....................

Result of the Wednesday September 15, 2010 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and Serbian White Eagles played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:15pm.

Toronto Croatia (blue socks, white shorts and numbers, red shirts)

..................1 Sandi Matika
7 Halburto Harris...4 Sven Arapovic...3 Robert Fran...15 Ainsley Deer
16 Boris Tomac...20 Alex Arbelo...23 Tonci Pirija (cpt)...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
............10 Tihomir Maletic...17 Tomislav Ples

Subs:...12 Antonio Ilic (gk)...5 Jonathan Bustamante (mid)...9 Hugo Herrera (fwd)...11 Ivan Zgela (mid)...21 Braeden Krampert (mid)... 25 Lukas Pesa (mid)...14 Diego Gonzalez (mid)
team officials:...head coach Alen Vukobrad...manager Ivan Kulis...assistant manager Perica Arapovic...physio Rachel Leroux

Serbian White Eagles (all white, red numbers)

..................1 Milos Djurkovic
20 Milan Janosevic...5 Mark Jankovic...6 Mirko Medic...4 Milos Vucinic
8 Shawn Brown...23 Ramon Bailey...10 Alex Braletic...7 Kirie Dimitrov
..........29 Stefan Vukovic...99 Sasa Viciknez (cpt)

Subs:...1 Alex Pereski (gk)...35 Aleksander Stojanovski (fwd)...15 Verljko Lukovic (fwd)...18 Andre Orlando (mid)...20 Milan Janosevic (mid)... 26 Marko Ivantic (def)
team officials:...head coach Niki Budalich...assistant coach Sasa Viciknez...therapist Karolina Bujak...club official Dragah Bakoc

Game officials:...referee Dave Barrie...referee assistants Ljbisa Vrzles and Matt Arduini...fourth official Hassene Rifai...(all black uniforms, neon yellow trim)

1st Half:...game starts 8:20pm...TC defender north end. It's already dark.
25 sec...TC Harris 40 yard kick from right bounces to goalie.
2 min...TC Pirija cornerkick from left has goalie catch in crowd of players.
3 min...TC Fitzwilliams 25 yards cross from right through crowd and caught by goalie.
3 min....SWE Viciknez is injured at TC 45 yards.
4 min...SWE player 45 yard freekick on right cleared by defender on edge of box.
7 min...TC Fitzwilliams 20 yard roller from right is smothered by goalie wide right of net.
8 min...TC Pirija cornerkick from left has TC Fran stop on left edge of box but defender clears.
8 min...TC Deer chips 25 yarder over crowd from left is caught by goalie.
9 min...White Eagles Sasa Viciknez GOAL...Viciknez takes 30 yard freekick up the middle that is bent into the top right corner of the net past goalie Sandi Matika.
10 min...Croatia Alex Arbelo GOAL...TC Hayden Fitzwilliams rush up right and he rolls a cross from 18 yards which Arbelo stops and pokes 12 yard rolling shot up middle to left side of net with goalie Milos Djurkovic stuck on the right.
12 min...SWE YELLOW card...Viciknez earns it for knock down of TC Pirija near center line sideline.
14 min...TC Tomac 40 yard blast from left is over net.
17 min...SWE Viciknez cross from near left end line has defender block charging SWE Brown on right post.
18 min...SWE Braletic long throw-in from left eventually SWE Brown crosses from right and SWE Viciknez cross from left bounces wide right over end line.
20 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has defenders clear ball from box.
23 min...TC Ples chips 35 yard shot cross from left is caught by goalie.
24 min...SWE players survive snafu as goalie comes out of box for a high ball and defender pops up header backwards at 25 yards and TC Ples heads 18 yarder off right goalpost with empty net in front of him.
26 min...TC Fitzwilliams on left rushes for pass but goalie cuts in front of him at 15 yards to pick up ball.
29 min...TC Ples on 3 on 2 break up left wing rolls softy directly to goalie.
30 min...TC goalie catches long punt from SWE goalie ahead of charging SWE Brown.
31 min...SWE goalie charges forward to catch 50 yard chip.
32 min...SWE Viciknez 40 yard freekick from right has TC Deer head ball away at 16 yards.
34 min...TC goalie beats SWE Vukovic to through ball pass on left.
35 min...SWE Dimitrov cross from right end line has SWE Brown tip 5 yard ball from left wide left.
37 min...SWE Viciknez 35 yard freekick from left has leaping TC Arbelo head wide right of box.
37 min...TC Fran injured when SWE Dimitrov blasts 25 yard shot that hits him in face at 15 yards.
39 min...SWE Vukovic rush on right and TC Fran pokes ball away for cornerkick.
40 min...SWE Viciknez cornerkick from right has nearest defender head ball away.
41 min...TC Pirija cornerkick from left has TC Maletic not able to twist header from 7 yards.
44 min...TC Deer short pass to TC Arbelo who pops up 15 yard kick wide left of goal.
46 min...half ends 9:06pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:22pm.
halftime sub:...TC Zgela replaces Arbelo.
45 min...SWE goalie catches TC Fran's chip from 22 yards ahead of TC forward.
48 min...SWE Braletic 60 yard shot through players bounces to goalie.
49 min...TC Ples is injured at center line with an arm or shoulder injury.
53 min...TC sub...Krampert replaces Ples before play resumes.
57 min...SWE Vucinic 40 yard shot from left is well wide left and high of net.
58 min...TC Maletic good dribbling on left and rolls ball in goalmouth and ball is partially cleared.
58 min...TC Krampert 30 yard shot down middle deflects over net.
59 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is over players in box. TC Krampert crosses back in from left and ball is headed forward to an offside player.
60 min...SWE Viciknez receives pass and takes 20 yard shot from left that's wide left of net.
61 min...SWE goalie is injured on edge of box.
64 min...play finally resumes.
66 min...SWE goalie is injured again although this time he's untouched.
69 min...SWE sub...Pereski replaces injured Djurkovic as goalie.
73 min...TC sub...Bustamante replaces Zgela.
.........SWE sub...Stamatovic replaces Viciknez.
73 min...TC YELLOW card...Deer earns it for grabbing SWE player running at center line.
75 min...SWE sub...Ivantic replaces Jankovic.
77 min...TC Fran heads ball back to goalie at 25 yards but SWE Brown cuts in on him and wins cornerkick on 12 yard shot.
78 min...SWE Braletic cross from 25 yards on right after getting back cornerkick has goalie catch.
79 min...TC Bustamante 40 yard freekick down middle to left has TC Fran volley 12 yard shot/cross just over net.
80 min...SWE Pirija rolls 25 yard through ball that goalie picks up before forward can get to it.
82 min...TC sub...Gonzalez replaces Fitzwilliams.
82 min...TC Bustamante 40 yard freekick from left has TC Fran charge in and head 5 yarder from right well over net.
84 min...SWE Braletic 25 yard cross from right has goalie step in front of charging SWE Dimitrov to knock ball away at 7 yards.
85 min...TC Pirija and TC Tomac work out a short cornerkick from left and Tomac from 12 yards on left blasts roller wide right through crowd of players.
88 min...SWE Vukovic and SWE Braletic can't cash in on goalie miscue and then goalie saves at 8 yards on a blast from one of them.
89 min...SWE sub...Orlando replaces Dimitrov.
89 min...TC Pirija cornerkick from left has him get ball crossed back to him on left and his 10 yard sharp angle blast is wide right of the top corner of net.
94 min...TC YELLOW card...Bustamante earns it for knock down of SWE Bailey at TC 35 yards.
95 min...SWE Medic 35 yard freekick blast from 35 yards down middle is just wide left of goal.
95 min...SWE Bailey 12 yard shot deflects for diving goalie at 8 yards.
98:16 min...game ends 10:15pm.

Final Score:.......Toronto Croatia......1..........Serbian White Eagles..........1............

Attendance was about 1000 on this cool night. This game had been rescheduled from Sunday June 27th as that game was rained out in a thunderstorm. This was the best attendance I've seen this year for a GTA area team but not unexpected because the rivalry between the two teams has been running in various leagues for decades. There was no police presence at all and the crowd was well behaved. The most trouble was the time added at the end of the game when fans of both teams jeered referee David Barrie. The PA announcer said there would be five minutes of injury time but I could see with my binoculars that the fourth official held up a card for eight minutes. Tomislav Ples of Croatia was down for four minutes at 49 minutes and needed to be replaced by Braeden Krampert. SWE goalie Milos Djurkovic was injured at 61 minutes for three minutes and then play resumed he pulled up injured again for another three minutes and had to be subbed by Antonio Ilic. SWE first string goalie Milos Kocic would have been away with Toronto FC of the MLS who were away tonight in CONCACAF Championship League action against Real Salt Lake.

Toronto Croatia almost won when at 82 minutes Jonathan Bustamante 40 yard freekick from the left had Robert Fran charge in and head a 5 yarder from the right well over the net. At 84 minutes Alex Braletic went in a 25 yard cross from the right that had the goalie Sandi Matika step in front of the charging SWE Kirie Dimitrov to knock the ball away at 7 yards. At 85 minutes Croatia Tonci Pirija and Boris Tomac worked out a short cornerkick from the left and Tomac blasted a roller from 12 yards through a crowd of players wide right of the post. At 88 minutes White Eagles Stefan Vukovic and Alex Braletic had one chance after another when goalie Sandi Matika made a mistake but he recovered in time to stop a blast at 8 yards from one of them. At 89 minutes Pirija took a cornerkick from the left which later had him get the ball crossed back to him on the left and his 10 yard sharp angle blast was wide right of the top corner. The eight minutes of injury time only really resulted in one near chance. At 95 minutes White Eagles Ramon Bailey (yes long time CSL player who I last saw with Portugal FC) had a 12 yard shot deflected to the diving goalie at 8 yards.

I was thinking after the two quick goals to start the game that we might be watching a potential 4-4 tie but I should have known that wouldn't happen because of the two teams defensive records. Tonight's result makes the rest of the CSL teams happy. White Eagles stay in third place and Croatia stays in tenth but burns off one of their games in hand they have on the teams ahead of them. The teams themselves are probably happy enough that they didn't lose to their rivals. Croatia had lost the last game they played and had the two games before that postponed because of weather conditions (It appears in the standings in the last week that the league finally awarded them a 1-0 decision against Hamilton Croatia on a game suspended last month when a Hamilton player punched the referee). White Eagles have gone tie, tie, loss, tie, loss and now tie in their last six games.

The White Eagles fired head coach Dusko Prijic after that string of bad results. Taking over the coaching duties just the day before is new coach Niki Budalic. Now that name is very familiar! After the game I made sure it was him. He played for the White Eagles as recently as last year and I also remember his days as a midfielder for the USL Toronto Lynx. He said he's only age 32 but injuries and his location in Kitchener has had him end his playing career. He said he has his Provincial B licence. He has spent his time coaching at Laurier University in Kitchener. That is the team that former TFC Academy goalie Jarrett Humphreys plays for now.

In other news I've heard that White Eagles defender Taylor Lord has joined German lower division team SV Morlautern. A delay in getting his release from the White Eagles limited his opportunities of which teams over there he could join as roster spots filled in quickly in the last month as the European season has already started.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca


Toronto Croatia starters


White Eagles starters


White Eagles freekick


Croatia throw-in


Croatia goalie Sandi Matika beats SWE Stefan Vukovic to ball.


Croatia Tomislav Ples needed to be subbed out after this injury.


midfield action


White Eagles throw-in

back to 2010 CSL menu

.

.