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Result of the Sunday September 26th, 2010 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and Hamilton Croatia 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 Aisley Deer
8 Hayden Fitzwilliams...23 Tonci Pirija (cpt)...5 Jonathan Bustamante...16 Boris Tomac
............10 Tihomir Maletic...19 Niko Pesa

Subs:...12 Antonio Ilic (gk)...14 Diego Gonzalez (mid)...11 Ivan Zgela (mid)...25 Lukas Pesa (mid)...30 Tomislav Leko (mid)
team officials:...head coach Alen Vukobrad...managers Ivan Kulis and Perica Arapovic...masseur Rachel Leroux

Hamilton Croatia (white socks and numbers, blue shorts and shirts)

................22 Melford James
17 Peter Tereanski-Toth...3 John Hudson...18 Ivan Razumovic...9 Tom Bilic
12 Daniel Niksic...20 Jamie Dodds...23 Jason Shannon (cpt)...19 Adam Leggett
............6 Preston Corporal...10 Jerko Grubisic

Subs:...1 Ante Culina (gk)...50 Andrew Leggett (mid)...2 Domagoj Beslic (mid)...5 Sandro Rajkovic (def)...7 Boris Vurdelja (mid)... 11 Danny Jirta (mid) 14 Aidan O'Keefe (fwd)
team officials:...manager Michael Radencich...assistant coach Ante Culina...head coach Ron Davidson...physio Mary Tam...team official Mike Radencich

Game officials:...referee John Oliva...referee's assistants James Bliss and Ram Arbaji...fourth official Michael Anthony Izzo...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks).

1st Half:...game starts 8:18pm...TC defends north end.
1 min...HC Corporal(?) elbows TC Deer injurying him near center line.
8 min...HC Leggett 40 yard freekick fromleft has ball blocked at 12 yards and HC Dodds blasts 12 yard shot over net from right post.
10 min...HC Dodds eludes sliding TC Fran at 18 yards on right and rolls 12 yard cross that TC Harris clears at 5 yards.
11 min...HC player's cornerkick from right has defender block HC Dodds partial cleared blast from 22 yards.
13 min...TC Maletic squeezed out on 1 on 2 run but cross from 8 yard left en dline is through box unplayed.
15 min...HC YELLOW card...Corporal earns it for kick on TC Harris as he cleared throw-in at TC 25 yards near sideline.
18 min...HC Corporal on break on right from 15 yards but at 5 yards TC goalie crawls out to take ball off his foot.
19 min...TC Harris 40 yard chip from right has goalie to leap and catch in front of TC forward at 5 yards.
21 min...HC defender pokes ball off TC Maletic on right for cornerkick.
21 min...TC Pirija cornerkick from right has ball deflected into right mesh of net for goalkick.
23 min...TC YELLOW card...Pirija earns it for foot up slide on HC Leggett to poke ball away on left sideline at 40 yards.
24 min...TC Niko Pesa rolls 22 yarder from left to goalie as he missed passing to a TC player in the clear.
26 min...TC Pirija 33 yard freekick from left is tapped over to TC Bustamante who blasts 33 yarder from right that deflects off defender and flying goalie catches wide right of post.
27 min...TC Maletic called offside for third or fourth time this game.
29 min...TC Maletic drops off pass for TC Pirija to blast 25 yarder well over net.
30 min...HC Bilic 30 yard chip over players in box and is caught by goalie.
30 min...HC Razumovic injured on edge of HC box. TC wins freekick.
31 min...TC Tomac is tapped over freekick and blasts 25 yard roller that defender blocks at 15 yards.
32 min...HC sub...Rajkovic replaces injured Razumovic.
34 min...TC Harris charges for pass on right wing but weak 10 yard cross rolls to goalie.
35 min...HC Dodds 35 yard freekick chip has HC Corporal on right heads ball across box but TC defender heads it away.
36 min...TC Tomac cross from 25 yards near right end line is well over box.
37 min...HC Leggett beats TC Harris on deflection and pokes ball away from defender and goalie at 8 yards wins cornerkick.
38 min...HC Leggett cornerkick from left has HC player head ball off another HC player in box at 7 yards and defender clears.
38 min...HC YELLOW card...Dodds earns if for knock down at HC 50 yards.
40 min...HC Niksic 25 yard shot in crowd of players is high and wide left.
41 min...HC Corporal 25 yard shot from right is wide left of net.
44 min...TC Bustamante pass from 40 yards on left has goalie beat TC Harris for ball at 7 yards on right.
45 min...HC Niksic charges to pass on right and blasts 18 yard shot that goalie palms over bar.
51 min...HC Dodds cornerkick from left has HC player hit bar after TC goalie palms ball through box. HC Dodds gets ball and goalie sprawls to save 8 yard shot on left post.
52 min...half ends 9:10pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:28pm.
47 min...HC Rajkovic throw-in from right has defender head ball back to goalie.
49 min...HC Grubisic cross from 25 yards near corner flag has HC Corporal pop up 8 yard header from left wide left of net.
51 min...TC Bustamante injured with hand in fac at HC 25 yards.
52 min...TC YELLOW card...Fran for knock down.
53 min...HC Corporal 40 yard freekick from left is wide left of net.
55 min...HC YELLOW card...Shannon earns it for tripping TC Pirija at HC 40 yards.
57 min...TC Bustamante 40 yard freekick from right is caught by goalie.
59 min...HC sub...Jirta replaces Grubisic.
59 min...TC Fitzwilliams 40 yard freekick from right is caught by goalie.
60 min...TC Fran 70 yard freekick over players and bounces to goalie.
62 min...HC Jirta cornerkick from right has goalie catch ball in crowd in box.
64 min...TC Fitzwilliams throw-in from left near 10 yard line and when he gets ball back and crosses into box, play is ruled offside.
65 min...TC Maletic pulled from behind rushing ball on pass ahead where TC player had shirt tugged by HC Hudson. Freekick is awarded at 19 yards.
65 min...HC YELLOW card...Hudson earned it on last play.
67 min...TC Maletic 10 yard freekick blast hits left goalpost and deflects left. TC Fitzwilliams 10 yard shot blocked by defenders.
69 min...TC Fitzwilliams 22 yard freekick from right has TC Niko Pesa(?) head ball cross from left back over players in box.
70 min...TC Fitzwilliams 25 yard freekick from right sideline has HC Dodds head ball away.
72 min...HC sub...O'Keefe replaces Shannon. Bilic now takes over as captain.
73 min...TC sub...Zgela replaces Bustamante.
74 min...TC Zgela gets cross and flubs 25 yard shot down middle wide right of goal.
75 min...Hamilton Adam Leggett GOAL...Aidan O'Keefe leads rush on extreme left and passes ball toward middle for Leggett to shoot low 15 yard shot from the left into the right side of the net beyond diving goalie Sandi Matika.
77 min...HC O'Keefe cornerkick from left is caught by goalie.
78 min...HC O'Keefe cornerkick from right has ball cleared and ball caught by goalie on 18 yard header.
81 min...TC sub...Gonzalez replaces Niko Pesa.
.........HC sub...Burdelja replaces Tereanski-Toth.
81 min...HC goalie dives on ball on right side of box while shielded by defenders.
84 min...HC Corporal on left does fancy footwork to get away 20 yard shot that rolls through box wide right for goalkick.
86 min...TC Harris 30 yard cross from right is over players in box.
87 min...HC O'Keefe 20 yard shot on rush on right blocked by TC Arapovic at 8 yards.
90 min...HC Corporal chips 15 yarder on extreme left is caught by goalie.
91 min...HC Jirta makes key sliding tackle to give up cornerkick but prevents open shot.
92 min...TC Fitzwilliams cornerkick from right has TC Fran on left cross ball back. TC Fran crosses back a second time but is ruled offside.
94 min...Hamilton Aiden O'Keefe GOAL...TC Tonci Pirija took a 40 yard freekick up the middle. Ham Ivan Razumovic headed the ball down and started a fast break. O'Keefe lead a 3 on 1 break on the left and all they had to do was get past Pirija and they're in alone. The TC goalie had come upfield to stand in the Ham box to try to get a header and was out of the play. O'Keefe rolled in a 35 yard shot from the left into the empty net.
95 min...game ended right after the restart.

Final Score:......Toronto Croatia.........0............Hamilton Croatia..........2...........

Attendance was about 1000 people which is the second home game in a row where Toronto Croatia has drawn that large a crowd. The other game was against bitter rivals Serbian White Eagles. Tonight's game had a majority of Hamilton fans. Some had come in a stretch Hummer limosine! Some of the travelling fans sang and lit flares. This game is certainly not a love-in just because both teams were ethnically Croatian. The home match for Hamilton back at the end of July only lasted one half when the Hamilton captain Antonijo Zupan punched the referee after being Red carded and was later arrested. That game took weeks to decide and the league finally quietly awarded Toronto Croatia a win as they were leading 1-0 at the time. Hamilton's current captain is Jason Shannon. Tonight's referee John Oliva kept control night with a few strategic Yellow cards. Both teams had trouble with offside calls throughout the night.

I cleared up the goalscorers by asking the Hamilton players while the game results were being read in to the league at the end of the game as the first goal was announced wrong in the press box. They also couldn't see the 4th official held up 3 minutes extra time (not 2) at the end of the game.

A few plays could have changed the game. At 67 minutes TC Tihomir Maletic (the CSL's leading scorer) took a 19 yard freekick blast that hit the left goalpost and deflected to the left. TC Hayden Fitzwilliams then took a 10 yard shot from the left but a defender blocked it. Melford James earned the shutout for Hamilton. Earlier in the contest, HC Preston Corporal was on a break on the right from 15 yards but at 5 yards the TC goalie crawled out after sliding to take the ball off his foot. In first half injury time HC Jamie Dodds took a cornerkick from the left that had an HC player hit the bar after the TC goalie palmed the ball through the box. Dodds eventually got the ball back and the goalie sprawled to save an 8 yard shot on the left post. At 91 minutes HC Danny Jirta made a key sliding tackle inside the HC box to give up a cornekick but prevent an open shot from 6 yards.

Toronto Croatia still haven't locked up a playoff spot yet as Brampton Lions could catch them. (The Lions tied Brantford Galaxy 1-1 in a game that started just over an hour earlier). Toronto Croatia still has four games to go to their season in the next one and a half weeks while some teams have two, one or no games left to finish their 24 games. Hamilton is in a much better position with tonight's win moving them up to a tie for third with two games to go.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca


Toronto Croatia starters


Hamilton Croatia starters


action in Toronto end


Hamilton players waiting for 2nd half kickoff.


Hamilton goalie Melford James takes freekick outside box.


Toronto Tihomir Maletic takes this freekick which ended up hitting the left goalpost.

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