro Blaze continued to impress and remained undefeated at the top of the Group ‘A’ table by virtue of a narrow, and hard-earned, 2-1 victory over the visiting Vancouver Firefighters. The Delta coaching staff, consisting of Randy Samuel, Ivo Gottardo, and Pedro de Nobriga, seemed to have their tactics well organized for this all-important first-place clash. In fact, the hard-working Delta team made it very difficult for the Firemen to establish any flow in their game. The home team was rewarded for its indomitable work rate at the 18th minute when Craig McMillan took advantage of a poor clearance by the Firefighters’ defence to blast an unstoppable shot behind goalkeeper Shawn Keller. It should be noted that Keller was filling in for the injured Mike Franks in the Firemen goal. Shortly thereafter, Delta added to its lead when Garrett Traversy raced past two defenders before crossing the ball into the box where Yong Jun Rhee capitalized on some poor communication by the Firemen defenders to slot the ball home for what proved to be the winning goal. At this point, the home team decided to defend and made life miserable to the Firefighters’ attackers by packing the penalty area with defenders. In particular, Tim Sowerby was outstanding on the Delta backline. The Firemen finally got on the scoreboard late in the match on a goal by Jeff Buchanan but it was a classic example of “too-little, too-late”. The victory leaves Delta alone in first place in Group ‘A’, while the Firemen are now tied with West Van FC and ICSF Inter for second place in the same group.

The third Friday evening game was played at Point Grey School in Vancouver and featured the red-hot Sporting Club of Vancouver and the struggling Westside FC. As expected, Sporting Club came away with a clear-cut 4-1 victory, a victory that preserves the league leaders’ perfect record. The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the first half when Matt Dobie floated a high cross to the far post where it was easily headed into the net by Mike Gomes. Early in the second half, Sporting Club added to its lead when Mike Wooldridge’s through ball found an unmarked Meysam Soltani who made no mistake in scoring what proved to be the winning goal. Shortly thereafter, Soltani became the provider as he set up Steve Dormer at the top of the box. Dormer’s blistering shot found the back of the net and gave Sporting an insurmountable 3-0 lead. The last Sporting Club goal was scored midway through the second half and, once again, was orchestrated by Mike Wooldridge and Meysam Soltani, with the latter slotting the ball home after taking advantage of a Westside defensive blunder. The newly-promoted Westsiders finally got on the scoresheet late in the match when Dale Robertson was tripped inside the penalty box by Matt Dobie. Veteran Keith Moore made no mistake on the penalty kick to score Westside’s consolation goal. Defensively, Sporting’s Brian Gebbie was a standout throughout the contest, while newcomer Ali Kashfia also turned in an excellent performance in the midfield. As mentioned earlier, Sporting Club thus remains the only Premier Division team with a perfect 4-0 record, while Westside FC is now tied with Indo FC for last place in the Group ‘B’ table.

On Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, two struggling teams—Indo FC and the Metro-Ford Wolves—put everything on the line in order to gain the all-important 3 points. In the end, Indo FC prevailed by a narrow 1-0 margin, a result which leaves both teams near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ table. Indo FC got off to a great start and had the visiting team back on its heels for most of the first half. However, despite the fact that veteran Billy Shokar came close to scoring on various occasions, the game remained scoreless during the entire first half. In the second half, Metro-Ford began to attack and also came close to scoring, particularly on efforts by Emilio Bottiglieri and Russel Huggon. As luck would have it, however, it was Indo FC that scored the winning goal midway through the second half as Joey Brar blasted home a terrific volley on a great cross from newly-transferred Drew Riopel. The Wolves kept pushing forward for the equalizer but were thwarted by some great goalkeeping on the part of Amar Dhinsa.

Also on Saturday, at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles dropped a heart-breaking 1-0 decision to the visiting Surrey United in another important Group ‘B’ battle. Surrey got off to a great start and came close to scoring on efforts by Dave Hleuka and Steve Millar. However, the solid defensive core of the Eagles, composed of John Reda, Max Baessato, Nick Seddon, and Matt Brewster, withstood the early pressure. Near the end of the first half, Norvan also came close to scoring as Dan Nind, James Wilton, and Cam Taylor agonizingly watched their shots go wide of the Surrey United net. The second half was evenly-played as both teams took turns attacking, in search of the all-important first goal. Stalwart Norvan defender Matt Brewster was forced out of the game due to an injury early in the second half and the Eagles took advantage by quickly scoring the lone goal of the game as young Lee Grant raced past a couple of flat-footed defenders before blasting the ball in the back of the Norvan net. The Surrey United victory means that both teams are now tied for second place—along with Croatia SC—in the Group ‘B’ standings, albeit 6 points behind the seemingly unbeatable Sporting Club.

The third Saturday game was played at Coquitlam Town Centre Stadium between the AFC Leopards and West Van FC. The final result, 4-0 in favour of West Van, places the pointless Leopards in a very precarious situation at the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings, while the former Trollers are now in a 3-way tie for second place in the same table. Despite the fact that West Van dominated the first half of play, the game remained scoreless until early in the second half when veteran Todd Vass volleyed home a brilliant cross from Jesse Fetterley in spectacular fashion. A few minutes later, West Van was awarded a penalty kick when “man-of-the-match” Jesse Fetterley was fouled inside the penalty area after making one of his trade-mark penetrating runs. Veteran Paul Dailly made no mistake from the 11-metre spot as he calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net. Jesse Fetterley continued his impressive performance as he scored West Van’s third goal when he beat a couple of AFC defenders before striking the ball home. Near the end of the match, Fetterley capped off an amazing individual performance as he set up Austin Lowrie for West Van’s fourth, and final, goal. Goalkeeper Jamie Locke earned the shutout late in the game when he made a magnificent save on a blistering shot by Freddy Malek from the edge of the penalty area.

Finally, on Sunday at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, the Sapperton Rovers upset the defending Province Cup champions—Columbus-Clan FC—by a narrow, but well-earned, 2-1 margin. Columbus, in its final game before the National Championships in Halifax, seemed rather uninterested and, consequently, paid the price by dropping its second consecutive match. Hopefully, our representatives will do better in the Nationals! Columbus scored the lone goal of the first half when the Rovers’ defence was caught napping resulting in a Tiernan King cross being slotted home by Davide Xausa. Before the halftime whistle, Columbus almost added to its lead but Nathan Quan saw his point-blank shot brilliantly saved by Cory Breure. In the second half, the Rovers took control of the match and were rewarded when Jeff Rogers got on the end of a Rey Ismail cross and calmly slotted the ball home for the equalizer. Near the end of the game, Sapperton’s veteran midfielder—Mike Favaro—was fouled inside the penalty area resulting in a penalty kick. Uncharacteristically, it was forward Joey Scigliano who committed the foul! Jeff Rogers stepped up to the plate and made no mistake by scoring the winning—and his second—goal of the game. The victory elevates the Rovers to the middle of the Group ‘A’ standings, while Columbus’ record of 1-1-2 leaves the Province Cup champions near the bottom of the same table. The entire VMSL family extends its most sincere wishes to Columbus in its quest to win the Canadian National Championship. We shall keep our fans updated after each game!

TEAM OF THE WEEK: DELTA METRO BLAZE for its amazing performance in defeating the previously unbeaten Firefighters by a 2-1 margin. The newly-promoted Delta team—under the guidance of former Canadian national team player Randy Samuel—exhibited incredible grit and will power to accomplish this enormous feat. As a result of the victory, the Blaze remains undefeated, and at the top of the Group ‘A’ standings—probably an unprecedented accomplishment by a newly-promoted team!

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Norvan Eagles’ JESSE FETTERLEY for his outstanding performance in his team’s 4-0 victory over the AFC Leopards. Fetterley played a part in all 4 goals, as he scored once and set up the other 3 with his unbelievable skill and speed. For his outstanding performance this past weekend, JESSE FETTERLEY will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-10-18.

 

[Sir M]

WEEK #4—2007-10-01


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Norvan Eagles’ JESSE FETTERLEY for his outstanding performance in his team’s 4-0 victory over the AFC Leopards. Fetterley played a part in all 4 goals, as he scored once and set up the other 3 with his unbelievable skill and speed. For his outstanding performance this past weekend, JESSE FETTERLEY will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-10-18.

Um, last time I looked, Jesse played for West Van FC, not Norvan Eagles.

Just an observation.

Sir M.

 

[knvb]

...and when did he get unbelievable skill and speed? Christmas come early.

Just an observation.

 

[termatofylakas]

To add insult to injury, the usually quiet and subdued Scaligine

Nice pisstake Azzi

 

[oranje]

Nice pisstake Azzi

Scaligine was rightfully aggrieved. Anklebreaker was run over from behind in the first half, no warning, no card. Scaligine protests dubious offside call and gets sent off for a second yellow. A thicker skin was in order for the official. First yellow was for kicking a ball away in frustration earlier on. A warning would have been plenty. Still, Scaligine should have kept it zipped after the first card. Inter did well to hold the fort.

 

[Regs]

...crossing the ball into the box where Yong Veteran Jun Rhee capitalized on some poor communication...

Where's Smallsy?

 

[fuzzy]

Scaligine was rightfully aggrieved. Anklebreaker was run over from behind in the first half, no warning, no card. Scaligine protests dubious offside call and gets sent off for a second yellow. A thicker skin was in order for the official. First yellow was for kicking a ball away in frustration earlier on. A warning would have been plenty. Still, Scaligine should have kept it zipped after the first card. Inter did well to hold the fort.

The first yellow was justified. The rule has existed for how long. Nothing in the Laws of the game about verbal warnings.

 

[freddy]

Westsiders finally got on the scoresheet late in the match when Dale Robertson was tripped inside the penalty box by Matt Dobie. Veteran Keith Moore made no mistake on the penalty kick to score Westside’s consolation goal.

If Keith Moore is considered a veteran, that must make Dale Robertson a veteran-emeritus as he is approaching 50 years old.

 

[Bronco]

the Blaze remains undefeated, and at the top of the Group ‘A’ standings—probably an unprecedented accomplishment by a newly-promoted team!

Ummm no!! When we got promoted in '94 or '95 we won every game save for one before the Christmas break!!

 

[Dancin Bear]

If Keith Moore is considered a veteran, that must make Dale Robertson a veteran-emeritus as he is approaching 50 years old.

Cheers for that mate. I don't think anyone should be called a veteran just for being the oldest on the team

 

[sixfyv]

WEEK #5—2007-10-08

Only six Premier Division matches were played this past weekend due to the fact that Columbus-Clan FC, the 2007 Province Cup champions, were playing in the National Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia. No real upsets took place, although West Van’s 2-0 victory over the under-achieving ICSF Inter could be considered a surprise result. The ambitious Croatia SC was held to a 1-1 tie by the struggling Westside FC, a result that did not sit well with the numerous Croatian fans in attendance.

On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, Sporting Club solidified its hold on first place in Group ‘B’ with a narrow, but well-earned, 1-0 victory over the visiting Metro-Ford Wolves. After a scoreless first half, during which Sporting carried most of the play, the home team opened the scoring early in the second half when a speculative shot/cross by Matt Dobie from the right flank somehow slipped through the hands of goalkeeper Mat Bird and onto the path of a wide open Ryan Dormer who had no difficulty in tapping the ball into the net. At this point the Wolves seemed to wake up and started applying some pressure of their own but their efforts were denied by some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Brian Brum. Midway through the second half, Sporting seemed to have added the insurance marker to the scoresheet when Mike Wooldridge appeared to chest a cross by Meysam Soltani into the net. Unfortunately for Sporting, the referee called a hand ball on Wooldridge and thus denied the goal. Midfielder Brian Gebbie was at his best for Sporting Club throughout the contest. The Portuguese team thus maintains its perfect record of 5-0, while the Wolves are struggling near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ table, with a record of 1-1-3.

Also on Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC continued to impress by defeating the visiting ICSF Inter by a clear-cut 2-0 margin. The entire West Van team played extremely well and fully deserved the victory over the favoured Italian team. After dominating most of the first half, West Van finally took the lead just before the halftime whistle when Ryan Glanville headed home a brilliant cross from Drew Gelley. Inter tried desperately to get back into the match in the early going of the second half but the former Trollers weathered the storm and rallied back to eventually score the insurance marker. A Sean Taylor corner kick was deflected onto the path of Jesse Fetterley who, without a moment’s hesitation, slammed the ball into the back of the net. It should be noted that this was Fetterley’s fourth goal of the season, tying him for first place in the Golden Boot Award race. The victory leaves West Van in second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while ICSF is now in the middle of the same table.

On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, the Vancouver Firefighters bounced back from last week’s loss against Delta Metro Blaze to defeat the hot and cold Sapperton Rovers by a 2-0 margin. The Firemen got off to a great start and were rewarded at about the 10th minute mark when a 2-way passing play—involving Peter Berholz and Chris Craveiro—was finished off from close range by Jeff Buchanan. The goal caused a great deal of controversy since many Sapperton supporters thought that Buchanan was in an offside position when he received Craveiro’s pass. The Rovers came roaring back in search of the equalizer but were stymied by some excellent defensive work—mostly on the part of central defender Steve McAuley and young goalkeeper Michael Calles. On the one occasion when Calles was clearly beaten, Rey Ismail saw his wicked drive bounce off the crossbar. It should be noted that the Firefighters were missing 3 key players for this match, all former Vancouver Whitecaps: goalkeeper Mike Franks, midfielder Jeff Skinner, and forward Niall Thompson. After surviving the Sapperton onslaught for most of the first half, the visitors took control of the match in the second half and, led by the midfield play of Aaron Keay, added the insurance marker when Chris Craveiro—after a fine individual effort—blasted an unstoppable shot past Sapperton’s fine goalkeeper, Cory Breure. The victory allows the Firemen to remain in second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the Rovers are still in the middle of the pack in the same group.

Also on Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West Complex, Delta Metro Blaze turned in yet another workmanlike performance and thus remained undefeated by beating the struggling AFC Leopards by a 2-0 margin. As usual, Delta was content to sit back, defend, and wait for opportunities to counter-attack. And, also as usual, the Blazers were rewarded for their patience at about the 20th minute mark when defender Louis Hughes intercepted an AFC pass and quickly lobbed the ball to a streaking Jong Jun Rhee who made no mistake in converting the pass into the winning goal. The Leopards tried desperately to get back in the game but some solid defending on the part of Tim Sowerby, Daniel Tshimba, Louis Hughes, and Tommy Loewe kept them off the scoresheet. In the second half, Delta played a more attacking style of soccer and added the insurance marker when Craig McMillan, after beating a couple of defenders, placed a hard, low cross into the box that was inadvertently deflected into his own net by an AFC defender. Delta goalkeeper Tyler Baldcok was at his very best in recording the clean sheet. Delta thus remains unbeaten, and at the top of the Group ‘A’ table, with an enviable 4-1-0 record, while the Leopards are still looking for their first victory!

Saturday’s third game was played at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver between the Norvan Eagles and the visiting Indo FC. The final score, 3-0 in favour of the Eagles, does not tell the entire story of the game as the match was much more closely-contested than the score would indicate. Norvan took advantage of some miscommunication among the Indo FC defenders to score the first goal very early in the game as Danny Nind converted an excellent pass from Jamie Dunnett to what proved to be the winning goal. Indo FC fought back and nearly drew even when Joey Brar hit the crossbar on a wonderful header. Soon thereafter, Lavy Mangat also came close to tying things up but saw his shot narrowly miss the net. In the second half, Indo FC continued to press in search of the equalizer and once again came close only to see Gurjit Dhaliwal squander a golden opportunity from close range. Unfortunately for the visitors, a Norvan counter-attack put the game out of reach for Indo FC as James Wilton collected a nifty pass from Max Baessato, rounded the goalkeeper and slotted the ball home. Danny Nind then rounded out the scoring with a fierce drive from the edge of the box after receiving a slick pass from Nick Slaney. Defensively, Matt Brewster, Max Baessato, and Nick Seddon played very well for Norvan, while goalkeeper Mike Norris marshalled his backline very effectively and fully deserved the clean sheet. As a result of the victory, Norvan is now alone in second place in the Group ‘B’ standings. Indo FC, on the other hand, still languishes in last place in the same table.

On Sunday, at Burnaby Lake West Complex, Croatia SC and Westside FC gave the numerous spectators in attendance plenty to cheer about before finally settling for a 1-1 draw. The Croatians dominated the early part of the match and could easily have lead by a substantial margin had it not been for the outstanding goalkeeping of Westside’s Adrien Emery. In particular, at the 10th minute mark, a wicked shot by Maarten Koorn was brilliantly saved by a diving Emery. Very late in the first half, Croatia finally took the well-deserved lead when a well-executed corner kick by former Whitecap Johnny Sulentic was slammed toward the net by Ian Clarke. The shot eluded Adrien Emery, mostly due to the fact that it was deflected at the last moment by a Westside defender. The second half was much more closely contested with Westside starting to apply some pressure of its own. Midway through the second half, substitute Dayne Jackson finally tied things up by slotting a rebound past Croatian goalkeeper Didar Sandhu—yet another former Whitecap playing in the VMSL! Sandhu had made a brilliant save on an Andrew Cooke breakaway before conceding the rebound. Late in the game both teams came close to scoring as Croatia’s Oliver Heald (another former Whitecap!) set up Darko Jelic whose header was then miraculously saved by Emery. At the other end of the pitch, Andrew Cooke’s shot went past Sandhu only to see a Croatian defender clear the ball off the goal line. All in all, a very entertaining game! The result, however, does neither team any favours as the Croatians remain in third place in the Group ‘B’ standings and Westside is still near the bottom of the same table.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the defending VMSL Premier Division champions—ICSF Inter—by a classic 2-0 margin. West Van used its mix of youthful energy and valuable experience to perfection in fully earning the victory. As a result, the former Trollers are now in a second place tie in the very competitive Group ‘A’, only 3 points behind Delta Metro Blaze. Things should get even more interesting in the next few weeks!

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Westside FC’s ADRIEN EMERY for his outstanding goalkeeping performance in his team’s 1-1 tie against the heavily-favoured Croatia SC. Time after time, Emery prevented the Croatia attackers from scoring with some incredible saves. For his outstanding performance this past weekend, ADRIEN EMERY will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-10-25.

 

[BlazeArmy]

. And, also as usual, the Blazers were rewarded for their patience

Wow.

Sixfyv, thought your neighbour was the "Blazer"

 

[Dude]

6-5,

1. Who's the bird?

2. Tyler Baldcok? Did TTP Santa drop that off in your clubhouse?

 

[sixfyv]

1. You'd like to know.
2. Typo... Baldock... however, Baldcok has a nice ring to it. Thanks for pointing that out. Very nice keeper... who was recently released by Whitecaps. We signed him after I picked up an injury v. Columbus.