September 29, 2010 CSL--Serbian White Eagles vs St Catharines Wolves (from CSL website)
SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES CLOSING IN......Eagles' president expects to be in championship final following 2-0 victory
2010-09-29
A 2-0 victory by Serbian White Eagles over visiting St. Catharines Wolves at Centennial Stadium Wednesday night made the already interesting CSL First Division standings even more interesting.
While the Serbian Eagles win was not entirely unexpected, the home side had to fight all the way to win an attractive encounter which for much of the game was played by two evenly matched sides despite the disparity in their position in the league table - Serbian Eagles near the top and St. Catharines rock bottom.
Ramon Bailey set up the first goal for Serbian Eagles when his clever manouvre beat two Wolves' defenders before he passed the ball to forward Alex Braletic to find the net at the 16th minute mark, a 1-0 Eagles lead at halftime.
Both sides played well following the goal and the game was very much in doubt in the second half, particularly when Serbian White Eagles lost defender Mark Jankovic who was shown the red card at 72 minutes for bringing down a St. Catharines forward while breaking in on goal.
But the home side went ahead 2-0 at 88 minutes on a goal by forward Stefan Vukovic following some good play by Kiril Dimitrov. He moved the ball to Braletic then on to Vukovic who beat St. Catharines goalkeeper Claudio Perri for a 2-0 score at the final whistle.
Serbian White Eagles now have a 10-3-9 record for 39 points, just two behind league-leading Milltown FC (two games remaining) and tied on points with York Region Shooters who also have 39 points and three games still to play. St. Catharines Wolves have a 3-15-4 record for 14 points with two games remaining while at the foot of the standings.
Serbian White Eagles have two games remaining (vs. Toronto Croatia on Friday) and their last regular season game at Lions Park in Brantford against the Galaxy on Sunday.
Serbian Eagles president Dragan Bakoc was pleased with the outcome of Friday's clash with St. Catharines and was optimistic about his team's chances in the upcoming playoffs.
"We are taking this a step at a time, but we are determined and expect to be in the final yet again at the end of October," said Bakoc. Serbian White Eagles have been in the CSL Championship Final each of their four years in the league, winning the trophy once, in 2008. Last year they were defeated by Quebec-based Trois-Rivieres Attak in a penalty kick decider.
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