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

[Captain Shamrock]

Hey CS, just curious...where is Sahil from? What High school does he play for and what are his long term plans...we may need to recruit him when Serbian switches places with you guys next season!

Beli,

You wouldn't be able to lace his boots......Club Ireland is going to beat you in the promotion game so your post is most certainly MOOT. As for switching places..........you're not there yet and we're not there yet either.


Sahil is too good for your squad. He has class. Enough said.

 

[sixfyv]

WEEK #21—2008-02-12

Five out of the six scheduled Premier Division games were played this past weekend as most fields were deemed to be playable. A couple of issues were settled, while a couple of others remained unresolved. Indo FC and the Sapperton Rovers have now officially been relegated to Division 1, while West Van FC climbed one step closer to clinching the Group ‘A’ title by edging the Norvan Eagles in the North Shore derby. The only team left with a chance of catching the former Trollers is ICSF Inter who has to win its remaining 3 games to catch the group leaders. At the bottom of the tables, the battle to avoid relegation became even more intense as 4 teams—AFC Leopards, Metro-Ford Wolves, Westside FC, and the Norvan Eagles—are still in a fierce battle to remain in the Premier Division. Unfortunately, one of the 4 above-mentioned teams will have to join the Sapperton Rovers and Indo FC in Division 1.

On Friday evening, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, ICSF Inter remained in the battle for first place in the Group ‘A’ standings by edging the slumping Vancouver Firefighters by a 1-0 margin. Despite the fact that Inter desperately needed all 3 points to remain in contention for the group championship—and perhaps the VMSL title—not too many scoring chances were created throughout the contest as both teams seemed more interested in defending than attacking. Late in the second half, however, Inter’s coach—Joe Marrello—made a couple of key substitutions, inserting forwards Christian Tropeano and young Liam Miller into the lineup. The strategy proved to be very successful as Miller, in his senior soccer debut, was able to get to the end of a cross by Joseph Marrello—flicked on the veteran Matt Mori—to score the lone goal of the match. Colin Streckmann and Matt Judd were solid in the ICSF midfield, while Laurent Scaligine was his usual energetic self on the right flank. For the Firemen, defenders Jeff Skinner and Steve McAuley played very well in a losing cause, while forward Lucas Barrett was once again a going concern throughout the match. As mentioned earlier, the victory keeps Inter’s hopes of catching West Van FC alive, although the Italians have to win all 3 of their remaining matches to accomplish that difficult feat. One of the 3 matches, against Group ‘B’ champions Sporting Club, will be played this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Adanac Park in Vancouver, due to the fact that both teams have a bye in the first round of the Imperial Cup.

On Saturday, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC edged the Norvan Eagles by a 3-2 margin in a fiercely-contested North Shore derby. The match was originally scheduled for Kinsman Stadium but had to be moved to Ambleside Park due to the accumulation of snow at higher elevations. Both teams desperately needed all 3 points, but for very different reasons: West Van to solidify its hold on first place in the Group ‘A’ table, and the Eagles to avoid relegation . After a rather slow start, West Van took over the reins of the match and opened the scoring midway through the first half as Milad Rahmati and Mike Dodd combined to set up a streaking Ryan Glanville, whose hard, low shot eluded big Mike Norris in the Norvan goal. Ten minutes later, Glanville doubled West Van’s lead by scoring his second goal of the match in very similar fashion. This time, however, Glanville was sent in on goal by a clever Sean Taylor pass after Milad Rahmati had demonstrated some impeccable skills in beating 3 opponents. West Van continued to press and came close to putting the match out of Norvan’s reach as Milad Rahmati, Paul Dailly, and Ryan Glanville all came close to scoring. The Eagles also had a glorious chance to narrow the margin, but John Reda was unable to set up a wide-open Blake Burgon and thus squandered the opportunity. Late in the half, however, a well-taken free kick by Norvan’s Greg Muir found a wide-open James Wilton whose header sailed into the West Van net, thus reducing the margin to 2-1 at the halftime whistle. In the second half, both teams took turns attacking with Milad Rahmati once again coming close to scoring for West Van as he saw his wicked shot ricochet off the post and out of danger. However, it was Norvan that eventually tied things up as Danny Muir converted a penalty kick for the equalizer. The spot shot was awarded when James Wilton, after receiving a pass from Max Baessato, was tripped inside the box by West Van defender Leo Nash. At this point, both teams threw caution to the wind in search of the all-important winning goal. After several opportunities were squandered at both ends of the field, it was West Van that finally scored the winner, when Ryan Glanville capped off an amazing individual performance by racing by a couple of Norvan defenders before depositing the ball into the back of the net with yet another hard, low shot. The loss leaves the Eagles in a precarious position in the Group ‘B’ table. Their last game, against Westside FC, is of the utmost importance since both teams are near the bottom of the standings and need a victory to climb out of the danger zone.

Also on Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, Westside FC edged the host Surrey United by a 3-2 margin in a game that meant much more to the visitors than to the Cloverdale-based team. In fact, by gaining all 3 points, the Westsiders kept their hopes of avoiding relegation alive and, at the same time, put an end to Indo FC’s dreams of staying in the Premier Division. The visitors got off to a great start as Joe Bhegani took advantage of an uncharacteristic Surrey United defensive blunder to slot home the opening goal from the edge of the penalty area in the first minute of play. Surrey bounced back tenaciously and scored twice during the remainder of the first half to gain a 2-1 halftime lead. On the first goal, Westside goalkeeper Rowan Anders made a brilliant save on a shot by young Rizal Ganief only to have veteran Graeme Magowan head home the ensuing corner kick. The go-ahead goal came shortly thereafter with Ganief once again playing the major role as he slotted the ball home from close range. Early in the second half, Dave Irvine tied things up for Westside as he nodded home a well-executed corner kick by Chris Mehuys. Then, at the 65th minute mark, Taku Bradshaw latched on to a long punt by goalkeeper Rowan Anders and clinically placed the ball into the back of the Surrey United net for the winning goal. At this point, the home team tried desperately to get back into the match, but some excellent defending on the part of centre-back Cam Kochorek kept them at bay. Westside FC must now face the Norvan Eagles in both teams’ last game of the season in a game that will more than likely decide which team will face the AFC Leopards in the relegation playoff.

On Saturday evening, at Minoru Park in Richmond, Indo FC—a team that had just learned about Westside’s victory and, as a result, its relegation to the first division—faced the very desperate Sapperton Rovers. As it turns out, the team with nothing but pride at stake—Indo FC—carried most of the play for the entire 90 minutes and fully earned the 2-0 victory. Inexplicably, the Rovers played the game without any emotion and, as a result of the loss, now join Indo FC in the first division of the VMSL. The first half ended 0-0 despite the fact that Indo FC had by far the best scoring opportunities. In particular, Lavy Mangat and Karm Lidder both hit the post in rapid succession late in the first half. In the second half, youth call-up Sahil Sandhu took things into his own hands and could easily have scored on 3 separate occasions had it not been for the outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Corey Breure. At the 75th minute mark, however, Sandhu sent David Samra in on goal with an excellent pass which resulted in Samra eluding a charging Breure and chipping the ball into the net from well outside the penalty area. Shortly thereafter, Sahil Sandhu rounded out his excellent individual performance with a brilliant solo effort as he raced in on goal from the middle of the park before slotting the ball home. It should be noted that this was Sandhu’s 5th goal in Indo FC’s last 4 games—the only matches he has played in the VMSL this season! As mentioned earlier, both teams—Indo FC and the Sapperton Rovers—have now officially been relegated from the Premier Division.

The last game was played on Sunday at Adanac Park in Vancouver and featured two of the most skilled teams in the VMSL—Columbus-Clan FC and Croatia SC. Neither team had a whole lot to play for since both of them are out of the championship race and should easily qualify for a Province Cup slot. However, the match was very well played and extremely competitive and, in the end, Columbus came away with a hard-earned 1-0 victory. Columbus had the best scoring chance in the first half but Nathan Quan saw his blazing shot saved brilliantly by Didar Sandhu. On the ensuing rebound, Joe Scigliano rattled his shot off the woodwork with Sandhu well beaten. The Croatians replied in kind and Petar Sulentic saw his brilliant shot from the edge of the penalty area exceptionally saved by Columbus goalkeeper Thomas Lindley. Early in the second half, Tiernan King scored the game’s lone goal as he beat two Croatia defenders before calmly placing the ball into the back of the net. Croatia SC came storming back and came very close to equalizing on a few occasions but some poor finishing and lady luck played a huge part in preserving Columbus’ lead. On two separate occasions, Steve Dickinson was sent in all alone by Johnny Sulentic only to see his shots go wide of the net. Then, late in the game, Croatia SC hit the woodwork on 4 separate occasions, on shots by Steve Dickinson, Johnny Sulentic, Tom Babic, and Ryan Zaharija.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: WESTSIDE FC for its impressive performance in defeating the heavily-favoured Surrey United by a 3-2 margin. The visiting Westsiders took an early lead but fell behind 2-1 before regrouping and clinching all 3 very important points. Although the victory does not guarantee that Westside FC will avoid relegation, it does help a great deal towards that quest!

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: INDO FC’s young forward SAHIL SANDHU and WEST VAN FC’S striker RYAN GLANVILLE for their unbelievable performances in their teams’ impressive victories over the Sapperton Rovers and the Norvan Eagles respectively. Sahil Sandhu scored once and set up the other goal as Indo FC defeated the Rovers by an emphatic 2-0 margin. As a youth call-up, Sandhu has only played 4 games for Indo FC and has managed to score 5 goals! Ryan Glanville, on the other hand, scored all 3 goals for West Van FC in its all-important 3-2 victory over the Eagles. For their excellent performances, SAHIL SANDHU and RYAN GLANVILLE will each receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2008-02-21.

 

[sixfyv]

WEEK #22—2008-02-19

The first round of the Imperial Cup was played this past weekend and, as a result, only one Premier Division game took place—between the aspiring ICSF Inter and the rather complacent and lethargic Sporting Club. Inter, with the Group ‘A’ title still a possibility, totally dominated the entire match and fully deserved the final 4-1 victory. The game, played at Adanac Park on Sunday, saw Inter take a 3-0 halftime lead and coast to the eventual emphatic victory. Veteran Matt Mori scored the first ICSF goal as he latched on to a great pass by Joseph Marrello before slotting the ball past a bewildered Brian Brum in the Sporting Club’s net. Shortly thereafter, young Colin Streckmann displayed an enormous amount of class by finishing off a fine individual effort for Inter’s second goal. Before the halftime whistle, Sheldon Maistry put the game out of Sporting Club’s reach by adding ICSF’s third goal. In the second half, Inter continued to dominate and was rewarded when Laurent Scaligine finished off a great pass by Cristiano Tropeano as he outraced goalkeeper Brian Brum and proceeded to score his team’s final goal. Very late in the game, Sporting Club finally got on the scoreboard as John Blair converted a fine cross by Jag Gill. The ICSF midfield—composed of veteran Dale Gill, Joseph Marrello, and young Colin Streckmann—was absolutely superb throughout the contest, while forwards Matt Mori and Cristiano Tropeano drove the Sporting Club defence to distraction with their tenacity and skill. As mentioned earlier, the victory keeps Inter’s hopes of winning the Group ‘B’ title alive, while Sporting Club has now completed its regular season with an enviable 16-0-3 record. Inter will have to win its remaining two games, against Columbus-Clan and Surrey United to catch the group leading West Van FC.

Game #1 of the Imperial Cup playdowns took place on Friday evening at Mercer Stadium in New Westminster and featured two Division 1 teams—the Punjab Hurricanes and the Serbian White Eagles. The match was a see-saw affair and had to be settled in extra time after a 2-2 tie. Eventually, the White Eagles prevailed and walked away with a hard-earned overtime 4-2 victory. In regulation time, Miso Rakita and Oggie Miskovic scored for the Serbians, with Miskovic’s coming in the dying moments to send the game into extra time. The Hurricanes’ goals, on the other hand, were scored by Dave Chohan and Sunny Badesha. In overtime, Nemanja Okuka and Dejan Purisic put the game out of the Hurricanes’ reach by scoring for the Serbian White Eagles, who will now take on Sporting Club in the next round of the Imperial Cup.

Game #2—between the Premier Division Westside FC and the Division 1 Wickham FC—was also played on Friday evening at Point Grey School in Vancouver. After a rather one-sided 90 minutes of play, Westside walked away with a very comfortable 8-1 victory, thus eliminating the North Shore team from any further cup play. Colin Jones and veteran Jason Small led the way by scoring two goals each, while Taku Bradshaw, John Stonehocker, Sebastian Crema, and Andrew Cooke rounded out the Westside scoring with a goal apiece. Ashkan Parsa managed to score Wickham’s lone goal late in the match. Westside FC will now take on another Division 1 team—Club Ireland—in the round of 16.

Game #3 was played on Saturday at South Memorial Park in Vancouver and saw the Vancouver Firefighters easily defeat the hot-and-cold AFC Leopards by a 4-1 margin. The Fireman opened the scoring early in the match as Lucas Barrett, Wesley Barrett, and Trevor Rosencrans combined to set up veteran, and former professional, Niall Thompson who brilliantly headed the ball past the Leopards’ goalkeeper Che Koostra-Nair. It should be mentioned that the Leoapards’ regular goalkeeper, Josh Wicks, is presently trying out for the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS. Shortly after the Firefighters’ opening goal, Trevor Rosencrans added what proved to be the winner after being brilliantly set up by Peter Bergholz. Early in the second half, Bergholz once again played the part of the provider as he set up Niall Thompson for his second goal of the match. The Leopards replied quickly as Justin Cordick scored their lone goal of the game, but the Firemen restored their 3-goal lead just before the final whistle as Niall Thompson set up Chris Craveiro for the final marker. The Firemen will now take on ICSF Inter in the next round of the Imperial Cup in what promises to be the match of the week! The game is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver.

Game #4 was played on Saturday evening at Minoru Park in Richmond between the Premier Division Indo FC and Primo FC of Division 1. After Primo FC had gotten off to a good start, Indo FC took over the reins of the match and eventually won the match by a 3-1 margin. Andrew Riopel opened the scoring midway through the first half with a well-placed shot from the edge of the penalty box. Former Whitecap Dave Morris added Indo’s second goal when Lavy Mangat found him streaking down the right flank with an immaculate pass. In the second half, Paul Bolina and Dave Morris came close to adding to Indo’s lead but were thwarted by some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Primo’s Reza Naderi. However, at the 70th minute mark, Andrew Riopel found Lavy Mangat all alone in the box for the third, and final, Indo goal of the match. The Primo FC players, however, were rewarded for their persistence and hard work when, late in the match, Brian Archibald pounced on a rebound and slotted the ball home for his team’s lone goal. Indo FC will now face powerhouse Columbus-Clan in the next round of the Imperial Cup.

Game #5, between the defending Imperial Cup champions—Columbus-Clan FC—and Akal FC of the first division, fully lived up to its expectations as the Premier Division Columbus toyed with the visitors from start to finish and eventually won the game by a 4-0 margin. The Italians got on the scoreboard early in the match when Tino Cucca, after receiving a nifty short corner kick from Joey Scigliano, unleashed a wicked shot into the top corner of Akal net. Cucca almost added to Columbus’ lead shortly thereafter but saw his powerful drive bounce off the crossbar and out of danger. Late in the first half, Tiernan King was fouled inside the Akal 18-yard area. On the ensuing penalty kick, King himself scored Columbus’ second goal. The second half was more or less a repetition of the first as Columbus dominated proceedings from start to finish. Joe Scigliano scored Columbus’ third goal on a well-taken free kick from well outside the area. Late in the match, Steve DeBlasio added the fourth marker when he raced in all alone after receiving an immaculate pass from Gino Gaita. Goalkeepers Thomas Lindley and veteran Luca Dalla Pace shared the shutout—probably the easiest of their careers! Columbus’ next opponent will be Indo FC in the round of 16 of the Imperial Cup.

Game #6, featuring the Sapperton Rovers and the Vancouver Olympics, resulted in a huge upset as the first division Olympics defeated the Premier Division Rovers by an astounding 4-0 margin. The game, played at Queen’s Park Stadium on Saturday, featured an outstanding performance on the part of the underdog Olympics, as well as a very disappointing one by the already relegated Rovers. Paulo Almeida and Frank Randazzo scored in the first half for the Olympics, while Jasdeep Toor and Marko Mirisklavos added a couple of more goals in the second half to round out the scoring. Randazzo’s goal came from a blazing shot from well outside the penalty area while Toor’s goal was a thing of beauty as he ran practically the length of the entire field, down the left flank, before blasting the ball into the net from close range. Dalver Varn and Kenroy King were outstanding in their defensive roles for the Olympics, while Nico Parente turned in a brilliant performance in the midfield. The Olympics will now face West Van FC—on of the top teams in the VMSL—in the next round of the cup.

Game #7 was played on Saturday at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey between SFC Pegasus and Delta Metro Blaze. Once again, the underdog Division 1 team, in this case SFC Pegasus, prevailed against the heavily-favoured Premier Division squad, Delta Blaze. The game had to be decided on penalty kicks after a 2-2 overtime draw could not determine a victor. Delta looked very strong in the first 30 minutes and took an early 2-0 lead. Former Whitecap Stefan Leslie set up both Delta goals with 2 magnificent, and virtually identical, crosses that were finished off with easy tap-ins by Craig McMillan and Reyhan Ismail. Pegasus battled back, however, and narrowed the margin near the end of the first half when a seemingly harmless free kick by Adam Costley was inadvertently deflected into his own net by a Delta defender. The goal seemed to give the Pegasus players a badly needed lift as they came out flying in the second half, creating numerous chances to tie the game up while, at the same time, tightening up their defensive strategy. At the 69th minute mark, Pegasus was able to score the tying goal on a header by Adam Costley, a shot that Delta goalkeeper Matt Clayton badly mishandled. Shortly thereafter, however, Clayton made amends for his blunder when he saved a wicked drive by young Andrew Reed. After a scoreless 30 minutes of overtime, the match had to be settled by penalty kicks and Pegasus eventually prevailed by a score of 8-7. It should be noted that Pegasus’ goalkeeper, Mike Halford made a sensational save on the 5th Delta shot to send the game into the sudden-death penalty kick stage. Midfielders Justin Sidhu and Stefan Leslie played extremely well for the Blaze, albeit in a losing cause, while forward Ryan Powell, goalkeeper Mike Halford, and midfielders Adam Costley and Jamie Fiddler were outstanding in leading Pegasus to the upset victory. Pegasus will now face another Division 1 team, FC Romania in the next round of the Imperial Cup.

Game #8, yet another matchup between a Premier team—Norvan Eagles—and one from Division 1—Richmond United—was played on Saturday at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver. The final score, 2-0 in favour of the Eagles, is pretty well indicative of the flow of the match as the Richmond team seemed more interested in keeping the score respectable than in winning the match. Despite dominating the entire first half, Norvan had to wait till the 40th minute mark to score what proved to be the winning goal when Danny Muir and Blake Burgon combined to set up Corey Birza who made no mistake from close range. In the second half, Norvan could easily have put the game out of Richmond’s reach but Matt Hartwell and Corey Birza squandered excellent goalscoring chances, both on fine crosses by Max Bassato. Finally, the Eagles scored the insurance marker near the end of the match when speedy Blake Burgon’s cross to the far post was redirected by Corey Birza onto the foot of Cam Taylor who calmy deposited the ball into the back of the net. Norvan will now face the indomitable task of playing against the heavily-favoured Croatia SC—one of the hottest teams in the VMSL—in the round of 16 of the Imperial Cup.

Game #9 was played at Coquitlam Town Centre Stadium between the Metro-Ford Wolves and Surrey United and ended in a 3-1 overtime victory for the visiting Cloverdale-based team. After a rather dull start, Surrey took the lead midway through the first half when playing-coach Steve Millar headed home a well-taken corner kick by Lee Grant. The Wolves bounced back in the second half and eventually tied things up when an uncharacteristic defensive blunder by Steve Millar allowed Russel Huggon to pounce on the loose ball and steer it past a helpless Paul Shepherd. At this point the Rizal Ganief show started as the young Surrey striker began to drive the Metro-Ford defenders to distraction with his pace and well-refined skills. First, Ganief fired an amazing long-range shot that seemed destined for the back of the net only to have the Wolves’ goalkeeper, Mat Bird, make a sensational save. Then, just before the full time whistle, Ganief outpaced the Metro-Ford defence and cleverly tried to slide the ball past a challenging Bird only to watch the ball agonizingly roll inches wide of the far post. In the overtime, Ganief continued to rip apart the Metro-Ford defence and was finally rewarded near the end of the first period when he took advantage of a headed flick-on by Shawn Blakeway before hammering a low shot off the far post and into the net. The Wolves fought back in the second overtime period but were repelled by a well-organized and determined Surrey defensive core. Late in the game, Ganief once again took advantage of his speed as he ran onto a great through ball by Steve Millar before steering it into the Wolves’ net for the insurance marker. Surrey United thus advances to the round of 16 against Cliff Avenue United.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: ICSF INTER for its impressive performance in defeating the practically unbeatable Sporting Club by a decisive 4-1 in the only Premier Division game played this past weekend. Inter needed to win this match to remain in contention for the Group ‘A’ title, and perhaps the VMSL Premier Division championship. Led by the excellent play of midfielders Colin Streckmann, Joseph Marrello, and Dale Gill as well as the dangerous forays of forwards Matt Mori and Christian Tropeano, Inter fully deserved its decisive margin of victory. Inter must now beat Columbus-Clan and Surrey United to catch West Van FC at the top of the table.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Surrey United’s young forward RIZAL GANIEF for his absolutely amazing performance in his team’s hard-fought 3-1 overtime victory over the Metro-Ford Wolves. Not only did Ganief score both the overtime goals that allowed Surrey United to defeat the Wolves, but he also came close to scoring on a couple of other occasions in regulation time. Ganief’s speed and skill drove the Metro-Ford defence crazy throughout the match! 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 2008-02-28.

 

[Beli Orlovi]

65, get on it, Azzi updated his week in review full of "young veterans", "former trollers" and of course wacky commentary.

BTW, what the fcuk is a "young veteran"? (oxymoron anyone?) And when will WestVan FC be referred to as just WestVan FC? Enough with the Trollers already...

 

[sixfyv]

are you unable to cut and paste?

 

[Beli Orlovi]

WEEK #23—2008-02-26

For the second week in a row, due to Imperial Cup commitments, only one Premier Division game took place—between the desperate Metro-Ford Wolves and the slumping Delta Metro Blaze. Needless to say, both teams had been eliminated from the Imperial Cup the previous week and were thus available to play this all-important make-up game. The Wolves needed to gain all points to finally get out of the relegation zone and accomplished their feat by defeating the Blaze by a decisive 4-0 margin in a game played on Saturday at Charles Best School in Coquitlam. Delta got off to a great start and could easily have taken the lead at the 20th minute mark when a blistering long-range shot by Sang Yoon Hwang forced goalkeeper Mathew Bird to make a superb save. Bird’s save seemed to be the wake-up call the Wolves needed as they started to exert some pressure of their own for the remainder of the first half. The second half told a totally different story as the numerous spectators saw a transformed Metro-Ford side take over the reins of the contest. Young veteran Andrew Veer opened the scoring in the 60th minute after receiving a clever ball from fellow midfielder Justin Hebner. Veer make no mistake in slotting the ball past the Delta goalkeeper, thus giving his team the hard-fought lead. Delta, led by the excellent play of midfielder Justin Sidhu, bounced back tenaciously but their numerous attacks were thwarted by some excellent defending on the part of Metro-Ford’s Richard Price, Kingsley Jones, and Brook Scott. Late in the game, the Wolves took advantage of Delta’s rather reckless attacks and scored 3 goals in rapid succession to walk away with a deceiving 4-0 victory. First, Emilio Bottiglieri finished off a brilliant pass from Justin Isidro and, as a result, doubled the Wolves’ margin. Then, a few moments later, Adam Day curled a brilliantly-taken free kick into the back of the net from well outside the penalty area. Finally, just before the final whistle, Justin Isidro scored his first goal of the season as he dribbled past a few defenders before blasting the ball into the net. As mentioned earlier, the Wolves are now officially out of the relegation zone, while Delta Blaze is still in contention for one of the 9 VMSL Province Cup slots.

Game #10 of the Imperial Cup playdowns took place on Friday evening at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and featured the top team in the Premier Division, Sporting Club of Vancouver and the aspiring first division Serbian White Eagles. The game was a very hard-fought affair and provided the large crowd in attendance with a lot of action. The final result, 2-0 in favour of Sporting Club, pretty well tells the entire story as the Premier Division team demonstrated more poise, experience and skill throughout the contest. Very early in the match, a Steve Frazao corner kick found John Blair all alone in front of the net. Blair’s shot, however, was saved by the White Eagles’ goalkeeper, Jovan Lucic, but the rebound was picked up by Jag Gill who calmly tapped the ball into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. No more goals were scored until the final moments of the match as Sporting Club doubled the score when Ben Hunt crossed the ball to Steve Dormer who proceeded to slot it into the net. Sporting defender Mike Gomes had a brilliant game and showed a lot of grit and determination when he came back into the game after having been substituted for what appeared to be a serious nose injury. Forward Jeff Yoon also played very well for Sporting Club, while midfielder Dejan Purisic had an outstanding game for the Serbians, albeit in a losing cause. Sporting Club now advances to the quarter-finals against Westside FC while the White Eagles will have to play a promotion play-off game against either Club Ireland or the Punjab Hurricanes.

Game #11—between the Premier Division Westside FC and the Division 1 Club Ireland—was played on Saturday at McNair School in Richmond and ended in a 1-0 victory for the visiting Westsiders. Oddly, Westside is in danger of being relegated, while Club Ireland is still in the running for the lone promotion slot to the Premier Division! The match was a rather dull affair with Westside’s goal coming at the 75th minute mark as Spencer Nobel, after having received an excellent pass from Keith Moore, fired the ball into the top corner of the net. It should be mentioned that Westside, on two separate occasions, came very close to scoring in the first 15 minutes as Joe Bhegani and Chris Mehuys both hit the goal post with shots that seemed destined for the back of the net. After beating two first division teams, Westside FC now has the task of playing Sporting Club—one of the top clubs in the VMSL—in the next round of the Imperial Cup!

Game #12 was played on Sunday at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver and saw the Vancouver Firefighters edge a rather disappointing ICSF Inter by 2-1 overtime score. Inter took the early lead when Matt Judd finished off a well-taken corner kick by Laurent Scaligine. The goal seemed to take the wind out of the Firemen’s sails as they huffed and puffed for the remainder of the first half, without creating any really dangerous scoring opportunities. Inter seemed satisfied with the result and sat back and defended without taking any unnecessary risks. As often happens, the strategy backfired as the Firefighters were able to get the equalizer just before the final whistle when Niall Thompson converted a long throw-in by Peter Bergholz with a near-post header. Early in the second overtime period, Niall Thompson redirected a Chris Craveiro shot past Inter’s young goalkeeper—Erman Ozkan—for the game winner. Shortly thereafter, Craveiro was expelled from the game for violent conduct, but the lacklustre Italians were unable to take advantage of the situation and the score remained 2-1 in favour of the Firemen. Young Lucas Barrett was a going concern as he drove the veteran ICSF defensive core to distraction with his speed and skill, while defender Jeff Skinner once again provided the necessary leadership in guiding his team to yet another impressive victory. The Firemen will now face the red-hot Indo FC in the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup.

Game #13 was played on Saturday evening at Minoru Park in Richmond between the already-relegated Indo FC and the defending Imperial Cup champions, Columbus-Clan FC. In the end, the underdog Indo FC came away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the heavily-favoured Columbus, mostly due to the amazing performance of youth call-up Sahil Sandhu. It was Sandhu, in fact, who scored the lone goal of the match when, midway through the first half, he took advantage of an uncharacteristic defensive blunder by Devin Matthews before curling the ball into the top corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area. Ten minutes later, Sandhu became the provider as he sent an immaculate pass into the goalmouth only to have teammate Gary Sidhu mishandle the ball. In the second half, both teams traded excellent goalscoring opportunities with Columbus hitting the crossbar on 3 separate occasions on shots by Joe Scigliano, Nathan Quan, and Steve DeBlasio. At the other end of the pitch, Sandhu was unable to capitalize on 3 clear-cut breakaway opportunities and, as a result, the game ended with a 1-0 Indo FC victory. Goalkeeper Amar Dinza, as well as midfielders Dave Morris and Andrew Riopel played very well for Indo FC during the entire match, allowing their team to progress to the next round of the Imperial Cup where they’ll face yet another powerhouse, the Vancouver Firefighters.

Game #14, between the Premier Division Group ‘B’ leaders—West Van FC—and the first division Vancouver Olympics ended in a rather predictable 2-0 victory for the former Trollers. The game was played on Friday evening at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and was dominated almost entirely by the home team. The Olympics defended tenaciously for most of the match and relied almost entirely on counter-attacks to penetrate the West Van defence. The tactic almost worked twice—once in the first half and once in the second—as the Olympics’ lone striker, Frank Randazzo, came close to scoring on two separate occasions. However, goalkeeper Jamie Locke rose to the occasion both times and denied the Olympics their only scoring opportunities. Finally, midway throught the second half, West Van notched its first goal as Austin Lowrie set up Milad Rahmati with a great pass. Rahmati made no mistake in placing the ball past the Olympics’ fine goalkeeper, Marc D’Andrea. Shortly thereafter, it was Lowrie’s turn to score as he cheekily back-heeled the ball into the net from close range. Defender Leo Nash almost added a third goal for West Van but his shot hit the crossbar with D’Andrea well beaten. As a result of the well-earned victory, West Van will now advance to the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup where they will face another first division team, SFC Pegasus.

Game #15, featuring two first division teams—FC Romania and SFC Pegasus—ended with an emphatic 6-0 victory for the visiting Surrey team. Young veteran Jamie Fiddler scored 4 times for Pegasus in the first half to give his team an insurmountable 4-0 halftime lead. Fiddler could easily have scored 5 goals as he inexplicably missed a penalty kick in the early going! The missed spot shot only seemed to anger the firy, red-headed Fiddler as he proceeded to score a variety of beautiful goals with both his head and feet. Pegasus youngsters, Sammy Montgomery and Ravi Mandair, rounded out the scoring in the second half, while another youngster—Andrew Reed—made countless runs down both flanks, thus creating several goalscoring opportunities. The Pegasus backline, led by veterans Ryan Green and Garrett Whitworth, was rock solid throughout the entire 90 minutes of action. Pegasus will now take on West Van FC in a match that should be very interesting as several former Pegasus players are now on the West Van roster!

Game #16 was played on Sunday at Adanac Park in Vancouver between Croatia SC and the visiting Norvan Eagles. The final result, 2-1 in favour of the Croatians certainly does not tell the entire story as the winners were forced to play most of the game with only 9 players! The match, played in front of numerous enthusiastic fans, got off to a slow start as both teams seemed content to defend and perhaps exploit the other team’s weaknesses. The first real scoring chance occurred at the 15th minute mark when Croatia’s Steve Dickinson—after being brilliantly set up by Bradley Haga—proceeded to shoot the ball wide of the net. Midway through the first half, Croatia’s Petar Sulentic was expelled from the game for serious foul play and Norvan quickly took advantage of the situation by scoring the go-ahead goal as James Wilton converted a hard-driven low cross from Max Baessato from close range. Despite playing with only 10 men, Croatia started creating scoring chances in the second half. In particular a Johnny Sulentic shot, after the former professional had beaten a couple of Norvan defenders, was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper GianCarlo Martino. Things got even worse for Croatia when, midway through the second half, defender Robin Hart was issued his second caution, resulting in his expulsion from the match. Despite being down 2 men, the Croatians were not deterred and continued attacking in search of the equalizer. Kreso Vunic and Johnny Sulentic both came very close to tying things up but both missed the net by mere inches. Just before the full time whistle, however, the two combined to score the tying goal as Sulentic’s well-taken free kick was converted by Vunic into the tying goal. In the overtime, Croatia played with a more defensive strategy and tried to force the Eagles to attack. Norvan, however, did the exact opposite and neither team was able to create any real goalscoring chances until the last few minutes of the second overtime period. The late insertion of two youngsters—Marinko Maras and Ryan Zaharija—paid enormous dividends as the two combined to score the winning goal as Zaharija stripped a Norvan defender of the ball before racing in all alone and beating GianCarlo Martino with a well-placed, hard shot. Defensively, Darko Jelic and Bradley Haga played extremely well for the Croatians, while Norvan’s Nick Seddon and Barret Germsheid also deserve special mention for their fine play, albeit in a losing cause. The victory advances Croatia SC to the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup against Surrey United.

Game #17, yet another matchup between a Premier team—Surrey United—and one from Division 1—Cliff Avenue United—was played on Saturday at Cloverdale Athletic Park and ended with a predicatable 4-0 victory for the home team. Surrey United dominated the entire 90 minutes of play and could easily have won by a more decisive margin. Graeme Magowan, Rizal Ganief, Clayton Dobbin, and a Cliff Avenue defender scored the Surrey United goals, leading the Cloverdale-based team to the next round of the Imperial Cup against the red-hot Croatia SC.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: CROATIA SC for its amazing performance in its come-from-behind 2-1 overtime victory over the Norvan Eagles. What is amazing is the fact that the Croatians played most of the game with only 9 players after having received two red cards during regulation time! Led by the incredible defensive work of Bradley Haga and Darko Jelic, Croatia SC rallied from a 1-0 deficit, tied the game near the end of regulation time and eventually walked away with the victory by scoring a goal just before the final whistle.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: SFC Pegasus’ young veteran JAMIE FIDDLER for his 4-goal performance in his team’s 6-0 victory over FC Romania in the Imperial Cup playdowns. After having missed an early penalty kick, Fiddler rallied back with incredible determination and scored 4 goals in the first half—two with his feet and two with his head! For his excellent performance, JAMIE FIDDLER will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2008-03-06.

 

[Beli Orlovi]

Of course I am but didn't want to step on any toes.

 

[Regs]

I can't believe Fids is now a young veteran

 

[reedie]

Regs,

There was a classic email exchange between WA and myself after my match report mistakingly identified Fids as scoring 4 "girls" in the first half. Azzi had a great comeback...something about making all the VMSL lads very proud, legend status, blah blah blah. Btw, I really like how he revises copy for this weekly feature...he took all my best bits out!

 

[Regs]

It would be pretty funny if people would post the copies they send into the league

 

[Captain Shamrock]

FFS, Indo knocks out the defending BC Champions AND two time defending Imperial Cup champions and Croatia wins team of the week? Imagine that...........

 

[plavsic.10]

yea CS its not a hard call... croatia beat norvan with 9 men... thats more impressive than your 1-0 win over columbus.

 

[defector]

WEEK #24—2008-03-04

Once again, only one Premier Division game took place this past weekend—the “Italian” derby between ICSF Inter and Columbus-Clan FC. The match, played in front of a sparse crowd (leading to the question: Where have all the Italians gone?) at Adanac Park on Sunday ended in a 0-0 tie, a scoreline that eliminated ICSF from the Premier Division title race. As the final score indicates, not too many goalscoring chances were exchanged during the entire 90 minutes with ICSF perhaps having the edge. In fact, early in the match, defender Jesse Dhami sailed a short-distance shot over the crossbar while, shortly thereafter, teammate Sheldon Maistry’s header was brilliantly saved by Columbus’ goalkeeper, Thomas Lindley. In the midfield, Inter’s Colin Streckmann and Columbus’ Tino Cucca had fine games as they tried their best to create some goalscoring chances. Defensively, Inter’s Scott Spracklin and Columbus’ newly-signed Todd Lucik also turned in outstanding performances. As mentioned earlier, the tie erases ICSF’s chances of catching West Van FC at the top of the Group ‘A’ standings. The overall Premier Division title will now be settled on Sunday, March 9 in a match between Sporting Club and West Van FC. The game will be played at 4:00 p.m. at Point Grey School in Vancouver.

Game #18 of the Imperial Cup playdowns took place on Friday evening at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby and 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 John Stonehocker while 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 a result the final 6 minutes of the game will have to be played this Friday evening, also at Byrne Creek School.

Game #19—between the Vancouver Firefighters and Indo FC—was played on Saturday at Burnaby Lake West Complex and ended in a 1-0 upset victory for the already-relegated visitors. Neither team generated too many goalscoring opportunities in the first half with Indo’s Karm Lidder having the best chance, only to have former Whitecaps’ goalkeeper, Mike Franks, come up with a superb save for the Firemen. In the second half, Indo FC took the game to the lacklustre Firefighters, with David Samra leading the way with his penetrating runs and excellent timing. On one occasion, Mike Franks once again demonstrated his excellent goalkeeping ability as he thwarted Samra from close range. Paul Bolina was also stymied on two occasions by the big Firemen goalkeeper. Shortly thereafter, however, Samra finally got the winner on a well-executed volley from close range. At the other end of the pitch, Indo’s central defender Jag Sajjan turned in a brilliant performance as he kept the vaunted Firefighters’ attack at bay for most of the contest. Only once in the second half did the Firemen come close to scoring as former professional Niall Thompson saw his excellent shot brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Amar Dhinsa. Another former Whitecap, Dave Morris, turned in an outstanding performance in the Indo FC midfield. As a result of the victory, Indo FC not only advances to the semi-finals of the Imperial Cup—against the winner of the Sporting Club – Westside FC match—but also qualifies for the Province Cup playdowns. Quite and accomplishment for a team that has already been relegated to Division 1!

Game #20 was played on Friday evening at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and saw the host West Van FC destroy the visiting SFC Pegasus by a decisive 4-0 margin. The highly-charged and very skilled former Trollers played some of their best football of the season as they dominated every aspect of the match against their first division opponents. After a rather bright Pegasus start, West Van took over the reins of the match about half way through the first half and scored what proved to be the winning goal when Austin Lowrie headed home a fine cross by Milad Rahmati. At this point, the Ryan Glanville show began as he notched the first of his three goals when he took advantage of a scramble at the edge of the penalty area before banging the ball home. During the rest of the game, West Van dominated proceedings as veteran midfielder Mike Dodd and young defenders Leo Nash, Drew Gelley,, and Geoff Buchanan put on a clinical show, making life relatively easy for goalkeeper Marco Durante. Midway through the second half, Glanville added his second goal of the match as he flicked home a long throw-in and rounded out his hat-trick—his second in the last three games—shortly thereafter when he converted a wonderful pass from veteran Paul Dailly. West Van FC will now play Surrey United in the semi-finals of the Imperial Cup.

Game #21 was played on Sunday at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver between Croatia SC and Surrey United in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd. Croatia SC had most of the play in the first half, but Surrey United displayed some remarkable defending skills and held the vaunted Croatian attackers at bay. As luck would have it, very late in the first half, Surrey United scored the lone goal of the match when young Rizal Ganief beat a couple of defenders before unleashing a wicked drive that bounced off Shawn Blakeway’s foot and into the net past a bewildered Didar Sandhu. In the second half, Croatia SC continued to attack in search of the equalizer but the Surrey defence, led by Harp Khakh and Shawn Klein, as well as goalkeeper Chris Shepherd, held on for the victory. In particular, two excellent shots by Johnny Sulentic and Johnny Pashalidis were brilliantly saved by Shepherd. The hard-fought victory places Surrey United in the semi-finals of the Imperial Cup, against the red-hot West Van FC.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: INDO FC for another incredible upset victory—this one by a 1-0 score against the heavily-favoured Vancouver Firefighters in the Imperial Cup quarter-finals. As a result of the victory, Indo FC has now qualified for the Province Cup playdowns, quite an accomplishment for a team that has already been relegated to the first division. Indo FC has shown a lot a grit and determination during the last few weeks, a credit to the leadership qualities of its organization!

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: West Van FC’s RYAN GLANVILLE for his 3-goal performance in his team’s 4-0 victory over SFC Pegasus in the Imperial Cup playdowns. This is Glanville second hat-trick in 3 games and came at a very opportune moment as it allows his team to qualify for the Imperial Cup semi-finals. For his excellent performance, RYAN GLANVILLE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2008-03-13.

 

[One Dart]

There you go Captain, only took you 7 months

 

[cerebral smallsy]

Westside took the lead early in the first half on a goal by John Stonehocker

it was certainly a great strike from about 25 yards that rung off the post, however we didn't take the lead. it was, in fact, taku bradshaw who evened things up in the 1st half after a nice counter attack build up after sporting had taken the lead. azzi might just be foreshadowing john's contribution tonite.

 

[whataboutbob]

WEEK #24—2008-03-04

Once again, only one Premier Division game took place this past weekend—the “Italian” derby between ICSF Inter and Columbus-Clan FC. The match, played in front of a sparse crowd (leading to the question: Where have all the Italians gone?) at Adanac Park on Sunday.......

Easy question to answer.
No-one really cares anymore because the league has turned Mickey Mouse, and the league executive is to blame.
No more continuity - games played all over the place at stupid times and days. No changing rooms or any sense of professionalism.
No pride in field or team appearance.
Marquee games played at inappropriate fields, days and times. (ie league final)

I really think it's time that the VMSL has a major overhaul.
I also think the time has come for a rival premier league with strict parameters for each team: regional teams (Vancouver, Burnaby, New West, Coquitlam, Surrey, Delta, Maple Ridge, North Shore, Victoria, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Langley), changing rooms and enclosed fields, the best referees who are paid more but accountable for their actions, mandatory local paper coverage and larger media to hype the beginning of the season and finals (weekly scores announced on TV sports coverage).

The BC Lacrosse league has done it for decades and they have limited participation and teams.....it's all about marketing and an executive with some vision.

 

[Regs]

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

 

[Reccos]

The parallel to lacrosse is a good one for soccer and years ago when the PCSL was in its prime they had Callister Park (old,enclosed park - now just a usually empty playground oppositie the PNE Coliseum). Some years Victoria would be in and at times Seattle.

Since Gil McGarva left the new regime has accomplished much including:

1. increased Premier to 14 teams bringing in two Surrey FVSL teams (one stayed and is a top side in the league).
2. decreased Premier team numbers
3. implemented the joke of a "club" system
4. reduced the number of players and teams who play competitive soccer with the club system.
5. reduced the number of divisions
6. overseen some mergers at the Premier level that had actually ended up just losing good teams.

The club system and eliminating competitive soccer for almost half of the players in the VMSL has been disastrous for the league and it has led to some very good players moving on to other leagues and teams disappearing.

As to the parks issue, WAB refers to - that is not so much the Leagues doing but a combo of local parks boards and the weather in the lower mainland.

They did think that dumping div 3 would lead to more park availability and that was naive at best but who gets away with questioning King Willi.

The WAB comparison with lacrosse is a good one and an idea that teams and clubs should explore further. The issue is money of course to field and fund teams and without that any new scheme is doomed to fail. Lacrosse teams can get spectators and they do have lots of buildings to play in. The irony is that these same lower mainland cities who have hockey and lacrosse rinks and players from all over Canada are the same bozos who are looking at player addresses for senior soccer players to make sure someone from Surrey or whatever isn't playing on Burnaby Parks. The VMSL would do well to be able to resolve that issue with Parks boards as that is something that is plain stupid when players reach senior soccer levels.

The WAB ideas are good ones even if his club is now in Div 1 and they should be discussed.

 

[Sir M]

The two semi-final, and the final, Imperial Cup games should be crackers.

 

[knvb]

It's on bloody turf again, but at least they're together....

GAME 22 Sun/ 1.00pm

Sporting Club vs Indo FC “A" @ Coq. Town Centre Turf

GAME 23 - Sun/ 3.30pm

West Van FC “A” vs Surrey United “A” @ Coq. Town Centre Turf