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

[whataboutbob]

Sounds like Sapp is bitter in Div 1 now and is going to jump ship to the PCSL? Better shot at the provincials for next year

Even when we won the BCs I knew this was on the down turn. 15 minutes after victory, we were told we must be out of the changing rooms because the booking time expired. We were left to celebrate in the parking lot.

Throughout my time at Sapp I always tried to make Sapp home games something everyone in the league could be proud of: some signage, a well maintained field, enclosed park, changing room, some local media coverage, and even some smokies cooking from time to time. After we won the BCs, we went down to a city council meeting and had a presentation for the community and council - local Shaw TV coverage - and we would always make time for community work around Christmas.

Sapp will always try to continue this, but in reality, the league doesn't care about these efforts. Sapp home games were played everywhere except Queens Park. We finished our season in early February - so what was the big rush to get the games played on turf for? Tuesdays, Thursdays, Wednesdays - 9, 10, 11 PM - who cares? Lights going out - who cares? Playing home games in Burnaby, Point Grey, Coquitlam - who cares! Just get the damn games in!!!!

The PCSL is not the answer - summer soccer would be a joke. But a broad regional league would definitely interest me - as long as the teams involved took pride in their clubs and league and maintained certain standards.

 

[sixfyv]

WEEK #25—2008-03-12

The Premier Division final—between Sporting Club of Vancouver and West Van FC—was played on Sunday at Point Grey School in Vancouver and provided the numerous spectators with an exciting 90 minutes of non-stop action and entertainment. In the end, the more experienced Sporting Club prevailed by a 4-2 score over the young West Van team, thus clinching the VMSL Premier Division championship for the first time in its history! After a scoreless—but action-filled—first half, West Van took the lead early in the second half when veteran Paul Dailly’s corner was inadvertently deflected into his own net by Sporting’s Ryan Dormer. A few minutes later, Sporting Club restored parity as Steve Frazao, after having received a great pass from Steve Dormer, neatly waltzed around a West Van defender before slotting the ball into the net. Midway through the second half, Sporting Club took the lead for the first time in the match when young Geoff Buchanan placed the ball into his own net after some very sloppy defending on the part of the inexperienced West Van backline. The young West Van team—missing seasoned veterans Mike Dodd, Nico Berg, and Trevor Short from its lineup—bounced back with grit and determination and tied things up on a fine individual effort by Milad Rahmati as he fired a great shot past Sporting’s fine goalkeeper, Brian Brum. However, Sporting Club was able to regain the well-deserved lead as young Ben Hunt, after having beaten 3 West Van defenders, found a wide open Ryan Dormer who proceeded to score what proved to be the winning goal, thus making up for his previous blunder. Just before the final whistle, with the former Trollers pressing hard for the equalizer, the Dormer brothers hooked up to score the clincher as Ryan Dormer sent Steve Dormer in all alone for Sporting’s fourth goal. Both teams should be congratulated for their fine efforts! It should also be noted that both teams are still in contention for the Imperial Cup and could meet again in the Cup final!

Game #18 of the Imperial Cup playdowns was completed on Friday evening at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby after having been abandoned the previous week when the lights had gone out. The match featured the top team in the Premier Division, Sporting Club of Vancouver and the underdog Westside FC. Westside took the lead early in the first half on a goal by Taku Bradshaw after John Stonehocker had hit the crossbar with a wicked drive from well outside the penalty area. Sporting’s veteran Mike Gomes got the equalizer shortly thereafter as he converted a fine cross by Matt Ormerod. After the regulation time draw, the game went into overtime with Sporting Club taking the lead on a goal by Jeff Yoon. Inexplicably, the lights went out shortly thereafter, with only a few minutes remaining in the match. As mentioned earlier, the final six minutes were played this past weekend and, as expected, the score remained 2-1 in favour of Sporting Club thus advancing the Portuguese team to the semi-finals of the Imperial Cup where the Premier Division champions will face the upstart Indo FC.

On Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, ICSF Inter edged the hometown Surrey United by a narrow 2-1 margin after an entertaining 90 minutes of action between two teams with very contrasting styles. The “Italians” dominated the early part of the game, using their dash and finesse and knocking the ball around the pitch beautifully. Inter was rewarded at the 32nd minute mark when Surrey goalkeeper, Paul Shepherd, failed to smother a wicked drive by Matt Judd. Young Colin Streckmann calmy slotted the rebound into the back of the net, thus giving ICSF the early lead. Surrey United, using its brawn and power, bounced back and eventually tied things up early in the second half, when Shawn Blakeway cleverly chipped the ball over the Inter’s goalkeeper head after racing in all alone. At this point, Inter’s coach, Joe Marrello, made a few substitutes, changes that proved to be magical. In particular, the insertion of super-sub Liam Miller was the key to Inter scoring the winning goal in the late going as the youngster danced into the penalty area only to be fouled by Martin Schaefer. On the ensuing penalty kick, another substitute—Kevin Crouch—clinically placed the ball into the net for his 15th goal of the season. The victory solidifies Inter’s hold on second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Surrey United is still in a battle with Croatia SC for the runner-up position in Group ‘B’.

On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl South in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan FC destroyed the visiting Delta Metro Blaze by an decisive and emphatic 4-0 margin. Columbus took control of the game right from the opening whistle and scored very early in the match when Tino Cucca capitalized on a poor clearance by Sang Yoon Hwang and quickly slotted the ball behind Delta’s young goalkeeper, Mike Minosky. Late in the first half, Joey Scigliano took advantage of yet another Delta defensive blunder as he pounced on a loose ball before firing it towards the net. Defender Liam Smith proceeded to inadvertently deflect the shot into his own net for the game’s second goal. The second half was more or less a duplicate of the first as Columbus retained the reigns of the match despite the fine efforts of Delta’s Cam Wilson and Reyhan Ismail. Midway through the half, a brilliantly taken free kick by former Whitecap Davide Xausa sailed into the top corner of the net for the game’s third goal. Late in the match, Brendan Stabeno added Columbus’ fourth goal to solidify the victory. The Delta loss leaves the newly-promoted team in a real battle for the final Province Cup slot as they will now need a result against Croatia SC to clinch the ninth VMSL spot. A victory against Croatia will guarantee the Blaze a spot in the provincial playdowns, while a loss will eliminate the Delta team from the coveted competition. On the other hand, a draw will force a playoff with the Metro-Ford Wolves, as the two teams will be tied in points. It should be noted that the game between Croatia SC and Delta Blaze—with the score at 0-0—was abandoned early in the first half due to intolerable windy conditions. Therefore, only the remaining 38 minutes of the game will be played.

Also on Sunday, at Hastings Bowel North, the Metro-Ford Wolves kept their hopes of gaining a Province Cup slot alive by edging Croatia SC by a 2-1 margin. The match, played in front of numerous spectators, was an exciting affair as the Croatians also had a lot on the line—second place in the Group ‘B’ table and the resulting prize money. The Wolves took the lead midway through the first half by scoring two excellent goals in rapid succession. First, Adam Day clinically finished off a great pass by young Justin Isidro. The second goal was scored on a magnificent header by Reece Miles as he converted a well-taken corner kick by Emilio Bottiglieri. In the second half, the talented Croatians, led by forwards Steve Dickinson and Johnny Sulentic, began to carve out several openings and were unlucky not to get on the scoreboard. Some excellent defending on the part of Scott Butchler and Brook Scott, coupled with some fine goalkeeping on the part of Mathew Bird, kept the Croatians off the scoreboard until the dying moments of the match when veteran Darko Jelic, after having missed a similar opportunity a few minutes earlier, slotted home his team’s lone goal from close range. As a result of the victory, the Wolves remain in contention for the last Province Cup slot, while Croatia SC’s chances of gaining second place diminished substantially.

On Monday evening, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles escaped from the dreaded relegation zone by edging the visiting Westside FC by a 1-0 margin. Westside, in desperate need of a victory, got off to a bright start but the Norvan defensive unit, led by John Reda, Barret Germsheid, and Mark Krys held on tenaciously throughout the first half, limiting the Westside opportunities to a minimum. At the other end of the pitch, the Eagles proved to be dangerous as well—mostly on counter attacks—but Blake Burgon and James Wilson both missed excellent goalscoring chances. Late in the first half, Norvan got the all-important first goal when a perfectly-executed free kick by Jamie Dunnett was headed home by Max Baessato who rose above the Westside defenders before placing the ball into the net. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first, as Westside applied a lot of pressure in search of the equalizer, while the Eagles seemed content to defend and counter attack. Unfortunately for the visitors, they were dealt a second blow midway through the second half when veteran Jason Small was expelled from the game for having accumulated 2 cautions. Despite playing a man short, Westside threw caution to the wind and came close to tying things up on several occasions. In particular, veteran James Prescott sailed a header over the cross bar from close range, while Colin Jones also put the ball over the net from the edge of the goal area. The loss means that Westside FC will now have to play the AFC Leopards in a playoff game to determine which of the two teams will be relegated to the first division.

On Tuesday evening, at Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, Surrey United climbed into sole possession of second place in the Group ‘B’ standings by defeating the AFC Leopards by a 2-0 margin. Despite having most of the possession, and most of the goalscoring opportunities, during the first half, the Leopards found themselves behind when Surrey’s Graeme Magowan headed home a brilliant cross by Clayton Dobbin. The second half told a totally different story as Cloverdale-based team attacked relentlessly and eventually got the insurance marker when Clayton Dobbin and Shawn Blakeway combined with a clever one-two resulting in Dobbin slotting the ball home. As mentioned earlier, the victory places Surrey United one point ahead of Croatia SC in second place of the Group ‘B’ table. Each team has one game remaining in the regular season schedule.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: SPORTING CLUB OF VANCOUVER for its excellent performance in winning the VMSL Premier Division Championship with a well-earned 4-2 victory over West Van FC. Sporting Club, led by the exceptional play of young Ben Hunt, came back from a 1-0 deficit and eventually won the game against the very tough and determined West Van team. It should be noted that this is the first time that Sporting Club has won the Premier Division title. Our congratulations to coach Joe Pinto and the entire Sporting Club squad for a job well done!!

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sporting Club’s midfielder BEN HUNT for his brilliant performance in his team’s 4-2 victory over West Van FC. Not only did Hunt set up the all-important go-ahead goal, but he also drove his opponents to distraction throughout the contest with his speed and amazing skill. For his excellent performance, BEN HUNT will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2008-03-20.

 

[sixfyv]

WEEK #26—2008-03-19

Several very important matches took place this past weekend as the Imperial Cup semi-finals, the Premier Division relegation playoff game, and the Division 1 promotion game were played. On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, in front of approximately 300 enthusiastic spectators, Club Ireland celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, albeit prematurely, by gaining promotion to the Premier Division in defeating the Serbian White Eagles by an emphatic 3-0 margin. The game, between the two Division 1 group champions, was well played from start to finish and provided the numerous fans with plenty of action and excitement. Early in the match, Club Ireland took the lead when Terry Bell scored on a well-executed indirect free kick inside the Serbian penalty area. The free kick was awarded when defender Davor Pipercevic’s passback was handled by goalkeeper Jovan Lucic. The White Eagles fought back tenaciously and came very close to tying things up when a long-range blast by Dejan Nesic was tipped onto the crossbar—and out of danger—by goalkeeper Craig Burnham. After enduring substantial pressure, however, Club Ireland added a second goal just before the halftime whistle, once again as a result of a free kick and once again on a great finish by Terry Bell who half-volleyed the ball home from just inside the penalty box. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first as the White Eagles surged forward desperately seeking their first goal. The Irish lads, on the other hand, defended in a very organized manner and counter-attacked whenever the opportunity presented itself. On one of these counterattacks, Terry Bell raced down the left flank and, after beating a couple of defenders, crossed the ball into the box where Brad Caldwell brilliantly headed it home for the game’s final goal. The victory assures Club Ireland a spot in next season’s Premier Division, while the White Eagles will have to remain in the first division for at least one more year.

Also on Friday evening, at Holly Park in Ladner, Croatia SC finished its regular season on a winning note by defeating the struggling Delta Metro Blaze by a 2-0 margin as the final 38 minutes of an earlier abandoned game were played. The match was originally abandoned early in the second half due to intolerable wind conditions with the score still knotted at 0-0. On Friday evening, the Croatians came out of the starting blocks with a lot of determination, mostly due to the fact that 2nd place in the Group ‘B’ standings was still up for grabs. Led by Johnny Sulentic, Brad Haga, Johnny Pashalidis, and Steve Dickinson, Croatia exerted a lot of pressure on the Delta backline and created numerous excellent goalscoring opportunities. At the other end of the pitch, Delta also had its share of chances, with Garrett Traversy, Craig McMillan, and Mawuena Mallett coming close to scoring. Both goalkeepers, however, Croatia’s Didar Sandhu and Delta’s Matt Clayton, stood tall and kept the game scoreless till the 80th minute mark. At this point, after Croatia’s defender Rob Hall had been ejected for a serious foul play infraction, Johnny Pashalidis was finally able to open the scoring as he converted an excellent cross by Steve Dickinson into the winning goal. Just before the final whistle, the short-handed Croatians added insult to injury when Dickinson scored his 7th goal of the season after a neat 3-way passing play, also involving former Whitecap Johnny Sulentic and Johnny Pashalidis. The victory, coupled with Surrey United’s loss to Columbus-Clan FC, secures second place in the Group ‘B’ standings for Croatia SC, while the loss eliminates Delta Metro Blaze from participation in the Province Cup.

On Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West Complex, Westside FC defeated the AFC Leopards by a 2-0 margin in the relegation play-off game, thus ending the Leopards’ dreams of remaining in the Premier Division. The Leopards got off to a great start and pinned the Westsiders in their own end for the first 20 minutes. However, Westside was able to survive the onslaught and eventually started to take control of the play as the game progressed. After a scoreless first half, Westside took the lead midway through the second half on a goal by young Colin Jones. Shortly thereafter, another youngster, Spencer Nebel, made a tremendous solo run down the left flank before scoring Westside’s second goal from close range. The Leopards never gave up, however, and surged forward till the end of the match but were stymied by some heroic goalkeeping on the part of Westside’s Rowan Anders. The all-important victory assures a place for Westside FC in next season’s Premier Division, while the AFC Leopards will be demoted to Division 1.

On Sunday, at Town Centre Stadium in Coquitlam, the Imperial Cup semi-finals were played. The first game featured the upstart Indo FC against the heavily-favoured Sporting Club of Vancouver. Despite the fact that Indo FC had already been relegated to the first division, and that Sporting Club had clinched the VMSL Premiership title last week, the underdogs continued to impress by qualifying for the final by defeating the league champions by a 3-2 overtime score. After a rather slow start, Sporting Club had the first real scoring opportunity midway through the first half when a fine header by Mike Gomes was brilliantly saved by Indo’s young goalkeeper, Amar Dhinsa. The rest of the first half was quite evenly played with neither team taking any unnecessary chances and, as a result, the halftime score remained tied at 0-0. The tempo of the game picked up substantially in the second half as both teams started to take risks. Midway through the second half, Sporting Club finally took the lead when a brilliant cross by former Indo FC player Jag Gill was brilliantly headed home by Mike Wooldridge. Shortly thereafter, Indo FC knotted the score when former Whitecap Dave Morris unleashed a wicked long-range drive that eluded the outstretched fingers of goalkeeper Brian Brum. A few minutes later, Indo FC took the lead when David Samra converted a penalty kick which was a awarded for a hand ball infraction by Mike Gomes. Sporting Club bounced back and tied things up as Steve Dormer’s cross was headed home by Brian Gebbie with about 10 minutes remaining in regulation time. In extra time, Gurjit Dhaliwal scored the winning goal on yet another long range rocket. From that point onward, Sporting Club dominated proceedings in search of the equalizer, but some excellent defending on the part of Jag Sajjan and Paul Bahia—as well as some outstanding goalkeeping by Amar Dhinsa—kept the score at 3-2 in Indo FC’s favour. It should be noted that this is Indo FC’s fourth consecutive victory—and third upset!—in Imperial Cup competition, all occurring after it relegation to the first division!!! Indo FC will now play Surrey United in the Imperial Cup final.

The second Imperial Cup semi-final, between West Van FC and Surrey United, was also played on Sunday at Coquitlam Town Centre Stadium. For the second week in a row, the aspiring former Trollers suffered a heart-breaking loss, this one by a 2-1 margin against the Cloverdale-based team. Surrey United got off to a dream start, scoring in the first minute of the match when Graeme Magowan headed home a cross that was flicked on by Shawn Blakeway. A few minutes later, Blakeway came close to adding to his team’s lead but watched agonizingly as his excellent header sailed just wide of the wide-open net. West Van responded well to this adversity and, led by the skillful play of veterans Paul Dailly and Mike Dodd, proceeded to threaten the Surrey United goal, particularly with a succession of corner kicks which were cleared very efficiently by veteran Surrey defenders Steve Millar and Graeme Magowan. On a couple of instances, however, it was Surrey’s goalkeeper—Paul Shepherd—who rose to the occasion by producing a couple of outstanding saves on a goal-bound efforts by Ryan Glanville and Milad Rahmati. In the second half, Surrey United stuck resolutely to its game plan and restricted the West Van attackers to some long range efforts which didn’t trouble goalkeeper Paul Shepherd in the least. In particular, Jesse Fetterley, Ryan Glanville, Milad Rahmati, and Paul Dailly, all took turns at creating problems for the rock-solid Surrey defence. At the 65th minute mark, diminutive Surrey United midfielder Robbie Wilson dispossessed veteran Mike Dodd of the ball at the edge of the penalty area. The ball squirted loose to Shawn Blakeway who quickly, and intelligently, set up and unmarked Rizal Ganief who immediately fired the ball into the net from close range for what proved to be the winning goal. Ten minutes later, Surrey United came close to adding a third goal but some brilliant defensive work on the part of veteran Nico Berg stymied a great effort by Ryan Reynolds after Rizal Ganief had once again worked some of his magic. The West Van boys fought back tenaciously and were finally rewarded at the 80th minute mark when yet another Paul Dailly corner found an unmarked Ryan Glanville at the far post. Glanville’s header finally beat Paul Shepherd and thus narrowed the margin to one goal. The last 10 minutes of play saw West Van throw caution to the wind in search of the equalizer but the Surrey United defence, led by player-coach Steve Millar, held on till the end. The victory means that Surrey United will now face Indo FC in the Imperial Cup finals.

On Tuesday evening, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, Surrey United hosted Columbus-Clan FC in the last regular season Premier Division game. After a rather dull and uneventful 90 minutes of play, Columbus walked away with a 2-1 victory over the home team. The visiting Columbus team controlled most of the play in a scoreless first half and finally took the lead midway through the second half when midfielder Brendan Stabeno’s shot was redirected by Devin Matthews into the back of the Surrey United net, past goalkeeper Kristjan Johannson. Late in the game, Dave Hleucka tied things up with a close range shot after a well-taken Steve Millar free kick. However, just before the full time whistle, Carmine D’Onofrio–after receiving a clever pass from Robbie Cairns—drove home a blistering shot from the edge of the penalty area, thus giving Columbus the well-earned 3 points.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: INDO FC for yet another remarkable performance in gaining a spot in the Imperial Cup final by defeating the heavily-favoured Sporting Club by a 3-2 overtime margin. Led by the exceptional play of former Whitecap forward Dave Morris, the nearly impenetrable defending of Jag Sajjan and Paul Bahia, as well as some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Amar Dhinsa, Indo FC eventually managed to defeat the recently-crowned VMSL Premier Division champions! Quite a feat for a team that was recently relegated to the first division!

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Club Ireland’s forward TERRY BELL for his outstanding performance in his team’s 3-0 victory over the Serbian White Eagles in the promotion play-off game. Not only did Bell score two excellent goals, but he also set up the third with a great cross that teammate Brad Caldwell converted into the goal of the match with a brilliant header. For his excellent performance, TERRY BELL will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2008-03-27.

 

[One Dart]

Someone will have to tell Terry as I'm not sure any of the Club Ireland lads would have read this thread this year.

 

[Burnro]

Someone will have to tell Terry as I'm not sure any of the Club Ireland lads would have read this thread this year.

Done!