A-League game of Friday September 1st, 2000.

A-League game between Toronto Lynx and Long Island Rough Riders played at Varsity Stadium at 7:30pm.

Toronto Lynx (white socks and shirts; black shorts, names, and numbers; black slashes on right chest)

............................................1 Carmine Isacco
.................15 Adrian Serioux...6 Milan Kojic...3 Mauricio Vincello
18 Chris Pozniak...10 Nebojsa Vignjevic...4 Joe Mattacchione...19 David Diplacido...14 Edgar Bartolomeu
.....................................27 Francisco Dos Santos...16 Aaron Benjamin

Subs:...22 Theo Zagar (gk)...8 Brian Ashton (mid)...21 Laryea Adjetey (mid)...11 Lloyd Barker (mid)...7 Lyndon Hooper (mid)...20 Juan Arango (fwd)...9 Nikola Vignjevic (mid)
head coach/general manager Peter Pinizzotto, equipment manager Carl Titus, medical co-ordinator Dr Robert Gringmuth.

Long Island Rough Riders (all red; white names, numbers and trim)

......................................1 Paul Grafer
.............6 Ronan Weisman...14 Stephen Franzke...17 Laurence Piturro
11 Daniel Leon...10 Gerry L:ucey...8 Fernando Fernades...19 Ben Diallo...13 Joe Ragusa
............................9 Andrew Mittendorf...12 Edson Buddle

Subs:...21 Steve Cadet (def)...4 Dahir Mohammed (def)...29 O'Neill Pert (fwd)...23 Josh Freeman (gk)...5 Brendan Sullivan (mid)
head coach Paul Riley...assistant coaches Cesar Markovic and Rob Thompson.

Game Officials:...referee Neil Scholfield, referee's assistants Steve DiPierro and Andrew Drazinsky, fourth official Silviu Petrescu.

Tonight was Fan Appreciation Night. See details below.

1st Half:...game starts 7:58pm...Lynx defend north end on this hot humid evening.
2 min...RR Diallo 25 yard shot from right side is wide right.
5 min...Lynx Nebojsa Vignjevic cornerkick from right, Lynx player in box gets away shot that's blocked.
6 min...Lynx Nebojsa Vignjevic cornerkick from right, Lynx Vincello leaping header from 12 yards just over bar.
6 min...RR goalie slides to edge of box to grab through box.
8 min...Lynx Dos Santos 25 yard shot rolls off defender.
9 min...Lynx Nebojsa Vignjevic corner from right, Lynx Vincello weak one touch from 12 yards rolls to goalie.
10 min...Lynx goalie catches RR Diallo (?) high 35 yard shot from right.
10 min...RR Ragusa 25 yard shot from left is popped to goalie.
12 min...Lynx Vincello pushes through ball on left and Lynx Dos Santos 20 yard shot from extreme left just flies wide.
13 min...RR Mittendorf misses 12 yard shot well wide left.
14 min...RR Ragusa worked way along left before centering ball across box.
16 min...Lynx goalie catches ball into box ahead of charging RR Buddle.
17 min...RR Lucey blasts 35 yard freekick well over bar.
22 min...RR Piturro rolls 40 yard freekick just wide left of post beyond diving goalie.
24 min...RR GOAL Buddle...Buddle pops ball over Lynx Serioux and kicks from about 5 yards from left post to right corner of net after volleying ball behind Serioux and freezing Lynx goalie. RR Mittendorf got the assist for his cross from the right to find Buddle.
25 min...RR YELLOW card...Mittendorf in center circle right after kickoff. We were unsure why.
26 min...Lynx Benjamin 30 yard shot rolls to goalie diving to left.
27 min...Lynx Mattacchione 35 yard shot into box that RR goalie catches on left post over two forwards.
28 min...Lynx YELLOW card...Nebojsa Vignjevic for tackle from behind on RR Ragusa.
30 min...RR Lucey 35 yard freekick from left is caught by goalie.
31 min...Lynx Benjamin race through right beats defender and rolls across box from extreme right is caught by diving goalie.
32 min...Lynx Mattacchione (?) 30 yard shot from left is well over net.
33 min...Lynx Nebojsa Vignjevic cornerkick from right, Lynx Kojic leaping header from 12 yards is palmed over bar by goalie but play whistled down.
35 min...Lynx goalie picks up RR Lucey 40 yard bouncer on right.
37 min...RR Buddle checked off ball, RR Leon blasts rebound from 25 yards well over net.
39 min...RR Mittendorf 30 yard shot from right deflected into right outside webbing of net.
41 min...Lynx Mattacchione 40 yard push pass into box, Lynx Dos Santos leaping header just wide right but ruled offside.
42 min...RR Buddle injured in collision width Lynx Kojic.
45 min...Lynx YELLOW card...Mattacchione for pushing RR Lucey from behind at center line.
47 min...Lynx Pozniak kicks ball off line as RR Buddle scuffs shot forward in box after cross across box from right.
48 min...RR YELLOW card...Leon for dissent about Lynx being awarded a freekick in Lynx end.
48 min...half ends 8:46pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:04pm.
halftime subs:...Lynx Ashton replaces Diplacido.
...........................Lynx Hooper replaces Mattacchione.
48 min...Lynx Bartolomeu leaps and heads from 25 yards but doesn't redirect ball it's directly to goalie.
50 min...Lynx Nebojsa Vignjevic cornerkick from left headed out of box on right.
51 min...Lynx Bartolomeu 40 yard shot pushed wide left by diving goalie.
52 min...Lynx Serioux centers cross from right after run but directly to goalie.
53 min...RR sub...Pert replaces Mittendorf.
55 min...RR Lucey freekick from left corner of box is well over net.
57 min...Lynx sub...Arango replaces Benjamin.
61 min...Lynx Nebojsa Vignjevic cornekick from right, Lynx Kojic header from 15 yards is caught.
62 min...RR Lucey 35 yard freekick from right is header over bar from RR Buddle from 12 yards.
63 min...RR Ragusa cuts 25 yard shot that's deflected wide right for cornerkick.
64 min...RR Peart dekes two defender on left line and Lynx goalie makes save from 10 yards.
65 min...RR sub...Cadet replaces Diallo.
68 min...Lynx Bartolomeu ends give and go up left side with cross that RR goalie catches.
69 min...Lynx Arango rush in left of RR box and dives over goalie (no call given but it was a dive).
70 min...RR Lucey freekick from 30 yards on right is blown down by referee.
71 min...Lynx sub...Adjetey replaces Bartolomeu.
71 min...Lynx goalie catches ball into box as two RR forwards pressure.
72 min...Lynx Dos Santos freekick from 30 yards on left into RR wall and ball is cleared.
74 min...Lynx Vincello diving header in own box to break up quick RR freekick.
76 min...Lynx ball into RR box is blown offside by referee.
77 min...Lynx Vincello pass to Lynx Ashton who pushes ball back to Vincello who rushes through to RR box on left and crosses to right and Lynx Dos Santos misses connecting properly on scissor kick wide right of net.
79 min...RR YELLOW card...Ragusa but we were unsure why.
80 min...Lynx Arango freekick from 30 yards is well over net.
80 min...Lynx sub...Nikola Vignjevic replaces Nebojsa Vignjevic.
82 min...Lynx Nikola Vignjevic freekick from 40 yards, Lynx Kojic leaping header from 15 yards is wide.
83 min...RR Buddle through ball to RR Peart whose 15 yard shot on right is pushed wide by sprawling goalie.
83 min...RR goalie to edge of box to punch out cross.
84 min...Lynx Ashton chips backward pass to Lynx Arango who heads over net from 10 yards.
87 min...RR sub...Mohammed replaces Leon.
87 min...Lynx goalie takes 60 yard freekick into box that goalie catches in crowd in RR box.
88 min...RR goalie injured in box when he came to edge of box to crash into Lynx Ashton.
89 min...Lynx Serioux 25 yard shot is well over net.
90 min...Lynx Barker gets rebound off RR player knocking down header on edge of box and boots well over net.
91 min...RR goalie catches ball just outside left post as ball crossed long from right side.
93 min...Lynx Nikola Vignjevic 30 yard freekick from left is well over net.
93 min...game ends 9:52pm.

Final Score:....Toronto Lynx.............0..........Long Island Rough Riders...............1...............

The Lynx had clinched a playoff spot on Wednesday night against US-Pro40 and played their second stringers. Some of my earlier posts had Montreal Impact catching them because I'd seen some officials in the pressbox urging the Lynx to get a third goal for the bonus point that goes with it.

The game actually kicked off at 7:58pm as (CFL) Toronto Argonaut football coach Michael Pinball Clemons was delayed. It looked like he couldn't find a babysitter as he brought two of his young kids to the field. He has a lot on his mind just taking the position last week and I thought appearing here would be the first thing to cancel.

The Lynx Players of the year were announced in the pregame ceremony. Even the Lynxster wore a tuxedo.
Public Relations Award (for community work) presented by Nicole Hartrell from the Lynx executive--Lloyd Barker
Fan Favourite (voted by the fans) presented by broadcaster and FIFA official Dick Howard--Brian Ashton
Defensive Player presented by broadcaster Jerry Dobson--Adrian Serioux
Offensive Player presented by new Argo coach Michael Pinball Clemons--Francisco Dos Santos
MVP (Media Choice) presented by the Toronto Sun newspaper's Sal Kohougian--Theo Zagar (yep, he was my choice)
The RRs can't get the soccer ball back from the referee to warm up so just do stretches while the ceremony is on.
Nicole Hartrell thanked the fans for their support.
The ceremonial kickoff is taken by Michael Clemons.

Barker and Zagar were rested tonight. Ashton came in as a 2nd half substitute. (and these mentioned were just the award winners).

The Rough Riders win tonight clinched them first place in the NorthEast Division and their bench players ran out onto the field to celebrate.

Attendance was announced as 2602. This was Fan Appreciation Night with more prizes than usual being distributed.

Lynx had too many off target shots so the RR goalie Paul Grafer was only really tested except maybe three times.

The Lynx defense was solid with Carmine Isacco making his second start of the year and was forced to make maybe three really good saves.

Rocket Robin
robing@clo.com

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