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Azzi's Superlative VMSL Week in Review 07/08'
- Thread starter Herb Jr.
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #23
WEEK #6—2007-10-15
It could be said that the rich got richer and the poor got poorer this past weekend in the Premier Division of the VMSL as all 7 games ended with rather predictable results. West Van FC continued to impress by defeating the defending Province Cup champions, Columbus-Clan FC, and therefore climbed within one point of first place in Group ‘A’. The Firefighters followed suit and, by defeating the Norvan Eagles, also stayed in contention of the Group ‘A’ title. In Group ‘B’, Sporting Club maintained its perfect record by defeating Indo FC by a 2-0 margin, while Croatia SC and Surrey United stayed reasonably close by beating Metro-Ford and Westside FC respectively.
On Friday evening, at Coquitlam Town Centre Stadium, Croatia SC defeated the Metro-Ford Wolves by a 3-1 margin with veteran Oliver Heald scoring twice and newly-signed Steve Dickinson once. The game got off to a slow start as both teams displayed a very cautious approach in the fear of surrendering the all-important firs goal. Midway through the first half, however, Croatia started taking control of the situation and created some excellent goalscoring opportunities. In particular, a great shot from the edge of the penalty area by Steve Dickinson was brilliantly saved by Metro-Ford goalkeeper Mathew Bird. Soon thereafter, Dickinson was able to finish off a clever pass by Oliver Heald for the games’s opening goal. Croatia added to its lead very late in the first half when former Whitecap Johnny Sulentic was sent in on goal by a Steve Dickinson pass only to be brought down inside the box by the Metro-Ford goalkeeper. As a result, Mathew Bird was sent off for denying an obvious goalsoring opportunity and Oliver Heald scored what proved to be the winning goal on the ensuing penalty kick. To their credit, the Wolves fought back valiantly and were rewarded early in the second half when Emilio Bottiglieri cleverly chipped the ball over goalkeeper Didar Sandhu for Metro-Ford’s lone goal. The Croatians replied in kind and scored the insurance marker midway through the second half on yet another Steve Dickinson set-up and Oliver Heald finish. As mentioned earlier, the victory solidifies Croatia’s hold on second place in Group ‘B’, while the Wolves remain near the bottom of the same table.
Also on Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, Sporting Club of Vancouver retained its perfect record by defeating the last place Indo FC by a 2-0 margin in a Group ‘B’ matchup. Sporting Club got off to a great start and forced the visitors to defend during the first 20 minutes of the match. Indo FC, however, was able to weather the storm mostly due to some exceptional goalkeeping on the part of newly-transferred Drew Smiley. Indo FC finally settled down and the match became a very competitive affair with both teams taking turns attacking and defending. The game, however, remained scoreless until midway through the second half when Sporting’s Matt Dobie headed home a well-taken corner kick by Mike Wooldridge. At this point Indo FC surged forward in search of the equalizer and came very close on fine efforts by Kyle McDiarmid, David Samra, Gurjit Dhaliwal, and Karm Lidder. Very late in the game, however, Sporting Club added the insurance marker as Ryan Dormer converted a beautiful through ball from Mike Gomes into his team’s second goal. Midfielder Brian Gebbie, defender Devon Greenside, and backup goalkeeper Taylor Weakes played extremely well in the Sporting Club lineup.
The third Friday evening game took place at Point Grey School in Vancouver between Westside FC and the visiting Surrey United. The Cloverdale-based team continued its recent winning ways with a rather clear-cut 3-1 victory over the newly-promoted Westsiders. The visitors got off to a strong start and played some fast-paced football which rocked Westside back on its heels for most of the first half. After a period of sustained early pressure, Surrey United took the lead at the 10th minute mark when a quickly taken free kick by Steve Millar found a wide-open Cam Wilson. Wilson proceeded to turn rapidly and fire a shot into the net from the edge of the penalty area. A few minutes later, Wilson added his second goal of the match when he received an unselfish pass from Ryan Hopp before hammering the ball home from close range. United then added its third goal of the game when veteran defender Graeme Magowan rose majestically to head home yet another Steve Millar free kick. At this point Westside seemed to wake up and narrowed the margin when Andrew Cooke converted a clever pass from the foot of Colin Jones. In the second half, Westside—led by young substitute Andrew Halley—surged forward in search of more goals but Surrey United’s backline—guided by playing-coach Steve Millar—held on and preserved the margin of victory. The 3 points leave the Surrey team in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack, while Westside FC is still struggling near the bottom of the same group.
On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, the Sapperton Rovers and Delta Metro Blaze met in a game that fully lived up to its expectations. As usual, Delta relied mostly on defending and counter-attacking, a tactic that has worked wonderfully well so far this season. Although Sapperton carried most of the play, the final result—a 1-1 tie—was probably a fair result since the visitors had their fair share of goalscoring opportunities. After an exciting, but scoreless, start the Rovers took the lead midway through the first half when Ted Ullrich intercepted an errant pass and quickly sent Rob Sing in on goal. Sing was fouled by Delta defender Garrett Traversy, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded. Sing himself converted the spot shot to give Sapperton the lead. Soon thereafter, however, Traversy made up for his blunder by making a brilliant solo run down the right flank before crossing a pinpoint pass onto the right foot of Emmanuel Ayiku who simply changed the direction of the ball past a bewildered Cory Breure. In the second half the Rovers pressed hard for the winner and came close on several occasions only to have 17-year old goalkeeper Michael Minosky come up with some incredible saves to preserve the tie for the visitors. It should be noted that Minosky was making his VMSL debut. Defensive midfielder Daniel Tshimba also had an outstanding game for Delta as he contained Sapperton’s veteran midfielder Mike Favaro for most of the game—not an easy task at the best of times! For Sapperton, defender Edward Bradford was once again a tower of strength, while young Rob Sing was at his best in his midfield role. The tie allows Delta to remain in first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, albeit with only a point advantage over West Van FC and the Firefighters. The Rovers, on the other hand, are still in the middle of the pack in the same Group.
Also on Saturday, the Vancouver Firefighters continued their hot streak by edging the Norvan Eagles 3-2 in a cross-over match played at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver. The first half featured a lot of goalscoring, unfortunately mostly due to defensive blunders. The Firemen took the lead practically from the opening kickoff as a Peter Bergholz’ cross found an unmarked Trevor Rosencrans at the far post. Without hesitation, Rosencrans deposited the ball into the wide open net for the go-ahead goal. Two minutes later, the Eagles evened things up as James Wilton was sent in on goal by a great pass from Greg Muir. Wilton was brought down in the penalty area resulting in a penalty kick being awarded. Subsequently, Dean Randall converted the spot shot for the equalizer. The Firefighters came storming back and regained the lead moments thereafter as Chris Jarvie sent Peter Bergholz flying towards the Norvan goal with an exquisite pass. Despite the Eagles’ complaints for an offside infraction, Bergholz was deemed to be onside and calmly deposited the ball into the net for Firemen’s second goal. At this point, the Eagles took control of the match and attacked furiously in search of yet another equalizer. They were finally rewarded when a fine cross by James Wilton was tapped home by Blake Burgon at the near post. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first half, albeit without as much scoring! The final goal, and the winner for the Firemen, was scored at the 66th minute mark as Trevor Rosencrans finished off a great pass from Chris Jarvie. Once again, however, the Eagles complained about an alleged offside infraction, but once again, their protests were ignored! The victory places the Firefighters in a 2-way tie for second place in Group ‘A’, while Norvan remains in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack.
On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl, ICSF Inter remained in contention for the Group ‘A’ title by defeating the struggling AFC Leopards by a lop-sided 7-1 margin. Inter got off to a great start as Matt Mori headed home a Kevin Crouch cross for the opening goal. Late in the first half, after the Leopards had battled back valiantly, Inter doubled its lead when Laurent Scaligine took advantage of a defensive blunder and proceeded to slot home a close-range shot. To their credit, the Leopards continued to battle and were rewarded early in the second half when BJ Rockson capitalized on some bad communication in the Inter backline to give his team a breath of fresh air. The Leopards then came close to equalizing on a couple of occasions but were unable to take advantage of the situation. Some noticeable frustration then began to rear its ugly head among the AFC players as two of them—Ugo Ezeh and Kevan Cameron—were ejected from the match. At this point, Inter took full control of the match and scored 5 more goals—four of them by Kevin Crouch and one by Mike Tempesta. The victory leaves Inter only 4 points behind Group leading Delta Metro Blaze, while the Leopards remain mired in last place in the same group.
The final game of the week was also played on Sunday at Hastings Bowl and featured two highly-rated teams: the Province Cup champions Columbus-Clan FC and the revitalized West Van FC. After an entertaining 90 minutes of action, the former Trollers went home with a narrow, but well-deserved, 2-1 victory over their seemingly fatigued opponents. Despite the fact that they had just returned from the National Championships in Halifax, the Columbus players controlled most of the first half and fully deserved the 1-0 lead after 45 minutes. Early in the match, Joe Scigliano—the top goalscorer in the Nationals—headed home a well-taken corner kick by Tino Cucca for the go-ahead goal. In the second half, however, Columbus began to show signs of the expected “Nationals hangover” and allowed West Van back in the match with some sloppy defending and a lacklustre overall performance. Midway through the second half, Sean Taylor restored parity as he cleverly rounded the last Columbus defender before depositing the ball behind a bewildered Luca Dalla Pace. West Van proceeded the get the winning goal late in the game when substitute Kenny Kienzle, after beating the last Columbus defender, unleashed a hard shot that Dalla Pace could only parry back onto the foot of an unmarked Kienzle. The youngster had little difficulty in placing the ball into the back of the net, albeit from a difficult angle, for the winning goal. The 3-point victory leaves West Van in second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Columbus-Clan is now in penultimate place in the same group.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the defending Province Cup champions—Columbus-Clan FC—by a narrow, but well-earned, 2-1 margin. Despite playing without 3 valuable veterans—Mike Dodd, Paul Dailly, and Trevor Short—West Van came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to totally dominate the second half and thus earn the very important 3 points. The former Trollers are now only 1 point behind Group ‘A’ leading Delta Metro Blaze.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Surrey United’s STEVE MILLAR for his outstanding performance in his team’s 3-1 victory over Westside FC. Millar, Surrey’s player-coach, was involved in 2 of his team’s goals, due to his impeccable free-kick technique. Furthermore, Millar’s defensive presence and leadership qualities restricted Westside’s scoring chances and played a vital part in Surrey’s victory. For his outstanding performance this past weekend, STEVE MILLAR will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-10-31.
It could be said that the rich got richer and the poor got poorer this past weekend in the Premier Division of the VMSL as all 7 games ended with rather predictable results. West Van FC continued to impress by defeating the defending Province Cup champions, Columbus-Clan FC, and therefore climbed within one point of first place in Group ‘A’. The Firefighters followed suit and, by defeating the Norvan Eagles, also stayed in contention of the Group ‘A’ title. In Group ‘B’, Sporting Club maintained its perfect record by defeating Indo FC by a 2-0 margin, while Croatia SC and Surrey United stayed reasonably close by beating Metro-Ford and Westside FC respectively.
On Friday evening, at Coquitlam Town Centre Stadium, Croatia SC defeated the Metro-Ford Wolves by a 3-1 margin with veteran Oliver Heald scoring twice and newly-signed Steve Dickinson once. The game got off to a slow start as both teams displayed a very cautious approach in the fear of surrendering the all-important firs goal. Midway through the first half, however, Croatia started taking control of the situation and created some excellent goalscoring opportunities. In particular, a great shot from the edge of the penalty area by Steve Dickinson was brilliantly saved by Metro-Ford goalkeeper Mathew Bird. Soon thereafter, Dickinson was able to finish off a clever pass by Oliver Heald for the games’s opening goal. Croatia added to its lead very late in the first half when former Whitecap Johnny Sulentic was sent in on goal by a Steve Dickinson pass only to be brought down inside the box by the Metro-Ford goalkeeper. As a result, Mathew Bird was sent off for denying an obvious goalsoring opportunity and Oliver Heald scored what proved to be the winning goal on the ensuing penalty kick. To their credit, the Wolves fought back valiantly and were rewarded early in the second half when Emilio Bottiglieri cleverly chipped the ball over goalkeeper Didar Sandhu for Metro-Ford’s lone goal. The Croatians replied in kind and scored the insurance marker midway through the second half on yet another Steve Dickinson set-up and Oliver Heald finish. As mentioned earlier, the victory solidifies Croatia’s hold on second place in Group ‘B’, while the Wolves remain near the bottom of the same table.
Also on Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, Sporting Club of Vancouver retained its perfect record by defeating the last place Indo FC by a 2-0 margin in a Group ‘B’ matchup. Sporting Club got off to a great start and forced the visitors to defend during the first 20 minutes of the match. Indo FC, however, was able to weather the storm mostly due to some exceptional goalkeeping on the part of newly-transferred Drew Smiley. Indo FC finally settled down and the match became a very competitive affair with both teams taking turns attacking and defending. The game, however, remained scoreless until midway through the second half when Sporting’s Matt Dobie headed home a well-taken corner kick by Mike Wooldridge. At this point Indo FC surged forward in search of the equalizer and came very close on fine efforts by Kyle McDiarmid, David Samra, Gurjit Dhaliwal, and Karm Lidder. Very late in the game, however, Sporting Club added the insurance marker as Ryan Dormer converted a beautiful through ball from Mike Gomes into his team’s second goal. Midfielder Brian Gebbie, defender Devon Greenside, and backup goalkeeper Taylor Weakes played extremely well in the Sporting Club lineup.
The third Friday evening game took place at Point Grey School in Vancouver between Westside FC and the visiting Surrey United. The Cloverdale-based team continued its recent winning ways with a rather clear-cut 3-1 victory over the newly-promoted Westsiders. The visitors got off to a strong start and played some fast-paced football which rocked Westside back on its heels for most of the first half. After a period of sustained early pressure, Surrey United took the lead at the 10th minute mark when a quickly taken free kick by Steve Millar found a wide-open Cam Wilson. Wilson proceeded to turn rapidly and fire a shot into the net from the edge of the penalty area. A few minutes later, Wilson added his second goal of the match when he received an unselfish pass from Ryan Hopp before hammering the ball home from close range. United then added its third goal of the game when veteran defender Graeme Magowan rose majestically to head home yet another Steve Millar free kick. At this point Westside seemed to wake up and narrowed the margin when Andrew Cooke converted a clever pass from the foot of Colin Jones. In the second half, Westside—led by young substitute Andrew Halley—surged forward in search of more goals but Surrey United’s backline—guided by playing-coach Steve Millar—held on and preserved the margin of victory. The 3 points leave the Surrey team in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack, while Westside FC is still struggling near the bottom of the same group.
On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, the Sapperton Rovers and Delta Metro Blaze met in a game that fully lived up to its expectations. As usual, Delta relied mostly on defending and counter-attacking, a tactic that has worked wonderfully well so far this season. Although Sapperton carried most of the play, the final result—a 1-1 tie—was probably a fair result since the visitors had their fair share of goalscoring opportunities. After an exciting, but scoreless, start the Rovers took the lead midway through the first half when Ted Ullrich intercepted an errant pass and quickly sent Rob Sing in on goal. Sing was fouled by Delta defender Garrett Traversy, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded. Sing himself converted the spot shot to give Sapperton the lead. Soon thereafter, however, Traversy made up for his blunder by making a brilliant solo run down the right flank before crossing a pinpoint pass onto the right foot of Emmanuel Ayiku who simply changed the direction of the ball past a bewildered Cory Breure. In the second half the Rovers pressed hard for the winner and came close on several occasions only to have 17-year old goalkeeper Michael Minosky come up with some incredible saves to preserve the tie for the visitors. It should be noted that Minosky was making his VMSL debut. Defensive midfielder Daniel Tshimba also had an outstanding game for Delta as he contained Sapperton’s veteran midfielder Mike Favaro for most of the game—not an easy task at the best of times! For Sapperton, defender Edward Bradford was once again a tower of strength, while young Rob Sing was at his best in his midfield role. The tie allows Delta to remain in first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, albeit with only a point advantage over West Van FC and the Firefighters. The Rovers, on the other hand, are still in the middle of the pack in the same Group.
Also on Saturday, the Vancouver Firefighters continued their hot streak by edging the Norvan Eagles 3-2 in a cross-over match played at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver. The first half featured a lot of goalscoring, unfortunately mostly due to defensive blunders. The Firemen took the lead practically from the opening kickoff as a Peter Bergholz’ cross found an unmarked Trevor Rosencrans at the far post. Without hesitation, Rosencrans deposited the ball into the wide open net for the go-ahead goal. Two minutes later, the Eagles evened things up as James Wilton was sent in on goal by a great pass from Greg Muir. Wilton was brought down in the penalty area resulting in a penalty kick being awarded. Subsequently, Dean Randall converted the spot shot for the equalizer. The Firefighters came storming back and regained the lead moments thereafter as Chris Jarvie sent Peter Bergholz flying towards the Norvan goal with an exquisite pass. Despite the Eagles’ complaints for an offside infraction, Bergholz was deemed to be onside and calmly deposited the ball into the net for Firemen’s second goal. At this point, the Eagles took control of the match and attacked furiously in search of yet another equalizer. They were finally rewarded when a fine cross by James Wilton was tapped home by Blake Burgon at the near post. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first half, albeit without as much scoring! The final goal, and the winner for the Firemen, was scored at the 66th minute mark as Trevor Rosencrans finished off a great pass from Chris Jarvie. Once again, however, the Eagles complained about an alleged offside infraction, but once again, their protests were ignored! The victory places the Firefighters in a 2-way tie for second place in Group ‘A’, while Norvan remains in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack.
On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl, ICSF Inter remained in contention for the Group ‘A’ title by defeating the struggling AFC Leopards by a lop-sided 7-1 margin. Inter got off to a great start as Matt Mori headed home a Kevin Crouch cross for the opening goal. Late in the first half, after the Leopards had battled back valiantly, Inter doubled its lead when Laurent Scaligine took advantage of a defensive blunder and proceeded to slot home a close-range shot. To their credit, the Leopards continued to battle and were rewarded early in the second half when BJ Rockson capitalized on some bad communication in the Inter backline to give his team a breath of fresh air. The Leopards then came close to equalizing on a couple of occasions but were unable to take advantage of the situation. Some noticeable frustration then began to rear its ugly head among the AFC players as two of them—Ugo Ezeh and Kevan Cameron—were ejected from the match. At this point, Inter took full control of the match and scored 5 more goals—four of them by Kevin Crouch and one by Mike Tempesta. The victory leaves Inter only 4 points behind Group leading Delta Metro Blaze, while the Leopards remain mired in last place in the same group.
The final game of the week was also played on Sunday at Hastings Bowl and featured two highly-rated teams: the Province Cup champions Columbus-Clan FC and the revitalized West Van FC. After an entertaining 90 minutes of action, the former Trollers went home with a narrow, but well-deserved, 2-1 victory over their seemingly fatigued opponents. Despite the fact that they had just returned from the National Championships in Halifax, the Columbus players controlled most of the first half and fully deserved the 1-0 lead after 45 minutes. Early in the match, Joe Scigliano—the top goalscorer in the Nationals—headed home a well-taken corner kick by Tino Cucca for the go-ahead goal. In the second half, however, Columbus began to show signs of the expected “Nationals hangover” and allowed West Van back in the match with some sloppy defending and a lacklustre overall performance. Midway through the second half, Sean Taylor restored parity as he cleverly rounded the last Columbus defender before depositing the ball behind a bewildered Luca Dalla Pace. West Van proceeded the get the winning goal late in the game when substitute Kenny Kienzle, after beating the last Columbus defender, unleashed a hard shot that Dalla Pace could only parry back onto the foot of an unmarked Kienzle. The youngster had little difficulty in placing the ball into the back of the net, albeit from a difficult angle, for the winning goal. The 3-point victory leaves West Van in second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Columbus-Clan is now in penultimate place in the same group.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the defending Province Cup champions—Columbus-Clan FC—by a narrow, but well-earned, 2-1 margin. Despite playing without 3 valuable veterans—Mike Dodd, Paul Dailly, and Trevor Short—West Van came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to totally dominate the second half and thus earn the very important 3 points. The former Trollers are now only 1 point behind Group ‘A’ leading Delta Metro Blaze.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Surrey United’s STEVE MILLAR for his outstanding performance in his team’s 3-1 victory over Westside FC. Millar, Surrey’s player-coach, was involved in 2 of his team’s goals, due to his impeccable free-kick technique. Furthermore, Millar’s defensive presence and leadership qualities restricted Westside’s scoring chances and played a vital part in Surrey’s victory. For his outstanding performance this past weekend, STEVE MILLAR will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-10-31.
How many what? Times I've quit or times ass face has won player of the week? Either way it's one too many.How many is that now?
Regs,
He's much older now, he needs 9 steps to thump it in no particular direction
Captain Shamrock
Well-Known Member
Apparently 4 goals does not get you player of the week if you play for Inter.
But did he kick the ball as hard as he could after 9 steps? If not, then obviously he doesn't deserve the award.
WEEK #7—2007-10-22
Only 5 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as the inclement weather forced the postponement of the other 2 scheduled matches. Once again, no major upsets took place although Delta Blaze’s narrow victory over ICSF Inter might be considered a surprise result—despite of the standings. The two extremes in the division remained extreme, as Sporting Club improved its perfect record to 7-0, while—at the other end of the table—the AFC Leopards remained pointless by losing their 7th consecutive match.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, Columbus-Clan FC took full advantage of the AFC Leopards’ disarray by defeating the home team by an emphatic 8-1 margin. Both teams—as well as the officials and the few spectators in attendance—survived a rain and wind storm that lasted the entire match and resulted in virtually intolerable conditions. With the wind at their backs, the Leopards played reasonably well in the first half and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, mostly on efforts by BJ Rockson. However, on a lethal counter-attack, Joe Scigliano got things started for Columbus midway through the first half when he converted a clever pass by Tino Cucca into the game’s opening goal. A few minutes later, a brilliant 3-way passing play—involving Tino Cucca, Steve DeBlasio, and Tiernan King—resulted in King scoring what proved to be the winning goal from close range. In the second half, Columbus totally dominated proceedings—aided and abetted by the strong wind. Showing no mercy, the defending Province Cup champions—and National championship runners up—scored 6 goals in what turned out to be an agonizing 45 minutes for the struggling Leopards. Tiernan King added his second and third goal of the game, while Robbie Cairns, Tino Cucca, Steve DeBlasio, and Jonathan Poli added a goal each to the over-abundant margin of victory. BJ Rockson scored AFC’s lone goal late in the match The 3 points allowed Columbus to catch the idle Sapperton Rovers—albeit in penultimate place in the Group ‘A’ standings. The Leopards, on the other hand, remain pointless, and in last place, in the same group.
Also on Friday evening, at Holly Park in Ladner, Delta Metro Blaze survived some incredibly miserable weather conditions to continue its amazing unbeaten streak in defeating the defending VMSL champions, ICSF Inter, by a narrow 2-1 margin. In the early going of the match Delta seemed to abandon its patented defensive style and attacked ferociously in search of the opening goal. This seemed to surprise the Inter players who probably expected a much more conservative style of play from the newly-promoted team. The tactic paid off handsomely as the Blaze took an early 1-0 lead as Paulo Valdez played a marvellous through ball to Garrett Traversy who, after beating a defender down the right flank, delivered an immaculate cross onto the foot Yong Jun Rhee who neatly directed the ball into the ICSF net. The Blaze continued to attack and came close to increasing the lead on several occasions but squandered numerous goal-scoring opportunities. Early in the second half, however, Delta was able to score what proved to be the winner—a virtual carbon copy of the first goal. Once again, Paulo Valdez set up Garrett Traversy who, once again, beat a defender before crossing the ball into the box. This time, however, it was Manny Ayiku who put the finishing touch for Delta’s second goal. Late in the game, after exerting considerable pressure on the Delta defence, Inter was finally able to get on the score board when Kevin Crouch scored on a penalty kick, for his 9th goal of the season, after Christian Tropeano had been fouled in the penalty box. Delta goalkeeper, Tyler Baldock, turned in a superlative performance, particularly in the second half when ICSF attacked relentlessly in search of the equalizer. Tommy Loewe, Daniel Tshimba, and Tim Sowerby were towers of strength on the Delta backline, particularly late in the match. The victory leaves Delta Metro Blaze solidly in first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, particularly since its two closest rivals—Firefighters and West Van—held each other to a scoreless tie. Inter, on the other hand, remains stuck in the middle of the pack in the same group.
The third Friday evening game took place at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver between two aspiring teams—West Van FC and the Vancouver Firefighters. A large crowd was in attendance despite the horrendous weather conditions. Despite the 0-0 final score, the numerous spectators witnessed a highly competitive and entertaining match between two of the top teams in the VMSL. Both teams tried hard to gain a victory, a result that seemed essential in order to take over first place in the Group ‘A’ standings. However, two things got in the way: first, Delta’s somewhat unexpected victory over ICSF Inter, and secondly the inability of either team to score the winning goal! West Van’s Ryan Glanville almost gave his team the early lead when he slammed a wicked shot off the crossbar after receiving a great pass from Jessie Fetterley. However, the Firefighters—led by Trevor Rosencrans and Jeff Skinner—replied in kind and virtually dominated the remainder of the first half. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of former Firefighters’ goalkeeper—Marco Durante—kept his former teammates off the scoresheet. In the second half, West Van had most of the play but was also unable to finish any of the numerous goalscoring chances. In particular, Jesse Fetterley saw his excellent shot brilliantly saved by young goalkeeper Michael Calles after having received a great pass from Austin Lowrie. At the other end of the pitch, Marco Durante also had to come up with a wonderful save on a well-taken free kick by Aaron Keay. Defensively, West Van’s veteran Nico Berg was at his very best, while the Firefighters’ Steve McAuley and Jeff Buchanan also turned in excellent performances. The tie leaves both teams tied for second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, 3 points behind the unbeaten Delta Metro Blaze.
On Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, Surrey United continued its recent winning ways with a clear-cut 3-1 victory over the visiting Metro-Ford Wolves. The game was a tough, physical battle—typical of many of the past encounters between these two teams. After an evenly-played opening 20 minutes, the Cloverdale-based team took the lead when Steve Mitchell, a former Metro-Ford player, picked up a loose ball at the half-way line, dribbled towards goal, and hammered a 35-metre shot off the crossbar and into the net. After Surrey United’s Cam Wilson missed a golden opportunity to add to its lead, the Wolves tied things up just before the halftime whistle as Emilio Bottiglieri raced down the left flank, beat a defender and proceeded to send a low cross into the box, a cross that Andrew Veer calmly slotted home from close range. In the second half, Surrey United stepped up the pace and started to take control of the match, gaining a succession of corner kicks that the Metro-Ford defenders were able to scramble away. United finally took the lead at the 15th minute of the second half with a goal that was a replica of the Wolves’ equalizer. This time, Surrey’s Cam Wilson fired a low cross into the box from the left flank onto the path of 16-year old Jessie Gray who quickly slammed the ball home from close range. Late in the game, Cam Wilson capped off an impressive individual performance by scoring the insurance marker as he pounced on a loose ball before unleashing an unstoppable shot. The victory places Surrey United in second place in Group ‘B’, albeit 9 points behind the unbeaten—and perhaps unbeatable—Sporting Club. The Wolves, on the other hand are still mired near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings.
On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Croatia SC hosted the league-leading Sporting Club of Vancouver in a very important Group ‘B’ encounter. Croatia desperately needed the victory to remain in contention for the group title but it was Sporting Club that once again lay claim to all 3 points—with a 3-1 victory—thus extending its lead at the top of the table. The Croatians came storming out of the gate in search of the all-important first goal and were rewarded at the 17th minute mark when Ian Clarke sent Johnny Sulentic in on goal with a perfectly-executed pass. Sulentic lived up to his reputation by neatly chipping the ball over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Brian Brum. Croatia kept pressing and came very close to doubling its lead on several occasions but was denied by some outstanding saves on the part of Brum, particularly on shots by Johnny Sulentic and Bradley Haga. As luck would have it, Sporting Club was able to tie things up on a lethal counter-attack as Jeff Yoon cleverly set up Meysam Soltani for the equalizer. Late in the first half, Soltani scored his second goal of the match as he received a great through ball from Brian Gebbie before depositing the ball into the back of the net for the winning goal. In the second half, Sporting Club added insult to injury by scoring the third goal, once again against the run of play. This time it was young Blake Douglas who beat a couple of Croatian defenders and bounced a shot off another defender past a bewildered Didar Sandhu for the insurance marker. It should be mentioned that Sporting Club was playing without several starters due to injuries but got excellent performances from midfielders Brian Gebbie and Blake Douglas, as well as defender Harinder Lalli. Sporting Club’s record thus improves to 7-0, while Croatia remains in third place in Group ‘B’, with a 3-1-3 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: DELTA METRO BLAZE for its outstanding performance in defeating the defending VMSL champions—ICSF Inter—by a narrow, but well-earned, 2-1 margin. The newly-promoted Delta team thus remains undefeated, and at the top of the Group ‘A’ standings with an amazing 5-2-0 record.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sporting Club’s goalkeeper BRIAN BRUM for his amazing performance in his team’s 3-1 victory over Croatia SC. Playing without several starters, and no substitutes, Sporting Club struggled throughout the match against the highly-motivated Croatians. However, some fantastic saves on the part of Brum gave the Portuguese team a chance to walk away with all 3 points. For his outstanding performance this past weekend, BRIAN BRUM will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-11-08.
Only 5 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as the inclement weather forced the postponement of the other 2 scheduled matches. Once again, no major upsets took place although Delta Blaze’s narrow victory over ICSF Inter might be considered a surprise result—despite of the standings. The two extremes in the division remained extreme, as Sporting Club improved its perfect record to 7-0, while—at the other end of the table—the AFC Leopards remained pointless by losing their 7th consecutive match.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, Columbus-Clan FC took full advantage of the AFC Leopards’ disarray by defeating the home team by an emphatic 8-1 margin. Both teams—as well as the officials and the few spectators in attendance—survived a rain and wind storm that lasted the entire match and resulted in virtually intolerable conditions. With the wind at their backs, the Leopards played reasonably well in the first half and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, mostly on efforts by BJ Rockson. However, on a lethal counter-attack, Joe Scigliano got things started for Columbus midway through the first half when he converted a clever pass by Tino Cucca into the game’s opening goal. A few minutes later, a brilliant 3-way passing play—involving Tino Cucca, Steve DeBlasio, and Tiernan King—resulted in King scoring what proved to be the winning goal from close range. In the second half, Columbus totally dominated proceedings—aided and abetted by the strong wind. Showing no mercy, the defending Province Cup champions—and National championship runners up—scored 6 goals in what turned out to be an agonizing 45 minutes for the struggling Leopards. Tiernan King added his second and third goal of the game, while Robbie Cairns, Tino Cucca, Steve DeBlasio, and Jonathan Poli added a goal each to the over-abundant margin of victory. BJ Rockson scored AFC’s lone goal late in the match The 3 points allowed Columbus to catch the idle Sapperton Rovers—albeit in penultimate place in the Group ‘A’ standings. The Leopards, on the other hand, remain pointless, and in last place, in the same group.
Also on Friday evening, at Holly Park in Ladner, Delta Metro Blaze survived some incredibly miserable weather conditions to continue its amazing unbeaten streak in defeating the defending VMSL champions, ICSF Inter, by a narrow 2-1 margin. In the early going of the match Delta seemed to abandon its patented defensive style and attacked ferociously in search of the opening goal. This seemed to surprise the Inter players who probably expected a much more conservative style of play from the newly-promoted team. The tactic paid off handsomely as the Blaze took an early 1-0 lead as Paulo Valdez played a marvellous through ball to Garrett Traversy who, after beating a defender down the right flank, delivered an immaculate cross onto the foot Yong Jun Rhee who neatly directed the ball into the ICSF net. The Blaze continued to attack and came close to increasing the lead on several occasions but squandered numerous goal-scoring opportunities. Early in the second half, however, Delta was able to score what proved to be the winner—a virtual carbon copy of the first goal. Once again, Paulo Valdez set up Garrett Traversy who, once again, beat a defender before crossing the ball into the box. This time, however, it was Manny Ayiku who put the finishing touch for Delta’s second goal. Late in the game, after exerting considerable pressure on the Delta defence, Inter was finally able to get on the score board when Kevin Crouch scored on a penalty kick, for his 9th goal of the season, after Christian Tropeano had been fouled in the penalty box. Delta goalkeeper, Tyler Baldock, turned in a superlative performance, particularly in the second half when ICSF attacked relentlessly in search of the equalizer. Tommy Loewe, Daniel Tshimba, and Tim Sowerby were towers of strength on the Delta backline, particularly late in the match. The victory leaves Delta Metro Blaze solidly in first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, particularly since its two closest rivals—Firefighters and West Van—held each other to a scoreless tie. Inter, on the other hand, remains stuck in the middle of the pack in the same group.
The third Friday evening game took place at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver between two aspiring teams—West Van FC and the Vancouver Firefighters. A large crowd was in attendance despite the horrendous weather conditions. Despite the 0-0 final score, the numerous spectators witnessed a highly competitive and entertaining match between two of the top teams in the VMSL. Both teams tried hard to gain a victory, a result that seemed essential in order to take over first place in the Group ‘A’ standings. However, two things got in the way: first, Delta’s somewhat unexpected victory over ICSF Inter, and secondly the inability of either team to score the winning goal! West Van’s Ryan Glanville almost gave his team the early lead when he slammed a wicked shot off the crossbar after receiving a great pass from Jessie Fetterley. However, the Firefighters—led by Trevor Rosencrans and Jeff Skinner—replied in kind and virtually dominated the remainder of the first half. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of former Firefighters’ goalkeeper—Marco Durante—kept his former teammates off the scoresheet. In the second half, West Van had most of the play but was also unable to finish any of the numerous goalscoring chances. In particular, Jesse Fetterley saw his excellent shot brilliantly saved by young goalkeeper Michael Calles after having received a great pass from Austin Lowrie. At the other end of the pitch, Marco Durante also had to come up with a wonderful save on a well-taken free kick by Aaron Keay. Defensively, West Van’s veteran Nico Berg was at his very best, while the Firefighters’ Steve McAuley and Jeff Buchanan also turned in excellent performances. The tie leaves both teams tied for second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, 3 points behind the unbeaten Delta Metro Blaze.
On Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, Surrey United continued its recent winning ways with a clear-cut 3-1 victory over the visiting Metro-Ford Wolves. The game was a tough, physical battle—typical of many of the past encounters between these two teams. After an evenly-played opening 20 minutes, the Cloverdale-based team took the lead when Steve Mitchell, a former Metro-Ford player, picked up a loose ball at the half-way line, dribbled towards goal, and hammered a 35-metre shot off the crossbar and into the net. After Surrey United’s Cam Wilson missed a golden opportunity to add to its lead, the Wolves tied things up just before the halftime whistle as Emilio Bottiglieri raced down the left flank, beat a defender and proceeded to send a low cross into the box, a cross that Andrew Veer calmly slotted home from close range. In the second half, Surrey United stepped up the pace and started to take control of the match, gaining a succession of corner kicks that the Metro-Ford defenders were able to scramble away. United finally took the lead at the 15th minute of the second half with a goal that was a replica of the Wolves’ equalizer. This time, Surrey’s Cam Wilson fired a low cross into the box from the left flank onto the path of 16-year old Jessie Gray who quickly slammed the ball home from close range. Late in the game, Cam Wilson capped off an impressive individual performance by scoring the insurance marker as he pounced on a loose ball before unleashing an unstoppable shot. The victory places Surrey United in second place in Group ‘B’, albeit 9 points behind the unbeaten—and perhaps unbeatable—Sporting Club. The Wolves, on the other hand are still mired near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings.
On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Croatia SC hosted the league-leading Sporting Club of Vancouver in a very important Group ‘B’ encounter. Croatia desperately needed the victory to remain in contention for the group title but it was Sporting Club that once again lay claim to all 3 points—with a 3-1 victory—thus extending its lead at the top of the table. The Croatians came storming out of the gate in search of the all-important first goal and were rewarded at the 17th minute mark when Ian Clarke sent Johnny Sulentic in on goal with a perfectly-executed pass. Sulentic lived up to his reputation by neatly chipping the ball over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Brian Brum. Croatia kept pressing and came very close to doubling its lead on several occasions but was denied by some outstanding saves on the part of Brum, particularly on shots by Johnny Sulentic and Bradley Haga. As luck would have it, Sporting Club was able to tie things up on a lethal counter-attack as Jeff Yoon cleverly set up Meysam Soltani for the equalizer. Late in the first half, Soltani scored his second goal of the match as he received a great through ball from Brian Gebbie before depositing the ball into the back of the net for the winning goal. In the second half, Sporting Club added insult to injury by scoring the third goal, once again against the run of play. This time it was young Blake Douglas who beat a couple of Croatian defenders and bounced a shot off another defender past a bewildered Didar Sandhu for the insurance marker. It should be mentioned that Sporting Club was playing without several starters due to injuries but got excellent performances from midfielders Brian Gebbie and Blake Douglas, as well as defender Harinder Lalli. Sporting Club’s record thus improves to 7-0, while Croatia remains in third place in Group ‘B’, with a 3-1-3 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: DELTA METRO BLAZE for its outstanding performance in defeating the defending VMSL champions—ICSF Inter—by a narrow, but well-earned, 2-1 margin. The newly-promoted Delta team thus remains undefeated, and at the top of the Group ‘A’ standings with an amazing 5-2-0 record.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sporting Club’s goalkeeper BRIAN BRUM for his amazing performance in his team’s 3-1 victory over Croatia SC. Playing without several starters, and no substitutes, Sporting Club struggled throughout the match against the highly-motivated Croatians. However, some fantastic saves on the part of Brum gave the Portuguese team a chance to walk away with all 3 points. For his outstanding performance this past weekend, BRIAN BRUM will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-11-08.
- Thread starter
- #32
WEEK #8—2007-10-29
All 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as the weather conditions improved immensely—at least when compared to the previous weekend! Once again, no major upsets took place even though Delta Metro Blaze lost its unbeaten record at the hands of the red-hot West Van FC in a Group ‘A’ first place battle. In Group ‘B’, Sporting Club of Vancouver remained solidly in first place by virtue of yet another narrow victory, this one by a 1-0 score over Surrey United.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, two struggling teams—the AFC Leopards and Westside FC—faced off in a very important cross-over match, a match that both teams needed desperately to win. In the end, Westside FC was well worth its 3-0 margin of victory although the Leopards showed considerable improvement from their previous two or three games. Early in the match, Westside took the lead as Colin Jones capitalized on a poor clearance by a Leopards’ defender and proceeded to strike the ball home a very difficult angle. Late in the first half, veteran Keith Moore fired a free kick from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner of the net for the insurance marker. In the second half, the Leopards—led by the inspired play of BJ Rockson and Fred Malek—came storming back but some poor finishing and several excellent saves by goalkeeper Adrian Emery kept them off the scoresheet. Very late in the game, Spencer Nebel rounded out the scoring for the visitors to put the result out of AFC’s reach. The victory elevates Westside FC out of the relegation zone in Group ‘B’, while the pointless Leopards remain mired in last place in Group ‘A’.
Also on Friday evening, at Holly Park in Ladner, the highly-motivated West Van FC made amends for an early season 2-1 loss to Delta Metro Blaze by defeating the home team 2-0 after a hard-fought 90 minutes of play. The visitors were quickly rewarded for their energetic start when, at the 10th minute mark, Jesse Fetterley one-timed a well-taken corner kick by veteran Paul Dailly into the Delta net for what proved to be the winning goal. West Van continued to press and was almost rewarded on a couple of occasions as yet another veteran—Mike Dodd—saw his wicked shot brilliantly saved by Delta’s goalkeeper Tyler Baldock. Shortly thereafter, Paul Dailly saw his rocket shot bounce off the crossbar with Baldock well-beaten. In the meantime, Jesse Fetterley continued to impress with his amazing skills and indomitable work rate as he drove the Delta defenders to distraction with his penetrating runs and remarkable energy. In the second half, West Van continued to press for the insurance marker, while Delta seemed content to defend and counter-attack, a style that has proven to be very successful so far this season. Midway through the second half, West Van added to its lead when substitute Tyler Waddell found himself wide-open from a Jesse Fetterley pass and calmly placed the ball into the back of the net. Delta came close to narrowing the margin late in the game when a well-taken free kick by Craig McMillan was spectacularly saved by Marco Durante who was thus able to preserve his clean sheet. Defensively, Leo Nash, Rei Matsuyama, Drew Gelley, and Todd Vass had superlative games for West Van, while Delta’s Daniel Tshimba and Louis Hughes were also rock-solid. The victory allows West Van to catch the Blaze at the top of the Group ‘A’ table.
On Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, Sporting Club of Vancouver continued its amazing win streak by defeating the very tough and extremely well organized Surrey United by a 1-0 margin. After a scoreless first half, Sporting Club scored the winner midway through the second half when a shot by Steve Dormer was parried by goalkeeper Paul Sheppard unto the path of a wide-open Ryan Dormer who quickly slotted the ball home for the game’s lone goal. Newly signed Justin Isidro, as well as Devon Greenside and Steve Dormer, played very well for the visitors, while goalkeeper Brian Brum was once again at his very best and fully deserved the shutout. The victory solidifies Sporting’s stronghold on first place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while Surrey United drops to third place in the same table.
Also on Saturday, at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles prevailed by a 1-0 margin over the struggling—and somewhat unlucky—Metro-Ford Wolves. The match was very evenly played and was resolved at the 30th minute mark by a Nick Slaney penalty kick. The spot shot was awarded when Jamie Dunnett—after receiving a great pass from Mark Krys—raced in on goal only to be awkwardly fouled by Metro-Ford’s Scott Butschler inside the penalty area. Slaney converted the penalty kick, for what proved to be the winning goal, by sending goalkeeper Mathew Bird the wrong way. Early in the second half, the Wolves were reduced to 10 men when young veteran Andrew Veer was ejected as a result of a clumsy tackle against Max Baessotto. Despite this, Metro-Ford held the majority of the play for the remainder of the game and could easily have knotted the score had it not been for the outstanding performance of goalkeeper Mike Norris. The victory elevates the Eagles to third place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while the Wolves remain mired near the bottom of the same table.
The third Saturday game was played at Minoru Park in Richmond and featured the aspiring Croatia SC and the somewhat rejuvenated Indo FC. With two newly-signed Whitecaps—Jason Jordan and Dave Morris—in the line-up, Indo FC had hoped to finally rise out of last place in the Group ‘B’ standings. Despite being reduced to 10 men midway through the second half, Indo FC put up a noble effort but eventually succumbed to the very talented Croatians by a 4-1 margin. Both teams attacked right from the opening whistle, creating some excellent scoring chances. In particular, Indo FC’s newly-signed goalkeeper—Drew Smiley—made a remarkable save on a Johnny Sulentic shot while, at the other end of the pitch, Karm Lidder saw his header bounce off the crossbar. The game took a wicked twist for Indo FC when, at the 25th minute mark, Gurjit Dhaliwal was sent off for having received his second caution. Despite that, it was Indo FC that came close to scoring the opening goal when Barinder Johal missed the net from close range. After a scoreless first half, it was the undermanned Indo FC that took the lead when Whitecap Jason Jordan—in his first VMSL start of the season—was able to get on the end of a well taken free kick from Lavy Mangat and put the ball past “Croatian” goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. At this point, the Croats began to attack relentlessly and came close to tying things up on several occasions. Finally, Croatia took advantage of an indirect free kick awarded inside the box—when goalkeeper Drew Smiley was penalized for wasting time—and scored the equalizer as Steve Dickinson converted a Johnny Pashalidis cross into the tying goal. Shortly thereafter, Dickinson added the winning goal—and his second of the match—as he finished off a brilliant pass from Johnny Sulentic. Croatia then added two more goals to the comfortable margin of victory as Oliver Heald, on a pass from Johnny Pashalidis, and Johnny Sulentic, on a set-up by Oliver Heald, rounded out the scoring. The victory allows Croatia to climb into sole possession of second place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while Indo FC remains in last place in the same group.
On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, the rematch between Columbus-Clan FC and the Vancouver Firefighters took place. The first game, played a few weeks ago at Burnaby North High School, was one of the best games ever played in the VMSL. The Firemen had survived a couple of one-goal deficits, as well as an ejection, and had come back to defeat the defending Province Cup champions by a 3-2 margin after a nail-biting 90 minutes of non-stop action. Even though this past weekend’s encounter did not measure up to the previous one, it still provided the sparse crowd with a lot of action as both teams tried hard to gain the all-important 3 points. As luck would have it, however, both teams had to settle for a 1-1 tie, a result that helps neither one of them. Columbus had most of the ball possession in the first half and fully deserved to take the lead at the 30th minute mark when Steve DeBlasio took advantage of a poor Firemen clearance to set up Tino Cucca for the go-ahead goal. Just before the halftime whistle, however, the Firefighters tied things up when defender Steve McAuley rose above the Columbus defenders to head home a well-taken corner kick by Aaron Keay. In the second half both teams played rather conservatively with Columbus’ Joe Scigliano having the best chance to settle the score but placing his shot just wide of the net from close range. Defensively, Steve McAuley was once again a tower of strength on the Firefighters’ backline, while Columbus’ Jonathan Poli should also be commended for his outstanding performance. As mentioned earlier, the tie does neither team any favours, as the Firemen slip to third place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Columbus remains uncharacteristically near the bottom of the same group.
The second Sunday game took place at Adanac Park in Vancouver between ICSF Inter and the Sapperton Rovers and ended in a 2-2 tie. Both teams survived horrendous field conditions and actually managed to provide the few spectators with a fine performance. An uncharacteristic defensive blunder by Inter’s Mike Tempesta allowed Robert Sing to score the go-ahead goal for the Rovers late in the first half as he picked up the loose ball and fired it home from close range. Soon thereafter, Colin Phillips had a chance to increase Sapperton’s lead but was thwarted by a fine save by Inter’s young goalkeeper, Erman Ozkan. ICSF bounced back early in the second half and got the equalizer when Kevin Crouch took advantage of a goalmouth scramble to poke the ball into the net from a prone position. Soon thereafter, Robert Sing came very close to restoring Sapperton’s lead but saw his free kick from well outside the penalty area bounce off the goalpost and out of danger. With only 10 minutes to go, Fabio Confeiterio pounced onto a loose ball near the goal line and tapped the ball into the net for what most people thought would be the Rovers’ winning goal. To add insult to Inter’s injury, goalkeeper Erman Ozkan was ejected from the match for loudly and abusively protesting the goal, claiming that the officials had missed an earlier offside infraction. However, much to the Rovers’ disbelief, Inter rallied tenaciously and finally tied things up with only a couple of minutes remaining in the match. Once again, prolific goalscorer Kevin Crouch converted a corner kick into his 11th goal of the year and Inter’s much-deserved tying goal. The single point helps neither team as ICSF remains in the middle of the Group ‘A’ pack while the Rovers are still struggling near the bottom of the same table.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its clinically sound performance in defeating the previously undefeated Delta Blaze by a convincing 2-0 margin. Led by the amazing performance of forward Jesse Fetterley, West Van dominated proceedings from start to finish and fully deserved the margin of victory, a result the places the former Trollers in a first place tie with the Blaze.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: West Van FC’s forward JESSE FETTERLEY for his brilliant performance in his team’s 2-0 victory over Delta Blaze in a battle for first place in the Group ‘A’ standings. Not only did Fetterley score the first goal on a brilliant volley, but he also set up the insurance marker—scored by Tyler Waddell—with an immaculate pass. 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 2007-11-15.
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All 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as the weather conditions improved immensely—at least when compared to the previous weekend! Once again, no major upsets took place even though Delta Metro Blaze lost its unbeaten record at the hands of the red-hot West Van FC in a Group ‘A’ first place battle. In Group ‘B’, Sporting Club of Vancouver remained solidly in first place by virtue of yet another narrow victory, this one by a 1-0 score over Surrey United.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, two struggling teams—the AFC Leopards and Westside FC—faced off in a very important cross-over match, a match that both teams needed desperately to win. In the end, Westside FC was well worth its 3-0 margin of victory although the Leopards showed considerable improvement from their previous two or three games. Early in the match, Westside took the lead as Colin Jones capitalized on a poor clearance by a Leopards’ defender and proceeded to strike the ball home a very difficult angle. Late in the first half, veteran Keith Moore fired a free kick from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner of the net for the insurance marker. In the second half, the Leopards—led by the inspired play of BJ Rockson and Fred Malek—came storming back but some poor finishing and several excellent saves by goalkeeper Adrian Emery kept them off the scoresheet. Very late in the game, Spencer Nebel rounded out the scoring for the visitors to put the result out of AFC’s reach. The victory elevates Westside FC out of the relegation zone in Group ‘B’, while the pointless Leopards remain mired in last place in Group ‘A’.
Also on Friday evening, at Holly Park in Ladner, the highly-motivated West Van FC made amends for an early season 2-1 loss to Delta Metro Blaze by defeating the home team 2-0 after a hard-fought 90 minutes of play. The visitors were quickly rewarded for their energetic start when, at the 10th minute mark, Jesse Fetterley one-timed a well-taken corner kick by veteran Paul Dailly into the Delta net for what proved to be the winning goal. West Van continued to press and was almost rewarded on a couple of occasions as yet another veteran—Mike Dodd—saw his wicked shot brilliantly saved by Delta’s goalkeeper Tyler Baldock. Shortly thereafter, Paul Dailly saw his rocket shot bounce off the crossbar with Baldock well-beaten. In the meantime, Jesse Fetterley continued to impress with his amazing skills and indomitable work rate as he drove the Delta defenders to distraction with his penetrating runs and remarkable energy. In the second half, West Van continued to press for the insurance marker, while Delta seemed content to defend and counter-attack, a style that has proven to be very successful so far this season. Midway through the second half, West Van added to its lead when substitute Tyler Waddell found himself wide-open from a Jesse Fetterley pass and calmly placed the ball into the back of the net. Delta came close to narrowing the margin late in the game when a well-taken free kick by Craig McMillan was spectacularly saved by Marco Durante who was thus able to preserve his clean sheet. Defensively, Leo Nash, Rei Matsuyama, Drew Gelley, and Todd Vass had superlative games for West Van, while Delta’s Daniel Tshimba and Louis Hughes were also rock-solid. The victory allows West Van to catch the Blaze at the top of the Group ‘A’ table.
On Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, Sporting Club of Vancouver continued its amazing win streak by defeating the very tough and extremely well organized Surrey United by a 1-0 margin. After a scoreless first half, Sporting Club scored the winner midway through the second half when a shot by Steve Dormer was parried by goalkeeper Paul Sheppard unto the path of a wide-open Ryan Dormer who quickly slotted the ball home for the game’s lone goal. Newly signed Justin Isidro, as well as Devon Greenside and Steve Dormer, played very well for the visitors, while goalkeeper Brian Brum was once again at his very best and fully deserved the shutout. The victory solidifies Sporting’s stronghold on first place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while Surrey United drops to third place in the same table.
Also on Saturday, at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles prevailed by a 1-0 margin over the struggling—and somewhat unlucky—Metro-Ford Wolves. The match was very evenly played and was resolved at the 30th minute mark by a Nick Slaney penalty kick. The spot shot was awarded when Jamie Dunnett—after receiving a great pass from Mark Krys—raced in on goal only to be awkwardly fouled by Metro-Ford’s Scott Butschler inside the penalty area. Slaney converted the penalty kick, for what proved to be the winning goal, by sending goalkeeper Mathew Bird the wrong way. Early in the second half, the Wolves were reduced to 10 men when young veteran Andrew Veer was ejected as a result of a clumsy tackle against Max Baessotto. Despite this, Metro-Ford held the majority of the play for the remainder of the game and could easily have knotted the score had it not been for the outstanding performance of goalkeeper Mike Norris. The victory elevates the Eagles to third place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while the Wolves remain mired near the bottom of the same table.
The third Saturday game was played at Minoru Park in Richmond and featured the aspiring Croatia SC and the somewhat rejuvenated Indo FC. With two newly-signed Whitecaps—Jason Jordan and Dave Morris—in the line-up, Indo FC had hoped to finally rise out of last place in the Group ‘B’ standings. Despite being reduced to 10 men midway through the second half, Indo FC put up a noble effort but eventually succumbed to the very talented Croatians by a 4-1 margin. Both teams attacked right from the opening whistle, creating some excellent scoring chances. In particular, Indo FC’s newly-signed goalkeeper—Drew Smiley—made a remarkable save on a Johnny Sulentic shot while, at the other end of the pitch, Karm Lidder saw his header bounce off the crossbar. The game took a wicked twist for Indo FC when, at the 25th minute mark, Gurjit Dhaliwal was sent off for having received his second caution. Despite that, it was Indo FC that came close to scoring the opening goal when Barinder Johal missed the net from close range. After a scoreless first half, it was the undermanned Indo FC that took the lead when Whitecap Jason Jordan—in his first VMSL start of the season—was able to get on the end of a well taken free kick from Lavy Mangat and put the ball past “Croatian” goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. At this point, the Croats began to attack relentlessly and came close to tying things up on several occasions. Finally, Croatia took advantage of an indirect free kick awarded inside the box—when goalkeeper Drew Smiley was penalized for wasting time—and scored the equalizer as Steve Dickinson converted a Johnny Pashalidis cross into the tying goal. Shortly thereafter, Dickinson added the winning goal—and his second of the match—as he finished off a brilliant pass from Johnny Sulentic. Croatia then added two more goals to the comfortable margin of victory as Oliver Heald, on a pass from Johnny Pashalidis, and Johnny Sulentic, on a set-up by Oliver Heald, rounded out the scoring. The victory allows Croatia to climb into sole possession of second place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while Indo FC remains in last place in the same group.
On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, the rematch between Columbus-Clan FC and the Vancouver Firefighters took place. The first game, played a few weeks ago at Burnaby North High School, was one of the best games ever played in the VMSL. The Firemen had survived a couple of one-goal deficits, as well as an ejection, and had come back to defeat the defending Province Cup champions by a 3-2 margin after a nail-biting 90 minutes of non-stop action. Even though this past weekend’s encounter did not measure up to the previous one, it still provided the sparse crowd with a lot of action as both teams tried hard to gain the all-important 3 points. As luck would have it, however, both teams had to settle for a 1-1 tie, a result that helps neither one of them. Columbus had most of the ball possession in the first half and fully deserved to take the lead at the 30th minute mark when Steve DeBlasio took advantage of a poor Firemen clearance to set up Tino Cucca for the go-ahead goal. Just before the halftime whistle, however, the Firefighters tied things up when defender Steve McAuley rose above the Columbus defenders to head home a well-taken corner kick by Aaron Keay. In the second half both teams played rather conservatively with Columbus’ Joe Scigliano having the best chance to settle the score but placing his shot just wide of the net from close range. Defensively, Steve McAuley was once again a tower of strength on the Firefighters’ backline, while Columbus’ Jonathan Poli should also be commended for his outstanding performance. As mentioned earlier, the tie does neither team any favours, as the Firemen slip to third place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Columbus remains uncharacteristically near the bottom of the same group.
The second Sunday game took place at Adanac Park in Vancouver between ICSF Inter and the Sapperton Rovers and ended in a 2-2 tie. Both teams survived horrendous field conditions and actually managed to provide the few spectators with a fine performance. An uncharacteristic defensive blunder by Inter’s Mike Tempesta allowed Robert Sing to score the go-ahead goal for the Rovers late in the first half as he picked up the loose ball and fired it home from close range. Soon thereafter, Colin Phillips had a chance to increase Sapperton’s lead but was thwarted by a fine save by Inter’s young goalkeeper, Erman Ozkan. ICSF bounced back early in the second half and got the equalizer when Kevin Crouch took advantage of a goalmouth scramble to poke the ball into the net from a prone position. Soon thereafter, Robert Sing came very close to restoring Sapperton’s lead but saw his free kick from well outside the penalty area bounce off the goalpost and out of danger. With only 10 minutes to go, Fabio Confeiterio pounced onto a loose ball near the goal line and tapped the ball into the net for what most people thought would be the Rovers’ winning goal. To add insult to Inter’s injury, goalkeeper Erman Ozkan was ejected from the match for loudly and abusively protesting the goal, claiming that the officials had missed an earlier offside infraction. However, much to the Rovers’ disbelief, Inter rallied tenaciously and finally tied things up with only a couple of minutes remaining in the match. Once again, prolific goalscorer Kevin Crouch converted a corner kick into his 11th goal of the year and Inter’s much-deserved tying goal. The single point helps neither team as ICSF remains in the middle of the Group ‘A’ pack while the Rovers are still struggling near the bottom of the same table.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its clinically sound performance in defeating the previously undefeated Delta Blaze by a convincing 2-0 margin. Led by the amazing performance of forward Jesse Fetterley, West Van dominated proceedings from start to finish and fully deserved the margin of victory, a result the places the former Trollers in a first place tie with the Blaze.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: West Van FC’s forward JESSE FETTERLEY for his brilliant performance in his team’s 2-0 victory over Delta Blaze in a battle for first place in the Group ‘A’ standings. Not only did Fetterley score the first goal on a brilliant volley, but he also set up the insurance marker—scored by Tyler Waddell—with an immaculate pass. 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 2007-11-15.
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Careful you don't hurt your shoulder trying to pat yourself of the back now...
The fact is no one can figure out how Azzi picks these things which is probably why they've become the butt of a lot of jokes on TTP. Crouch scored 4 in a game, doesn't matter who they're playing, and he gave PLOW to some, old, fat, ugly and useless old plonker from Surrey for knocking a crappy ball that happen to ended up in the net.
The fact is no one can figure out how Azzi picks these things which is probably why they've become the butt of a lot of jokes on TTP. Crouch scored 4 in a game, doesn't matter who they're playing, and he gave PLOW to some, old, fat, ugly and useless old plonker from Surrey for knocking a crappy ball that happen to ended up in the net.
WEEK #9—2007-11-06
Six of the 7 scheduled games took place this past weekend, with the Sapperton Rovers vs Columbus-Clan match being the only one to be postponed. As usual, no major upsets took place although Delta Metro Blaze’s 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Firefighters could be considered a mild surprise. Sporting Club of Vancouver remained unbeaten and clearly at the top of the Group ‘B’ standings, while the AFC Leopards continued to struggle in search of their first point of the season.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC hosted the desperate AFC Leopards and walked away with a convincing 8-3 victory. After an evenly-played and very competitive first half, West Van totally took control of the match in the last 45 minutes and fully deserved the emphatic margin of victory. Drew Gelley gave West Van the early lead when his long range shot skipped along the ground and eluded the AFC goalkeeper. The Leopards bounced back and tied things up 10 minutes later when BJ Rockson took advantage of a West Van defensive blunder and calmly deposed the ball into the net. A short while later, AFC took the lead—also as a result of a defensive miscue—when Fabian Gordon pounced on a loose ball and quickly blasted it into the net. However, just before the halftime whistle, West Van drew even as Jesse Fetterley continued his impressive streak by scoring his 6th goal of the season. The second half told a totally different tale as the former Trollers took over the reins of the match and dominated proceedings from start to finish. Jesse Fetterley and Ryan Glanville each scored twice, while Sean Taylor and veteran Paul Dailly chipped in with a goal apiece to round out the scoring. It should also be mentioned that Dailly hit the woodwork on 3 separate occasions! For the Leoapards, Tchoumi Macisse fired a wicked drive into the West Van net from well outside the penalty area for his team’s third goal. The victory leaves West Van in a first place tie with Delta Blaze in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the pointless Leopards are still in last place in the same group.
Also on Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, two struggling teams—Westside FC and Indo FC—settled for a 2-2 tie despite the fact that both were in desperate need of all 3 points. Westside took the early lead on a fine header from veteran Jason Small, but Indo FC came bouncing back on a long range drive by Andrew Riopel. In the second half, young Andrew Cooke once again gave Westside the lead but a late goal by Paul Bolina restored parity. The tie does neither team any favours as both of them—along with the Metro-Ford Wolves—are still in the dreaded relegation zone in Group ‘B’.
The third Friday evening game, played at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, saw Sporting Club of Vancouver maintain its perfect record by defeating the Norvan Eagles by a convincing 3-0 margin. After an evenly played 40 minutes, Sporting Club took the lead late in the first half when a Mark Gomes corner kick was inadvertently deflected into the net by an Eagles defender. The Portuguese team took full advantage of the situation and added a second goal before the halftime whistle when Ryan Dormer blasted the ball into the net from outside the penalty area for his 7th goal of the season. In the second half, Sporting Club totally dominated proceedings from start to finish and added to its lead when Mike Gomes’ excellent pass found a streaking John Blair who, after beating a couple of Norvan defenders, slotted the ball home. It should be mentioned that Blair was a going concern throughout the match as he drove his opponents to distraction with his speed and skill. Newcomers Justin Isidro and Jag Gill, along with veteran Brian Gebbie, shone in the Sporting Club’s midfield throughout the match and were the main reason for their team’s excellent victory. Sporting Club thus improves its record to 9-0-0 while the Eagles remain in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack with a 4-0-4 record.
On Saturday, in a cross-over match played at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, ICSF Inter managed to eke out a narrow 2-1 victory over the host Metro-Ford Wolves after an entertaining and well-played 90 minutes of non-stop action. After a scoreless first half, Inter took the lead early in the second half when Mike Tempesta—after having taken advantage of a Metro-Ford defensive turnover—unleashed a wicked drive from the edge of the penalty area into the bottom corner of the net. Midway through the second half, “GOLDEN BOOT AWARD” leader Kevin Crouch scored his 12th goal of the season when he converted a well-taken corner kick by Joseph Marrello into the winning goal with a powerful header. Late in the game, the Wolves got on the scoresheet when young Alex Veres scored on a long-range shot from a difficult angle. Metro-Ford tried desperately to score the equalizer but was thwarted by some excellent work on the part of the ICSF defenders, most notably Scott Spracklin. The victory leaves Inter 6 points behind Group ‘A’ leaders West Van FC and Delta Blaze, while the cellar-dwelling Wolves remain in desperate need of points to avoid relegation.
Also on Saturday, at South Memorial Park in Vancouver, Delta Metro Blaze bounced back from last week’s loss to West Van FC by beating the Vancouver Firefighters by a 2-0 margin—the second time the newly-promoted Blaze has defeated the Firemen this season. Both teams came out of the starting blocks looking for all 3 points, making the match a very intense, past-paced, and tough-tackling encounter. The Firefighters could have taken the lead on numerous occasions in the early going but were denied by some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Delta goalkeeper Tyler Baldock. In particular, Peter Bergholz was stymied at least twice by Baldock’s fantastic saves. As luck would have it, however, it was Delta that took the early lead when forward Paulo Valdez beat a poorly-orchestrated Firemen offside trap and proceeded to lob the ball over the outstretched hands of young goalkeeper Michael Calles from well outside the penalty area. The second half was more or less a carbon-copy of the first with the Firefighters attacking relentlessly in search of the equalizer and the visitors counter-attacking in a very dangerous fashion. On one of these counter-attacks, Paulo Valdez made an incredible run, beat 3 defenders, faked a cross, and then proceeded to drive the ball into the corner of the net from a very acute angle. The victory leaves Delta Blaze in a tie for first place—with West Van FC—in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the Firemen’s loss relegates them to third place in the same group.
On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Croatia SC beat Surrey United for the second time this season, this time by a 2-1 margin. Despite the fact that the Croatians had most of the early play, it was Surrey United that came the closest to scoring on two well-executed counter-attacks. On the first, Mike Gahan did some excellent work to find himself in a great goalscoring position, only to see his chance disappear when he was dispossessed of the ball by defender Bradley Haga. Soon thereafter, Harpreet Khakh had another golden opportunity to give Surrey United the lead, but agonizingly watched his shot cleared off the line, once again by Bradley Haga. As often happens, however, it was Croatia that took the lead midway through the first half when former professional Johnny Sulentic—on a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area—sailed the ball over the Surrey United wall and into the top corner of the net. In the second half, the Croatians continued to press and were rewarded when young Marinko Maras—after some excellent work by Steve Dickinson—slotted home for what proved to be the winning goal. In true Surrey United fashion, the visitors rallied back and were finally rewarded when Clayton Dobbin finished off a fine cross from the right flank into his team’s lone goal. The result leaves Croatia in second place in the Group ‘B’ table, albeit 11 points behind the seemingly invincible Sporting Club, while Surrey United is now tied with the Norvan Eagles for third place in the same group.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SPORTING CLUB OF VANCOUVER for yet another excellent performance in defeating the Norvan Eagles by a decisive 3-0 margin. Led by the excellent midfield play of newly-signed midfielders Justin Isidro and Jag Gill, as well as veterans Brian Gebbie and John Blair, Sporting Club dominated practically the entire game and fully deserved the emphatic margin of victory. It should be noted that Sporting Club—with a perfect 9-0-0 record—is now 11 points ahead of second place Croatia SC in the Group ‘A’ standings.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Delta Metro Blaze’s forward PAULO VALDEZ and goalkeeper TYLER BALDOCK for their amazing performances in their team’s 2-0 victory over the very tough and highly-regarded Vancouver Firefighters. Valdez scored both Delta’s goals, while Baldock made several brilliant saves to earn the shutout victory. For their outstanding performances, VALDEZ and BALDOCK will each receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-11-29.
Six of the 7 scheduled games took place this past weekend, with the Sapperton Rovers vs Columbus-Clan match being the only one to be postponed. As usual, no major upsets took place although Delta Metro Blaze’s 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Firefighters could be considered a mild surprise. Sporting Club of Vancouver remained unbeaten and clearly at the top of the Group ‘B’ standings, while the AFC Leopards continued to struggle in search of their first point of the season.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC hosted the desperate AFC Leopards and walked away with a convincing 8-3 victory. After an evenly-played and very competitive first half, West Van totally took control of the match in the last 45 minutes and fully deserved the emphatic margin of victory. Drew Gelley gave West Van the early lead when his long range shot skipped along the ground and eluded the AFC goalkeeper. The Leopards bounced back and tied things up 10 minutes later when BJ Rockson took advantage of a West Van defensive blunder and calmly deposed the ball into the net. A short while later, AFC took the lead—also as a result of a defensive miscue—when Fabian Gordon pounced on a loose ball and quickly blasted it into the net. However, just before the halftime whistle, West Van drew even as Jesse Fetterley continued his impressive streak by scoring his 6th goal of the season. The second half told a totally different tale as the former Trollers took over the reins of the match and dominated proceedings from start to finish. Jesse Fetterley and Ryan Glanville each scored twice, while Sean Taylor and veteran Paul Dailly chipped in with a goal apiece to round out the scoring. It should also be mentioned that Dailly hit the woodwork on 3 separate occasions! For the Leoapards, Tchoumi Macisse fired a wicked drive into the West Van net from well outside the penalty area for his team’s third goal. The victory leaves West Van in a first place tie with Delta Blaze in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the pointless Leopards are still in last place in the same group.
Also on Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, two struggling teams—Westside FC and Indo FC—settled for a 2-2 tie despite the fact that both were in desperate need of all 3 points. Westside took the early lead on a fine header from veteran Jason Small, but Indo FC came bouncing back on a long range drive by Andrew Riopel. In the second half, young Andrew Cooke once again gave Westside the lead but a late goal by Paul Bolina restored parity. The tie does neither team any favours as both of them—along with the Metro-Ford Wolves—are still in the dreaded relegation zone in Group ‘B’.
The third Friday evening game, played at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, saw Sporting Club of Vancouver maintain its perfect record by defeating the Norvan Eagles by a convincing 3-0 margin. After an evenly played 40 minutes, Sporting Club took the lead late in the first half when a Mark Gomes corner kick was inadvertently deflected into the net by an Eagles defender. The Portuguese team took full advantage of the situation and added a second goal before the halftime whistle when Ryan Dormer blasted the ball into the net from outside the penalty area for his 7th goal of the season. In the second half, Sporting Club totally dominated proceedings from start to finish and added to its lead when Mike Gomes’ excellent pass found a streaking John Blair who, after beating a couple of Norvan defenders, slotted the ball home. It should be mentioned that Blair was a going concern throughout the match as he drove his opponents to distraction with his speed and skill. Newcomers Justin Isidro and Jag Gill, along with veteran Brian Gebbie, shone in the Sporting Club’s midfield throughout the match and were the main reason for their team’s excellent victory. Sporting Club thus improves its record to 9-0-0 while the Eagles remain in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack with a 4-0-4 record.
On Saturday, in a cross-over match played at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, ICSF Inter managed to eke out a narrow 2-1 victory over the host Metro-Ford Wolves after an entertaining and well-played 90 minutes of non-stop action. After a scoreless first half, Inter took the lead early in the second half when Mike Tempesta—after having taken advantage of a Metro-Ford defensive turnover—unleashed a wicked drive from the edge of the penalty area into the bottom corner of the net. Midway through the second half, “GOLDEN BOOT AWARD” leader Kevin Crouch scored his 12th goal of the season when he converted a well-taken corner kick by Joseph Marrello into the winning goal with a powerful header. Late in the game, the Wolves got on the scoresheet when young Alex Veres scored on a long-range shot from a difficult angle. Metro-Ford tried desperately to score the equalizer but was thwarted by some excellent work on the part of the ICSF defenders, most notably Scott Spracklin. The victory leaves Inter 6 points behind Group ‘A’ leaders West Van FC and Delta Blaze, while the cellar-dwelling Wolves remain in desperate need of points to avoid relegation.
Also on Saturday, at South Memorial Park in Vancouver, Delta Metro Blaze bounced back from last week’s loss to West Van FC by beating the Vancouver Firefighters by a 2-0 margin—the second time the newly-promoted Blaze has defeated the Firemen this season. Both teams came out of the starting blocks looking for all 3 points, making the match a very intense, past-paced, and tough-tackling encounter. The Firefighters could have taken the lead on numerous occasions in the early going but were denied by some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Delta goalkeeper Tyler Baldock. In particular, Peter Bergholz was stymied at least twice by Baldock’s fantastic saves. As luck would have it, however, it was Delta that took the early lead when forward Paulo Valdez beat a poorly-orchestrated Firemen offside trap and proceeded to lob the ball over the outstretched hands of young goalkeeper Michael Calles from well outside the penalty area. The second half was more or less a carbon-copy of the first with the Firefighters attacking relentlessly in search of the equalizer and the visitors counter-attacking in a very dangerous fashion. On one of these counter-attacks, Paulo Valdez made an incredible run, beat 3 defenders, faked a cross, and then proceeded to drive the ball into the corner of the net from a very acute angle. The victory leaves Delta Blaze in a tie for first place—with West Van FC—in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the Firemen’s loss relegates them to third place in the same group.
On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Croatia SC beat Surrey United for the second time this season, this time by a 2-1 margin. Despite the fact that the Croatians had most of the early play, it was Surrey United that came the closest to scoring on two well-executed counter-attacks. On the first, Mike Gahan did some excellent work to find himself in a great goalscoring position, only to see his chance disappear when he was dispossessed of the ball by defender Bradley Haga. Soon thereafter, Harpreet Khakh had another golden opportunity to give Surrey United the lead, but agonizingly watched his shot cleared off the line, once again by Bradley Haga. As often happens, however, it was Croatia that took the lead midway through the first half when former professional Johnny Sulentic—on a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area—sailed the ball over the Surrey United wall and into the top corner of the net. In the second half, the Croatians continued to press and were rewarded when young Marinko Maras—after some excellent work by Steve Dickinson—slotted home for what proved to be the winning goal. In true Surrey United fashion, the visitors rallied back and were finally rewarded when Clayton Dobbin finished off a fine cross from the right flank into his team’s lone goal. The result leaves Croatia in second place in the Group ‘B’ table, albeit 11 points behind the seemingly invincible Sporting Club, while Surrey United is now tied with the Norvan Eagles for third place in the same group.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SPORTING CLUB OF VANCOUVER for yet another excellent performance in defeating the Norvan Eagles by a decisive 3-0 margin. Led by the excellent midfield play of newly-signed midfielders Justin Isidro and Jag Gill, as well as veterans Brian Gebbie and John Blair, Sporting Club dominated practically the entire game and fully deserved the emphatic margin of victory. It should be noted that Sporting Club—with a perfect 9-0-0 record—is now 11 points ahead of second place Croatia SC in the Group ‘A’ standings.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Delta Metro Blaze’s forward PAULO VALDEZ and goalkeeper TYLER BALDOCK for their amazing performances in their team’s 2-0 victory over the very tough and highly-regarded Vancouver Firefighters. Valdez scored both Delta’s goals, while Baldock made several brilliant saves to earn the shutout victory. For their outstanding performances, VALDEZ and BALDOCK will each receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-11-29.
WEEK #10—2007-11-13
All 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend, with the AFC Leopards finally gaining their first point of the season by earning a 1-1 tie against the aspiring Delta Metro Blaze. No other surprises took place as Sporting Club of Vancouver retained its perfect record with a close 2-1 victory over the defending Province Cup champions, Columbus-Clan FC. In Group ‘A’, West Van FC finally took over sole possession of first place by edging ICSF Inter by a 2-1 margin.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the red-hot Croatia SC avenged an early season loss to the Norvan Eagles by trouncing the visiting team by a lop-sided 5-0 margin after a very one-sided 90 minutes of play. The Croatians took an early 2-0 lead and, had it not been for the outstanding goalkeeping of Mike Norris, could have won by an even more emphatic margin. At the 5th minute mark, Oliver Heald converted a perfect pass from Rob Rogic into the game’s first goal as he easily slotted the ball home from close range. Soon thereafter, Steve Dickinson added Croatia’s second goal after being set up by an Ian Clarke pin-point pass. The Croatians continued to dominate but were unable to add any more first-half goals as Norris came up with some unbelievable saves. Early in the second half, however, Oliver Heald added his second goal of the game—and 9th of the season—as he blasted a long-range shot into the top corner of the net. Midway through the second half, Johnny Sulentic took advantage of a great pass from Kresho Vonic to score Croatia’s 4th goal. Late in the game, Sulentic rounded out the scoring as he converted a nifty pass from Bradley Haga into the final goal of the match. The victory solidifies Croatia’s hold on second place in the Group ‘B’ table, albeit it 11 points behind Sporting Club, while the Eagles remain in the middle of the same table.
Also on Friday evening, at Holly Park in Ladner, the AFC Leopards gained their first point of the season by holding the host team, Delta Metro Blaze, to a 1-1 tie. To say that the result is disappointing to the Blaze is an understatement since the tie drops Delta out of first place in the Group ‘A’ standings. The Blaze got off to a bright start and opened the scoring at the 8th minute mark when Paulo Valdez continued his hot scoring streak when he—after displaying some excellent skills and tenacity—lobbed the ball over the outstretched fingers of newly-signed goalkeeper Josh Wicks. It should be mentioned that former Whitecap Wicks was making his first start of the season in the Leopards’ net. Neither team was able to take control of the match as Delta seemed satisfied with the one-goal lead and the Leopards appeared unable to penetrate the Blaze’s defensive core, mostly due to the excellent play of Tim Sowerby. Late in the game, however, an uncharacteristic blunder by Delta’s goalkeeper—Tyler Baldock—provided the Leopards with the tying goal. Baldock’s attempted clearance resulted in a scramble that eventually allowed Freddy Malek to pounce on the loose ball and score the equalizer. As mentioned earlier, Delta now drops to second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, 2 points behind West Van FC, while the Leopards are still languishing in last place in the same table.
The third Friday evening game was played at Point Grey School in Vancouver between two struggling teams—Westside FC and the Metro-Ford Wolves. Before the match, both teams were in serious danger of relegation and, as a result, were both in desperate need of all 3 points. Despite the fact that the Wolves controlled most of the play in the first half, and for a good part of the second half, it was Westside that prevailed by a 3-2 margin. After a scoreless first half, a half that saw Metro-Ford hold a distinctive edge in play, Westside took the lead at the 70th minute mark when Anthony Halley picked up a loose ball in the Wolves’ third of the field and proceeded to slot home the opening goal into the bottom corner of the net. Metro-Ford replied in kind and equalized moments later when newly-signed Milan Francisty set up Andrew Veer at the far post with an immaculate cross. Veer made no mistake with a brilliant finishing touch to tie the score. At this moment, Westside started to take over the reins of the match and was rewarded when Colin Jones scored what proved to be the winner as a result of an ugly goalmouth scramble. Soon thereafter, young Taku Bradshaw capped off a brilliant individual performance as he raced in from his left back position and drove the ball home from a very acute angle for what proved to be the winning goal. With a few minutes remaining in the match, defender Justin Hebner got Metro-Ford back in the match with a tremendous drive from 30 metres. Unfortunately for the Wolves, it was a typical case of “too little, too late” as the home team was able to maintain its narrow margin of victory for the remainder of the game. Westside’s veteran defender James Prescott was at his very best as he guided his very young team to a very important victory. Midfielder Joey Loreth also played extremely well for the home team, while Metro-Ford veteran midfielder Emilio Bottiglieri was a going concern throughout the match, albeit in a losing cause. The 3 points elevate Westside FC to the middle of the Group ‘B’ table, out of the dreaded relegation zone, while the Wolves remained mired in last place with Indo FC.
The third Friday evening game, played at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, saw Sporting Club of Vancouver maintain its perfect record by defeating the Norvan Eagles by a convincing 3-0 margin. After an evenly played 40 minutes, Sporting Club took the lead late in the first half when a Mark Gomes corner kick was inadvertently deflected into the net by an Eagles defender. The Portuguese team took full advantage of the situation and added a second goal before the halftime whistle when Ryan Dormer blasted the ball into the net from outside the penalty area for his 7th goal of the season. In the second half, Sporting Club totally dominated proceedings from start to finish and added to its lead when Mike Gomes’ excellent pass found a streaking John Blair who, after beating a couple of Norvan defenders, slotted the ball home. It should be mentioned that Blair was a going concern throughout the match as he drove his opponents to distraction with his speed and skill. Newcomers Justin Isidro and Jag Gill, along with veteran Brian Gebbie, shone in the Sporting Club’s midfield throughout the match and were the main reason for their team’s excellent victory. Sporting Club thus improves its record to 9-0-0 while the Eagles remain in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack with a 4-0-4 record.
On Saturday, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the Vancouver Firefighters took on the Sapperton Rovers in a Group ‘A’ match. After a very entertaining 90 minutes of non-stop action the two teams had to settle for a 2-2 tie, a score that most spectators would consider a fair result. Very early in the match, the Rovers took the lead when Colin Phillips sent Jeff Rogers in all alone on a breakaway. Rogers waltzed by at least 3 Firemen defenders before calmly slotting the ball past goalkeeper Mike Franks. The Firefighters replied with a vengeance and tied things up a few minutes later as Trevor Rosencrans sent a great cross into the box to an unmarked Aaron Keay who promptly converted it into the equalizer. The rest of the first half was very evenly played with both teams taking turns attacking in search of the all-important go-ahead goal. Sapperton’s substitutes, Ted Ullrich and Fabio Confeiteiro, made their coach—Mike Favaro—look like a genius as they combined to give their team the lead early in the second half. Confeiteiro’s cross was headed towards goal by Ullrich only to have goalkeeper Mike Franks fist the ball onto the path of newly-signed veteran Brian Gibson. Without a moment’s hesitation, Gibson deposited the ball into the back of the net for Sapperton’s second goal. The Firemen then surged forward in search of the equalizer but some strong midfield play on the part of Jeff Rogers and playing-coach Mike Favaro, as well as some excellent defending by Mike Arazewski, kept them off the scoresheet until the dying moments of the match when Aaron Keay was fouled inside the Sapperton box by Robert Sing. On the ensuing penalty kick, Keay made no mistake by sending goalkeeper Corey Breure the wrong way and calmly scoring the well-deserved equalizer. Veterans Jeff Skinner and Steve McAuley were outstanding on the Firefighters backline, while Sapperton’s forward Brian Gibson made a very successful return to VMSL action after several years’ absence.
Also on Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, Surrey United bounced back from two consecutive losses by narrowly squeezing by Indo FC by a 1-0 margin. The game was an evenly-played, hard-fought affair with both defences dominating the opposing forwards, thus limiting the number of goalscoring chances. Late in the game, at about the 80th minute mark, Surrey finally broke the deadlock when substitute Rizal Ganief headed a Clayton Dobbin corner towards the Indo FC goal. Former Surrey United goalkeeper, Drew Smiley, made a great save but, ironically, the ball fell at the feet of Surrey’s Graeme Magowan who quickly hammered it into the back of the net from close range. Indo FC rallied back tenaciously in search of the all-important equalizer and came very close on a couple of occasions as Dave Samra and Lavy Mangat came close to scoring. In the dying moments of the match, Indo FC’s Karm Lidder was allegedly fouled inside the box by Surrey’s goalkeeper Paul Shepherd. Much to Indo FC’s chagrin, the referee allowed play to continue and the final score remained 1-0 in Surrey United’s favour. The victory enables Surrey United to remain in third place in the Group ‘B’ table, while Indo FC is still mired in a last place tie—with the Metro-Ford Wolves—in the same group.
On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, ICSF Inter hosted West Van FC in a Group ‘A’ match between last season’s VMSL champions (Inter) and one of this year’s leading contenders (West Van). After a very well-played and exciting match, West Van FC prevailed by a narrow 2-1 margin, a victory that places the former Trollers alone at the top of the Group ‘A’ table. The match was very evenly played, and provided the numerous spectators with 90 minutes of non-stop action and several glorious goalscoring opportunities. West Van veteran Paul Dailly came the closest to opening the scoring in the early going as he saw his blistering shot hit the goalpost. In the meantime, two of the VMSL’s top players, West Van’s veteran defender Nico Berg and Inter’s top goalscorer Kevin Crouch, were engaging in a very interesting battle with Crouch having the edge in the early going and Berg winning the later stages of the battle. After a scoreless—but very eventful—first half, West Van opened the scoring early in the second half when young substitute, Alan McIndoe, converted an excellent pass by Jesse Fetterley into the game’s opening goal. Ironically, the goal was scored on McIndoe’s first touch of the ball! Midway through the second half, West Van added to its lead when Ryan Glanville’s relentless work rate freed up Austin Lowrie whose shot bounced off the goalpost and into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. ICSF came roaring back and was eventually rewarded late in the game when Mike Tempesta narrowed the margin with only a handful of minutes remaining in the match. The victory elevates West Van to sole possession of first place in the Group ‘A’ table, while Inter’s loss leaves the Italians in the middle of the pack in the same group.
On Monday, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, Sporting Club of Vancouver remained undefeated by edging the defending Province Cup champions—Columbus-Clan FC—by a 2-1 margin. Once again, the numerous fans were treated to an action-packed match between two very skilled and competitive teams. After Columbus had exerted some early pressure, a long punt by Sporting goalkeeper Brian Brum bounced over the heads of the Columbus defenders and onto the path of a streaking Meysam Soltani. Without hesitation, Soltani lobbed the ball over the outstretched fingers of goalkeeper Luca Dalla Pace for the game’s opening goal. Early in the second half, Sporting Club came close to adding to its lead when Soltani was tripped in the box by goalkeeper Dalla Pace. On the resulting penalty kick, however, Dalla Pace made amends for his blunder by pulling off a brilliant save on a well-taken penalty kick by John Blair. Columbus, perhaps inspired by Dalla Pace’s fine save, came roaring back and was finally rewarded with the equalizer when last season’s “Most Valuable Player”, Joe Scigliano beat three Sporting defenders before sending Tiernan King in on a goal with an immaculate pass. King made no mistake in placing the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer. Late in the game, however, Sporting Club clinched the victory when a Ryan Dormer cross found a wide-open Jag Gill who clinically converted it into the winning goal. It should be mentioned that goalkeeper Brian Brum and defender Mike Gomes had outstanding games for Sporting Club, while player-coach Carmine D’Onofrio also played very well on the Columbus backline. As mentioned earlier, the victory solidifies Sporting Club’s hold on first place in the Group ‘B’ table, while Columbus is now in penultimate place, and in the danger zone, in Group ‘A’.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: CROATIA SC for its brilliant performance in defeating the Norvan Eagles by a decisive 5-0 margin. Led by the excellent play of former Whitecaps Johnny Sulentic and Oliver Heald, as well as newcomer Bradley Haga, Croatia SC dominated the entire game and fully deserved the emphatic margin of victory. As a result of the victory, Croatia SC remains solidly in second place in the Group ‘B’ standings, albeit 11 points behind the unbeaten Sporting Club!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sporting Club’s forward MEYSAM SOLTANI for his outstanding performance in his team’s 2-1 victory over the reigning Province Cup champions, Columbus-Clan FC. Soltani scored the opening goal of the game in clinical fashion as he lobbed the ball over the head of goalkeeper Luca Dalla Pace. Shortly thereafter, Soltani was fouled inside the Columbus penalty area after having made a brilliant run, an infraction that resulted in a penalty kick. For his excellent performance, MEYSAN SOLTANI will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-12-06.
All 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend, with the AFC Leopards finally gaining their first point of the season by earning a 1-1 tie against the aspiring Delta Metro Blaze. No other surprises took place as Sporting Club of Vancouver retained its perfect record with a close 2-1 victory over the defending Province Cup champions, Columbus-Clan FC. In Group ‘A’, West Van FC finally took over sole possession of first place by edging ICSF Inter by a 2-1 margin.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the red-hot Croatia SC avenged an early season loss to the Norvan Eagles by trouncing the visiting team by a lop-sided 5-0 margin after a very one-sided 90 minutes of play. The Croatians took an early 2-0 lead and, had it not been for the outstanding goalkeeping of Mike Norris, could have won by an even more emphatic margin. At the 5th minute mark, Oliver Heald converted a perfect pass from Rob Rogic into the game’s first goal as he easily slotted the ball home from close range. Soon thereafter, Steve Dickinson added Croatia’s second goal after being set up by an Ian Clarke pin-point pass. The Croatians continued to dominate but were unable to add any more first-half goals as Norris came up with some unbelievable saves. Early in the second half, however, Oliver Heald added his second goal of the game—and 9th of the season—as he blasted a long-range shot into the top corner of the net. Midway through the second half, Johnny Sulentic took advantage of a great pass from Kresho Vonic to score Croatia’s 4th goal. Late in the game, Sulentic rounded out the scoring as he converted a nifty pass from Bradley Haga into the final goal of the match. The victory solidifies Croatia’s hold on second place in the Group ‘B’ table, albeit it 11 points behind Sporting Club, while the Eagles remain in the middle of the same table.
Also on Friday evening, at Holly Park in Ladner, the AFC Leopards gained their first point of the season by holding the host team, Delta Metro Blaze, to a 1-1 tie. To say that the result is disappointing to the Blaze is an understatement since the tie drops Delta out of first place in the Group ‘A’ standings. The Blaze got off to a bright start and opened the scoring at the 8th minute mark when Paulo Valdez continued his hot scoring streak when he—after displaying some excellent skills and tenacity—lobbed the ball over the outstretched fingers of newly-signed goalkeeper Josh Wicks. It should be mentioned that former Whitecap Wicks was making his first start of the season in the Leopards’ net. Neither team was able to take control of the match as Delta seemed satisfied with the one-goal lead and the Leopards appeared unable to penetrate the Blaze’s defensive core, mostly due to the excellent play of Tim Sowerby. Late in the game, however, an uncharacteristic blunder by Delta’s goalkeeper—Tyler Baldock—provided the Leopards with the tying goal. Baldock’s attempted clearance resulted in a scramble that eventually allowed Freddy Malek to pounce on the loose ball and score the equalizer. As mentioned earlier, Delta now drops to second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, 2 points behind West Van FC, while the Leopards are still languishing in last place in the same table.
The third Friday evening game was played at Point Grey School in Vancouver between two struggling teams—Westside FC and the Metro-Ford Wolves. Before the match, both teams were in serious danger of relegation and, as a result, were both in desperate need of all 3 points. Despite the fact that the Wolves controlled most of the play in the first half, and for a good part of the second half, it was Westside that prevailed by a 3-2 margin. After a scoreless first half, a half that saw Metro-Ford hold a distinctive edge in play, Westside took the lead at the 70th minute mark when Anthony Halley picked up a loose ball in the Wolves’ third of the field and proceeded to slot home the opening goal into the bottom corner of the net. Metro-Ford replied in kind and equalized moments later when newly-signed Milan Francisty set up Andrew Veer at the far post with an immaculate cross. Veer made no mistake with a brilliant finishing touch to tie the score. At this moment, Westside started to take over the reins of the match and was rewarded when Colin Jones scored what proved to be the winner as a result of an ugly goalmouth scramble. Soon thereafter, young Taku Bradshaw capped off a brilliant individual performance as he raced in from his left back position and drove the ball home from a very acute angle for what proved to be the winning goal. With a few minutes remaining in the match, defender Justin Hebner got Metro-Ford back in the match with a tremendous drive from 30 metres. Unfortunately for the Wolves, it was a typical case of “too little, too late” as the home team was able to maintain its narrow margin of victory for the remainder of the game. Westside’s veteran defender James Prescott was at his very best as he guided his very young team to a very important victory. Midfielder Joey Loreth also played extremely well for the home team, while Metro-Ford veteran midfielder Emilio Bottiglieri was a going concern throughout the match, albeit in a losing cause. The 3 points elevate Westside FC to the middle of the Group ‘B’ table, out of the dreaded relegation zone, while the Wolves remained mired in last place with Indo FC.
The third Friday evening game, played at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, saw Sporting Club of Vancouver maintain its perfect record by defeating the Norvan Eagles by a convincing 3-0 margin. After an evenly played 40 minutes, Sporting Club took the lead late in the first half when a Mark Gomes corner kick was inadvertently deflected into the net by an Eagles defender. The Portuguese team took full advantage of the situation and added a second goal before the halftime whistle when Ryan Dormer blasted the ball into the net from outside the penalty area for his 7th goal of the season. In the second half, Sporting Club totally dominated proceedings from start to finish and added to its lead when Mike Gomes’ excellent pass found a streaking John Blair who, after beating a couple of Norvan defenders, slotted the ball home. It should be mentioned that Blair was a going concern throughout the match as he drove his opponents to distraction with his speed and skill. Newcomers Justin Isidro and Jag Gill, along with veteran Brian Gebbie, shone in the Sporting Club’s midfield throughout the match and were the main reason for their team’s excellent victory. Sporting Club thus improves its record to 9-0-0 while the Eagles remain in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack with a 4-0-4 record.
On Saturday, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the Vancouver Firefighters took on the Sapperton Rovers in a Group ‘A’ match. After a very entertaining 90 minutes of non-stop action the two teams had to settle for a 2-2 tie, a score that most spectators would consider a fair result. Very early in the match, the Rovers took the lead when Colin Phillips sent Jeff Rogers in all alone on a breakaway. Rogers waltzed by at least 3 Firemen defenders before calmly slotting the ball past goalkeeper Mike Franks. The Firefighters replied with a vengeance and tied things up a few minutes later as Trevor Rosencrans sent a great cross into the box to an unmarked Aaron Keay who promptly converted it into the equalizer. The rest of the first half was very evenly played with both teams taking turns attacking in search of the all-important go-ahead goal. Sapperton’s substitutes, Ted Ullrich and Fabio Confeiteiro, made their coach—Mike Favaro—look like a genius as they combined to give their team the lead early in the second half. Confeiteiro’s cross was headed towards goal by Ullrich only to have goalkeeper Mike Franks fist the ball onto the path of newly-signed veteran Brian Gibson. Without a moment’s hesitation, Gibson deposited the ball into the back of the net for Sapperton’s second goal. The Firemen then surged forward in search of the equalizer but some strong midfield play on the part of Jeff Rogers and playing-coach Mike Favaro, as well as some excellent defending by Mike Arazewski, kept them off the scoresheet until the dying moments of the match when Aaron Keay was fouled inside the Sapperton box by Robert Sing. On the ensuing penalty kick, Keay made no mistake by sending goalkeeper Corey Breure the wrong way and calmly scoring the well-deserved equalizer. Veterans Jeff Skinner and Steve McAuley were outstanding on the Firefighters backline, while Sapperton’s forward Brian Gibson made a very successful return to VMSL action after several years’ absence.
Also on Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, Surrey United bounced back from two consecutive losses by narrowly squeezing by Indo FC by a 1-0 margin. The game was an evenly-played, hard-fought affair with both defences dominating the opposing forwards, thus limiting the number of goalscoring chances. Late in the game, at about the 80th minute mark, Surrey finally broke the deadlock when substitute Rizal Ganief headed a Clayton Dobbin corner towards the Indo FC goal. Former Surrey United goalkeeper, Drew Smiley, made a great save but, ironically, the ball fell at the feet of Surrey’s Graeme Magowan who quickly hammered it into the back of the net from close range. Indo FC rallied back tenaciously in search of the all-important equalizer and came very close on a couple of occasions as Dave Samra and Lavy Mangat came close to scoring. In the dying moments of the match, Indo FC’s Karm Lidder was allegedly fouled inside the box by Surrey’s goalkeeper Paul Shepherd. Much to Indo FC’s chagrin, the referee allowed play to continue and the final score remained 1-0 in Surrey United’s favour. The victory enables Surrey United to remain in third place in the Group ‘B’ table, while Indo FC is still mired in a last place tie—with the Metro-Ford Wolves—in the same group.
On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, ICSF Inter hosted West Van FC in a Group ‘A’ match between last season’s VMSL champions (Inter) and one of this year’s leading contenders (West Van). After a very well-played and exciting match, West Van FC prevailed by a narrow 2-1 margin, a victory that places the former Trollers alone at the top of the Group ‘A’ table. The match was very evenly played, and provided the numerous spectators with 90 minutes of non-stop action and several glorious goalscoring opportunities. West Van veteran Paul Dailly came the closest to opening the scoring in the early going as he saw his blistering shot hit the goalpost. In the meantime, two of the VMSL’s top players, West Van’s veteran defender Nico Berg and Inter’s top goalscorer Kevin Crouch, were engaging in a very interesting battle with Crouch having the edge in the early going and Berg winning the later stages of the battle. After a scoreless—but very eventful—first half, West Van opened the scoring early in the second half when young substitute, Alan McIndoe, converted an excellent pass by Jesse Fetterley into the game’s opening goal. Ironically, the goal was scored on McIndoe’s first touch of the ball! Midway through the second half, West Van added to its lead when Ryan Glanville’s relentless work rate freed up Austin Lowrie whose shot bounced off the goalpost and into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. ICSF came roaring back and was eventually rewarded late in the game when Mike Tempesta narrowed the margin with only a handful of minutes remaining in the match. The victory elevates West Van to sole possession of first place in the Group ‘A’ table, while Inter’s loss leaves the Italians in the middle of the pack in the same group.
On Monday, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, Sporting Club of Vancouver remained undefeated by edging the defending Province Cup champions—Columbus-Clan FC—by a 2-1 margin. Once again, the numerous fans were treated to an action-packed match between two very skilled and competitive teams. After Columbus had exerted some early pressure, a long punt by Sporting goalkeeper Brian Brum bounced over the heads of the Columbus defenders and onto the path of a streaking Meysam Soltani. Without hesitation, Soltani lobbed the ball over the outstretched fingers of goalkeeper Luca Dalla Pace for the game’s opening goal. Early in the second half, Sporting Club came close to adding to its lead when Soltani was tripped in the box by goalkeeper Dalla Pace. On the resulting penalty kick, however, Dalla Pace made amends for his blunder by pulling off a brilliant save on a well-taken penalty kick by John Blair. Columbus, perhaps inspired by Dalla Pace’s fine save, came roaring back and was finally rewarded with the equalizer when last season’s “Most Valuable Player”, Joe Scigliano beat three Sporting defenders before sending Tiernan King in on a goal with an immaculate pass. King made no mistake in placing the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer. Late in the game, however, Sporting Club clinched the victory when a Ryan Dormer cross found a wide-open Jag Gill who clinically converted it into the winning goal. It should be mentioned that goalkeeper Brian Brum and defender Mike Gomes had outstanding games for Sporting Club, while player-coach Carmine D’Onofrio also played very well on the Columbus backline. As mentioned earlier, the victory solidifies Sporting Club’s hold on first place in the Group ‘B’ table, while Columbus is now in penultimate place, and in the danger zone, in Group ‘A’.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: CROATIA SC for its brilliant performance in defeating the Norvan Eagles by a decisive 5-0 margin. Led by the excellent play of former Whitecaps Johnny Sulentic and Oliver Heald, as well as newcomer Bradley Haga, Croatia SC dominated the entire game and fully deserved the emphatic margin of victory. As a result of the victory, Croatia SC remains solidly in second place in the Group ‘B’ standings, albeit 11 points behind the unbeaten Sporting Club!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sporting Club’s forward MEYSAM SOLTANI for his outstanding performance in his team’s 2-1 victory over the reigning Province Cup champions, Columbus-Clan FC. Soltani scored the opening goal of the game in clinical fashion as he lobbed the ball over the head of goalkeeper Luca Dalla Pace. Shortly thereafter, Soltani was fouled inside the Columbus penalty area after having made a brilliant run, an infraction that resulted in a penalty kick. For his excellent performance, MEYSAN SOLTANI will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-12-06.
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