From Canada Kicks
The first half was a schizophrenic affair with Croatia having the edge in territorial play but with the Olympians maintaining the clear edge in scoring opportunities.
In the 10th minute, three of the Olympians A-League veterans combined in a characteristic example of the clubs style of play. Elvis Thomas passed to Eddy Berdusco who acrobatically beat his man and passed to Daryl Holmes who fired a hard shot that Croatia keeper George Azcurra was able to parry and hold.
One minute later, Thomas crossed to another former A-Leaguer in Phil Caporella who relayed to Berdusco but his blast was also controlled by Azcurra.
The match then dropped in intensity with Croatia controlling play but with few attempts at goal. They finally broke through in the 35th minute but Anton Musa's high hard shot was touched just over the bar by Olympians keeper Brian Bowes.
The Olympians took the lead in the 40th minute when Eddy Berdusco caught the Croatia defence sleeping and sent a throw in to a wide open Chris Handsor. He dribbled the 20 yards to the Croatian goal and sent an accurate shot past Azcurra to break the scoreless tie.
The second half was all Olympians.
In the 63rd minute, another former A-Leaguer in Peyvand Mossavat made space and forced Azcurra to make a save. The rebound cannoned around the goalmouth before landing at the feet of Elvis Thomas who gave the Olympians a 2 nil lead.
One minute later Thomas would score again after a Gus Kouzmanis drive was stopped by Azcurra. The rebound fell at the feet of Thomas who neatly tucked it behind the Croatian keeper to make the score 3 nil.
The rest of the match was anticlimactic with neither team threatening to alter the scoreline.
Elvis Thomas, with his two goals, was chosen MVP for the Olympians while George Azcurra, who was superb in the Croatia goal, was chosen MVP for the losers.
With the Olympians taking the CPSL Cup and having already won the League title, the only challenge left is the CPSL Playoff championship to be played this weekend.
ALL STARS DOWN NTC TEAM
Prior to the match, Paul James' National Training Centre squad, strengthened by Dwayne DeRosario, Carl Fletcher, Nevio Pizzolito, Marco Reda and Adrian Serioux of the A-League, took on the CPSL All-Stars, made up of players from the six teams not playing in the cup final.
DeRosario (Richmond Kickers) opened the scoring in the 13th minute for the NTC. While taking a direct free kick, he noticed CPSL keeper Adam Morindini creeping forward of his line. DeRosario proceeded to loop his shot over the wall and just under the bar to make the score 1 nil.
The lead would not last long as in the 17th minute, Willy Giumarra (York Region Shooters) sent his direct free kick around the wall and just inside the far post despite the valiant efforts of Steve Cox in the NTC goal.
It was Giumarra again in the 81st minute when he got on the end of a through ball from Lucio Ianiero (St. Catharines Roma). He beat the rapidly advancing keeper to give the CPSL a 2-1 win over the NTC.
.
.