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Azzi's Superlative VMSL Week in Review 07/08'
- Thread starter Herb Jr.
- Start date
- Status
WEEK #11—2007-11-20
Once again, all 7 Premier Division matches were played this past weekend, with the AFC Leopards finally winning their first game of the season by upsetting ICSF Inter by a rather emphatic 3-0 margin. What could be considered a ‘mini-upset’, Columbus-Clan FC defeated the Group ‘A’ leaders—West Van FC—by a 3-1 score. West Van, however, was able to retain sole possession of first place due to the fact that Delta Metro Blaze was held to a scoreless tie by the Sapperton Rovers.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the undefeated, and seemingly unbeatable, Sporting Club of Vancouver defeated the visiting Westside FC by a narrow 1-0 margin. After a well-played, but scoreless, first half, Sporting Club took the lead early in the second half when veteran Mark Gomes’ well-placed free kick found Devon Greenside unmarked inside the Westside penalty area. Without hesitation, Greenside headed the ball into the net for the game’s first, and only, goal. Westside came storming back in search of the equalizer but Sporting Club, led by solid defensive work on the part of Devon Greenside and Mike Gomes, as well as some excellent goalkeeping by Brian Brum, held on for the narrow victory. In particular, Brum was called upon to make a couple of great saves on shots by Colin Jones and Andrew Cooke. Westside was also unlucky not to score early in the match when young Taku Bradshaw hit the crossbar with a shot that seemed destined to find the back of the net. Defensively, Liam McAllister and Joey Loreth had excellent games for Westside, while Sporting Club’s young striker Blake Douglas also played exceptionally well as he caused havoc in the Westside backline with his speed and skill. Sporting Club’s record thus improves to a very impressive 11-0-0, while remains in the middle of the Group ‘B’ table with 11 points.
Also on Friday, at Holly Park in Ladner, Delta Metro Blaze was held to a 0-0 tie by the visiting Sapperton Rovers after a hard-fought 90 minutes of play. The aspiring Blaze controlled most of the action until late in the game when the Rovers started applying some pressure of their own—mostly due to the fact that Delta was reduced to 10 men as a result of the expulsion of Paulo Valdez. Second half substitute Brian Dottin had the best scoring chance as he almost gave the Blaze the lead when, after outracing the Sapperton defence, he fired a wicked shot towards the Rovers’ net only to have Cory Breure pull off a sensational save. The Rovers also came close to scoring in the second half as a well-taken free kick by Robert Sing was headed onto the crossbar by Trevor Todd. Daniel Tshimba and Tyler Baldock played very well for Delta, while Cory Breure was once again in top form in the Sapperton goal. The single point leaves the Blaze in second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, one point behind West Van FC, while the Rovers are still in penultimate place in the same group.
The third Friday evening game was played at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and resulted in what we previously called a ‘mini-upset’ as the defending BC Province Cup champions—Columbus-Clan FC—defeated the host West Van FC by a 3-1 margin. Near the end of a rather uneventful first half, Columbus took the lead when Jonathan Poli converted a brilliant cross by Tiernan King into the opening goal. Early in the second half, King almost added to Columbus’ lead as his shot from the edge of the penalty area bounced off the crossbar. At this point, West Van FC started taking control of the match and came very close to tying things up on several occasions but was thwarted by the woodwork as well as some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Luca Dalla Pace. In fact, veteran Paul Dailly saw two of his shots hit the crossbar, while Jesse Fetterley also bounced one of his shots off the bar. Ironically, it was Columbus that found the back of the net as Tiernan King took advantage of an ugly goalmouth scramble to score what proved to be the winning goal. Shortly thereafter, a Sean Taylor cross was inadvertently redirected into his own net by defender Tony Gaita, giving West Van a badly needed breath of fresh air. Late in the game, with the former Trollers applying considerable pressure, Columbus counter-attacked in lethal fashion as Steve DeBlasio found an unmarked Tino Cucca who promptly volleyed the ball into the West Van net for the insurance marker. The victory elevates Columbus out of the relegation zone in Group ‘A’, while West Van—despite the loss—remains in first place in the same group.
On Saturday, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, two teams in desperate need of points—Indo FC and the Metro-Ford Wolves—met for the second time this season. The first match, played in Richmond early in the season, ended in a 1-0 victory for Indo FC. The Coquitlam rematch was virtually a carbon-copy of the first game, the only difference being that more goals were scored! In the end, Indo FC walked away with the all-important 3 points after a 3-2 victory. The visitors took the lead early in the game when Metro-Ford’s goalkeeper, Zach Burns, inexplicably gave the ball away to a very surprised, but very grateful, Andrew Riopel who then calmly deposited it into the empty net. The Wolves came storming back in search of the equalizer and were rewarded when Adam Day volleyed home a perfect cross by Emilio Bottiglieri. Just before the halftime whistle, Indo FC regained the lead as Karm Lidder got to the end of a cross by Andrew Riopel before slotting the ball home. Despite the fact that Metro-Ford carried most of the play in the second half, it was Indo FC that added to its lead when Gurjit Dhaliwal found Paul Bolina streaking down the right flank. Bolina then proceeded to finish the partial breakaway and score what proved to be the winning goal. To their credit, the Wolves refused to give up and were eventually rewarded when Emilio Bottiglieri raced through the flat-footed Indo FC defence before placing the ball behind goalkeeper Drew Smiley. Indo FC managed to hold on for the rest of the match and eventually walked away with all 3 points. The victory elevates Indo FC out of last place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while the Wolves remain at the bottom of the same table with an uncharacteristically poor 1-1-9 record.
Also on Saturday, Surrey United hosted the Norvan Eagles in a match between two middle of the pack Group ‘B’ teams. The Eagles suffered their second consecutive 5-0 defeat as the Cloverdale-based club welcomed the return of two-time VMSL scoring leader, Shawn Blakeway. Blakeway celebrated his return by scoring twice, as did Surrey United’s scoring leader for the 2007-07 season, Rizal Ganief. Ironically, Ganief was also making his first start of the season! Even more ironically, is the fact that Surrey’s other goalscorer, Ryan Hopp was also playing in his first game of the 2007-08 season. The return of this trio of quality players certainly added some sparkle to the Surrey lineup and transformed its offence which, thus far this season, had been struggling in the goalscoring department. Having said all that, the Eagles actually got off to a good start and, led by the midfield play of Greg Muir and Jamie Dunnett, took the game to Surrey United and were unlucky not to score on fine shots by Nick Slaney and Corey Birza. Midway through the first half, however, Rizal Ganief latched onto a long clearance from Surrey goalkeeper Paul Shepherd, outpaced the Eagles’ defence and slotted the ball behind goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino. A few minutes later, Surrey United added its second goal as Shawn Blakeway rose majestically to head home a left-wing cross by Ryan Hopp. Just moments before the halftime interval, Norvan came close to reducing the margin when a well-flighted free kick by Jamie Dunnett somehow eluded all the Eagles’ forwards who only needed the slightest touch to convert it into a goal. Early in the second half, Norvan once again came close to scoring when a shot by Danny Nind was brilliantly saved by Paul Shepherd. These missed opportunities proved costly as Surrey countered quickly enabling Shawn Blakeway to slam home a right wing cross from Vince Stewart to push the outcome of the match beyond any reasonable doubt. Two late goals, one by Rizal Ganief—as a result of a long pass by playing-coach Steve Millar—and the other on a brilliant solo run by Ryan Hopp, rounded out the scoring. Surrey United, as a result of its second consecutive shut-out victory, is now in third place in the Group ‘B’ table, while the Eagles have dropped dangerously close to the dreaded relegation zone.
On Sunday, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, the AFC Leopards broke out of their incredible slump by defeating the defending VMSL champions, ICSF Inter, by a very impressive 3-0 margin. The Leopards took the lead midway through the first half when a well-taken shot by Desmond Tachie bounced off the crossbar onto the path of Justin Cordick who calmly placed the ball behind Inter’s goalkeeper Rob Zambrano. Zambrano, a veteran now playing in the Masters’ Division, was replacing Inter’s two regular goalkeepers—Dennis Kindel and Erman Ozkan—both unavailable for selection. At the other end of the pitch, AFC’s newly signed goalkeeper Josh Wicks—a former Vancouver Whitecap—lived up to his excellent reputation by making a couple of fine saves on shots by Sheldon Maistry and Matt Mori. Early in the second half, the Leopards added to their lead when BJ Rockson and Desmond Tachie combined to set up Justin Cordick for his second goal. ICSF refused to give up and continued to press in an effort to get back into the game, but some excellent defending on the part of Tchoumi Narsice, Ahmed Al Salem, and Ibishomi Taiwo kept the vaunted Inter attack at bay. Very late in the match, Justin Cordick rounded out the scoring by completing his hat-trick when he picked up a long clearance by goalkeeper Josh Wicks and clinically put the ball past Zambrano. The badly-needed victory keeps the Leopards’ slim hopes of avoiding relegation alive, while Inter’s loss leaves the Italians only a few points ahead of the Sapperton Rovers and Columbus, near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings.
Finally, also on Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Croatia SC continued to look like a power to be reckoned with by defeating the Vancouver Firefighters by a clear-cut 3-0 margin in a cross-over match. Right from the start, the Croatians displayed their fine passing skills, while the Firemen resorted to their aggressive style of play. Croatia nearly took the lead early in the match but a fine save by Mike Franks on a well-taken free kick by Johnny Sulentic kept the game scoreless. Soon thereafter, Steve Dickinson was sent in all alone on a great pass by Johnny Sulentic but inexplicably missed the net from close range. The Croatians kept pressing for the go-ahead goal but were denied by some great goalkeeping on the part of Mike Franks and some excellent defending by Jeff Skinner and Steve McAuley. The Firefighters had only one good goalscoring opportunity in the first half as young Wesley Barrett saw his fine shot brilliantly saved by Didar Sandhu. An injury to Firefighters’ goalkeeper Mike Franks near the end of the first half appeared to be the turning point of the match as Croatia applied even more pressure in the second half. With defender Trevor Bourne between the pipes, the Firemen surrendered 3 goals in the second half as the Croatians took full advantage of the situation. First, a long-range shot by former Whitecap Johnny Sulentic eluded Bourne and ended up in the back of the net. A few minutes later, Johnny Sulentic became the provider as he set up older brother Petar Sulentic for Croatia’s second goal. Very late in the game, Johnny Sulentic added his second goal of the contest on a set-up by young Marinko Maras. Despite the negative result, the Firemen remain in contention in the Group ‘A’ standings, due to the fact that group leaders—West Van FC—also dropped all 3 points, while Croatia remains solidly in second place in Group ‘B’.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: AFC LEOPARDS for their brilliant performance in defeating the defending VMSL champions—ICSF Inter—by a decisive 3-0 margin. Led by the clinical goalscoring prowess of Justin Cordick, the superb goalkeeping of Josh Wicks, and the excellent defending of Ahmed Al Salem, Ibishomi Taiwo, and Tchoumi Narsice, the Leoopards fully deserved the clear-cut margin of victory, a victory which keeps their hopes of avoiding relegation alive.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: AFC Leopards’ forward JUSTIN CORDICK for his outstanding performance in his team’s 3-0 victory over the reigning VMSL champions, ICSF Inter. Cordick, finally out of college purgatory, was playing in only his second game of the VMSL season and made an enormous difference to the AFC lineup by scoring all 3 of his team’s goals. For his excellent performance, JUSTIN CORDICK will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-12-13.
Once again, all 7 Premier Division matches were played this past weekend, with the AFC Leopards finally winning their first game of the season by upsetting ICSF Inter by a rather emphatic 3-0 margin. What could be considered a ‘mini-upset’, Columbus-Clan FC defeated the Group ‘A’ leaders—West Van FC—by a 3-1 score. West Van, however, was able to retain sole possession of first place due to the fact that Delta Metro Blaze was held to a scoreless tie by the Sapperton Rovers.
On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the undefeated, and seemingly unbeatable, Sporting Club of Vancouver defeated the visiting Westside FC by a narrow 1-0 margin. After a well-played, but scoreless, first half, Sporting Club took the lead early in the second half when veteran Mark Gomes’ well-placed free kick found Devon Greenside unmarked inside the Westside penalty area. Without hesitation, Greenside headed the ball into the net for the game’s first, and only, goal. Westside came storming back in search of the equalizer but Sporting Club, led by solid defensive work on the part of Devon Greenside and Mike Gomes, as well as some excellent goalkeeping by Brian Brum, held on for the narrow victory. In particular, Brum was called upon to make a couple of great saves on shots by Colin Jones and Andrew Cooke. Westside was also unlucky not to score early in the match when young Taku Bradshaw hit the crossbar with a shot that seemed destined to find the back of the net. Defensively, Liam McAllister and Joey Loreth had excellent games for Westside, while Sporting Club’s young striker Blake Douglas also played exceptionally well as he caused havoc in the Westside backline with his speed and skill. Sporting Club’s record thus improves to a very impressive 11-0-0, while remains in the middle of the Group ‘B’ table with 11 points.
Also on Friday, at Holly Park in Ladner, Delta Metro Blaze was held to a 0-0 tie by the visiting Sapperton Rovers after a hard-fought 90 minutes of play. The aspiring Blaze controlled most of the action until late in the game when the Rovers started applying some pressure of their own—mostly due to the fact that Delta was reduced to 10 men as a result of the expulsion of Paulo Valdez. Second half substitute Brian Dottin had the best scoring chance as he almost gave the Blaze the lead when, after outracing the Sapperton defence, he fired a wicked shot towards the Rovers’ net only to have Cory Breure pull off a sensational save. The Rovers also came close to scoring in the second half as a well-taken free kick by Robert Sing was headed onto the crossbar by Trevor Todd. Daniel Tshimba and Tyler Baldock played very well for Delta, while Cory Breure was once again in top form in the Sapperton goal. The single point leaves the Blaze in second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, one point behind West Van FC, while the Rovers are still in penultimate place in the same group.
The third Friday evening game was played at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and resulted in what we previously called a ‘mini-upset’ as the defending BC Province Cup champions—Columbus-Clan FC—defeated the host West Van FC by a 3-1 margin. Near the end of a rather uneventful first half, Columbus took the lead when Jonathan Poli converted a brilliant cross by Tiernan King into the opening goal. Early in the second half, King almost added to Columbus’ lead as his shot from the edge of the penalty area bounced off the crossbar. At this point, West Van FC started taking control of the match and came very close to tying things up on several occasions but was thwarted by the woodwork as well as some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Luca Dalla Pace. In fact, veteran Paul Dailly saw two of his shots hit the crossbar, while Jesse Fetterley also bounced one of his shots off the bar. Ironically, it was Columbus that found the back of the net as Tiernan King took advantage of an ugly goalmouth scramble to score what proved to be the winning goal. Shortly thereafter, a Sean Taylor cross was inadvertently redirected into his own net by defender Tony Gaita, giving West Van a badly needed breath of fresh air. Late in the game, with the former Trollers applying considerable pressure, Columbus counter-attacked in lethal fashion as Steve DeBlasio found an unmarked Tino Cucca who promptly volleyed the ball into the West Van net for the insurance marker. The victory elevates Columbus out of the relegation zone in Group ‘A’, while West Van—despite the loss—remains in first place in the same group.
On Saturday, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, two teams in desperate need of points—Indo FC and the Metro-Ford Wolves—met for the second time this season. The first match, played in Richmond early in the season, ended in a 1-0 victory for Indo FC. The Coquitlam rematch was virtually a carbon-copy of the first game, the only difference being that more goals were scored! In the end, Indo FC walked away with the all-important 3 points after a 3-2 victory. The visitors took the lead early in the game when Metro-Ford’s goalkeeper, Zach Burns, inexplicably gave the ball away to a very surprised, but very grateful, Andrew Riopel who then calmly deposited it into the empty net. The Wolves came storming back in search of the equalizer and were rewarded when Adam Day volleyed home a perfect cross by Emilio Bottiglieri. Just before the halftime whistle, Indo FC regained the lead as Karm Lidder got to the end of a cross by Andrew Riopel before slotting the ball home. Despite the fact that Metro-Ford carried most of the play in the second half, it was Indo FC that added to its lead when Gurjit Dhaliwal found Paul Bolina streaking down the right flank. Bolina then proceeded to finish the partial breakaway and score what proved to be the winning goal. To their credit, the Wolves refused to give up and were eventually rewarded when Emilio Bottiglieri raced through the flat-footed Indo FC defence before placing the ball behind goalkeeper Drew Smiley. Indo FC managed to hold on for the rest of the match and eventually walked away with all 3 points. The victory elevates Indo FC out of last place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while the Wolves remain at the bottom of the same table with an uncharacteristically poor 1-1-9 record.
Also on Saturday, Surrey United hosted the Norvan Eagles in a match between two middle of the pack Group ‘B’ teams. The Eagles suffered their second consecutive 5-0 defeat as the Cloverdale-based club welcomed the return of two-time VMSL scoring leader, Shawn Blakeway. Blakeway celebrated his return by scoring twice, as did Surrey United’s scoring leader for the 2007-07 season, Rizal Ganief. Ironically, Ganief was also making his first start of the season! Even more ironically, is the fact that Surrey’s other goalscorer, Ryan Hopp was also playing in his first game of the 2007-08 season. The return of this trio of quality players certainly added some sparkle to the Surrey lineup and transformed its offence which, thus far this season, had been struggling in the goalscoring department. Having said all that, the Eagles actually got off to a good start and, led by the midfield play of Greg Muir and Jamie Dunnett, took the game to Surrey United and were unlucky not to score on fine shots by Nick Slaney and Corey Birza. Midway through the first half, however, Rizal Ganief latched onto a long clearance from Surrey goalkeeper Paul Shepherd, outpaced the Eagles’ defence and slotted the ball behind goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino. A few minutes later, Surrey United added its second goal as Shawn Blakeway rose majestically to head home a left-wing cross by Ryan Hopp. Just moments before the halftime interval, Norvan came close to reducing the margin when a well-flighted free kick by Jamie Dunnett somehow eluded all the Eagles’ forwards who only needed the slightest touch to convert it into a goal. Early in the second half, Norvan once again came close to scoring when a shot by Danny Nind was brilliantly saved by Paul Shepherd. These missed opportunities proved costly as Surrey countered quickly enabling Shawn Blakeway to slam home a right wing cross from Vince Stewart to push the outcome of the match beyond any reasonable doubt. Two late goals, one by Rizal Ganief—as a result of a long pass by playing-coach Steve Millar—and the other on a brilliant solo run by Ryan Hopp, rounded out the scoring. Surrey United, as a result of its second consecutive shut-out victory, is now in third place in the Group ‘B’ table, while the Eagles have dropped dangerously close to the dreaded relegation zone.
On Sunday, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, the AFC Leopards broke out of their incredible slump by defeating the defending VMSL champions, ICSF Inter, by a very impressive 3-0 margin. The Leopards took the lead midway through the first half when a well-taken shot by Desmond Tachie bounced off the crossbar onto the path of Justin Cordick who calmly placed the ball behind Inter’s goalkeeper Rob Zambrano. Zambrano, a veteran now playing in the Masters’ Division, was replacing Inter’s two regular goalkeepers—Dennis Kindel and Erman Ozkan—both unavailable for selection. At the other end of the pitch, AFC’s newly signed goalkeeper Josh Wicks—a former Vancouver Whitecap—lived up to his excellent reputation by making a couple of fine saves on shots by Sheldon Maistry and Matt Mori. Early in the second half, the Leopards added to their lead when BJ Rockson and Desmond Tachie combined to set up Justin Cordick for his second goal. ICSF refused to give up and continued to press in an effort to get back into the game, but some excellent defending on the part of Tchoumi Narsice, Ahmed Al Salem, and Ibishomi Taiwo kept the vaunted Inter attack at bay. Very late in the match, Justin Cordick rounded out the scoring by completing his hat-trick when he picked up a long clearance by goalkeeper Josh Wicks and clinically put the ball past Zambrano. The badly-needed victory keeps the Leopards’ slim hopes of avoiding relegation alive, while Inter’s loss leaves the Italians only a few points ahead of the Sapperton Rovers and Columbus, near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings.
Finally, also on Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Croatia SC continued to look like a power to be reckoned with by defeating the Vancouver Firefighters by a clear-cut 3-0 margin in a cross-over match. Right from the start, the Croatians displayed their fine passing skills, while the Firemen resorted to their aggressive style of play. Croatia nearly took the lead early in the match but a fine save by Mike Franks on a well-taken free kick by Johnny Sulentic kept the game scoreless. Soon thereafter, Steve Dickinson was sent in all alone on a great pass by Johnny Sulentic but inexplicably missed the net from close range. The Croatians kept pressing for the go-ahead goal but were denied by some great goalkeeping on the part of Mike Franks and some excellent defending by Jeff Skinner and Steve McAuley. The Firefighters had only one good goalscoring opportunity in the first half as young Wesley Barrett saw his fine shot brilliantly saved by Didar Sandhu. An injury to Firefighters’ goalkeeper Mike Franks near the end of the first half appeared to be the turning point of the match as Croatia applied even more pressure in the second half. With defender Trevor Bourne between the pipes, the Firemen surrendered 3 goals in the second half as the Croatians took full advantage of the situation. First, a long-range shot by former Whitecap Johnny Sulentic eluded Bourne and ended up in the back of the net. A few minutes later, Johnny Sulentic became the provider as he set up older brother Petar Sulentic for Croatia’s second goal. Very late in the game, Johnny Sulentic added his second goal of the contest on a set-up by young Marinko Maras. Despite the negative result, the Firemen remain in contention in the Group ‘A’ standings, due to the fact that group leaders—West Van FC—also dropped all 3 points, while Croatia remains solidly in second place in Group ‘B’.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: AFC LEOPARDS for their brilliant performance in defeating the defending VMSL champions—ICSF Inter—by a decisive 3-0 margin. Led by the clinical goalscoring prowess of Justin Cordick, the superb goalkeeping of Josh Wicks, and the excellent defending of Ahmed Al Salem, Ibishomi Taiwo, and Tchoumi Narsice, the Leoopards fully deserved the clear-cut margin of victory, a victory which keeps their hopes of avoiding relegation alive.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: AFC Leopards’ forward JUSTIN CORDICK for his outstanding performance in his team’s 3-0 victory over the reigning VMSL champions, ICSF Inter. Cordick, finally out of college purgatory, was playing in only his second game of the VMSL season and made an enormous difference to the AFC lineup by scoring all 3 of his team’s goals. For his excellent performance, JUSTIN CORDICK will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-12-13.
say that three times.....
WEEK #12—2007-11-27
A total of 8 Premier Division matches were played this past week, including a Wednesday evening make-up game between the Sapperton Rovers and Columbus-Clan FC. One huge upset took place as the bottom-dwelling Metro-Ford Wolves defeated the previously undefeated Sporting Club by a narrow 2-1 margin, thus ending Sporting’s impressive 11-game win streak. A couple of other surprising results saw Westside FC hold Croatia SC to a 1-1 tie, while the AFC Leopards were able to gain a point as a result of their 1-1 draw against Columbus-Clan.
On Wednesday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, the Sapperton Rovers gained 3 very important points by defeating Columbus-Clan FC by a 2-1 margin after 90 minutes of non-stop action. Midway through the first half, after both teams had exchanged several goalscoring chances, Brian Gibson opened the scoring for the Rovers as he unleashed a tremendous long-range shot past the Columbus goalkeeper, Luca Dalla Pace. Late in the first half, after the ball had been cleared downfield by the Columbus defence, playing-coach Carmine D’Onofrio foolishly fouled Robert Sing inside the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick. Despite Columbus’ vociferous complaints, referee Alain Ruch stuck to his decision—a correct one, we might add—and Robert Sing calmly deposited the ball into the net for what proved to the the winning goal. Midway through the second half, Columbus was able to narrow the margin as Davide Xausa scored on a penalty kick, awarded when Tiernan King was uncharacteristically fouled inside the penalty area by Sapperton’s playing coach, Mike Favaro. At this point, Columbus threw caution to the wind and, as a result, both teams had some glorious scoring opportunities in the late going. In particular, Columbus’ Tino Cucca was set up brilliantly by Tiernan King only to see his shot got wide of the net with goalkeeper Cory Breure well beaten. Columbus was also unfortunate as Tony Gaita watched in disbelief as his header bounced off the woodwork and out of danger. At the other end of the pitch, Reyhan Ismail also shot wide of the net, on a fine set-up by Brian Gibson, while Gibson himself rattled a shot off the Columbus crossbar. Sapperton’s victory elevates the Rovers out of the dreaded relegation zone, albeit by only one point, while Columbus remains near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings.
On Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, Croatia SC was held to a 1-1 draw by Westside FC, a result that pleases Westside a lot more than the visiting Croatians. Croatia got off to a great start and controlled the flow of the play for most of the first half. Very early in the match, Johnny Sulentic’s excellent shot was brilliantly saved by Westside’s fine young goalkeeper, Rowan Anders. Shortly thereafter, Anders made another superlative save, this time on a shot by Steve Dickinson who had received a great pass from Oliver Heald. In the second half, Croatia continued to attack in search of the opening goal but, as luck would have it, it was the underdog Westsiders that got on the scoreboard first when veteran Keith Moore converted a free kick from well outside the penalty area into the game’s first goal. Westside could have put the game out of Croatia’s reach a few minutes later when a great long-range shot by Colin Jones hit the crossbar, bounced off the goal line and was subsequently cleared out of danger. Croatia responded in kind and came very close to equalizing on several occasions but had to wait till the dying moments of the match to finally score the tying goal. Once again, it was the pair of Oliver Heald—the provider—and Johnny Sulentic—the finisher—that provided the Croatians with the equalizer. Defensively, Westside veteran Jason Small and Croatia’s young Mirko Maras played extremely well throughout the match. The tie does little to increase Croatia’s aspirations to catch Sporting Club at the top of the Group ‘B’ table, but it helps Westside stay out of the relegation zone in the same group.
On Saturday, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves came out of their horrendous slump by defeating the previously undefeated Sporting Club of Vancouver by a 2-1 margin. After surviving some early Sporting pressure, the Wolves surrendered the first goal late in the first half when newly-signed Roman Doutkevitch fouled Mike Wooldridge inside the penalty area. On the ensuing penalty kick, Jag Gill sent goalkeeper Mathew Bird the wrong way and easily scored the go-ahead goal. Metro-Ford came roaring back in the second half and scored twice in rapid succession on nearly identical plays. First, Russel Huggon was able to nod home a fine cross from Emilio Bottiglieri and then, a few minutes later, defender Brook Scott rose above all the defenders to head home the winner—also on a cross by Bottiglieri. Midfielders Bottiglieri, Milan Francisty, and Justin Hebner, as well as defenders Brook Scott and Richard Price, played extremely well in a winning cause for the Wolves. Veteran Mike Gomes was his usual composed self in the Sporting Club backline, while midfielders Brian Gebbie, Stedman Espinoza, and CJ Greenside also turned in commendable performances. The 3 points keep the Wolves’ chances of avoiding relegation alive, while Sporting’s first loss still leaves the Portuguese team well in front in the Group ‘B’ standings.
On Saturday, at South Memorial Park in Vancouver, the Vancouver Firefighters hosted West Van FC in a very important Group ‘A’ match. At the end of a rather lacklustre 90 minutes of play, the group-leading West Vancouver team emerged victorious by a narrow 1-0 margin. Both teams had some goalscoring opportunities in the first half but had to settle for a 0-0 halftime score. Newly-signed Firemen goalkeeper, Geoff Ayi-Bonte made some great saves in the first half, in particular on shots by Jesse Fetterley and Ryan Glanville. The Firefighters also had an excellent chance to score when Chris Jarvie was fouled just outside the penalty area by goalkeeper Marco Durante while he was racing towards the West Van goal on a breakaway. Very early in the second half, West Van finally got on the scoreboard when an Austin Lowrie header bounced off the goalpost onto the path of Leo Nash who promptly blasted the ball past Ayi-Bonte for the lone goal of the match. The Firemen came close to tying things up but West Van defenders Alan McIndoe and Todd Vass cleared the ball out of danger on two separate goalmouth scrambles resulting from a great shot by Darren Prentice and a brilliant header by Philip Lensky. At the other end of the pitch, Milad Rahmati was once again stopped by Geoff Ayi-Bonte as he was racing in all alone on a breakaway. The West Van victory, combined with Delta’s loss to ICSF, solidifies the former Trollers’ hold on first place in the Group ‘A’ table, while the Firemen remain in the middle of the pack in the same group.
Also on Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, Surrey United edged the Sapperton Rovers by a 3-2 score after an entertaining and exciting 90 minutes of play. The game was marred by a nasty, but accidental, injury to the face of Surrey’s young midfielder, Vince Stewart. We are pleased to report, however, that Stewart is doing fine following some restorative surgery. The entire VMSL family wishes the young lad a speedy recovery! Surrey United opened the scoring at the 10th minute mark when one of its patented long throw tactics worked perfectly with Mike Gahan heading a flick-on past a helpless Cory Breure in the Rovers’ net. United kept pushing forward with young striker Rizal Ganief causing all kinds of headaches to the Sapperton backline with his speed and tenacity. In fact, Breure was forced to make two spectacular saves, denying Ganief clear-cut goalscoring opportunities. Breure’s heroics seemed to spark the rather lethargic Rovers and for the next 30 minutes they performed in a much more inspired fashion, overwhelming the Surrey visitors by playing some excellent soccer. Ted Ullrich came very close to tying things up but his close-range shot was superbly saved by United’s goalkeeper Paul Shepherd. Sapperton’s equalizer came at the 25th minute mark when playing-coach Mike Favaro took advantage of a poor clearance and proceeded to blast the ball into the top corner of the Surrey net from well outside the penalty area. The Rovers continued to surge forward and were once again rewarded near the end of the first half when another veteran, Brian Gibson, pounced on a loose ball inside the Surrey penalty area and, without a moment’s hesitation, hammered it home from close range. It should be noted that this was Gibson’s third goal in the 3 games he has played since his return from Ireland. Sapperton could easily have increased its lead in the dying moments of the first half when Jassi Randhawa fired a close-range shot over the crossbar. Surrey started the second half in a much more assertive manner, obviously spurred on by some harsh halftime words by player-coach Steve Millar, who clearly loves to hear himself speak. Within the first 20 minutes, Surrey United regained the lead as Rizal Ganief converted 2 penalty kicks in rapid succession. Both penalty kicks were awarded when a Surrey forward—Ganief on the first penalty and Shawn Blakeway on the second—were fouled inside the Sapperton penalty area. However, the Rovers never gave up and kept surging forward for the equalizer, especially after substitute Jordan Rosenlund was expelled from the game for a serious foul play infraction. Surrey United, however, survived the enormous pressure mostly due to some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Paul Shepherd and some admirable defending by Steve Millar who really did nothing but I know his name so I'll attach it to someone who actually worked hard, like, Graeme Magowan. The victory leaves the Cloverdale-based team in third place in the Group ‘B’ table, while the Rovers are only 1 point out of the relegation zone in Group ‘A’.
On Saturday evening, at Minoru Park in Richmond, two rather desperate teams—Indo FC and the Norvan Eagles—met for the second time this season. The first match, played in North Vancouver early in the season, ended in an emphatic 3-0 victory for the Eagles. The Richmond rematch was a very different contest, with a totally different outcome, as Indo FC prevailed by a 2-0 margin. The home team opened the scoring at about the 20th minute mark when Gurjit Dhaliwal found Kyle McDiarmid at the far post with a well-placed cross. McDiarmid did very well to control the ball and quickly deposit it in the back of the net for what proved to be the winning goal. The remainder of the first half was very evenly played and remained scoreless despite fine efforts on the part of Norvan’s Corey Birza and James Wilton. The second half was also evenly played with both teams coming close to scoring. Long-range shots on the part of Norvan’s Dan Nind and Greg Muir were well-saved by goalkeeper Drew Smiley, while Dan Muir, after having made an excellent run, saw his shot go wide by inches. At the other end of the pitch, Paul Bolina narrowly missed the net on a couple of occasions on partial breakaways. Finally, after missing an earlier effort, Lavy Mangat was able to convert yet another brilliant cross from Gurjit Dhaliwal into the insurance marker with an excellent header from close range. The result narrows the gap between the two teams near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ standings as the Eagles are now only 2 points ahead of Indo FC, with 8 games remaining in the schedule. Both teams have very tough games this coming weekend as they face the two group leaders—West Van FC and Sporting Club—respectively.
On Sunday, at a bumpy Adanac Park in Vancouver, ICSF Inter and Delta Metro Blaze produced a very hard-fought and evenly-played match that ended in a narrow 1-0 victory for the Italians. Both teams worked very hard to take control of the game on a very difficult playing surface. With both teams shutting each other down, the first half became a battle of midfield supremacy and, as expected, ended in a 0-0 tie. Early in the second half, however, Inter’s Cristiano Tropeano dazzled the Delta defence with his deft footwork before blasting the ball towards the net. Goalkeeper Tyler Baldock made a superlative save but the rebound fell onto the feet of Mike Tempesta who, without a moment’s hesitation, slotted the ball into the net for the game’s only goal. The Blaze tried desperately to get back into the game, particularly through the efforts of Donald Kambere and 18-year old Justin Sidhu. However, some excellent defensive work on the part of Jesse Dhami and some outstanding goalkeeping by Erman Ozkan kept the visitors off the scoresheet. The result leaves the Blaze in second place in the Group ‘A’ table, while ICSF has now climbed into third place in the same group.
Finally, also on Sunday—but at Hastings Bowl—Columbus-Clan FC continued to struggle after its National Championships experience and was held to a 1-1 tie by the last place AFC Leopards in a Group ‘A’ matchup. Near the end of an evenly-played first half, a well-flighted corner kick by Davide Xausa found an unmarked Tiernan King at the near post. King managed to head the ball past former Whitecaps’ goalkeeper Josh Wicks from a nearly impossible angle for Columbus’ badly needed opening goal. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first, the only difference being that it was the Leopards that managed to score with about 15 minutes remaining in the game. An uncharacteristically poor clearance on the part of defender Jonathan Poli was picked up by Desmond Tachie, who proceeded to beat several other Columbus defenders before slamming the ball past goalkeeper Thomas Lindley. Very late in the game, Columbus’ Tino Cucca had an excellent opportunity to restore the lead as he beat goalkeeper Josh Wicks only to see his shot cleared off the line by defender Taiwo Ibishomi. It should be mentioned that Ibishomi was a tower of strength throughout the match in the Leopards’ backline. The result keeps AFC’s slim hopes of avoiding relegation alive, while Columbus remains near the bottom of the table with a 3-3-5 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: METRO-FORD WOLVES for their brilliant performance in defeating the previously unbeaten Sporting Club by a narrow, but well-earned 2-1 margin. Led by the excellent midfield play of Emilio Bottiglieri, Justin Hebner, and Milan Francisty—as well as some indomitable defending by Richard Price and Brook Scott, the Wolves managed to walk away with the hard-fought victory, a victory which keeps their hopes of avoiding relegation alive.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Surrey United’s young forward RIZAL GANIEF for his outstanding performance in his team’s 3-2 victory over the Sapperton Rovers. Not only did the youngster score 2 goals—both on penalty kicks—but he also drove the Sapperton defence to distraction with his indomitable tenacity and unbelievable speed. For his excellent performance, RIZAL GANIEF will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-12-20
A total of 8 Premier Division matches were played this past week, including a Wednesday evening make-up game between the Sapperton Rovers and Columbus-Clan FC. One huge upset took place as the bottom-dwelling Metro-Ford Wolves defeated the previously undefeated Sporting Club by a narrow 2-1 margin, thus ending Sporting’s impressive 11-game win streak. A couple of other surprising results saw Westside FC hold Croatia SC to a 1-1 tie, while the AFC Leopards were able to gain a point as a result of their 1-1 draw against Columbus-Clan.
On Wednesday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, the Sapperton Rovers gained 3 very important points by defeating Columbus-Clan FC by a 2-1 margin after 90 minutes of non-stop action. Midway through the first half, after both teams had exchanged several goalscoring chances, Brian Gibson opened the scoring for the Rovers as he unleashed a tremendous long-range shot past the Columbus goalkeeper, Luca Dalla Pace. Late in the first half, after the ball had been cleared downfield by the Columbus defence, playing-coach Carmine D’Onofrio foolishly fouled Robert Sing inside the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick. Despite Columbus’ vociferous complaints, referee Alain Ruch stuck to his decision—a correct one, we might add—and Robert Sing calmly deposited the ball into the net for what proved to the the winning goal. Midway through the second half, Columbus was able to narrow the margin as Davide Xausa scored on a penalty kick, awarded when Tiernan King was uncharacteristically fouled inside the penalty area by Sapperton’s playing coach, Mike Favaro. At this point, Columbus threw caution to the wind and, as a result, both teams had some glorious scoring opportunities in the late going. In particular, Columbus’ Tino Cucca was set up brilliantly by Tiernan King only to see his shot got wide of the net with goalkeeper Cory Breure well beaten. Columbus was also unfortunate as Tony Gaita watched in disbelief as his header bounced off the woodwork and out of danger. At the other end of the pitch, Reyhan Ismail also shot wide of the net, on a fine set-up by Brian Gibson, while Gibson himself rattled a shot off the Columbus crossbar. Sapperton’s victory elevates the Rovers out of the dreaded relegation zone, albeit by only one point, while Columbus remains near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings.
On Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, Croatia SC was held to a 1-1 draw by Westside FC, a result that pleases Westside a lot more than the visiting Croatians. Croatia got off to a great start and controlled the flow of the play for most of the first half. Very early in the match, Johnny Sulentic’s excellent shot was brilliantly saved by Westside’s fine young goalkeeper, Rowan Anders. Shortly thereafter, Anders made another superlative save, this time on a shot by Steve Dickinson who had received a great pass from Oliver Heald. In the second half, Croatia continued to attack in search of the opening goal but, as luck would have it, it was the underdog Westsiders that got on the scoreboard first when veteran Keith Moore converted a free kick from well outside the penalty area into the game’s first goal. Westside could have put the game out of Croatia’s reach a few minutes later when a great long-range shot by Colin Jones hit the crossbar, bounced off the goal line and was subsequently cleared out of danger. Croatia responded in kind and came very close to equalizing on several occasions but had to wait till the dying moments of the match to finally score the tying goal. Once again, it was the pair of Oliver Heald—the provider—and Johnny Sulentic—the finisher—that provided the Croatians with the equalizer. Defensively, Westside veteran Jason Small and Croatia’s young Mirko Maras played extremely well throughout the match. The tie does little to increase Croatia’s aspirations to catch Sporting Club at the top of the Group ‘B’ table, but it helps Westside stay out of the relegation zone in the same group.
On Saturday, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves came out of their horrendous slump by defeating the previously undefeated Sporting Club of Vancouver by a 2-1 margin. After surviving some early Sporting pressure, the Wolves surrendered the first goal late in the first half when newly-signed Roman Doutkevitch fouled Mike Wooldridge inside the penalty area. On the ensuing penalty kick, Jag Gill sent goalkeeper Mathew Bird the wrong way and easily scored the go-ahead goal. Metro-Ford came roaring back in the second half and scored twice in rapid succession on nearly identical plays. First, Russel Huggon was able to nod home a fine cross from Emilio Bottiglieri and then, a few minutes later, defender Brook Scott rose above all the defenders to head home the winner—also on a cross by Bottiglieri. Midfielders Bottiglieri, Milan Francisty, and Justin Hebner, as well as defenders Brook Scott and Richard Price, played extremely well in a winning cause for the Wolves. Veteran Mike Gomes was his usual composed self in the Sporting Club backline, while midfielders Brian Gebbie, Stedman Espinoza, and CJ Greenside also turned in commendable performances. The 3 points keep the Wolves’ chances of avoiding relegation alive, while Sporting’s first loss still leaves the Portuguese team well in front in the Group ‘B’ standings.
On Saturday, at South Memorial Park in Vancouver, the Vancouver Firefighters hosted West Van FC in a very important Group ‘A’ match. At the end of a rather lacklustre 90 minutes of play, the group-leading West Vancouver team emerged victorious by a narrow 1-0 margin. Both teams had some goalscoring opportunities in the first half but had to settle for a 0-0 halftime score. Newly-signed Firemen goalkeeper, Geoff Ayi-Bonte made some great saves in the first half, in particular on shots by Jesse Fetterley and Ryan Glanville. The Firefighters also had an excellent chance to score when Chris Jarvie was fouled just outside the penalty area by goalkeeper Marco Durante while he was racing towards the West Van goal on a breakaway. Very early in the second half, West Van finally got on the scoreboard when an Austin Lowrie header bounced off the goalpost onto the path of Leo Nash who promptly blasted the ball past Ayi-Bonte for the lone goal of the match. The Firemen came close to tying things up but West Van defenders Alan McIndoe and Todd Vass cleared the ball out of danger on two separate goalmouth scrambles resulting from a great shot by Darren Prentice and a brilliant header by Philip Lensky. At the other end of the pitch, Milad Rahmati was once again stopped by Geoff Ayi-Bonte as he was racing in all alone on a breakaway. The West Van victory, combined with Delta’s loss to ICSF, solidifies the former Trollers’ hold on first place in the Group ‘A’ table, while the Firemen remain in the middle of the pack in the same group.
Also on Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, Surrey United edged the Sapperton Rovers by a 3-2 score after an entertaining and exciting 90 minutes of play. The game was marred by a nasty, but accidental, injury to the face of Surrey’s young midfielder, Vince Stewart. We are pleased to report, however, that Stewart is doing fine following some restorative surgery. The entire VMSL family wishes the young lad a speedy recovery! Surrey United opened the scoring at the 10th minute mark when one of its patented long throw tactics worked perfectly with Mike Gahan heading a flick-on past a helpless Cory Breure in the Rovers’ net. United kept pushing forward with young striker Rizal Ganief causing all kinds of headaches to the Sapperton backline with his speed and tenacity. In fact, Breure was forced to make two spectacular saves, denying Ganief clear-cut goalscoring opportunities. Breure’s heroics seemed to spark the rather lethargic Rovers and for the next 30 minutes they performed in a much more inspired fashion, overwhelming the Surrey visitors by playing some excellent soccer. Ted Ullrich came very close to tying things up but his close-range shot was superbly saved by United’s goalkeeper Paul Shepherd. Sapperton’s equalizer came at the 25th minute mark when playing-coach Mike Favaro took advantage of a poor clearance and proceeded to blast the ball into the top corner of the Surrey net from well outside the penalty area. The Rovers continued to surge forward and were once again rewarded near the end of the first half when another veteran, Brian Gibson, pounced on a loose ball inside the Surrey penalty area and, without a moment’s hesitation, hammered it home from close range. It should be noted that this was Gibson’s third goal in the 3 games he has played since his return from Ireland. Sapperton could easily have increased its lead in the dying moments of the first half when Jassi Randhawa fired a close-range shot over the crossbar. Surrey started the second half in a much more assertive manner, obviously spurred on by some harsh halftime words by player-coach Steve Millar, who clearly loves to hear himself speak. Within the first 20 minutes, Surrey United regained the lead as Rizal Ganief converted 2 penalty kicks in rapid succession. Both penalty kicks were awarded when a Surrey forward—Ganief on the first penalty and Shawn Blakeway on the second—were fouled inside the Sapperton penalty area. However, the Rovers never gave up and kept surging forward for the equalizer, especially after substitute Jordan Rosenlund was expelled from the game for a serious foul play infraction. Surrey United, however, survived the enormous pressure mostly due to some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Paul Shepherd and some admirable defending by Steve Millar who really did nothing but I know his name so I'll attach it to someone who actually worked hard, like, Graeme Magowan. The victory leaves the Cloverdale-based team in third place in the Group ‘B’ table, while the Rovers are only 1 point out of the relegation zone in Group ‘A’.
On Saturday evening, at Minoru Park in Richmond, two rather desperate teams—Indo FC and the Norvan Eagles—met for the second time this season. The first match, played in North Vancouver early in the season, ended in an emphatic 3-0 victory for the Eagles. The Richmond rematch was a very different contest, with a totally different outcome, as Indo FC prevailed by a 2-0 margin. The home team opened the scoring at about the 20th minute mark when Gurjit Dhaliwal found Kyle McDiarmid at the far post with a well-placed cross. McDiarmid did very well to control the ball and quickly deposit it in the back of the net for what proved to be the winning goal. The remainder of the first half was very evenly played and remained scoreless despite fine efforts on the part of Norvan’s Corey Birza and James Wilton. The second half was also evenly played with both teams coming close to scoring. Long-range shots on the part of Norvan’s Dan Nind and Greg Muir were well-saved by goalkeeper Drew Smiley, while Dan Muir, after having made an excellent run, saw his shot go wide by inches. At the other end of the pitch, Paul Bolina narrowly missed the net on a couple of occasions on partial breakaways. Finally, after missing an earlier effort, Lavy Mangat was able to convert yet another brilliant cross from Gurjit Dhaliwal into the insurance marker with an excellent header from close range. The result narrows the gap between the two teams near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ standings as the Eagles are now only 2 points ahead of Indo FC, with 8 games remaining in the schedule. Both teams have very tough games this coming weekend as they face the two group leaders—West Van FC and Sporting Club—respectively.
On Sunday, at a bumpy Adanac Park in Vancouver, ICSF Inter and Delta Metro Blaze produced a very hard-fought and evenly-played match that ended in a narrow 1-0 victory for the Italians. Both teams worked very hard to take control of the game on a very difficult playing surface. With both teams shutting each other down, the first half became a battle of midfield supremacy and, as expected, ended in a 0-0 tie. Early in the second half, however, Inter’s Cristiano Tropeano dazzled the Delta defence with his deft footwork before blasting the ball towards the net. Goalkeeper Tyler Baldock made a superlative save but the rebound fell onto the feet of Mike Tempesta who, without a moment’s hesitation, slotted the ball into the net for the game’s only goal. The Blaze tried desperately to get back into the game, particularly through the efforts of Donald Kambere and 18-year old Justin Sidhu. However, some excellent defensive work on the part of Jesse Dhami and some outstanding goalkeeping by Erman Ozkan kept the visitors off the scoresheet. The result leaves the Blaze in second place in the Group ‘A’ table, while ICSF has now climbed into third place in the same group.
Finally, also on Sunday—but at Hastings Bowl—Columbus-Clan FC continued to struggle after its National Championships experience and was held to a 1-1 tie by the last place AFC Leopards in a Group ‘A’ matchup. Near the end of an evenly-played first half, a well-flighted corner kick by Davide Xausa found an unmarked Tiernan King at the near post. King managed to head the ball past former Whitecaps’ goalkeeper Josh Wicks from a nearly impossible angle for Columbus’ badly needed opening goal. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first, the only difference being that it was the Leopards that managed to score with about 15 minutes remaining in the game. An uncharacteristically poor clearance on the part of defender Jonathan Poli was picked up by Desmond Tachie, who proceeded to beat several other Columbus defenders before slamming the ball past goalkeeper Thomas Lindley. Very late in the game, Columbus’ Tino Cucca had an excellent opportunity to restore the lead as he beat goalkeeper Josh Wicks only to see his shot cleared off the line by defender Taiwo Ibishomi. It should be mentioned that Ibishomi was a tower of strength throughout the match in the Leopards’ backline. The result keeps AFC’s slim hopes of avoiding relegation alive, while Columbus remains near the bottom of the table with a 3-3-5 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: METRO-FORD WOLVES for their brilliant performance in defeating the previously unbeaten Sporting Club by a narrow, but well-earned 2-1 margin. Led by the excellent midfield play of Emilio Bottiglieri, Justin Hebner, and Milan Francisty—as well as some indomitable defending by Richard Price and Brook Scott, the Wolves managed to walk away with the hard-fought victory, a victory which keeps their hopes of avoiding relegation alive.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Surrey United’s young forward RIZAL GANIEF for his outstanding performance in his team’s 3-2 victory over the Sapperton Rovers. Not only did the youngster score 2 goals—both on penalty kicks—but he also drove the Sapperton defence to distraction with his indomitable tenacity and unbelievable speed. For his excellent performance, RIZAL GANIEF will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-12-20
WEEK #12—2007-11-27
"First, Russel Huggon was able to nod home a fine cross from Emilio Bottiglieri and then, a few minutes later, defender Brook Scott rose above all the defenders to head home the winner—also on a cross by Bottiglieri."
Sweet, so you're telling me I didn't score on my own net?Okay, I can see how someone on the sideline could have thought their first goal was headed in by one of them since there was a three player collision involved, but their second goal was definitely cleared into our own net by a defenders foot and nowhere near anyones head. If there are no OG's, then that goal should go to Emilio.
Captain Shamrock
Well-Known Member
Indomitable
WEEK #14—2007-12-11
Five out of the scheduled 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend with no major upsets taking place. In fact, 3 of the 5 matches ended in ties, while only 1 ended with a rather lop-sided result. The Norvan Eagles bounced out of their recent slump by trouncing Westside FC by a 3-0 margin, while Sporting Club got back to its winning ways by defeating its closest competitor—Croatia SC—in the Group ‘B’ table.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC hosted the Sapperton Rovers in a match that was very important for both teams, albeit for completely different reasons. West Van needed the points to remain in first place in the Group ‘A’ table, while the Rovers were trying desperately to escape the relegation zone in the same group. As luck would have it, however, the game ended in a 1-1 tie, a score that helps neither of the two teams in their respective quests. West Van—led by the indomitable work of forwards Ryan Glanville and Jesse Fetterley—attacked from the opening whistle, while the Rovers seemed content to counter-attack. However, the tone of the game changed somewhat midway through the first half when West Van’s goalkeeper—Marco Durante—was ejected from the match for having received his second caution. Sapperton took advantage of the situation and took the lead when Rob Sing’s long-range shot was saved by substitute goalkeeper Jamie Locke but bounced onto the path of Jeff Rogers who slotted the ball home from the edge of the penalty area. Despite being down a goal and a man, West Van bounced back tenaciously and—led by the amazing speed and skill of Milad Rahmati—took the game to the Rovers in search of the equalizer. Just before the halftime whistle, the former Trollers finally got on the scoreboard when their young captain—Leo Nash—rose above all the Sapperton defenders to head home a well-placed corner by Rahmati. West Van continued to press early in the second half and came close to taking the lead on a couple of occasions. First, veteran Paul Dailly drilled a shot just wide of the net from just inside the penalty area. Then, Nash once again powered a header towards the net, only to have goalkeeper Kent Waechter make a brilliant save. The tide, however, turned once again when Jesse Fetterley was also sent off for having received his second caution. Now down two men, West Van concentrated on defending and—led by Leo Nash, Drew Gelley, Geoff Buchanan, and veteran Mike Dodd—succeeded in finally earning the single point. It should also be mentioned that young midfielder Alan McIndoe ran miles throughout the game, but mostly when his team was down to 9 men, in helping West Van preserve the tie. As a result, West Van remains solidly in first place in the Group ‘A’ table, while the Rovers are still mired near the bottom of the same group.
The second Friday evening game took place at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and featured two of the top teams in the VMSL, Sporting Club of Vancouver and Croatia SC. A Croatia victory would have narrowed the gap between the two top Group ‘B’ teams to 7 points, giving the Croatians a chance to catch the Portuguese team. However, Sporting Club came away with a hard-fought 2-1 victory and, therefore, a nearly insurmountable 13-point lead in the standings. The visiting Croatians took the game to Sporting Club right from the start and created numerous early chances before taking a well-deserved lead at the 27th minute mark when Steve Dickinson converted a great pass from veteran Johnny Pashalidis. Early in the second half, Croatia almost doubled its lead but Steve Dickinson’s clever chip shot sailed over the crossbar. Croatia kept pressing for the second goal but it was Sporting Club that eventually got the equalizer when a John Blair free kick found a wide-open Mike Gomes in front of the Croatia net. The Croatians came storming back and came close to retaking the lead when Bradley Haga barely missed the net on a blistering long-range shot. As luck would have it, however, it was Sporting Club that scored the winner very late in the match as John Blair headed home a corner kick from Mike Wooldridge—and flicked on by Mike Gomes. Sporting’s forward Jeff Yoon, as well as Croatia’s midfielder Brad Haga had outstanding games in their respective roles. The result leaves Sporting Club comfortably in first place in the Group ‘B’ table, with a 13-point advantage over the second place Croatians.
Also on Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles burst out of their recent slump—a slump that placed them in a precarious position in the Group ‘B’ standings—by defeating the hosting Westside FC by an emphatic 3-0 margin. Norvan survived some early Westside pressure and eventually took over the reins of the match as Greg Muir and Danny Muir started to dictate the pace of the game from their midfield positions. In fact, the opening goal of the match was a result of a well-executed free kick from the foot of Greg Muir that Danny Muir consequently headed into the net. Danny Muir added his second goal of the match a few minutes later as a result of a clever passing play involving Max Baessato and Corey Birza. The second half began in much the same fashion as the first as Westside came out of the starting blocks with a vengeance but some excellent defending on the part of Norvan’s Nick Seddon, Andrew Czalij, and Barrett Germscheid kept the home team off the score sheet. Ironically, it was the Eagles that added to their lead when Gareth Morgan found James Wilton with an immaculate pass. Wilton then proceeded to dance around a couple of defenders before firing the ball into the net for the insurance marker. It should be mentioned that veteran Danny Muir was making his first start of the season and contributed immensely to his team’s victory with his energetic work rate and his two goals. Norvan’s victory puts the Eagles out of the relegation zone—at least temporarily—while Westside is now only one point ahead of Indo FC, near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ table.
The last Friday evening game was played at Holly Park in Ladner and featured Delta Metro Blaze and Indo FC. Much like the West Van – Sapperton game, both teams needed all 3 points for two totally different reasons: the Blaze to remain in contention for the Group ‘A’ title and Indo FC to rise above the dreaded relegation area. Once again, however, both teams had to settle for a tie and a single point! Having said that, the handful of brave supporters that survived the bitterly cold weather conditions had plenty to cheer about, as both teams came out of the gate looking for maximum points. In fact, the final result could easily have been 5-5 as both teams created numerous goal-scoring opportunities that were denied mostly by the brilliant goalkeeping of Delta’s Matt Clayton and Indo’s Drew Smiley. Early in the match, former Whitecap David Morris nearly gave Indo FC the lead as he narrowly missed the net after having chipped the ball over Clayton’s outstretched hands. Immediately thereafter, Smiley thwarted Delta’s Donald Kambere who was sailing in on goal on a breakaway. Then, Morris once again missed a golden opportunity when he watched agonizingly as his shot hit the goalpost with Clayton well beaten. In the second half both teams continued to create chances with Indo FC’s David Samra, Paul Bolina, and Andrew Riopel coming close to scoring on 3 separate occasions. However, the best goalscoring opportunity came at the other end of the pitch when young Sang Yoon Hwang headed the ball towards the Indo FC net only to have Drew Smiley pull off a miraculous save. Indo’s central defender, Jag Sajjan, was outstanding throughout the game, while forward David Morris drove the young Blaze defence to distraction with his enormous skills. As mentioned earlier, neither team will benefit from the single point as Delta remains in second place in the Group ‘A’ table, 4 points behind the leading West Van FC, and Indo FC is still struggling near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ standings.
Finally, on Saturday at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves and the visiting Surrey United played to a rather lacklustre 0-0 tie. The Wolves had most of the play, and goal-scoring chances, in the first half but some poor finishing—as well as some great goalkeeping on the part of Paul Shepherd kept them off the scoresheet. In the second half, it was Surrey United’s turn to attack but, once again, sloppy finishing and excellent goalkeeping by Mathew Bird kept the result scoreless. As a result, Surrey United’s chances of catching Sporting Club at the top of the Group ‘B’ table are now virtually non-existent, while the Wolves remain in last place in the same group.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: NORVAN EAGLES for their gutsy performance in defeating Westside FC by an emphatic 3-0 margin. The Eagles desperately needed all 3 points to stay clear of the dreaded relegation zone and succeeded by outplaying the also desperate Westside squad. Led by the excellent play of veteran midfielder Danny Muir—in his first start of the season—the Eagles fully deserved the victory.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Indo FC’s goalkeeper DREW SMILEY for his outstanding performance in his team’s 0-0 tie against Delta Metro Blaze. On several occasions, Smiley pulled off some exceptional saves to keep his team in the game. One save in particular, late in the game on a header by Sang Yoon Hwang, deserves special mention as Smiley dove to the bottom corner of the net to prevent what appeared to be a sure goal. For his excellent performance, DREW SMILEY will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-12-27.
Five out of the scheduled 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend with no major upsets taking place. In fact, 3 of the 5 matches ended in ties, while only 1 ended with a rather lop-sided result. The Norvan Eagles bounced out of their recent slump by trouncing Westside FC by a 3-0 margin, while Sporting Club got back to its winning ways by defeating its closest competitor—Croatia SC—in the Group ‘B’ table.
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC hosted the Sapperton Rovers in a match that was very important for both teams, albeit for completely different reasons. West Van needed the points to remain in first place in the Group ‘A’ table, while the Rovers were trying desperately to escape the relegation zone in the same group. As luck would have it, however, the game ended in a 1-1 tie, a score that helps neither of the two teams in their respective quests. West Van—led by the indomitable work of forwards Ryan Glanville and Jesse Fetterley—attacked from the opening whistle, while the Rovers seemed content to counter-attack. However, the tone of the game changed somewhat midway through the first half when West Van’s goalkeeper—Marco Durante—was ejected from the match for having received his second caution. Sapperton took advantage of the situation and took the lead when Rob Sing’s long-range shot was saved by substitute goalkeeper Jamie Locke but bounced onto the path of Jeff Rogers who slotted the ball home from the edge of the penalty area. Despite being down a goal and a man, West Van bounced back tenaciously and—led by the amazing speed and skill of Milad Rahmati—took the game to the Rovers in search of the equalizer. Just before the halftime whistle, the former Trollers finally got on the scoreboard when their young captain—Leo Nash—rose above all the Sapperton defenders to head home a well-placed corner by Rahmati. West Van continued to press early in the second half and came close to taking the lead on a couple of occasions. First, veteran Paul Dailly drilled a shot just wide of the net from just inside the penalty area. Then, Nash once again powered a header towards the net, only to have goalkeeper Kent Waechter make a brilliant save. The tide, however, turned once again when Jesse Fetterley was also sent off for having received his second caution. Now down two men, West Van concentrated on defending and—led by Leo Nash, Drew Gelley, Geoff Buchanan, and veteran Mike Dodd—succeeded in finally earning the single point. It should also be mentioned that young midfielder Alan McIndoe ran miles throughout the game, but mostly when his team was down to 9 men, in helping West Van preserve the tie. As a result, West Van remains solidly in first place in the Group ‘A’ table, while the Rovers are still mired near the bottom of the same group.
The second Friday evening game took place at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and featured two of the top teams in the VMSL, Sporting Club of Vancouver and Croatia SC. A Croatia victory would have narrowed the gap between the two top Group ‘B’ teams to 7 points, giving the Croatians a chance to catch the Portuguese team. However, Sporting Club came away with a hard-fought 2-1 victory and, therefore, a nearly insurmountable 13-point lead in the standings. The visiting Croatians took the game to Sporting Club right from the start and created numerous early chances before taking a well-deserved lead at the 27th minute mark when Steve Dickinson converted a great pass from veteran Johnny Pashalidis. Early in the second half, Croatia almost doubled its lead but Steve Dickinson’s clever chip shot sailed over the crossbar. Croatia kept pressing for the second goal but it was Sporting Club that eventually got the equalizer when a John Blair free kick found a wide-open Mike Gomes in front of the Croatia net. The Croatians came storming back and came close to retaking the lead when Bradley Haga barely missed the net on a blistering long-range shot. As luck would have it, however, it was Sporting Club that scored the winner very late in the match as John Blair headed home a corner kick from Mike Wooldridge—and flicked on by Mike Gomes. Sporting’s forward Jeff Yoon, as well as Croatia’s midfielder Brad Haga had outstanding games in their respective roles. The result leaves Sporting Club comfortably in first place in the Group ‘B’ table, with a 13-point advantage over the second place Croatians.
Also on Friday evening, at Point Grey School in Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles burst out of their recent slump—a slump that placed them in a precarious position in the Group ‘B’ standings—by defeating the hosting Westside FC by an emphatic 3-0 margin. Norvan survived some early Westside pressure and eventually took over the reins of the match as Greg Muir and Danny Muir started to dictate the pace of the game from their midfield positions. In fact, the opening goal of the match was a result of a well-executed free kick from the foot of Greg Muir that Danny Muir consequently headed into the net. Danny Muir added his second goal of the match a few minutes later as a result of a clever passing play involving Max Baessato and Corey Birza. The second half began in much the same fashion as the first as Westside came out of the starting blocks with a vengeance but some excellent defending on the part of Norvan’s Nick Seddon, Andrew Czalij, and Barrett Germscheid kept the home team off the score sheet. Ironically, it was the Eagles that added to their lead when Gareth Morgan found James Wilton with an immaculate pass. Wilton then proceeded to dance around a couple of defenders before firing the ball into the net for the insurance marker. It should be mentioned that veteran Danny Muir was making his first start of the season and contributed immensely to his team’s victory with his energetic work rate and his two goals. Norvan’s victory puts the Eagles out of the relegation zone—at least temporarily—while Westside is now only one point ahead of Indo FC, near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ table.
The last Friday evening game was played at Holly Park in Ladner and featured Delta Metro Blaze and Indo FC. Much like the West Van – Sapperton game, both teams needed all 3 points for two totally different reasons: the Blaze to remain in contention for the Group ‘A’ title and Indo FC to rise above the dreaded relegation area. Once again, however, both teams had to settle for a tie and a single point! Having said that, the handful of brave supporters that survived the bitterly cold weather conditions had plenty to cheer about, as both teams came out of the gate looking for maximum points. In fact, the final result could easily have been 5-5 as both teams created numerous goal-scoring opportunities that were denied mostly by the brilliant goalkeeping of Delta’s Matt Clayton and Indo’s Drew Smiley. Early in the match, former Whitecap David Morris nearly gave Indo FC the lead as he narrowly missed the net after having chipped the ball over Clayton’s outstretched hands. Immediately thereafter, Smiley thwarted Delta’s Donald Kambere who was sailing in on goal on a breakaway. Then, Morris once again missed a golden opportunity when he watched agonizingly as his shot hit the goalpost with Clayton well beaten. In the second half both teams continued to create chances with Indo FC’s David Samra, Paul Bolina, and Andrew Riopel coming close to scoring on 3 separate occasions. However, the best goalscoring opportunity came at the other end of the pitch when young Sang Yoon Hwang headed the ball towards the Indo FC net only to have Drew Smiley pull off a miraculous save. Indo’s central defender, Jag Sajjan, was outstanding throughout the game, while forward David Morris drove the young Blaze defence to distraction with his enormous skills. As mentioned earlier, neither team will benefit from the single point as Delta remains in second place in the Group ‘A’ table, 4 points behind the leading West Van FC, and Indo FC is still struggling near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ standings.
Finally, on Saturday at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves and the visiting Surrey United played to a rather lacklustre 0-0 tie. The Wolves had most of the play, and goal-scoring chances, in the first half but some poor finishing—as well as some great goalkeeping on the part of Paul Shepherd kept them off the scoresheet. In the second half, it was Surrey United’s turn to attack but, once again, sloppy finishing and excellent goalkeeping by Mathew Bird kept the result scoreless. As a result, Surrey United’s chances of catching Sporting Club at the top of the Group ‘B’ table are now virtually non-existent, while the Wolves remain in last place in the same group.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: NORVAN EAGLES for their gutsy performance in defeating Westside FC by an emphatic 3-0 margin. The Eagles desperately needed all 3 points to stay clear of the dreaded relegation zone and succeeded by outplaying the also desperate Westside squad. Led by the excellent play of veteran midfielder Danny Muir—in his first start of the season—the Eagles fully deserved the victory.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Indo FC’s goalkeeper DREW SMILEY for his outstanding performance in his team’s 0-0 tie against Delta Metro Blaze. On several occasions, Smiley pulled off some exceptional saves to keep his team in the game. One save in particular, late in the game on a header by Sang Yoon Hwang, deserves special mention as Smiley dove to the bottom corner of the net to prevent what appeared to be a sure goal. For his excellent performance, DREW SMILEY will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2007-12-27.
Who’s dafter? The guy taking the piss by explaining a piss take (making the explanation in itself a piss take on oneself), or the guy explaining that the question about the piss take was a piss take, whist not recognizing the second piss take was really a piss take?
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