CNSL game of Wednesday October 8, 1997.
Here are the results of the CNSL game between St Catharines Roma Wolves and Toronto Supra played at Club Roma Stadium in St Catharines at 8:15pm. This was considered the second game of the two game Playoff final series.
St Catharines Roma Wolves (white socks and numbers, red shorts and shirts; actually changed their shirts to this when they saw what Supra was wearing)
................................................1 Dino Perri
1 John McNeil....9 Gary Hughes....7 Tony Carbonaro....3 Salvatore Bourgh
.............20 Bobby Pretto....16 Keith Moore....22 Gary McGuchan
.............18 Carlo Alberto Arghitto....13 Lucio Ianiero....19 Gerry Cipriani
Subs:...14 Anwar Ahmed...15 Luciano Berardocco...8 Jamie Perfetti...26 Gary Weinhandl...1 Lee Burrows...10 ???????may have been 14 or 26 after the uniform switching. A few others didn't match but I sorted them out.
Toronto Supra (all white, red numbers)
.................................................1 Peter Libicz
4 Miguel Ferreira....3 Leo Simon (cpt)....2 McIver Broomes....5 Carlos Manuel Lebellos
7 Mike DeLuca....8 Czeslaw Zajac....10 Chris Handsor....6 Frank Cardona
............................11 Adolfa Mella..........9 Paul Moore
Subs:...13 Kirby Mitchell...14 Max Valenzuela...16 Luis Ganhao...17 Gerry Bryant...18 Jason Faria....
Officials:...Referee Graham Williams, Linesmen Stuart Kelly and Ken Thomas.
1st Half: (game starts at 8:45pm as Supra bus arrives at stadium 8:15pm!, Wolves defend South end in 1st half, mild evening about 20C sun was down already).
This stadium has no scoreboard but a very modern recreation centre. My times are all based on my own wristwatch. The playing field looked extremely short.
1 min...Wolves GOAL...Cipriani shot to left corner of net from 10 yards beyond diving Supra goalie.
4 min...Supra Cardona takes 25 yard freekick straight to Wolves goalie who catches it.
8 min...Wolves Cipriani gets 25 yard low shot smothered by Supra goalie.
9 min...Supra goalie dives to save low centering cross.
10 min...Supra GOAL...Mella taps in rebound after Wolves goalie dives to save Supra Handsor 15 yard blast to right corner.
12 min...Wolves goalie stops low shot by Supra Mella from 10 yards.
13 min...Wolves YELLOW card...Ianiero for hacking at Supra Cardona from behind at midfield.
15 min...Wolves GOAL...Cipriani gets through ball just over center and from 15 yards shoots low to right of Supra goalie as goalie sprawls.
17 min...Wolves Perfetti blasts 20 yard freekick over net when tipped corner kick only partially cleared.
20 min...Supra goalie catches high centering cross.
21 min...Supra Handsor gets 25 yard freekick saved by sprawling Wolves goalie.
23 min...Supra YELLOW card...Lebellos for interference but calling it ruined Wolves through ball.
24 min...Supra goalie catches centering cross.
28 min...Supra's loose ball shanked off Wolves right goalpost.
30 min...Wolves Pretto boots ball wide of left post from 20 yards.
31 min...Wolves shot lofted over goalie hits crossbar. Rebound booted wide left, but penalty shot awarded.
31 min...Wolves GOAL...McGuchan as hard shot to center right of goalie from Penalty spot.
36 min...Wolves defender almost heads into own net. Penalty shot called in scramble for hand ball.
38 min...Supra GOAL...Handsor scores on low shot to left post from Penalty spot. Wolves goalie dives right. After goal, Wolves chase down referee for calling the penalty shot in the first place.
39 min...Wolves GOAL...Arghitto on header from 5 yards over goalie after Wolves McNeil centers from right wing.
41 min...Wolves Hughes injured in own end and is down for three minutes.
45 min...Supra YELLOW card...Mella for striking Wolves goalie after he was fouled.
48 min...Supra GOAL...Moore puts in goal when ball not cleared from box.
49 min...Wolves Arghitto kicks 15 yard shot high over net.
1st half ends with the Wolves ahead 4-3.
2nd half (starts at 9:52pm).
Halftime subs...Supra Faria replaces Lebellos.
...........................Supra Bryant replaces DeLuca.
...........................Wolves #10 (name?) replaces McGuchan (?).
48 min...Wolves #10 lofts 7 yard shot over net for corner.
49 min...Supra Moore crosses from 20 yards but Wolves goalie already off line to catch it.
50 min...Wolves Arghitto injured near midfield.
53 min...Wolves goalie makes point blank save along left line on Supra Bryant.
54 min...Wolves goalie smothers low cross on right line by Supra Cardona.
57 min...Supra Handsor blasts freekick from 25 yards over net.
62 min...Wolves goalie stops Supra Handsor shot from 15 yards after ball centered.
63 min...Supra Mella blasts ball wide left from 3 yards while on right post.
64 min...Wolves YELLOW card...Goalie Perri for protesting call.
65 min...Wolves #10 dekes three guys but can't control ball as it rolls to touch.
68 min...Supra goalie only partially punches out cross but defender clears while pressured.
69 min...Supra goalie catches cross.
72 min...Supra goalie clears through ball.
73 min...Supra Zajac injured in Wolves box.
75 min...Wolves Arghitto shot cleared wide as he gets through ball.
77 min...Wolves Ianiero boots 15 yard shot over net.
The weather is now extremely foggy. It's like dry ice is rising from the field about four feet high. The locals say this hasn't happened before. I can't see the ground on the far sidelines.
79 min...Wolves sub...Perfetti replaces Cipriani.
84 min...Supra goalie catches corner kick.
85 min...Supra Cardona just wide of top left corner from 15 yard shot.
88 min...Wolves sub...Berardocco replaces Arghitto.
game ends after 90 minutes at 10:40pm.
Final Score:........St Catharines Roma Wolves.....(4) 4.....Toronto Supra....(3) 3.....
St Catharines Roma Wolves win the Playoff Trophy.
All scoring was done in the 1st half!
Trophies were presented to each team. The Roma Wolves won the League and Playoff trophies. Supra were presented with a trophy for having won the Cup competition.
They had to be called back on the field as they were stomping back to the dressing room. There were about six representatives (including team president Faik Chaboni) from Kosova Albanians who were there protesting Supra being awarded the Cup. They actually had placards to show the Cup standings had Kosova as the winners. League executive Michael DiBiase did a slow burn from the press box while he watched this. I asked Faik and he said he'd withdrawn his participation from the League for next year earlier today. I also noticed that the Cup trophy was different than the one Kosova presented to their players. The owner must have bought one at a sports store on his own and had it engraved. This probably is what got the League to call off the special Cup Final they had arranged and give the real trophy to Supra.
Attendance was about 400 people. It's the biggest crowd that I've seen this season but I've not been to this stadium before. The officials were being harassed all night by the fans and both teams.
As arranged the team gave me a ride on the Supra chartered bus. I got a ride back with them to Lamport Stadium in downtown Toronto and caught one of the last subway trains home. Back home at 2:00am and up to get ready for work at 6:30am! Well it was worth it long term.
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